5 underused ways of winning new business

When you do get some time to dedicate to getting the attention of prospective clients it can be hard to think beyond what you’ve done before. It can feel strenuous and unnatural.

But I know with a few simple activities in place, that you repeat consistently, you can have a far greater effect.

Here are a few techniques you might not have used before.

Ps. I work with my coaching clients to build new business and marketing routines for their agencies, that feel so natural, they never feel the ‘grubbiness’ of selling again (their words not mine). If you’d like to know more, let’s have a talk. Book a call with me here.

1. Ask what they want

   When I entered an agency I couldn’t believe that we weren’t taking the time to ask the client what they were actually focusing on in the coming year. We were too busy being ‘assertive’. AKA, telling the client what they needed instead of listening.

   In my previous role, working as a new business manager across multiple agencies and multiple disciplines, my 50+ daily calls with decision makers always focussed on what their upcoming priorities were. The response on behalf of the agency would always focus on an honest assessment of how we could cater to their needs, and what value and experience we had to contribute. The call to meeting ratio was 5:1, impressive for cold contacts, and I think this comes down to one key differentiator: clients want to work with an agency that listens. 

2. Grow existing new business 

   The value of repeat business from loyal clients is often overlooked in favour of the sexiness of winning pitches, celebrating with the team, and adding a new logo to the client section of your website. But nurturing existing customers and looking for new opportunities within their businesses is an easy win. If you have truly tackled everything already, think again but beyond the obvious: look at the parent company, other brands in the portfolio, NPD they might have in the pipeline. Where can you add value? Ask to be introduced to colleagues within the client business if opportunities are beyond the remit of the decision maker you work with.

    

3. Keep in touch with junior clients

   Marketers have an average life span of 2.5 year at each brand. And often lower down the ranks, that time is less. Don’t underestimate the leg work that the junior members of the client team are doing to make your joint project a reality. Be mindful of how you treat them in meetings, and when discussing a project with their manager. Take care to spot those who have the most promising connection to your way of working, and be sure to keep tabs on where they move in their career. Connect on LinkedIn, celebrate their life events when appropriate with a gift and card, drop them a line now and then. And when the time is right, and they become a decision maker themselves (which might be soon, if you can spot talent!) make sure you reconnect and put yourself in the running for their business.

4. Ask for referrals

   Connections on LinkedIn, exchange of business cards, agency Christmas cards. All these things are a sign of mutual respect between two contacts. So put it to use when the moment is right. When considering your new business targets, never go in with a cold approach if you share a mutual connection. 

   Take the time to check LinkedIn: who do you have in common? Who can you ask to send a cc’d email introducing you? 

   Annex Cloud offers these stats from other industries to fuel this idea in your head: 

   • Referred customers bring you 25% higher profit margin. 

   • A referred customer is 18% more loyal than a customer acquired by other means. 

   • Referred customers are 4 times more likely to refer more customers to your brand. 

   • Customers referred by other customers have a 37% higher customer retention rate.

5. Tell them what you do

   All too often I work with agencies who haven’t managed to communicate their full capabilities. I get it. Marketing is a vast arena, and full of lexical semantic landmines. A description of your services for the new website, that your management team spend 2 weeks labouring over in the boardroom, might mean zilch to the prospect. And in some cases I’ve seen it lead to frustration down the road when the client has hired 2 or 3 consultancies, when one would have been capable of managing the full brief in house. 

   So make sure you take the time to remind your existing clients (as well as your future ones) what it is that you can do. It might be more than they thought, and it might well lead to more business. 

   Unclear of how to accurately describe what your agency offers?
   Want to implement a marketing plan that draws inbound new business to your agency? 
   Book a phone consultation with Kaffeen founder Charlotte.

   It’s free, and she’ll use her 10+ years of agency marketing expertise to narrow down the areas of focus your business needs to concentrate on, to win the attention of your new business prospects. You can choose a time that suits your diary here.