Top Agency Execs Share Game-Changing Secrets to New Client Acquisition

Agency leaders share practical moves to attract clients

Finding, connecting with, and converting new clients is a unique challenge in the new configurations of virtual workspaces and digital networks. Getting in the door with the right prospects is still a process that takes the familiar forms of long-term relationship nurturing, but practical on-the-ground moves have changed.

In a continuing approach to help agencies unstall new business growth, Janet Vinci, VP of Client Services at Christian Banach, brought together a private panel of senior agency leaders to discuss and pressure test which strategies have and haven’t worked. Panelists joined from BSSP, Hotwire, Nice + Co, Trampoline Design, Pathfinders, and The Visual Brand to talk about how their tactics have evolved to keep pace “since getting to No is almost as important as getting to Yes,” according to Nice + Co’s Kelly Nice.

Humanizing Business Development with Personalized Outreach

The post-COVID pivot to more remote work has been a leading factor in changing how agencies approach new business development opportunities. “B2B in a print format doesn’t work the same way,” said Kelly Nice, “it’s all digital. But direct mail approaches that used to work well as personal touches can’t disappear completely,” reflecting on how sending care packages with clients’ products, along with work Nice + Co has done has returned really solid results.

Vicky Holland of Pathfinders agreed on that, finding a 100% return rate on an email outreach campaign that provided a link to receive custom black and white cookies (branded with potential clients’ logos), which led to great conversations. “Three and a half years later,” Holland added, “we’re still talking and connecting.”
Randy Herbertson of The Visual Brand concurred, saying that those personal touches can themselves be channels for marketing, “we’ve had clients posting things we’ve sent on LinkedIn, with a sort of ‘look what we got’ message …and current clients are some of our best sources of referrals.” We’ve had great success asking close LinkedIn connections to agree to follow up with 5 prospects they know, which are good prospects for our growth.

Trampoline Design’s Paula Slayton has found success with sending “mountain survival” kits to potential clients, many of whom are prospects that work in outdoor sports and ski destinations. Slayton said, “People respond to the specialness and something tangible…including QR codes on our stickers or Yeti coolers customized with the prospect’s branding, got a great response rate.” In an increasingly alienated world of Zoom meetings, finding ways to bridge the human gap can set outreach efforts apart.

Beyond the Booth: Making the Most of Conferences

But getting new clients’ attention can be just as challenging as making the pitch. And the post-pandemic world has also changed how networking functions at conferences.

This is especially true for BSSP’s Lauren Trojan, who has made it a priority to get her people on stage at important industry events, which “enables us to find great connections at conferences, but sometimes after these prospects can go quiet.” Some agency professionals are still exploring their options about how to turn conferences into fruitful networks.

Janet Vinci also mentioned a successful approach to leveraging conference opportunities: identifying potential conference attendees and engaging them pre- and post-conference to set up introductory meetings based on their needs or the conference’s focus. A quick follow-up to engage these prospects is critical to make this successful.

Laura Macdonald of Hotwire echoed her sentiments, saying that conferences like CES are an excellent chance to show off some of their insights, but “it’s usually hard work to convert on the back of each one to make it relevant.”

“For conferences, a big part of the challenge can often be remembering what you talk about with whom,” added Nice,” it seems simple, but you gotta take the notes—it feels like you have about a two-week window after a conference to follow up if you’re going to find a new client.”

Slayton also noted that geofencing could help wrangle LinkedIn profiles at conferences or help her company get more visibility as attendees check their social media. Other panelists agreed that bringing clients to conferences is crucial, as prospects benefit from hearing firsthand about the value and positive impact an agency has delivered to other brands.

Creating Impactful Collateral

Developing a point of view and how to present that point of view can also be a useful tactic, but it requires investment to get results. Ad agencies can counterintuitively forget marketing for themselves.

Panelists noted that it’s also important to take time to do some of “your own work” to improve your brand. It isn’t necessarily revenue-generating in the short term, but “updating video case studies and portfolios. It does lead to revenue,” said Herbertson.

Holland agreed, noting that the pandemic was a particularly good time for her team to do foundational building. Even today, major marketing and sales projects are available in a queue when her team members have downtime or aren’t actively working on client projects.

Investing in your team can take many forms. MacDonald noted that incentivizing all agency team members to reach out to contacts with something as simple as a leaderboard or a friendly competition can get results. MacDonald warns, “People embraced it; the challenge was that there wasn’t an immediate return for the outreach.”
Still, encouraging and maintaining the habit of consistent outreach can mean nurturing long-term relationships that can strengthen your networks, which eventually does give that return.

Leveraging Networks for Client Discovery

Networks can take a lot of forms, and thinking laterally can help engender some great ways to access them. Chances to give clients and prospects an opportunity to share thought leadership (even a virtual panel discussion, the experts noted with self-aware irony) can unlock new opportunities and networks for agencies.

Nice noticed that pro bono work can operate both as a way to give his team a break from their usual work and a way to create networks. Team members working on nonprofits learn how to help with these brand’s development needs, skills that can be applied to learning how to engage potential new clients.

Holland mentioned that “peer partners,” or complementary agencies with whom she can pitch with have worked successfully several times. “It’s always a win-win, but maintaining those partnerships can be tricky,” Holland added, “you get busy in your own areas, so you have to work to maintain those partnerships.

Herbertson also found value in using his employee network to collaborate with an agency from Medellin, Colombia, which he discovered through his network. “It allowed us to present as a truly multinational, truly bilingual entity,” Herbertson noted, saying that their combined expertise gave them the edge over competitors.

Future Perspectives on Empowering Growth

Reflecting on the panel’s insights, Vinci said, “The Growth Roundtable panel was a great opportunity for these senior leaders to find peers experiencing similar growth challenges and able to share what has and hasn’t worked for them.”

This is especially true since “agencies have felt the impact of a slowed economy and brands are hesitant to spend and “risk” on a new agency partner, that might not produce results,” she added.

But, having the ability to vet new ideas and get the proven ones into market faster will help these agencies fill their top-of-funnel with more opportunities and move more to conversion faster.

We look forward to holding more of these panels in the near future. In the meantime, connect with Janet Vinci at janet.vinci@christianbanach.com for more insight on Growth Drivers or to participate in a future virtual panel.

Edited for brevity

Participants

Moderator:
Janet Vinci, VP Client Services, Christian Banach

Panelists:
Kelly Nice, Co-Founder and Partner, Nice & Company
Vicky Holland, Chief Growth Officer, Pathfinders Advertising
Randy Herbertson, President, The Visual Brand
Lauren Trojan, Business Development Director, BSSP
Paula Slayton, Owner, Trampoline Design
Laura Macdonald, Chief Growth Officer, Hotwire