• Sometimes it’s better to just say no and just walk away.

    The Prospect You Need To Turn Down

    Sometimes it’s better for an agency to just say NO to new business! There are times in every agency owner’s life that a prospect comes in and forces a gut […]

     
  • Bypass the RFP, go directly to the finals.

    How One Ad Agency Used the Tour to Bypass the RFP Phase

    We were already in this nice 30-person agency conducting a new business training session, setting up a Spark. The session was going great, when over lunch the president asked me […]

     
  • Painful Ad Agency Prospect Presentation Mistake

    Painful Ad Agency Prospect Presentation Mistake

    The head of account service (we’ll call him “Tom”) at a fast-moving regional agency was on a roll. Tom had just closed the largest account in the history of the […]

     
  • Stop making the same mistakes!

    5 Most Common Mistakes in New Business Outreach

    Outreach is vital for new business, vital to building awareness about your firm, and an important way to express your interest in your prospect’s industry. Most agencies seem to be […]

     
  • The key is to break the cycle.

    Common Business Cycles: Find Your Agency

    If new business is the heartbeat of an agency, then new business leads are the pulse. If your agency isn’t seeing a steady stream of prospects who are interested in […]

     
  • Understanding the warning signs is key to avoiding a nightmare prospect.

    New Business: Warning Signs of a Nightmare Prospect

    New business sometimes lands you in strange places – learn how to read the signs. This has never been truer than in challenging time like these. Winning is everyone’s objective, […]

     
  • Good luck with new business!

    A New Business Quiz

    Ad Agencies, PR, design, and digital firms, creative hot shops and more must become experts at finding prospects and winning new business. The competition has never been greater. Firms of all […]

     
  • A New Business Fable

    A New Business Fable

    Once upon a time, there was a nice advertising agency in an important city far, far away. The agency had four key partners named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. The […]

     
  • Rule 5. Never brag at the new business meeting.

    Overselling Is a Fatal New Business Disease

    A new business win the bag – I was so proud, and couldn’t wait to share the news. I had been following up on a good prospect, a large regional hospital […]