What is your favorite strategy for finding new clients?
Every agency owner has one: a marketing plan tucked away somewhere that outlines how you plan to generate and convert leads. Oftentimes, this document was created at an agency offsite with the leadership team or the entire agency present. The fun part was being creative—you thought through all the innovative ways your agency could get in front of a prospect. However, this was followed by a struggle. More often than not, it is difficult to execute the strategy you put down on paper.
Your time is precious, and you want some reassurance that the seeds you plant will bear fruit in the future. To approach this common issue, I crowdsourced insights from 11 inspiring agency leaders and asked them to share their favorite strategy for driving new business. I hope that this article will provide some useful tips to benefit your agency as we head into the new year.
Here is the exact question I asked everyone:
"What is your favorite strategy for acquiring new clients?"
Focus on Existing Customers
Business from existing customers and referrals continue to be one of our most successful sources. It’s easy to focus on “chasing new clients”; but looking inward has proven to be outwardly fruitful. Existing customers often have a list of new projects they should be working on, and a nudge from an agency leader can get the ball rolling. It’s also important to consider different divisions within the customers’ business, as these can be another source of revenue. It’s easy to get an introduction within a corporate headquarters from someone you know, versus someone you don’t. — Linda A. Fanaras, CEO of Millennium Agency
The right strategy is a diversified one, prioritizing organic growth. "Love the one you're with." In other words, have a relentless focus on servicing clients. Retaining existing clients is a considerably more efficient use of time than continually prospecting for new ones. This leads to a higher percentage of renewals, and significantly improves another critical strategy for acquiring new clients: referrals. It is much easier to ask for introductions/referrals when the clients are strong advocates of your work. When it comes to referrals, there are two approaches. One would be more general: “Given the success of our work is there anyone in your network you think would benefit from a conversation?” Another would be more specific: “Can you introduce me to xxx, as it looks like...?” — Mark Giovino, CEO of Allionce Group
Referrals
I am a firm believer in the power of referrals. Delivering results and going above and beyond for current clients helps to build a relationship in which asking for referrals comes naturally. This isn't to say that we don't create content and demonstrate expertise through other channels. In fact, when we get referrals, we are able to use our content and nurturing to help close the deal. But it all starts with delivering for current clients, and ultimately building a relationship that leads to referrals. — Ryan Shelley, Founder at SMA Marketing
Referrals. In 20+ years, all of my best clients have come through referrals. Ask, allow, and incentivize your friends and contacts to refer potential clients. What’s more, offer to do the same for them. Make it easy, treat people right, and always deliver on what you promise so that referrals become clients and clients make referrals. — Josh Levine, CEO of Rebel Industries
Networking
Networking. “Outta sight, outta mind.” I attend conferences and industry events, but I don’t try and pitch people. I have an elevator speech, ask them a lot of questions, and listen. That’s important. In these situations, be careful about talking about you too much. You have to show up, but not be overbearing. Learning about a client’s business will help determine if you should follow up or help prepare for follow-up call. One important question to ask: “What keeps you awake at night?” — Pepper Miller, President of Hunter-Miller, Inc.
This past year, we made the decision to implement a new growth strategy. We placed an increased focus on building awareness of CRUEL within the industry and filling our funnel with a high volume of leads. Our favourite way to do this is simple. We do what we did best when we started the business—throwing events that encourage networking and collaboration. This summer, our networking series called "So Clean" brought over 1,000 people to our office at 87 Wade Ave. to gather for drinks, cool programming, great music and conversation. So many connections we made this summer have turned into hot leads that we're gearing up to close at the end of this quarter and into 2023. — Danielle Bablich, Vice President at CRUEL
Buddy Up To Competitors
This may seem counter intuitive. However, my favorite and often very successful means of acquiring new clients is networking with firms that—at face value—are my competitors. My firm provides full-service market research, strategy, and communications services. However, our unique expertise lies in amplifying the perspectives and voices of multicultural audiences. This unique quality means that we are able to partner (not sub-contract) with firms that we also compete with, who do not have this knowledge and experience. Through this partnership, our expertise organically establishes our own ongoing relationship directly with clients. This strategy creates a new client for us, while leaving intact the relationship already established by our “competitor.” It’s a win-win-win for my firm and my “competitor’s” firm, as well as the client. — Brenda P. Lee, Principal at Vision Strategy and Insights
Presence
Presence would be my number one strategy for attracting prospective clients. Speaking at business events, association meetings, and universities continues to be the most effective way for me to “show up” and “show why” my work is transformational for individuals and companies. There are many ways to be present with prospects. Early in my business career, I became the membership and program chair of my trade association. I would invite leaders to participate on panels, share the benefits of joining the association, and welcome them when they came to an event. Those interactions increased my visibility with decision-makers and helped me build relationships that led to sales and referrals. — Nance Rosen, CEO of NanceSpeaks!
Owning IP
Among all tactics of client acquisition, I believe that owning a piece of IP and acting on it is the most effective long-term approach. The IP can be a periodical survey on one topic (like Edelman’s Trust Barometer), a consistent POV on one subject (like Ogilvy’s Brand Matters), a continued column or a publication (like Deloitte’s INSIGHTS), or any branded content that fulfills two specific tasks. It must represent an agency’s professional capability, and be presented to the target audience in a continuous way. The follow-up activities around the IP are usually designed to bring in new clients, like annual IP launch events, sending out IP materials, organizing seminars and inviting industry experts to discuss IPs, and delivering tailored IP presentation sessions. All of these are geared toward potential clients. People will choose your agency because they see the intelligence (your capability) and commitment (your professionalism) through IPs. — Mark Wang, Former CEO of Edelman China
Discipline
My favorite strategy to acquire new clients is 900! Nine hundred seconds, 15 minutes a day, no matter how busy you might be. Always find 15 minutes a day to acquire new clients! New clients are the fuel that make a company go. The more new clients you have, the faster the company will grow! If you follow this advice, you will be way ahead of the game since most new business development team members don’t have the discipline to focus on new clients each day. — Merrill Dubrow, CEO of M/A/R/C® Research
Thought Leadership
My top pipeline-filling strategy is thought leadership. I offer no-charge education in various forms (seminars, webinars, white papers, etc.) that provide helpful information or advice to my target market. This positions me as an authority figure. It attracts my prospects naturally, rather than having me chasing them. A couple of important caveats in this approach: First, the content must not only be truly useful, but must be presented in a really engaging way. Next, it must be carefully crafted to leave the audience wanting to learn more about the topic and about me. Remember: people love to buy, but they HATE being sold. That’s just as true for B2B buyers as for B2C. — Eddie Reeves, Partner at Vianovo
KEY TAKEAWAY
Now that you have some good tips to add to your marketing toolkit, you must take action. By no means are the ideas above exhaustive; but they are enough to nudge you in the right direction. Once you get started, take note of the activities that are working well for your agency. Double down on the activities where you see some traction, and seek out an advisor (I think I know one!) if you need an outsider’s perspective to help you work through your growth plan.
Now is your moment to take the leap from knowing what should be done to doing it. If you want personalized assistance to help grow your agency, then please check out my Agency Coaching service.