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The Win Without Pitching Newsletter

The Legal Implications of Issuing an RFP | January 2012

Two Canadian court decisions have changed the procurement landscape, opening clients to significant legal exposure from ill-conceived tenders. This article explores the rulings and their implications in Canada and the rest of the world...

A Bite from the Apple | October 2011

The passing of Steve Jobs has left many of us contemplating his impact on our lives beyond the devices we now take for granted. Perhaps even more important than the technology itself, Jobs left behind some powerful business lessons for us. We’re all going to draw different lessons and inspirations from the man; here are the some of them that I’ve gleaned...

The Impact of Creative Quality on Business Development Success | June 2011

Every so often I encounter a firm where the creative is so good that I think I may have discovered one that can resist the economic argument to specialize. So, about once a year or so I'm faced with the question that won’t go away: can this firm be built on the position of more creative?

The Evolution of Confidence | March 2011

I once played a first game of chess with a friend in which he destroyed me with his opening move. In the very first second of the game he had me panicked - robbed of my ability to think clearly. The only thing that was clear at that moment was that he would beat me quickly, with much humiliation. The prophecy did indeed did come to pass...

Meeting Madness | January 2011

Picking up on the theme of my last article, Five Things to Master in the New Year, there’s another area that most of us would do well to work on at a time when we’re making promises to ourselves: new business meetings. And I don’t mean we should strive to get more of them...

Five Things to Master in the New Year | November 2010

As there are less than 20 meaningful days of business left in the year, it's time to start thinking about what we might do differently in 2011. Here are three things that everyone can commit to mastering next year, and two more for the ambitious...

Voicemail: To Leave or Not to Leave? | August 2010

For years I counseled that rather than leave a voicemail when doing telephone introductions, you're better off hanging up and dialing again at a later date. Then someone explained the dynamics of cold calls and voicemail to me in a new light: "Knowledge is power..."

Five Positioning Mistakes | April 2010

After almost ten years of advising creative businesses on their positioning, I've looked back to find the five most common mistakes that I've witnessed. If you’re repositioning your firm, use this guide to help you avoid the mistakes I’ve seen and even contributed to over the years...

Becoming the Expert | November 2009

A simple, 5-question Business Development Scorecard will help you grade every new client and opportunity, helping to ensure that you stay on strategy and reinvent your firm one new client at a time.

Are You Hard-Wired for Business Development Success? | October 2009

Can you predict who is most likely to succeed? Nine years into advising creative people on how to sell their services I have come to see that the variability of our individual hard-wiring not only predicts our likelihood of success, but what strategy we will select in our pursuit of success.

Social Media Sins | September 2009

I'm relatively new to social media and a light user. But I can't get over the 'rules' of how we're supposed to use these tools. Turns out, I'm breaking most of them. I know I'm not doing it right, and I don't care. Begin rant...

16 Brief Points of Free Pitching | August 2009

Two of my favorite things collided this week when author and blogger Tim Ferriss put out a call for a design contest on 99designs.com to design the cover for his new book. It was picked up by free pitching watchdogs No!Spec and @specwatch and the debate was on.

The Polite Battle for Control | July 2009

In simple terms, agency business development can be described as the polite battle for control. In this brief 20-point thesis on modern day business development philosophy for marketing communication agencies, Blair Enns makes the argument for control as the goal.

Pitches, Search Consultants & Hissing Cockroaches | June 2009

Agencies and clients are squaring off in mixed camps over whether pitches run by Zappos and  Portand Online are handled fairly or are even appropriate to begin with. I thought I would dust off this article that I wrote in 2004.

Seven Words You Can't Say in Business Development | May 2009

A couple of years ago I wrote an article titled, ‘I Wish I’d Said That: Seven sentences to get you out of sticky situations.’ Just as there are words you can employ to helpful means, there are also words that you should avoid to keep you out of trouble and in control of the buy-sell relationship. Here are seven of them.

The Armor-Piercing Introduction | April 2009

Even the most specialized firms are capable of delivering a range of services that are broader than their declared specialization. It’s tempting, therefore, when making a telephone introduction, to pursue all the work that your firm is capable of instead of focusing on the work that it is best at. The mathematics say that if you throw more offerings at a prospect, there’s a greater chance of finding a matching need. But the math is wrong.

Four Reasons to Write | January 2009

Agency business development is a cocktail of sales, marketing and public relations activities. To be successful, your firm has to possess assets in each area. While the business development assets of individuals and firms vary, and therefore their approaches to business development vary, there are a couple of assets your firm cannot get by without. One of them is the ability to write...

7 Tips for Selling Into a Recession | October 2008

The past few years have been great ones to be in the creative business. While some firms struggled with increasing competitiveness as the number of firms increased with demand, overall there was a lot of money made. That was then.

I won't pretend to understand the nuances of how the US sub-prime mortgage market started the current economic downturn, and I certainly won't try to predict how bad things will get or how far this will spread, but right now if you’re the worrying type, there’s lots to worry about.

So what should you be focusing on in times like this?

The Cost of Creativity | August 2008

Thinking back on the early days of my agency career I recall that sense of enthusiasm that used to arise when we pursued engagements that we’d never handled before, like a prospect in a category that we hadn’t previously worked in, or an opportunity in a new and evolving medium. It was these pitches that got us stoked more than the tried and true, been-there-done-that ones. As creative people in a creative business my colleagues and I were always drawn to anything new and different. And we suffered for it.

The Five Objections | April 2008

I spent the early part of my consulting practice advising you on using classic selling techniques to help overcome objections raised by the prospect in the buy-sell cycle. Over time it became clear that rather than trying to overcome these objections, you should be raising them for the prospect to overcome. I wrote about this idea of racing to object in the August, 2006 issue of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter, titled Creating Objections. This month I go deeper into this subject by exploring the five most common objections that you should arm yourself with, for use early in the buying cycle as a means of quickly shifting the power from buyer to seller.

Five Rules for Pursuing Project Work | March 2008

Some firms don't take project work at all, while for others project revenue vastly outstrips the income from their few ongoing clients. What's the proper role of project work in your firm, and what's the proper approach to pursuing or vetting it? In this issue of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter I lay out some specific guidelines on projects as a part of your overall client mix, and the rules of pursuing and accepting project work.

Business Development Compensation | January 2008

How and how much should a marketing communication firm pay its business development personnel? While there is no easy answer, following these five steps should help lead to a compensation (pay) plan that works for employee and employer. This article builds on December 2007's Win Without Pitching Newsletter issue, Business Development Planning, which discussed setting proper goals, aligning performance incentives and forecasting results. Together, these two articles should help to point you toward business development success in 2008.

Business Development Planning | November 2007

With less than two months until the start of a new year, it's time to start thinking about business development planning.

Planning begins with the setting of goals and while we all know the value of goal setting, too often a marketing communication firm's business development achievements are hampered by aiming at the wrong goals. Add to this some common problems of poorly aligned compensation incentives and ineffective forecasting techniques and you get a toxic brew that can result in a labor-intensive year of much activity and not much real financial success.

In this article I lay out three simple steps to avoid the above and set your firm up for a year of business development success.

Google's Impact on Business Development | August 2007

In his 2006 book The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More, Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson explores how technology has enabled many businesses to exploit tiny, previously unviable niche markets rather than chase the lowest common denominator mass markets. One set of such enabling technologies is what he calls filters, which give us the ability to easily sort through large amounts of information and find what's most relevant. One of the most powerful and certainly most ubiquitous of such filters is Google. The World Wide Web and its first modern browser Mosaic brought us a world of tangled information. And then Google came along and organized it, changing the rules to many games including the game of how agencies and their clients come together.

Product: Proving Your Expertise | June 2007

Okay, you've repositioned your firm as a narrowly focused expert. Now what, you ask? Now, my friend, you ask yourself the product question: What skills, capabilities and processes do you need to add to support your positioning? While positioning is rooted in a claim of expertise, product represents your ability to prove such a claim. The further you progress into the buying cycle the more important such proof becomes.

Are You Really Needed? | April 2007

I love you; I’m here to help. Sit in the circle.

This issue of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter is one man's long over-due intervention for the creative services industry.

The Right People on the Bus | March 2007

In Jim Collins's 2002 book Good to Great he explained that one of the common denominators of success that turned ordinary companies into consistently extraordinary performers was the ability to get the proper people on the team, or the bus, as he put it. But in agency business development, who are the right people? In this issue we explore an important part of the motivational makeup of better business development people.

First, Do No Harm | February 2007

When a family member had some health problems a few years ago we began meeting with doctors. We marched into one doctors' office after another and offered our diagnosis of the situation, then asked to hear the recommended course of treatment. Finally we happened upon one who stopped us in our tracks: “Stop. You're diagnosing. That's my job. Tell me the symptoms.” We knew then we had found our doctor.

What can this professional teach us about selling agency services?

Twelve Resolutions for the New Year | December 2006

Our most productive years are usually the ones that we enter armed with solid goals and plans. What follows are twelve business development resolutions with which to begin the New Year. They are excerpted from the forthcoming article, A Call to Arms: Twelve Proclamations of a Win Without Pitching Agency.

Responding to Requests For Proposals | October 2006

Building an agency one request for proposal (RFP) at a time is a painful and potentially humiliating way to grow a business. And while winning without pitching means not playing the RFP game, there's more subtlety to the approach than simply saying no and feeling good about yourself all the way to bankruptcy. In this long-overdue issue of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter I address the specific steps to take in dealing with requests for proposals.

Expanding Your Expertise | September 2006

For years now I have preached to you about narrowing the focus of your firm in order to eliminate competition and shift the power in the buy-sell relationship to you, the seller. A narrow positioning is one of the foundational Win Without Pitching principles that allows you to take control of the buying process, lower your cost of sale, protect your integrity and improve profit margins. In this issue of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter I go the other way and discuss broadening the firm's positioning by taking engagements outside of your area of expertise.

Creating Objections | August 2006

In my counsel to agency principals and business development personnel I spend too much time on the subject of how to overcome objections. If you find yourself constantly dealing with or dreading objections late in the buying cycle then there's something you're not doing early in the buying cycle: you're not creating objections. You should be.

Testimonials, References and Referrals | July 2006

Rare is the new client that is secured without the help of outside assistance. The common vehicles for this assistance are testimonials, references and referrals. In this issue of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter we examine how each of these vehicles of assistance is different from the others, and how each should be applied in generating leads and moving prospects through the buying cycle.

Tools of the Trade | May 2006

If there's a tool out there that will increase my productivity, I get it. Some have proven to be wastes of time, money and attention, but others have contributed to increased productivity or enjoyment of routine tasks. In this issue of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter I cover five tools of the trade that anyone charged with growing an agency should consider to help optimize performance. Please note that I have no formal relationship with any of the companies or products mentioned here and I do not benefit financially from discussing them. I mention them because my clients and/or I have found them helpful.

Lowering Your Cost of Sale | March 2006

In any large consultative sale there are costs associated with buyer and seller coming together. How those costs are assigned to each party is a valuable indicator of who possesses the power in the relationship. Order-taker agencies routinely incur most of the expenses associated with the courtship, while some well-positioned expert agencies are able to drive their average cost of sale to close to zero. In this issue of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter we look at three ways to drive your average cost of sale lower.

Quit Selling & Start Helping | February 2006

To understand selling is to understand that in the pursuit of profitable new clients you have no business trying to convince anyone of anything, ever. To the question, if my job is not to convince, what then, I respond: It is to help the unaware, to inspire the interested and to reassure the intent. This Win Without Pitching model of selling ideas and advice acknowledges that people buy in stages, and it implies that your role as a facilitator of the buying process needs to change with each stage. I have previously addressed the subjects of reassuring those who have formed intent (December, 2004) and inspiring those with interest and no intent (July, 2005). In this issue of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter we look at how to treat those with neither intent nor interest - the unaware. This issue might also be titled, ‘What Comes After No’.

I Wish I'd Said That! | January 2006

Have you ever been close to securing a lucrative engagement only to be thrown off your game, and possibly out of contention, by an unforeseen late question from the client? While there's no way to prepare for every objection that might arise there are a few common ones that seem to create that deer-in-the-headlights response. You should never be in a situation where you are being thrown by the same late question yet again. Here are seven silver bullet sentences to keep at the ready for those opportunities that suddenly become endangered by the client's last-minute query.

The Meeting, Part 2 | November 2005

This is the second in a two-part series on The Meeting. If you missed part one in the October issue of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter, you'll find it posted to our web site here. Part one explored why an unqualified focus on getting more meetings can be counterproductive to business development efforts, and it addressed the proper approach to obtaining meetings. In this issue I address how to navigate those meetings that are worth having.

The Meeting, Part 1 | October 2005

“If I get a meeting with someone I can almost always close them. I just need more meetings.”

I hear this often. Years ago, between the end of my agency career and the launch of my consulting practice, I heard these words from an agency president who was hiring me to do contract business development work...

Beyond the Rolodex | September 2005

Last week Adweek published an article titled Shortcut to a Long Relationship in which they commented on the $400mm Volkswagen advertising account going to Crispin Porter + Bogusky of Miami without a review. The authors pointed out a small trend to this type of account movement and explained it away with a comment on the importance of relationship. They got it wrong.

Selling to Committees | August 2005

Some agencies have policies about not doing business with law firms. Some refuse to work with not-for-profits. Others steer clear of government and government agencies. The reason for all is usually the same: committees. Committees can be difficult to deal with in the buying cycle and even more difficult once the account is won. But selling to committees can easily be mastered and this new skill can become a competitive advantage.

Inspiring the Interested | July 2005

It is often stated that all buying is emotional. While this is an oversimplification that gets many salespeople into trouble, emotions do play a role in most significant purchases. Knowing how and when emotions come into play allows the seller to employ the emotional tools of inspiration to his advantage. But seller beware: emotions are like gravity; what goes up, always comes down.

Can Sales Be Outsourced? | May 2005

“I know we need to get out there and sell our firm’s services, but I don’t want to be the one to do it, and I can't justify a full-time position. Can't I outsource it?” If you've ever posed this question, this issue of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter is for you.

Rainmaker Wanted | April 2005

The title of the ad says it all. This firm isn’t seeking an employee; they’re looking for a miracle worker. No other position in the agency has a moniker loaded with such expectation, so wrapped up in the myth that the firm is but one uber-human away from success, as the business development magician: The Rainmaker. In this issue of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter we examine the mythology of the rainmaker and the implications of the rainmaking approach to growing your agency.

Strategy Traps | March 2005

Agencies all over the world today are trying to get ‘more strategic’: to position themselves as strategic partners to their clients, to sell higher margin strategy over increasingly commoditized implementation - all in a bid to profit proportionally from the greater value being delivered. Most are failing in this bid, suffering from the same four mistakes that are easily avoided once they are recognized.

Proposal or Contract? | February 2005

If you are no longer excited by the opportunity to write another proposal; if you find your despair over the effort required outweighs the excitement of the business opportunity at hand, then this issue is for you. You are about to get out of the proposal writing business...

The Ladder of Lead Generation | January 2005

In this issue of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter we discuss the costs and benefits of using various public relations, advertising, and selling activities in driving business development for your agency, and we examine what the use of each says about your firm.

Reassuring Words | December 2004

The lexicon of sales clichés is filled with words and phrases designed to convince people they have a problem that only the salesperson’s product or service can solve. Selling (facilitating the buying process) however, is rooted in helping, not convincing. It is something that requires empathy, understanding, and the knowledge of how to reassure the prospect of your objective and your ability to help. In this issue of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter we examine a tool called the reassurance statement and we look at three ways to use it to help the prospect make a confident agency selection.

Expert or Order-Taker? | November 2004

Expert agencies and order-taker agencies could not be more different from each other. Usually, you cannot spot the difference by looking at their work or their premises. You can however spot the difference by listening to the words that come out of the mouths of the firms’ principals and employees. The expert agency mindset about the value the firm brings to its clients and the fees and respect it deserves in return are quite different, often at odds, with that of the order-taker agency. In this issue of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter we explore the five defining characteristics of expert agencies.

The Case for Case Studies | October 2004

Case studies are among the most effective yet most misunderstood and misapplied business development tools available to marketing communication agencies. When presented properly, their power in helping to land the account is almost unrivaled. However, they are often applied incorrectly, and almost always used too early. Case studies are closing tools best used right at the end of the buying cycle. They should not be mailed out to prospects, and they should never be posted to your website.

Telephone Truths | September 2004

When speaking to a successful agency business development VP the other day I asked him, 'Why are cold calls so easy for you?' Without missing a beat he responded, 'Because I enjoy helping people.' He explained that when calling into organizations in industries where his firm had experience he felt confident of his ability to help, therefore he found the calls easy to make and the prospects receptive to his confidence and enthusiasm. It was the calls to firms that he was unsure he could help that he found difficult to make.

Decision Maker Dynamics | December 2003

'Thanks for coming in to make your presentation today. I'd like to introduce you to Carl, our VP of Special Projects. He'll be sitting in.'

Through the gritted teeth of a forced smile you shoot your business development person a look that says, Who the Hell is Carl? Carl, you are about to learn, is a very real decision maker and the guy who is about to kill your deal.

Decision Makers is one of the four areas in which you need information to determine how close your help the prospect make a confident agency selection. is to buying, and to determine how best to close the business. It is the area which suffers most from the neglect of the business development person, and the number one reason why an opportunity that seems to be proceeding nicely toward a close suddenly gets derailed. Not clearly identifying all the decision makers, failing to understand the decision making process, and focusing on too few of the decision makers are the top three transgressions, all of which can be easily avoided. In this issue of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter we explore the dos and don'ts of each of them.

The Rapport Trap | October 2003

In Good To Great, Jim Collins writes of the liability of charisma, pointing to charismatic CEOs who built what looked to be successful companies only to have them implode after the departure of the leader. His point is that, far from being an asset, charisma is a liability that masks inefficiencies - a crutch for poor business practices. Mr. Collins' perspective on the liability of charisma applies equally to selling and sales professionals, particularly those selling professional services such as yours. A focus on selling on personality or developing personal rapport is not only unbeneficial to agency business development practices, it is downright detrimental.

The Art of Walking Away | September 2003

'You are never worse off walking away,' said Harvey Mackay in his book on selling and negotiating, Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive. People want what they can't have and often they need to lose or risk losing something before they fully appreciate it. That's one of the reasons why the Take-Away can be one of the more effective closing techniques in your arsenal.

The Agency Gatekeeper - Keeping Bad Clients Out | June 2003

When discussing specific new client opportunities with agency business development personnel I often offer some qualifying questions for them to put to their prospects. One VP of business development recently responded to these questions in exasperation, 'It sounds like you want me to look for reasons not to do business with this person!'

'Exactly,' was my response. 'Now you're getting it.'

Compensating Your Revenue Builders | May 2003

Most agencies have a difficult time arriving at a fair and effective compensation model for their business development personnel. If you grapple with how and how much to pay your revenue builders, then this issue of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter is for you.

Price: The Final Objection | March 2003

We are culturally conditioned to avoid talking about money in our personal lives and as a result, in our roles as business development people, we tend to put off financial discussions until the last possible moment. In the last two issues of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter we discussed the commoditization trend in the agency industry and some approaches you can take to battle back and reclaim higher margin. In this issue we explore methods to overcome price objections in an effort to increase closing ratios and further improve margins.

Battling Commoditization | January 2003

Commoditization is the act of turning something of subjective or unrealized value into something of quantifiable value. Inherent in this definition is the implication that the value quantified is subject to the same market forces as are physical commodities. A physical commodity is readily available in large quantities from numerous producers, enjoys little product differentiation from producer to producer, and thus, leaves individual commodity producers largely unable to command a price premium over others. Commodity production is a battle of low-cost producers engaged in an arms race of aggregation and consolidation as they pursue the economies of scale that is often viewed as the only route to competitive advantage, or even survival. If you are thinking this sounds a lot like the agency industry over the last twenty years, you wouldn't be alone.

Strange Creatures: Pitches, Search Consultants, and Hissing Cockroaches | December 2002

I liken agency business development practices to the island of Madagascar. Broken off from the rest of the sales world and left to evolve on it's own, agency business development has evolved in a peculiar direction, spawning some unique and fascinating creatures. Two of the more interesting are the speculative pitch, and the agency search consultant. In this issue of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter we explore the effect these two creatures have had on our landscape.

Set Your Account People Free | November 2002

Most agencies look to their client services staff to fill the majority of business development duties in addition to their account management responsibilities. But a subtle re-assignment of these duties can often bring a surprising performance increase, not just in client acquisition, but also in account services and ultimately in the quality of client relationships. By freeing account people of the duties for which they have little training or interest, they are allowed to focus on and thrive in the role for which they were hired.

The Selling Website | October 2002

An understanding of how people buy is important to anyone who has anything to sell, but it is doubly important to marketing communication agencies for the reason that you are in the business of helping your clients sell. Through the development of ads, point-of-purchase material, and sales collateral you develop some of the sales tools that your clients use to help grow their business. Let's take a look at one of the more common sales tools that you likely use for your own agency and maybe even create for your clients.

The Four Keys to Qualifying | September 2002

If you've ever wondered why your agency spends so much time and money to land so few accounts, this issue of the Win Without Pitching Newsletter is for you. We have all heard the term, qualified prospects in reference to potential customers, but what does 'qualified' really mean? A qualified prospect (my term of choice for 'prospect'. He's buying from you - the only variable is time) is one that fits the parameters of your target market and whose place in the buying cycle has been ascertained. In other words, you have determined how close he is to buying. Coveted late-stage buyers absorb a lot of your agency's business development resources in the form of meetings, proposals, and other work required to get the deal done and land the account, but without proper qualification of the prospect most people as optimists tend to assume he is closer to buying than he really is. This leads to far too many resources being applied too early in the buying cycle.

Positioning for Profit | August 2002

There is only one reason marketing communication firms are hired, and therefore only one viable basis for the positioning of your firm. It is not personality, it is not process, it is not price.