12 Tips to Get Prospects to Call You Back

So much is made of social media these days when it comes to new business, and rightfully so, as it can be a powerful tool, and in this post, we’ll give you 12 tips to get prospects to call you back.

But it’s critically important to remember the personal call (notice I didn’t say cold call, as we’ve talked about before on this blog).

It’s still one of the most powerful tools, and skills, we employ here at to help our clients gain new business.

And with social media maintaining its prominence, speaking articulately, persuasively and with empathy becomes even more valuable.

In other words, don’t lose your edge while you tweet and post away.

12 Tips to Get Prospects to Call You Back

Along those lines, we had a client send us a blog posted by Colleen Francis with 12 tips to get prospects to call you back.

All these tips are excellent points and are part of our gospel when it comes to personal calling.

Here’s a summary of each:

💡 Balance Persistence & Patience: Reach out consistently without overwhelming prospects. Set clear follow-up dates to build trust and increase callbacks.

✅ Give an Out: Let them know it’s okay to say no. This honesty often leads to either a clear “yes” or “no,” saving you time and guesswork.

✍️ Send Handwritten Notes: Stand out by sending a handwritten note after a meeting—it boosts likability and response rates.

📅 Set up Auto-Drip: Send valuable content at regular intervals to keep you top-of-mind without overwhelming them.

🤔 Check-in Humorously: Lightheartedly ask if they’re okay or stuck under a filing cabinet. This fun approach often elicits a response and re-engages silent contacts.

⏳ Establish Deadlines: After each conversation, agree on next steps and deadlines, so it’s clear why you’re following up later.

📊 Track Interactions: Use CRM to log each call and email, referencing these in follow-ups to reinforce your consistency and professionalism.

🔍 Avoid Assumptions: Use a structured voicemail strategy to understand why they haven’t responded. Stick to set follow-up times to show reliability.

🌅 Call Early or Late: Increase your chances by calling during off-hours when gatekeepers aren’t around.

🔄 Vary Communication Channels: Switch between email and phone based on what seems easiest for them, showing you’re flexible and attentive to their needs.

🚩 Final Attempt Notice: When ready to walk away, give a polite “final attempt” message, allowing them one last opportunity to reconnect if interested.

😄 Add Some Fun: For unresponsive prospects, try a light-hearted message. This can refresh the conversation and often leads to a callback.

Great tips, and what’s key to remember in a new business outreach is not to rely too heavily on any one medium.

Make sure it’s a healthy mix, or you’ll deprive yourself of potential opportunities.

How Ad Agencies Are Actually Using AI

In the first post in our RSW 2024 Agency New Business report series, we talked average length of time to close business, in Part 2, we tackled decreasing new business director tenure at ad agencies. And now in our 3rd in the series, we explore how ad agencies are actually using AI.

54% of marketing services firms are using AI tools for new business development. Last year that number was 38%.

This stat comes from our survey question of agencies, “Are you incorporating ChatGPT and other AI tools into your business development efforts?”

And we added a follow up question this year:

How are you using ChatGPT or other AI tools for new business?

Per the breakdown below, “researching companies” and “writing content” were by far the most chosen, with “analyzing competitive activity” coming in at a distant third.

How Ad Agencies Are Actually Using AI

“Building lists” did come in at 16%, but we can say from experience that while there are already some viable tools to help with this process, they are (seemingly) some time away from providing any real help there, in terms of accuracy.

There was an “other” option with the ability to write in how agencies are using AI tools for new business, and we present a sample of those from your peers:

  • Email copy support
  • Organizing data/content into presentable info
  • Social media
  • Discovery on targeted accounts
  • Creating budget estimates
  • Assisting with concepts and mood boards

With over half of the surveyed firms now incorporating AI into their processes, up from 38% the previous year, it’s clear that artificial intelligence is becoming a more integral part of the industry’s toolkit.

And while our primary focus at RSW is business development for ad agencies, a recent Ad Age article provides further useful feedback on AI tools beyond business development usage, 9 AI tools agencies are embracing right now.

We’ve broken each down for you with links.

9 AI tools agencies are embracing right now

💼 Adobe Photoshop’s Generative Fill
This well-known AI tool helps designers edit images with impressive ease and speed. It’s already a must-have for agencies like Lafayette American. Learn more.

💼 Cassidy
Used by Quad, Cassidy helps streamline RFP responses by automating repetitive tasks, making proposal processes faster. Learn more.

💼 ComfyUI
Agencies like Anomaly and Goodby Silverstein & Partners are using this web interface for the AI model Stable Diffusion to create and edit images. Learn more.

💼 Creatopy
This platform automates ad creation, ideal for customized animations in web banners. Lafayette American finds it invaluable for scaling creative work. Learn more.

💼 Flim
Known as the “search engine for creative people,” Flim helps agencies like Colossus quickly sift through vast video libraries to enhance storytelling. Learn more.

💼 Focaldata
Used by McKinney for consumer interviews, this “AI coworker” supports agencies with research and creative testing. Learn more.

💼 Kive
This visual library tool is popular with Wieden+Kennedy and Droga5 for organizing and sharing creative assets like mood boards. Learn more.

💼 Krea’s Realtime
Anomaly uses Krea’s Realtime tool for video generation with enhanced control, thanks to the Flux 1 AI model. Learn more.

💼 Pika Labs
A competitor in text-to-video generation, Pika Labs recently added realistic motion in its latest update, Pika 1.5, used by Bonfire Labs. Learn more.

How Ad Agencies Are Actually Using AI – Still A Ways To Go

The primary uses of AI, particularly tools like ChatGPT, for researching companies and writing content, demonstrate how these tools are enhancing efficiency and improving the quality of business development efforts.

While AI shows promise in various aspects of business development, it’s important to note that its applications are still evolving.

The limited use of AI for tasks like building lists highlights the current limitations of the technology, particularly in terms of accuracy for certain functions.

However, the diverse range of additional applications mentioned by agencies, from email copy support to creating budget estimates, suggests that AI’s role in business development is likely to expand and become more sophisticated over time.

3 Takeaways Ep. 108 - 6th Halloween Special - The Frogman Cometh

The Frogman cometh, and now is the time for an open mind in this, our 6th 3 Takeaways Halloween episode.

And in it we give you the true story of the Loveland Frogman and the three takeaways your agency should glean from it’s croaking madness

Welcome to “3 Takeaways”, our agency new business video series where we give you three takeaways to help improve your new business program.

The Loveland Frogman is particularly special to me because I live in Loveland, Ohio, not terribly far from the famous second sighting of this fabled cryptid.

The most common account of the Loveland Frogman came from Officer Ray Shockey, who saw a creature crossing the road at 1 a.m. on March 3, 1972 in Loveland.

The creature crouched, then stood and stared at Shockey before climbing over a guardrail near the Little Miami River.

Other officers later investigated, but no proof of the scratch marks they reportedly found were ever confirmed.

But two weeks later, Officer Mark Matthews reported a similar sighting, firing at the creature as it stood up before it also disappeared over a guardrail.

And there have been other sightings since.

The Frogman cometh, and lurks in Loveland still.

(I’m actually in a band named Frogman after the creature, come see us if you’re ever in the Cincy area, but I digress.)

What possible takeaways can your ad agency get from the Frogman?

Here’s you first:

🎃 Turn Legends into Leads – Leverage Storytelling 🕸️👻

The power of storytelling is central to the Frogman’s lasting allure.

In business development, agencies can use storytelling to build emotional connections with prospects.

At the top of the funnel, that means sharing case studies, brand journeys, and even agency origin stories can transform cold leads into warmer relationships, much like how the legend of the Frogman has captured the public’s imagination for decades.

Your second takeaway:

🎃👻 Adapt and Evolve with the Changing Environment 👻🎃

Yes the Frogman cometh, and the sightings of the Frogman have evolved over the years, adapting to different interpretations and settings.

Similarly, agencies need to be agile, evolving with trends, and technology. Staying relevant requires constant adaptation and innovation in your approach to business development.

And your third takeaway:

🕸️🧛‍♂️ Embrace the Mystery – Differentiate Yourself 🧛‍♀️🕸️

The Loveland Frogman is memorable because of its mystery and uniqueness.

In business development, standing out in a crowded market is crucial.

Agencies should embrace their unique qualities and expertise to capture attention.

Whether it’s a niche focus or a distinctive creative approach, you must craft a narrative that sets you apart from competitors.

That’s all for now

Hit our site at rswus.com for more business development content, and if you’re ever in Loveland at night, don’t venture too closely to the banks of the Little Miami. 

LinkedIn Live - 2024 RSW Agency New Business Report Key Stats

LinkedIn Live – 2024 RSW Agency New Business Report Key Stats

VP of Sales, Lee McKnight Jr and and President/CEO of RSW/US, Mark Sneider, held a LinkedIn Live session specifically aimed at small and mid-sized agencies, marketing services firms and PR firms, where they broke down the key stats from the newly released RSW 2024 Agency New Business Report.

In this half hour session, Mark and Lee covered the top business development challenges facing agencies, internal hiring of the biz dev position and current average tenure, length of time to close, how agencies are incorporating AI into business development strategy, and more from the report.

Watch the session here.

LinkedIn Live - 2024 RSW Agency New Business Report Key Stats

If your firm is struggling with new business, contact Lee McKnight Jr. at lee@rswus.com for a conversation.

That’s our sole focus at RSW/US.

And you can download our RSW/US 2024 Agency New Business Report here at no coast.

We’ve fielded it since 2010 and present comparable data that is available across previous editions, providing insight on trends in key areas over the past ten years.

This year’s survey and the resulting RSW/US 2024 Agency New Business Report see ad agencies, marketing services firms, and PR firms seeing continuing challenges, albeit with certain improvements regarding challenges we saw in previous years: slowing referrals, decreased budgets, and longer sales cycles.

Agency executives nationwide had the opportunity to participate, and in fielding the survey, we wanted to discern how the challenges and dynamics of agency new business efforts have evolved as we finish 2024 and head into 2025.

Our hope is the key findings and implications of the study presented in this report provide value to you as you develop your plans for the remainder of the year and into Q1.

How Many Times to Touch that Lead?

Do you know the answer?

It’s typically 6 to 10 times.

What I’d like to see now is your reaction. Not going to happen obviously (although feel free to leave a comment in its place.)

Does this surprise you? Are you doubtful of this stat?

Or have you been doing this for a while and you know it’s correct.

Google It If You Doubt

Because Google is always right. In all seriousness, give it a shot and you’ll find plenty of back-up for it.

The “magic number” is about 7 touches. And it bears out in our professional service firm new business efforts as well.

I made “touches” the topic of this post, specifically because we talk a lot on this blog about not giving your prospects the hard sell.

Still 100% behind this selling tenet, but I wanted to focus on the importance of also being aggressive.

How Many Times to Touch that Lead?

As In Life, All About Balance

As an example, we contact all of you a minimum of once a week with this outreach.

Key to this is we’re not selling to you once a week but we are trying to provide weekly value through posts like this.

And of course, we’re doing our best to make sure we’re remembered, that we’re front and center when you think about outsourcing lead generation support.

But being able to balance your precious time is, as you’re probably nodding your head, the key to the process.

First 4-6 weeks=Once a Week

A newsletter is of course a great way to keep you top of mind.

But what about the more individual approach?

Rule of thumb is first four to six weeks of a new prospect, touch them once a week.

This can be tough, but the key, again, is balance.

Channels=Use ‘Em All

In this case, balancing your use of channels.

Ideally you’re using them all-phone, newsletter, social media, email, etc.

That way you’re not just picking up the phone every week and asking, heaven forbid, “if they’re ready yet.”

And after that first 4-6 weeks, stick with them once a month, on average.

Per my earlier comment, you need to find the right balance when it comes to time.

It’s a given that clients take up most of it.

But you have to have a plan that works on a consistent basis.

And don’t be afraid to reach out more than once a week in that first 4 to 6 weeks, so long as you’re providing value in some form and not blatantly selling with every touch point.

Thankfully not every prospect takes those seven touches, timing is everything.

But remember seven as a rule of thumb when you’re getting discouraged, it will happen.

 

Dobby

It’s time to address your sad, sad B2B new business emails.

Although I hope they’re not literally your emails, because if you’re sending out messages like the ones I lay out below, it’s time to recalibrate.

We all get ineffective emails from salespeople, but I got one this week that really got under my skin.

Mark,
I’m in back to back meetings all day, but I wanted to take the time to send over a quick intro.

Boy, this guy must really be important, right? I feel so honored that he’s carved out time from his busy day to email me!

I’m not impressed and I don’t care. Stop wasting my time.

The sales tactic here seems to be lots of people want to meet with me and you should too!

Bow! BOW BEFORE ME!”

OK, I’m being a bit dramatic, but really…let’s not use this tactic. Feels so condescending.

Here’s another one. Wasn’t bugged by this one, I just think it’s ineffective.

This is the last line of this guy’s sales email:

Can you set aside 15 minutes from your busy schedule for an intro call next week?

Why point out the obvious about my schedule? Yes, it’s busy, but so is everyone else. Personally, I just find this a bit condescending.

More importantly, this person is essentially doing the opposite of the previous email: rather than coming across as an arrogant you know what, this salesperson is ending the email in a position of weakness.

Don’t ruin a good email by trying to make your prospect feel sorry for you.

It was actually a really good sales email up to that point, but then at the very end, I got a whiff of Dobby the Elf desperation.

Dobby

And finally, a final example from the sad, sad emails files, here’s one from an aesthetic standpoint:

Don’t highlight what you feel are important points throughout your email in different colors.

Like this (and I took out real names):

Email copy example

This is just a hot mess. Don’t do it.

I’ve touched on this topic and in pointing out all of the above, I’m definitely not trying to put myself out there as the master of emails, far from it, but it’s always good to take a step back and look at what you’re sending and how it might be coming across.

In the first post in our RSW 2024 Agency New Business report series, we talked average length of time to close business, and now in Part 2, we’re tackling decreasing new business director tenure at ad agencies in 2024.

46% of agencies surveyed reported hiring was somewhat or very difficult so far in 2024

So while Ad Age in June reported worldwide employment for the five largest legacy firms edged up 1.6% in 2023, it’s obviously a different story for small and mid-sized firms, which are predominantly what makes up the bulk of our survey report takers.

For these firms, it’s a constant balancing act.

It can be an imposing task to hire at the salary necessary to bring on a talented new business director with the type of experience that will translate to closed business.

And our initial question here was aimed at hiring generally within the industry, so the challenges don’t lie solely within the new business position.

Per the Leadership Flagship blog:

As Generation Z continues to enter the workforce, their unique values and expectations shape hiring strategies. Today, Gen Z makes up a sizable portion of the global workforce, and their expectations differ markedly from previous generations. They seek purpose-driven work, flexible working conditions, and a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion from employers.

But as we’ll see, hiring for, and retaining, the new business director position are no easy tasks for small and mid-sized firms.

Only 32% of firms hired a full-time new business hunter/director/manager in the past three years, down from previous years.

We’re at an interesting time in business development, where keeping up with technology has never been more important. And this can be quite difficult for small and mid-sized firms, Not only from a financial standpoint, but also in terms of. even knowing what to look for today when hiring for an individual on the business development side. 

An Omnichannel approach has never been more important, as relying solely on email, for example, is not as simple as it was even 5 years ago. 

Indiscriminate “spray and pray” email blasts are not only ineffective but will also put your company domain in jeopardy. 

Agencies currently face hiring an individual who may have a certain level of experience, but who are expensive, and who may or may not be aware of what technology is nice to have or must have. 

And then along with that are the costs of this technology, which can be tough for small and mid-sized firms to acquire. 

(A shout out to our Ops Team and new business directors at RSW, who spend a fair amount of time researching and testing new and different platforms.) 

Decreasing New Business Director Tenure At Ad Agencies

36% of agencies report their last new business hire was unsuccessful, versus 44% last year.

A bright spot here as agencies are apparently seeing some success with the new business directors they are hiring.

And while the spotlight in this post has predominantly fallen on the new business director’s themselves, agency leadership plays a part in this as well.

Once hired, agencies need to reassess how they support and retain these key hires, particularly given the already challenging landscape of acquiring new business.

Finding the right talent, then fostering a supportive environment, and ensuring realistic expectations are crucial to success.

New business director tenure remains short, with 76% lasting 2 years or less, a significant increase from 38% in 2023.

With that being said, the fact remains that tenure of new business directors, to a greater extent than ever in 2024, remains short.

This high turnover rate can have significant implications for mid-sized and small agency growth, and certainly helps explain the overall low rate of hiring for this position in 2024.

One area agencies should assess is how they hire for new business director position.

We typically see one of three mistakes made (along with the understanding of tech, or lack thereof, mentioned above):

  1. Hiring someone green and thinking they can be trained up,
  2. Hiring for their network (which will eventually run out)
  3. Not qualifying the candidate’s inside sales skills thoroughly enough

Continuing our series, we do see some positives on the business development front heading into 2025, but the success and tenure of new business directors at ad agencies remains a real challenge for small and mid-sized firms.

Building Solid List Strategy

Building prospect lists can be challenging and sometimes frustrating – but it doesn’t have to be.

If you start with a solid strategy, the execution can be simple. The goal of a list building strategy is to review the qualifiers that make up the types of companies where your best opportunities lie. And key is staying focused.

In this post, I’m going to dig down into the 5 steps that will get you on the road to developing a kick-butt list building strategy.

A qualifier: these steps are mostly questions you need to ask yourself, so get ready to do a little work:

#1. Analyze your Business

Take a look at the makeup of your firm. Where does your current work lie? What kind of clients are you most often working with. Which are the most profitable, the least time consuming, the greatest joy to work with? Are you spread out among multiple sectors, or, are you more focused?

Additionally, ask yourself where your strengths and weaknesses lie, what sets you apart from other companies operating in your space? What defines you amongst your peers? Building Solid List Strategy

#2. Industry Analysis

Look at the industries you serve. If you have multiple industries you may want to focus your efforts, so determining true fit during any given time period will be an important factor.

For example, are there cyclical considerations that would eliminate or push up a certain sector’s timeline for prospecting? You need to not only think about what you’re building, but when you think the best time is to prospect a given sector.

#3. Geography

Leverage commonality. There are some real efficiencies that can be gained if you’re working with clients that are in the same geography…but obviously that’s not always going to work that way.

#4. Revenue

Proven track record shows that your best opportunities will be amongst those companies within the same revenue range as your current clients.

Start there. And stay there for awhile.

#5. Titles

Typically we like to focus on VP and Director level contacts because those are our decision makers – BUT – this can absolutely fluctuate based on the size of the company we’re targeting.

Don’t be afraid to attack a company on all different levels if the first go-around wasn’t a fit.

Just remember, a successful outreach program is dependent on the quality of prospects on your list- and it all starts with the strategy. Get it done!

Average Length of Time To Close Business 

In our 2024 Agency New Business Report, 83% of agencies told us the average length of time to close business is 1-6 months, up from 75% in 2023. 

And “more than 6 months” has dropped slightly from 18% last year (to 13%), which was the highest percentage since we started asking the question in 2020. 

How does this impact your business development strategy? 

What does this mean in practice for your firm, from a business development standpoint? 

Initially, taking both these stats into consideration, it means the typical sales cycle has shortened slightly compared to the elongated time frames seen in 2023. 

That’s good news, right? 

But then we get some cold water dumped on us from this Ad Age story: 5 challenges facing agency leaders as 2025 looms 

As M.T. Fletcher wrote an Ad Age piece this year, new business pitches are broken—they’ve only continued to get more expensive and dragged out. This continues to be a challenge for agencies heading into 2025. 

Winterton said the pitch process has become so “prolonged.” Adam&eveDDB is in a pitch that was supposed to be done in six months—which have now elapsed—and there is not even feedback on what the outcome might be, she said. 

 Cold water indeed, but these are predominantly larger firms. 

 For a sizeable portion of you reading, you’re not typically in ongoing pitches, they aren’t the norm for small and mid-sized firms. 

 You’re typically in the prospect’s door with an initial project. 

 So that’s good news as well, but it means you’ll have to do what small and mid-sized firms don’t like doing, aren’t good at doing, or don’t have time to do (sometimes all three): nurture those leads to close. 

Average Length of Time To Close Business 

 Average Length of Time To Close Business is 1-6 months – now what?

  1. Establish realistic expectations

Adjust expectations and plan for a lead nurturing process of at least 6 months.  

If the close happens sooner, fantastic. 

As we point out in our report,  

It’s understandably one of the hardest aspects of business development. Most agencies are not built with the business development mindset and flame out on an internal effort 3 or 4 months in, which we can tell you from our almost 19 years of experience in the industry, is not enough time to see the process play out. 

  1. Tighten Up Your Lead Qualification Process

With more time spent on deals, you must focus on the right prospects out of the gate.  

Create a snapshot of your ideal client, with all key parameters, which are, broadly: geography, title, vertical (or verticals) and company revenue. This is a form of pre-qualification that will help you avoid wasted effort on prospects that may never close.  

  1. Build Trust Over Time

Longer deal cycles mean more opportunities to build relationships, especially for small and mid-sized firms.  

Prioritize providing value at each touchpoint, through content and a personalized outreach.  

Show your prospects what it’s like to work with you before they ever do. 

And long-form content, a podcast, or video series are excellent ways to provide that value, but even a few sentences against a trend, article, or new tech will help you accomplish this. 

  1. Improve Your Follow-Up Cadence

As the sales cycle extends, it’s easy to lose momentum.  

Develop a clear follow-up strategy based on established timeframes ahead of time that keeps communication active without overwhelming your prospects.  

  1. Also, Establish those timeframes

I mentioned timeframes above.  

Do your utmost in that first meeting to set the second meeting, or at least a timeline for follow up.  

———————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Preparing for and expecting deals to take time to close will keep you motivated and most importantly, keep frustration at bay. 

(And you will still get frustrated at some point, but at least you’ll be more prepared.) 

chatGPT's Top Professional Services Marketing Tactics

Thought I’d take a look and see what our good friend chatGPT had to say about this.

chatGPT's Top Professional Services Marketing Tactics

Not too far off of what we might recommend. Pretty impressive.

Here are chat’s thoughts on Professional Services marketing:

There are several effective marketing tactics that businesses can use to reach and engage their target audience. Here are some of the top tactics:

Content Marketing: Creating and sharing valuable content that educates, informs, and entertains your audience can help you establish thought leadership, build trust, and generate leads.

Social Media Marketing: Using social media platforms to share content, engage with followers, and run targeted ads can help you expand your reach and increase brand awareness.

Email Marketing: Sending personalized emails to prospects and customers can help you nurture leads, promote your products/services, and build lasting relationships.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Optimizing your website and content for search engines can help you attract more organic traffic, generate leads, and increase your online visibility.

Account-Based Marketing (ABM): Focusing your marketing efforts on specific accounts or target companies can help you tailor your messaging, improve engagement, and close more deals.

Influencer Marketing: Partnering with industry influencers or thought leaders can help you reach new audiences, build credibility, and increase brand awareness.

Video Marketing: Creating engaging videos that showcase your products/services, share customer success stories, or provide educational content can help you increase engagement and drive conversions.

It’s worth noting that the most effective marketing tactics may vary depending on your industry, target audience, and business goals. A comprehensive marketing strategy may include a combination of these tactics to achieve the best results.

This is me talking/typing…

So while all of this is good and mostly spot on, if you’re operating in the Professional Services space and you’re “doing things” without really thinking about how it all ties together, what your end-goal is, or how effectively different tactics or combination of tactics are delivering for you, then you might want to sit down with your marketing team (or your agency if you use one) and do a bit of a re-set. Tactics for tactics sake aren’t the answer. And impressions or “likes” are a feel-good outcome, but they don’t buy you leads or business.