 | 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. |
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Blair Enns blogs about agency business development, free pitching and occasionally, life in Kaslo.
ReCourses New Business Summit | 11 October 2011For the ninth year in a row I'll be joining David C. Baker in hosting the ReCourses New Business Summit in Nashville this January. It's three days out of the office dedicated entirely to shaping the business development function of your firm...  Topics: Timely Online Business Development Training | 23 June 2011We've just completed the task of organizing ten years of writing and three years of monthly webcasts into six online training program that you can use for do-it-yourself positioning, business development training, and managing of people and processes... Topics: WWP Selling System Getting Paid | 4 May 2011At the end of a recent workshop one of the participants said something like, "This is all good advice, but the real issue is how do you help me grow some balls?"
After ten years I still find it odd - funny, even - that business people struggle to muster the internal fortitude to apply basic business principles to their business.
Meet one designer who doesn't... From Generalist to Specialist | 27 February 2011I recently interviewed Suzanne Shelton, principal of The Shelton Group in Knoxville, TN, in preparation for the March WWP webcast, Branded Studies. Beyond Suzanne's use of branded studies, I was most interested in the story of her firm's transition from generalist to specialist, including her struggles and misgivings along the way... Getting More Out of LinkedIn | 16 January 2011We all use LinkedIn, but few of use it well. That's about to change. Jan Vermeiren, the world's leading LinkedIn expert, is joining us for a one-hour webcast on Advanced Strategies for LinkedIn... Topics: Lead Generation, Social Media Why I Charge More | 5 January 2011Sometimes we do it for the money, don't we? The irony is that the less money we're paid, the more likely we are to be doing it for the money. When we're paid well, it's suddenly about something much bigger... Topics: Pricing Expert Lead Generation | 10 November 2010Meet four agency principals who have written books on their areas of expertise. Each will be my guest in a special round-table format of the Win Without Pitching webcast in February that is part of an extended series on Expert Lead Generation that kicks off next month... Topics: Lead Generation Tell Me Ten Things | 20 September 2010I often meet creative folks who acknowledge the importance of specializing and then say something like "we specialize in branding." If you want to really measure the validity of the claim you've been making, try this exercise... Topics: Positioning What To Look For in Business Development Candidates | 9 September 2010Summer is over and people are hiring. I've had a few conversations this week with creative firm principals looking to hire new business development personnel, so I promised to post some advice on the subject here... Topics: Personnel Negotiating With Procurement | 28 August 2010Few topics make me grind my teeth like the subject of procurement’s role in hiring creative firms. These people aren't going away however so we need to get better at dealing with them. I have just the man to help you... Topics: Procurement Online Positioning Program | 20 July 2010 If you were to hire me to help you reposition your firm I would walk you through seven steps. These seven steps are now captured in an online positioning program that you can do yourself, in seven lessons... Topics: Positioning Reading The WWP Manifesto on Your Mobile Device | 14 July 2010 The Win Without Pitching Manifesto is available for free reading online, but it can also be downloaded (for $19) for reading on your computer in PDF format or on your phone or other mobile device in epub format.
This post explains how to get the book onto your device... A Global Standard on Design Procurement | 12 February 2010 Two interesting events on opposite sides of the world this week provide fodder for panels on Global Design Procurement that I'll be moderating at ICOGRADA's Design Week in Vancouver in April and APDF in New York in May... Topics: Procurement Procurement God | 8 February 2010 A laugh at the games clients and agencies play to circumvent an ill-conceived or poorly administered procurement process. Topics: Procurement, Interesting Positioning Transitions | 27 January 2010 Once you choose a new focus for your firm, what are your options for getting from where you are now to where you want to be?
There are four... Topics: Positioning Enthusiasm | 10 December 2009 Firms often play up their enthusiasm for the account in business development situations, but this almost always sends the wrong signals and attracts the worst types of clients... Designer Certification | 8 December 2009 I've softened my opposition to the call for certification of designers as a means to combat free pitching. Sort of... Topics: Free Pitching, Timely Dude, I'm Tweeting! | 1 December 2009 Social media IS business development. Kind of, sometimes, maybe... Topics: Lead Generation, Social Media How to Write a Proposal | 27 November 2009 The seven sections of the can't-miss written proposal are finally revealed to the world. Behold! Community | 23 November 2009 Building community with social media. Topics: Social Media The Rise and Fall of Procurement | 19 November 2009 Frustration with procurement's failed attempts to drive efficiencies into aqcuiring creative, marketing and other professional services is starting to boil over... Topics: Procurement, Timely Honest Intentions | 17 November 2009 The real reason the client wants a proposal... Topics: Proposals Welcome to Kaslo | 20 October 2009 I get asked about Kaslo a lot in my travels, and I've long promised that I would tell more of the story of this tiny village in the mountains of British Columbia that's been home for almost 10 years. I'll start here... Topics: Random Mistakes in Positioning Language | 16 April 2009There's a standard set of words that a lot of undifferentiated firms use to try describe how they're different and why they should be hired. I've commented on terms like full service, strategic, responsive and others ad nauseum over the years (and I'll comment on them so more in next week's newsletter, Seven Words You Can't Say in Business Development) but there's one phrase I've heard over and over but never really saw a pattern of use until recently.
The phrase is, "We get it." Topics: Positioning Two Tips for Telephone Introductions | 9 April 2009Jim Camp, in Start With No, his book on Win-Lose negotiating, makes the point that in any negotiation only one party can be okay. By that he means one party is going to feel more comfortable and confident than the other. The surprising part of his guidance is that he claims it should be the other party and not you who feels this way.. Topics: Lead Generation Bermuda Bound | 29 July 2008
The 2009 event will see some significant changes. It will be two full days, with more workshop components that allow participants to develop and formalize some new diagnostic processes. Stay tuned... Oh Lord... | 26 February 2008I am not going to preface this link with comments, other than to say that it's likely brought to us by the people behind Huh? Corp.
Judge not... ah Hell, judge away. ;)
http://www.christvertising.com Returning to the Scene of the Crime | 21 February 2008
My message went over well enough (although I got poor marks for my rusty and wooden style!) that I was invited back two years later. David Baker has now ended his involvement with the conference that he co-founded, but the event is soldiering on (now an annual event again after two stints as a biannual) in Austin the weekend of September 25th, 2008. I've been invited back this year to do the opening keynote, giving me a rare opportunity to take back some of the things I said five years ago.
But will I? The Lichens Reunite in Kaslo | 20 February 2008Earlier this winter (while I was on the road unfortunately) the famous '60's rock band The Lichens reunited for a concert here in tiny little Kaslo, BC Canada.
In this YouTube video you get a little glimpse of our tiny village, as seen through the eyes of The Lichens lead singer Nicholas Dodge, AKA, The Randemic. Banff, Anyone? | 19 February 2008Closing for Creative Firms is a seminar/workshop that I've done once a year for the last few years. It's primarily focused on building and using process-framed case studies to help derail a pitch and close business without having to write a proposal. For this year's event I was targeting the Bahamas in March, but my schedule got away from me (plus a month in Barbados over Christmas gave me my island fix for awhile).
Plan B, however, is Banff, one of the world's most beautiful places... |
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