For many of our agencies, we’re hearing that the flourishing new business conversations they were enjoying in the spring and even early summer have dried up. Their pipeline is dry. They are having a hard time getting a hold of anybody and having meaningful conversations. They’re not writing proposals, they’re not participating in pitches, and they are not winning new business.
When you think about it, for our prospects, it is the dog days of summer. They have probably planned out the rest of the summer, and they have sort of put it on, set it, and forget it because they, too, are going on vacation and doing all the things that we like to do in the summer. So, most of them are not thinking right now about hiring an agency, and they probably won’t be available until Labor Day unless they have a need.
The problem is the way most agencies prospect; the way most agencies sort of hang up their shingle and announce that they are open for business is very random, right? We’re out there. We hang up our shingle, we’re knocking on doors, but we have no idea if the people that we’re approaching have any interest in talking to us right now.
Good news — there’s a better way.
View Video Transcript
Hey, everybody. Drew McLellan here from Agency Management Institute this week coming to you from Indianapolis, Indiana.
You know, it is the dog days of summer. It is hot and sticky in most places. A lot of people are on vacation and sort of counting the days until kids go back to school and the days get cooler, and Labor Day gets here, here in the US. And for many of our agencies, we're hearing that all of the flourish of new business conversations that they were enjoying in the spring and even early summer have dried up. Pipeline dry. And they are having a hard time getting a hold of anybody and getting to have meaningful conversations. They're not writing proposals, they're not participating in pitches, and they are not winning new business.
When you think about it, for our prospects, it is the dog days of summer. They have probably planned out the rest of the summer, and they have sort of put it on, set it and forget it because they too are going on vacation and doing all the things that we like to do in the summer. So for most of them, they're not thinking right now about hiring an agency, and they probably won't be until Labor Day unless they have a need. The problem is the way most agencies prospect, the way most agencies sort of hang up their shingle and announce that they are open for business is very random, right? We're out there. We hang up our shingle, we're knocking on doors, but we have no idea if the people that we're approaching have any interest in talking to us right now. They don't have a burning need, they are not going to have a conversation with us right now.
The agencies that are reporting that their pipeline is still robust, that they're still landing new business, that they're having meaningful conversations, are the agencies that have gone about it in a different way. They are the agencies that have cultivated relationships with prospects by being out there, by being out in the world, by being helpful, by being identifiable, and knowing that when a prospect is ready
to hire an agency, they're going to be on the list. So they're findable. They are recognizable. They are known. The first step to the new
business sales process for us is they have to know who we are. And if you are not doing things right now, to be found, to be known, to be recognized as a subject matter expert, not in all marketing, but in the marketing that you're great at, whether it's for a specific vertical, whether it's a specific deliverable, whether it's for a geographical region, if you're a local agency, however, you decide to define what makes you different from everybody else.
If you're not known for that, if you're not findable for that, then you make it harder for you and the prospect to happen to bump into each other at the right time. The time that you're looking for prospects or clients and they're looking for an agency. But if you're already out there and they already know who you are, and all they have to do on the day that they're ready to talk to a new agency is come find you. But they already know you. Now it's easier. Now it's faster. Now the pipeline for you is more robust because you're in a variety of conversations all along the way. So if you are experiencing the slow drain of your pipeline. If you're experiencing not a lot of prospects ready to talk to you, maybe what you need to do in these dog days of the summer is get findable. Figure out if you haven't already figured it out, who you are, how you want to be found, how you want to be thought of, how you want to be identified and spend the next six weeks producing content and creating opportunities to wear that label proudly, whatever that is, so that when your prospects go hunting, when they come back in Labor Day or around then that you're ready for them, that you're ready to be found and that you're ready to start having those conversations.
Don't leave it up to random chance on both sides. You be right where you belong. So on the day they need to find you or someone like you, they know right where to look. That's the key to shortening the sales cycle. Give it a try. You have six weeks. You can get a lot done in that period of time. So let's do it. All right?
