 | Win Without Pitching is the business development consulting firm for ad agencies and design firms that believe there is a better way to build a marketing communication agency. |
|
We Will Refuse to Work at a LossWe will build our practice one profitable assignment at a time. Excepting our carefully selected pro bono engagements and the occasional favor to our best and longest standing clients, every project will generate a profit that recognizes our expertise and the value we bring to our clients’ businesses.
~ wwp ~
We will strive to win while charging more and thus validate our expert positioning. If we are not accomplishing this feat, then we have not yet succeeded in implementing the earlier proclamations.
We must dispossess ourselves of the notion that we can operate on thin profit margins at the beginning of a new client relationship and then work to increase those margins over time. We know that profit margin, like power, only diminishes with time.
The tenth proclamation builds on the others before it: the need for diagnosis before prescription, the need for selectivity, the need to discuss issues of money early. Not only will we meet our obligation to diagnose before we prescribe, but we will selectively work for those clients willing to pay us for such an approach.
We Are Hired to Begin at the BeginningLike the medical professionals that our four-phase model of diagnose, prescribe, apply and reapply suggests, our highest value offering is our ability to bring new perspective and understanding to our clients’ problems. Success at each phase depends on getting the earlier ones correct. The first two phases of diagnose and prescribe represent the strategic portion of the engagement—the thinking phases that precede the doing. Our strength in these first two phases is what sets us apart from our competition and keeps the commoditizing forces of the profession at bay. The thinking that precedes and wraps our doing is our value-added differentiator. It is the basis of our deep expertise. Our opportunity for profit margin in the engagement is greatest in these first two phases and diminishes from there.
No client will willingly allow us to reverse this natural trend and command more profit margin as time goes on. We must admit that an approach that sees us sacrifice significant margin to win business with hopes of making it up later is rooted either in naivety, a false agreement with a client who is telling us what we want to hear, or in our own dishonest intentions of hoping to find profit that is not visible to the client.
A key test remains to win while charging more. When we win by charging less, price becomes our positioning that we wear like an albatross with that client forever: we become the price shop. Previous Page: Walking Away Next Page: On Discounting Table of Contents Own the Manifesto
| Amazon Reviews
Expert Creatives Can Make Money Too
Anyone in any creative field MUST read this book! “Blair gives every designer the information they need to change the dynamics of the client relationship, become more profitable and deliver higher quality work - if they have the balls to follow his advice!”
I believe. ”I
used to hate my job of selling creative services. Blair and his
principles taught me how to turn selling and manipulation into helping
and serving. Cold calls became introductions. Unsure of my next step
became clarity. I believe...”
Stop Selling, Start Serving - But please don't give it away! “I
have been in the agency world in new business development for over 25
years and have read all the books - Blair wrote this book for me.... and
everyone that sells creative solutions. The Win Without Pitching
Manifesto is a must read by any agency owner, leader or new business
pro.”
The 12 steps a Creative Firm must take “The
book is simple, direct, engaging, and will smack you in the head about
all the false "have-to's" in the sales process of our profession. I am
on my second copy of the book. The first copy is highlighted, marked,
folded and covered in scribbles of my notes.”
Build a better way of bringing the best business to your shop "The
Win Without Pitching Manifesto is the most important book we've read in
the last 5 years on how to build and grow a better service business.
It's required reading for our partner team and anyone in our firm who
participates directly in new business and client engagement.”
Best book I've read on design/marketing firm business development “I just finished reading this slim book cover-to-cover, having highlighted about three-quarters of the copy. It's not an exaggeration to say that I've come away with a renewed sense of hope about the future of our business.”
Concise writing, invaluable solutions “[The
Win Without Pitching Manifesto] will make a valuable addition to your
business philosophy library. The respectful treatment of creative
businesses will enchant the loopy creative mindset into focus. The
writing is concise, the solutions are invaluable.”
Sell Anything by Following this Manifesto “No matter what business you are in, if you have to sell or present your services this book offers the guidance to be disciplined about the process.”
Essential reading for the creative business owner “The Win Without Pitching Manifesto is a long overdue wake-up call to all those running [creative] businesses. How to establish yourself not just as the agency of choice but as the must-have agency and to command a price premium to match. Great stuff.” |
At last: The secret to being creative AND successful© 2012 Enmark Performance Development All rights reserved
