Ben Potter argues that although many agencies have become more efficient during the pandemic, there are still those that must sharpen their positioning to prevent common mistakes in pitching.
Ben Potter offers a canvas for helping agencies develop their business development and marketing plan and avoid yo-yoing revenue.
For agency owners, 2020 has been a mixed bag at best. But now that the worst is (hopefully) behind us and agencies are turning their attention to addressing important issues like positioning, Ben Potter takes a hard look at the nebulous concept of agency ‘purpose’ – and whether it’s really needed at all.
Ask an agency owner to name their biggest challenge and, chances are, business development will be up there. According to the Wow Company’s most recent Benchpress report, 44% of agencies named it their number one challenge (up from 38% in 2018).
Last year, my young family and I relocated from Brighton to the Leicestershire countryside.
Towards the end of last year, I explored how the same tired words and phrases are regurgitated and recycled by agencies, to the point where they have become pretty much meaningless. Yes, I was the one that ripped your agency proposition to shreds. Sorry about that.
I spend my days looking at agency websites, reviewing creds and asking agency owners to explain why a prospective client would choose to work with them. Sometimes people even pay me for this privilege.
We’ve all been there. The team have put together the monthly stats report. The numbers are all going in the right direction. In fact, since you started working with the client, results have been fantastic.
High fives all round. Head to the pub for much backslapping and a celebratory pint.
In the recently published Benchpress agency survey, 38% of agencies stated that winning business was their biggest challenge.
Whilst the specific reasons were not cited, I have a theory.
Inevitably, the resource, skills and processes for winning business differ greatly from agency to agency. However, I have found there to be three issues, common to many agencies, that impact their ability to win and retain the right clients (and therefore to grow).
For many small agency owners there comes a day when investing in a business development manager (BDM) is not only financially viable but integral to the next phase of growth.
Speaking to agency owners over the years, their efforts at recruiting and managing a BDM often don’t work out. The solution was the right one but the execution failed.
A while back, I shared 10 guiding principles to help small digital agencies win more business. The pop-pickers amongst you would have noticed that ‘proposition me’ came in at number two.
A relevant, compelling and credible value proposition is very much the foundation of a successful business development strategy, so let’s spend some time taking a closer look at what it is, why it’s important and how to go about creating one.