Refreshing Your Outdated Agency New Business Roadmap
This article, Refreshing Your Outdated Agency New Business Roadmap, is part of our Destination RSW Summer Blog Series, designed to help you navigate the hazards encountered on the road to new business.
We’ll have new challenges featured throughout the summer, so be sure to check back in each week for a look at the latest content!
Following up on our first post, The Ad Agency New Business Roundabout, we’re talking about refreshing your confusing/outdated new business process, or for the purposes of our series, your outdated agency new business roadmap.
Understanding that an actual map is somewhat anachronistic, feel free to insert GPS instead.
If you’re using that old Garmin from the 2000s, or you somehow never updated your Google Maps or Waze app, you’d generally be in trouble, right?
Directionally, at least.
If you don’t update your new business process, your agency could ultimately be in similar trouble.
For anyone on navigation duty these days, there’s no word more daunting than “rerouting”.
Don’t let your new business roadmap fall prey to the same lack of direction – take the time to establish an informed, modern process, and use it to keep the pedal on the gas toward your next piece of work.
Don’t fall back on an outdated plan – your methods need to change with the market, and a new strategy is a great first step.
So-you know you need a roadmap/new business refresh.
Here are 4 steps you should start with to make sure you’re moving in the right direction:
1) Examine Your Current Positioning
Think of your positioning as the fuel that gets your vehicle moving.
Without fuel, you get nowhere, and with ineffective positioning, your new business program goes nowhere.
(We featured more on positioning in this episode of 3 Takeaways: 3 Takeaways Ep33 – The Ad Agency Positioning Delusion?)
Your current agency positioning may be on the right track, but to make sure, start by sharing it with members of the team who aren’t typically involved in new business, and with someone completely outside the agency.
Does it make sense, in 3 sentences or less (to start.)
Essentially does it concisely explain-
-Who you are,
-What you do, and,
-Who you do it for?
2) Start Small
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen agencies bite off way more than they can chew.
Intentions are good, but they start off tackling way too much at a pace that can’t be sustained.
Start off by nailing down 20-30 ideal companies to go after.
And plan to post a thought leadership-driven blog post every 2 weeks. (Or on LinkedIn if you don’t have a blog).
Prospect against those 20-30 for a month, planning on an hour each day or 2 every other day.
As you prospect, plan on sending a link to that post you wrote that falls, ideally, within the vertical you’re pursuing.
See where you are after that first month and adjust. Do more if you can.
(This should be of help : A Simple 3-Step Plan For Agency New Business)
3) Technology Is Your Friend, But Don’t Let It Overwhelm You
In keeping with #2 above, all the ongoing new tech is glamorous and cool, but what do you really need?
You really need a CRM and email platform that tracks opens and clicks. That’s what you really need for a solid agency new business roadmap.
Once you have those two things, you can start to research, add other platforms/software.
Don’t get buried with all kinds of tech you’ll never use.
4) Zig When They Zag
If you’re on the highway, you don’t want to go the same way everyone else is going if there’s a better route less traveled.
You know your competition is most likely prospecting with emails and on LinkedIn.
They are probably not picking up the phone to reach out to prospects.
They are probably not using any form of direct mail.
They are probably not creating a lot of content. But that’s one you can actually check on, right?
The first two you probably don’t know for a fact, but people generally don’t like to prospect via phone, for example.
Email and LinkedIn are great prospecting tools, but relying on them solely will not get you to your brand new client destination.
Mix up your platforms and use each of them in concert with each other.
That way, you’re not hitting your prospects too often with any one platform, and you have a better chance of actually breaking through, while still following your new business roadmap.
