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Agency Goals

In the past year, we've been struggling with a lot of internal philosophical debate about how our business should be run and what our goals are. Recently, we lost our largest client and we've had to face some major reorganization. We're using this as an opportunity to adjust our priorities and thinking so that we don't find ourselves vulnerable to the same circumstances in the future. As a result, we're in the middle of a rather large-scale sales effort.

My question is three-fold:

1) How do other agencies define their prospects? (I suppose this would be based on the type of expertise, i.e. production company, full-service agency, Mark/Comm, etc., and what your minimum net-profit per year, per client is. Do you go after a variety of clients in different fields, stick to clients in your "industry" of expertise, clients who will bring you a whole program to implement, clients with smaller more isolated projects, or some of all of the above)

2) If you don't restrict your sales efforts to familiar industries, how do you familiarize yourselves?

3) If you get a bite, how much creativity do you give away before making the deal legitimate? (i.e., if a potential client asks "Give us some examples of how you would redesign our web site.")

4) Under what circumstances and at what point should you insist upon a contractual agreement with a client? What do your contracts include? Do you have a standard contract for all clients or do you individualize contracts per client?

Kristi Long

1) How do other agencies define their prospects?

We definitely attempt several markets and our clients/prospects range from mom-and-pop shops to enterprise level organizations. We have always tended to fare best in our niche, though. In our case, that's the manufacturing sector, and more specifically the plastics and injection molding area. But we've had success outside that niche also. It just depends on how willing the client is to work with you on understanding its industry.

2) If you don't restrict your sales efforts to familiar industries, how do you familiarize yourselves?

We do so by forming an alliance or partnership, rather than trying to set it up as a buyer/seller relationship. We try to make it a situation which benefits everyone. After all, if we're not helping our client generate leads, why are we here? We work with the client to set goals and schedules, keep in touch with them about how it's going, and make adjustments along the way if the campaign requires it. We also try to get them to look at the bigger picture and integrate their brand across all media, rather than just going with a single avenue such as a website or a direct mailing. We spend time at client sites and have them here at our office, and work together to create the best possible solution.

3) If you get a bite, how much creativity do you give away before making the deal legitimate? (i.e., if a potential client asks "Give us some examples of how you would redesign our web site.")

For this, we built an online "agency kit" with work samples that we are willing to show. We also give referrals and point people at web sites we've done. Is it possible another agency will "borrow" our ideas? Sure. But we want our prospects to see the value in our services, so some sharing is required.

4) Under what circumstances and at what point should you insist upon a contractual agreement with a client?

If a client asks for a strategic plan or a mockup, we ask for a contract. We're glad to provide a quote and have a sales meeting, but if we're going to put production time into a job, we consider that billable.

Do you have a standard contract for all clients or do you individualize contracts per client?

We have a standard contract, which requires special modifications maybe 10% of the time.

Scot Robnett K.W. Powell & Associates

Thank you so much for this information. It's very helpful, although I may not have explained myself adequately in the second part of my question. What I meant was this: if you choose to pursue potential clients in markets that you are unfamiliar with, how do you bone up on their industries before going on a sales call?

Also, Mr. Robnett's information is tremendously helpful, but I was hoping to get responses from several sources because I'm going to use this information to influence the president of our company. Obviously, the more information and the more consensus on this advice that I have, the better my chances of being able to sway him. So please everyone, if you have advice, the same or different, I could really use it.

Thanks,

Kristi Long Blair Communications

Personally, I approach the second part of your question in a couple of different ways. First of all, I use the net and the business press to read articles that generally pertain to that industry. I will then refine that information gathering process by using a reference service to look up stories on either particular companies or a particular issue in that industry. I find the trade press for that company, and read it.

As I am building up my expertise so I can talk knowledgeably about the industry, I also canvass my personal network to find someone who knows something or someone that is relevant. Then I call them, invite them to lunch, and start talking to them. That is how you find the best information and the best leads.

It is not rocket science - just educating yourself and talking to experts. There is a very interesting book that you might find helpful - The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell. It explains how people share information and become experts on different topics.

All best Natalie Gerngross

We went through the same philosophical analysis about a year ago.

What kind of clients and work do we want? We rejected the typical criteria: By industry, By Gross Revenue, By Location. We arrived at a more flexible filter:The product or service has to be interesting/fun. Our prime client contact has to be a good person to work with. The prospect has a good chance of being a long-term client, not a single project.Prospects who sell or manufacture a consumer project are prime targets (see interesting/fun). There is more than a reasonable chance we will be paid for our work.

In addition, we decided not to work for clients in the gambling, tobacco, pornography industries.

Creative give away? We have found that by formalizing our client interview process and showing samples of previous work, we are rarely asked to spec design work. The heart of our interview process is an impressive set of client questions. When we are finished, the client knows we can do the work.

Contracts? We have a standard agreement on how we bill and our expectations related to payment. Of course we generate project estimates which are signed by the client.

Phil Sutton; Edge Design and Advertising

I think every agency must continually go through this type of analysis. Our agency is small (under 10 people) and raising our profile in the market factors into our decisions.

I agree with Phil that finding clients that are fun or interesting is critical for morale. However, those opportunities are few and far between... and we have found that project work for companies who might not consider a small agency is a great chance to do fun work.

As for researching specific industries, I have worked with very specific manufacturing clients and they don't require a ton of research. In the end, we are responsible for creating marketing materials the are emotionally compelling. That tends to supercede vast amounts of technical information.

Know the industry players, some of the lingo, and the rest will come from learning about your new client.

Our contracts begin as a standard form, but were designed to be flexible for each client. About half of our clients prefer a retainer that covers the account management. Others hate the idea of retainers.

Noh Sarff, Ambient Communications