A call came in from a small agency with a big challenge: how to better understand prospects to win some new business.
Power up your relationship building skills.
The agency wanted to win the advertising account of a well-known manufacturer located nearby. The product was casual wear and very prestigious. It was a well-known brand.
The agency president knew the president of the manufacturer informally from local civic events but didn’t know how to proceed. He asked us for some advice.
The agency had prepared a high-powered PowerPoint® presentation on the firm’s capabilities with emphasis on the agency’s creative fire power. The agency president wanted to start our assignment with a review of this 80-page deck. We started with profiling.
The agency president described the prospect as warm, friendly, non-assertive, very people oriented, slow to make decisions and a family person. Knowing profiling, we knew right away he was what we call a “Logo.”
Our Recommendation? New Business Profiling.
Out went the presentation (never reviewed) and in went a casual meeting (carefully arranged). This was followed by an invitation for the Logo and his wife to a family dinner at the agency president’s home (carefully set up), which was followed by a discussion in front of a fireplace about some spec research (Benefit Testing®) that the agency had just finished, which called into question how effective the manufacturer’s advertising was. This was risky, but it was needed to break through denial.
The president asked to see the research, came to the agency several days later early in the morning, and spent 20-30 minutes drinking coffee and enjoying some warm fresh bread with the senior staff (carefully staged). Then the research was casually reviewed one-on-one. No creative. Within two weeks, the account, worth millions, was bagged and the agency was suddenly very famous.
Two days work for us. It pays to focus on the personality profile of your prospects in new business. If you’re not sure how this is done, it could be the reason why you’ve lost some great opportunities in the past. Give us a call… 412.897.9329 or drop a line to [email protected]
Photo by phydeau
