Hi. I'm John Heenan. I work with ad agencies who want to improve their business development success. Full-service business development, prospecting strategy, marketing decision-maker lists, marketing automation, workshops, training, and support. Win more clients and better clients. Click To Schedule A Call
It’s that time of the year when ad agencies begin to plan next year’s new business strategy. More likely, not. Too often the right intentions get pushed aside for client work, staff turnover, personal emergency, and many other good reasons.... Read more →
When people talk about agency growth, they usually start with prospecting. You invest in people, technology, and resources to gain new clients and more revenue. You might even hire a consultant like me. Prospecting for new business is a critical... Read more →
It is a common dilemma. You get into a review or a conversation with a marketer, and you have little or no current category-specific work to show. Your best case studies or your only cases are in other categories. You... Read more →
The success of inbound marketing has always been vexing. But when it comes to ad agencies, the very people who make their clients’ the best content marketers, they often fall short. There are two enemies in the battle for inbound... Read more →
It’s been my world for more than 15 years. Not as a consultant but in the trenches honing my approach at small, mid-size and large agencies. I know how your prospects want to be engaged and how agencies can succeed. I engage and develop relationships that lead to more clients, more revenue, and a more predictable pipeline. Read more →
Every new business pro will reach out to people who don’t know them. Those unsuspecting prospects often wonder why is this person is reaching out to me? When you make a cold contact, it is inevitable that the question will... Read more →
Advertising agency business development has often been the task of a junior account person, primarily an order-taker or a salesperson, someone from a traditional sales role in media or other services. We often argue about whether it’s better to be... Read more →
There are three primary sources for new business and healthy agencies generally grow in three ways equally. The first is prospecting which accounts for about a third of new revenue. The second is organic growth among existing clients which contributes... Read more →
It is typical for an agency to have a BD person or a BD team, or for the owner and leadership to have responsibility for agency growth. But does it end there? My favorite quote is from Philip Kotler, “the... Read more →
I was talking with a CMO from a well-known and highly respected national brand. At the conclusion of our 30-minute conversation, she told me that while we were talking she received four emails from agencies soliciting her business. One was... Read more →
With the increasing clutter in the marketplace, ad agencies will have a harder time getting the attention and time of marketers looking for new resources. Too often our natural inclination is to tell prospects what we want them to know.... Read more →
We all know that on January 1, the gyms will be filled with people earnestly making 2018 the year they get in shape. The same holds true for advertising agencies. The difference between the agencies that struggle and those that... Read more →
Agencies who want an edge should consider new ways to stand out, differentiate and delight their prospects and future clients. In a previous post, Hold onto your clients. Unleash your new business hounds; I covered the historic competition expected next... Read more →
The first thing everyone thinks about when you mention advertising agency business development is prospecting – the attempt to intersect need out in the wild. Book after book tells us how. Consultant after consultant shows us how. Tools and databases... Read more →
Before you ever think about who to put on your prospect list, you have to know what your agency has to offer that’s different from your competition because that has a big influence on who should be on your prospect... Read more →
No doubt you are in the 4th quarter scramble to capture everything you can from your current clients before the buzzer sounds. At the same time, you try to schedule meetings with your leadership to strategize growth in 2017. But... Read more →
It used to be that ad agency business development was a bunch of separate tasks organized in your head, in word and excel, in calendars, post-it notes, scraps of paper and assorted business cards. I pulled out an old file... Read more →
August is prime summer vacation month, and most prospecting activity slows to an agonizing halt. Prospects are on the beach, toes in the sand recharging for the all-important fourth quarter. This is the time when most BD people question their... Read more →
At the end of last year, I surveyed 156 small, medium and large advertising agency owners and senior leadership about their business development practices. A wide variety of organizations participated, with a good distribution of sizes by employees. 28% were... Read more →
I’ve seen a lot of chatter recently about the death of cold calling. The phone still works. We all answer calls. Cold calling isn’t dead. It’s simply a matter of whether it is right for your business and your sales... Read more →
