New business seems to be a bugbear for many agencies but it needn’t be like that. We hear a lot of bullsh*t when it comes to new business and we aim to put that right through mentoring.
Two of the major issues in our industry, is new business agencies flogging a model from the early 2000s, that predominantly serves their own purpose; or agency owners who are not willing to come to terms with what successful new business truly requires.
We believe it’s about time someone gave agencies the empowering guidance they need to be self-sufficient at a dying art and didn’t put cold calling at the heart of their strategy.
New business needs to start with at the top with agency leaders and that is why an inside out approach is the only true way to build a brand, culture and foundation for growth.
Agencies just chasing money, trying to be everything to everyone and playing a numbers game, will learn the hard way.
Clients and employees want to work with and for inspirational leaders with purpose and a point of view, not someone who wants to exit their business in five years to buy a private yacht. A greater purpose has to come first if you want to differentiate and compete; and an ability to communicate your value and make yourself easy to buy will win customers.
Gray Matters puts strategy and positioning at its core and works with specialists across content development, event planning, lead generation and PR, to help bolster agencies with exactly what they need, depending on their in-house budgets, skills and resources. The programmes designed have been made flexible for both agencies who are just one person to 100 people.
This ‘hub n spoke’ model means agencies get access to senior, experienced new business talent as well as specialists, when required, without getting sucked into unnecessary retainers. This also proves much more cost effective as overheads are kept to a minimum and agencies only pay for what they need depending on how the business is performing.
We also believe this is a much more sustainable and ethical model as we aim to educate and mentor agencies on new business best practice so that they can be more self-sufficient and successful without relying on 3rd parties.
Hopefully this will put a lot more integrity back into new business in our industry and sales will not be seen as such an ugly word in the future.