Thunderclap

Hola, new business development fan. You might need this for your prospecting files. Saw that Yahoo just hired a new CMO. Here’s the Ad Age story. Here’s another story. But I really question if this is going into review. Only because this is a promotion. The marketer with the new title has been promoted after running the marketing for two years.

Working on this brand would be fun. Remember when they were the leaders? Time flies in tech.

It’s Friday. And this afternoon, I’m short timing it. Much like…wait for it…a kid’s last day of school. And quite possibly, your next new business pitch.

What this few hundred will get at is how you can tell you are wasting your time in a pitch. The post was inspired by a comment a friend of mine made on Facebook. They said the next few days of her children’s education will be wasted because no one wants to be there. Everyone is going through the motions. Kids are thinking about their summers. Teachers, too, are no doubt thinking about how they will enjoy the next few months.

Who hasn’t felt this way in a new business pitch? Like the potential clients are not paying attention to your thinking and creative brilliance? All that waste is enough to make one race out of the classroom, never to return.

In some pitches, the outcome was already determined earlier. And what you’re pitching doesn’t matter. So no one is truly engaged in the pitch event. When your prospects are looking at their blackberries and iPhones instead of you, that’s no good. But that suggests you’re well done the pitch path. You need to know sooner.

So, just how do you know that your audience is not taking you seriously? Here are a few things to consider:

You’re invited by procurement
You’re on the pitch list because someone paid to come up with options did a bit of research or heard you might be a good agency. The manner in which you were invited also counts. Was it via email? A phone call? An engraved invitation only sent to five agencies? Don’t know about you, but the last one would get my attention.

You don’t know any of the decision-makers
Closely related to the above thought. But if you or someone on your team doesn’t have a relationship…odds are not in your favor. The kids are looking out the window…

Your questions are met with non-answers
Typically, this happens earlier in the process. But when you get bad, not helpful or politically correct, meaningless answers? Another sign. Your sense of their willingness to participate is also a qualifying factor, right?

No love
What I mean here is no special treatment or enthusiasm. No flexibility. Easier to see this in person than over the phone. But over the phone, for instance, should you experience pauses, voice tightness, interruptions, and a general unwillingness to build conversation synergy…Alice Cooper is blaring.

A great spin on “no love” is from pitch guru Don Peppers. Read about that here. Look for the idea of testing your relationship late in the post.

Anywho, hope the above gets you thinking.

Should you be wishing to avoid crickets in new business pitches, look here. It’s a series of posts that will inspire you to more full engage and convince your prospect you are the agency for them.

If, however, you’re thinking about the above through a lens of qualifying your prospect, take a look at this.

Thanks.

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Hello again, new business fan! Today’s few hundred words detail another resource from the Thunderclap files. The Harvard Business Review blogs. Very smart stuff here that will help improve your new business development efforts. What follows are some quick thoughts.

Jumpstart strategic thinking
Either or yourself or for a prospect or a client. Here’s a great example. This smart post illustrates four ways a company can stay relevant.This particular article is written by David Aaker, a thought leader who has published more than 100 articles and 15 books on marketing and branding. This post could be something you could pass along to your pitch, planning or account management teams. Or maybe even – gasp – a potential client.

Identify a few potential partners
While I have no idea if Mssr. Aaker is open to some sort of win-win partnership, he’s not the only writer on their blog. Many of these professionals write for the purposes of business development. They might welcome a call should you have a good idea or opportunity.

Demonstrate you are current and smart
Kinda goes with saying. But what I have always loved about the kind of writing seen in HBR is it’s clarity and simplicity. Harvard Business Review is a well regarded brand. Just reading what’s on their blog makes me sound and look smarter. Imagine what your potential clients and existing clients would think.

Here’s a thought or two on what I look at when I use this work on behalf of agencies. Of course, your mileage will vary. It really depends on usage context. And while you might read about some specific examples, that stuff is zipped in Thunderclap’s cone of silence. But here you go:

• Avoid posts written by other agencies. Generally speaking, not that great an idea. I try to stick with people that are general management consultants, and better known authors. People or people at brands that already have some awareness. This adds impact.
• Check out the “more popular” links. This is a quick way to determine what might be in the minds of your target: business readers. You can check all sorts of metrics: most read, most shared, etc. Smart.

Anywho, hope this helps. Thanks. And happy surfing.

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Hello, agency new business development fans. Wanted to make sure you had this in your resource rolodex. Because it could be a great way to make your pitch presentations a more simple and effective. Are you familiar with Indexed? Very cool site run by Jessica Hagy, an illustrator known for her a style of drawing charts and diagrams that make things easier to understand. As she describes it, “visual storytelling with a twist, a shout and sometimes a snort.” Good stuff.

There are lots of ways to use this unique and interesting technique in your new business pitches. Here are just a few:

• Summarize a key thought or insight
• Demonstrate a potential client opportunity
• Point out how you are different than other agencies

What follows are two tactical representations of how to present this style of work. Both in a good way and maybe not so good way…

A good way.
Jessica’s own site. A teaser-type headline, and then a graphic that pays it off.

Maybe not so good.
Check out how Forbes does it. They lead with the graphic, then pay it off with some copy. To me, not as effective. And honestly, I didn’t see how this works at first. The problem is the number. You want to read the number and associate the graphic below it with that number. At least I do. Particularly if I’m just scanning the article. Maybe it could be fixed simply by taking out the number.

Tricky business, this. You will probably not have this challenge in a pitch room.

(By the way, Forbes has been really hitting it out of the park with some terrific CMO-focused content. Should absolutely be on your reading list.)

Full disclosure: she has a Google page full of resources that have talked her up. (So, yours truly might be the only person that wasn’t aware of her work. I just dug it and thought you might find it helpful in your new business development efforts.)

Should you be interested in working with her, feel free to contact her at this site. She’s based on the West coast and can work remotely.

Happy pitching.

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Hello there, fan of new business development for your ad agency. Yours truly read a story in Ad Age the other day about how some big agencies are creating a new position: Chief Transition Officer. Someone who leads the on-boarding process as your new client transitions from the incumbent. A fine idea. And not just for big agencies. So, what’s the small agency version of this?!

How about a Chief Experience Officer?

Hmmm.

I love this idea. It captures the soft side of a client / agency relationship. The human side. The people involved in delivering and receiving our Professional Service. It’s one thing to create and manage ideas that make money for a client. But when we talk about “experience,” we’re talking about the bits your agency can control to help ensure happiness. This, in turn, leads to a longer, more profitable relationship, new business referrals and more revenue for your agency.

This role was recently created at HY Connect, a terrific mid-sized, independent agency with offices in Milwaukee and Chicago. To learn more about their take on the position, I recently connected with Kellie Bliss, the professional in the role. We covered two basic questions.

What is the role of the Chief Experience Officer at your agency?
Kellie suggests this senior-level professional is responsible for ensuring success. HY Connect sums this up best: it is focused on improving and accelerating HY Connect’s ability to adapt to every client’s needs and exceed their expectations.

And just as important? The agency’s staff.

You will see this in some of the functions of the position:

• Defining & improving use / sharing of best practices across specialties and departments
• Streamline and enhance priority customer touch-points. This includes new client on-boarding, developing client retreats, and leading the development of agency thought leadership and value-added intellectual property.
• Improved training:  developing an energized & competent staff that delivers an energizing (or inspiring) experience

How is this different than the Account Service leadership function?
The Chief Experience Officer at HY Connect does not drive client business strategy, manage day-to-day responsibilities for client management or get work out the door. Rather, the position is a resource available to account management to help cross-sell and up-sell agency services and ensure Account Service has what they need.

I’ve known this agency for years and have come to admire them. They understand the values of culture, relationship and partnership. It has served them well – for nearly 80 years.

Should your agency also hold these tenets close to your heart, consider how the role of Chief Experience Officer could work at your agency.

Should you wish to contact Kellie Bliss, feel free to do so here.

And if you’d like to know more about an agency experience audit, check this out. Or, maybe you’d like to read about reversing a slump…

Thanks. Hope this gets you thinking! Oh, and should you have any thoughts on improving your experience on this website and blog, feel free to lemme know at your convenience.

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