One of the first areas that many ad agency owners look to delegate is sales. Maybe they started their own firm because they liked the creativity and not the business side. Maybe they enjoy sales but it just takes up too much of their time. Or maybe they just aren't very good at it. The secret to success for agencies is the sales playbook. Why the sales playbook? Let’s take a look. It's common for owners to want to pass on the sales activities (and headaches) to someone else. Having a robust sales team—whether it's one person or ten—can be a key ingredient for successful agencies, and a sales playbook is an integral part of the process. Why? There are two things you have to keep in mind: As the head of your organization, you will always have some sales responsibilities—and that's the way it should be. You care more than anyone else, and you likely have the reputation, conviction, and authority that no one else in your organization does. If you just hire a salesperson, point them at a list of potential clients, and say, "Go get 'em!"... there’s a good chance they will fail, and an equally good chance your organization will struggle. Without a sales playbook, you are sending them out blind, expecting them to just figure things out on their own, which is rarely a recipe for success. Why Agencies Struggle to Develop Sales Systems When expanding to bring on salespeople, most agency owners think that when they hire a salesperson, he or she will ride in like a knight on a white horse and save the day—and they don’t really want to be involved in the process. They want to [...]