Win and Keep Winning New Business No Matter What the Economy (or Competition) Throw at You
Life has been good for agencies... but now it's getting tougher again. Are you truly ready to compete?
2021 and 2022 were good years for marketing communications agencies. Generating new revenue wasn't particularly difficult. However, affected by the economic uncertainty of a possible recession, winning new business is becoming harder again.
We believe you should be preparing now for what could be an economic down turn where opportunities will be fewer and competition greater.
Prosper Group created our NewBusinessRx service offering because we know that regularly winning new business is critical to your overall success. New business provides a variety of assignments and career development opportunities for your team, allows you to attract and retain top talent and, importantly, ensures a financially healthy firm for your future planning.
A typical excuse for those who don’t make new business a priority is that “client work comes first.” Naturally, you don’t want to interfere with keeping existing clients satisfied with your performance. You want to retain and build on those relationships and you want them to refer you to prospects. But healthy firms pursue a model that also generates revenue from new sources.
Tuning up your new business machine for 2023 (and beyond).
Our team of senior counselors has identified eight key factors in business development that deliver a high degree of success. They are:
Set goals. Determine the amount of new revenue you need to make a solid profit in 2023. While you're at it, develop a projection for 2024 too. Include existing and new clients. Plan accordingly. Identify your current win rate and what it should be to justify the investment of resources. Ensure everyone shares the commitment to reach your goals.
Review your brand proposition. Is there a distinctive explanation for WHY your firm exists? What sets you apart from your competition? Leverage it in everything you do.
Analyze your current new business operation. Review all the elements from marketing to pitching. What’s working and what isn’t? Who’s in charge and who’s involved? You need a growth culture that ensures a high-performing operation.
Expand your network. Everyone in the firm should be expected to connect to prospects and those who influence them. Make sure you have a process in place to leverage the all-important word-of-mouth. Target the categories and specific prospects you deserve to have as clients.
Develop a marketing plan. Accelerate the word-of-mouth with a comprehensive outreach plan to reach your targets. Encourage them to come to you. Create all the materials required to tell your story effectively.
Organize and manage your leads. Turn prospects into leads and leads into clients. Create and carefully track a system of ongoing personalized outreach that involves your senior leaders.
Prepare for the pitch. Ensure you have the process, tools, training and people to present your thinking in a compelling manner - both in person and virtually.
Initiate follow-up. Whether you win or lose, find out why. Add this learning to your institutional knowledge. If you win, celebrate. If you lose, stay in touch with that prospect. Modify the pitch for another player in the category.
This is a proven prescription for winning. These eight factors will help you manage a robust new business operation that ensures you’ll be ready for not only the rest of 2023 but also for the years to come… and meet your overall business goals.
Learn more about Prosper Group’s NewBusinessRx.
To access our in-depth thinking on a wide range of other topics of interest to agency owners,visit our Insights page.
We're here to help you prosper.
Prosper Group exists to help the owners of independent marketing communications agencies achieve their ambitions and maximize the value of their life’s work.
Our team of former agency leaders and owners focus their deep experience on implementing proven proprietary methodologies across our three practices of agency performance, owner exit planning and M&A transactions in order to drive owner and agency success.
To learn more about us, please visit our Services page.
