New Business Introductions
 

Q & A

Q:  What makes you successful on
the phone?

Before starting New Business Introductions in the 1990s,we were both trained in the performing arts having completed programs at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Southern California and the University of Michigan. Successful business development flows from relationship building and compelling presentation...skills honed by performers.

Q: How do you represent yourself to the prospective client?

We represent ourselves as being with the agency. The prospective client perceives us as a new business person assisting the principals with the agency's outreach program. The decision makers we contact (in most cases VPs of Marketing) know how hard they are to reach and do not expect senior level executives or agency principals to be spending their valuable time trying to break through the various screens to set up a presentation!

Q: How do you prepare yourself for the program?

Before beginning our calls, we learn as much as a new employee would about the agency. We educate ourselves about the agency's people, the backgrounds of the principals, the relevant past and present client experience, success stories, and agency philosophy. We distill this information into a concise phone presentation that builds intrigue for a face to face meeting.  Our primary goal and focus is to get you with the client face to face for a credentials presentation.

Q: What if you don't succeed in setting a meeting on the first call?

The second goal is to gather valuable information about the client's plans and needs. We are telephone relationship professionals, and have developed active listening skills that assure that we can get a senior decision maker talking. We are effective at finding out about the current agency relationship, the potential for an agency search, possible new product launches, and any other information that will help open the door for our agency on the next call. If we can uncover any dissatisfaction with the client's current arrangement, we will be able to schedule a meeting for the agency.

One of the tenets of successful new business is to "Be there first!" Our phone and web-based sleuthing skills have proven effective in keeping up with an agency's ever changing prospect base. If one of the companies on your "wish list" is about to hire a new VP of Marketing, we will be able to identify and reach the person before your competitors.

Q: How is your program different than a review consultant?

The new business process can be a frustrating one for agencies competing for the same high profile accounts. The big "shoot-out" reviews that consultants typically handle can be an enormous drain on an agency's time, money, and energy. Some of the best opportunities to break into large established accounts are through other "off the record", smaller brand assignments. The review process may not be utilized in these cases, and the assignments often go by default to the existing agency of record, even though fresh thinking may have been welcomed. Our consistent, methodical approach to new business outreach helps to uncover opportunities that might otherwise be off the "radar", thereby getting you in before a review. And unlike a review consultant, we are working only for the agency.

In sum, our program helps to keep our clients one critical step ahead — which can mean the difference between your agency actually presenting in front of the right people, or reading about the other agencies that did.