In continuation of our Secert Marketer series, we asked a New Biz Director at a leading whitelabel marketing agency to share his thoughts on where the agency-client gap really lies.
His answers may surprise you...
As a Business Development Director of 15 years standing I have been involved in lots of agency new business pitches and talked to a lot of client marketers about how they select marketing agencies, the agency search and selection process and the gap between what a client wants and what agencies think they want, if anything, is getting bigger...
Core to this problem is that both parties are focused on two key factors (creativity and delivery) but approach it from exactly opposite directions.
So clients start the selection process looking for facts and specific info (as they focus on delivery), while agencies try and wow them with creativity and their unique approach to ideation. Then when clients want to be wowed creatively, agencies blind them with 100 page Keynote presentations and a total absence of creative theatre.
The key issues
There are a couple fundamentals that may seem obvious to the initiated but far too many still ignore them...
1) Clients make early stage agency selections on specific requirements, ie how many people you employ, do you have experience in their sector, what do you turnover- not generic stories about how creative and strategic you are.
2) Large clients use an agency’s website to make long listing decisions – they want the facts. Small clients use an agency’s website to make purchase decisions, they want much more detail, testimonials, evidence of expertise and effectiveness. So if you work for both, you need to do both.
3) Most agencies do not have differentiated brand propositions. Creative AND Strategic?! Goodness, nobody is not saying that. A test of your brand offer is whether other people would not say it. You only hire ex Nasa scientists in your insight teams? OK that's a differentiated proposition.
4) Remember you are pitching to people, they get bored and want to be entertained. If you have 60 mins in a pitch do not enter the room with a 40 slide deck and give yourself 90 secs a slide. By the time you have said hello, made some jokes about the weather and settled in, you are already 10 mins behind!
5) Don't keep going back to creds stage. OK you have spent months working on them and they look beautiful but recognise what stage of the process you are at and stick to it.
Keys to success
Stage 1) proving the right to consult - show the creds
Stage 2) showing you can solve the problem - just show relevant work and examples for others
Stage 3) how you will solve their problem - no unapplicable case studies, no other people's work, just how you will help them.
Follow these and you can't help but do well. These things are mostly in the room. Go prepared and be ready to respond and listen. This is about them, not you.
