Report: Thought Leader Survey for Ad Agency New Business

Ad Agency New Business Survey

Most agencies have an active new business plan but 67% of responders don’t view their program as successful.

“When it comes to new business, it’s important that agencies never become complacent, even when times are good. In order to nurture and grow a vibrant agency, there must be a steady stream of new business opportunities in the pipeline. Clients can be unpredictable and losing a piece a business without replacing it quickly can be detrimental to an agency’s future.” – Laurie Mikes, Chief Operating Officer of Second Wind

I was asked to be part of the annual Thought Leader Survey conducted by RSW/US, a full service, outsourced agency lead generation and new business development firm. I’m honored to be included among agency new business thought leaders David C. Baker, Drew McLellan, Laurie Mikes, Jody Sutter and Tim Williams. Each of us were asked to share up to 6 questions each. The survey questions were sent to over 6000 marketing agencies.

All of the gathered survey data was published in a summary report of their findings. Here are some of the highlights:

  • 63% of respondents charged with new business also manage client accounts.
  • 45% of respondents say that they have a checklist they use when evaluating the value of a prospect.
  • Only 5% of agencies state that they get a prospect’s budget 100% of the time.
  • The top skills needed for new business include listening, persistence, consistency and organization.
  • The areas/tasks that are most enjoyed pursuing new business, “challenges”, “learning” and “solving problems” all surfaced to the top.
  • The most preferred resources for improving new business skills include: articles/blog posts and offline events.
  • The first priority, if you have additional funds to re-invest into the agency is training for staff.
  • Only 24% of agencies surveyed feel totally confident that they can genuinely differentiate themselves from their competitors.
  • 75% of agencies have a proactive new business program but 67% don’t view what their doing as successful.
  • The majority of those charged with agency new business do not view themselves as sales people.
  • Only 36% of agencies are consistently applying creativity in the development of their pricing and compensation proposals.

Click Here for a free copy of the RSW/US 2017 Thought Leader Survey Report. It includes additional insights, statistics and advice for small to midsize advertising, digital, media and PR agencies.

Additional articles of interest:

About Michael Gass

Consultant | Trainer | Author | Speaker

Since 2007, he has been pioneering the use of social media, inbound and content marketing strategies specifically for agency new business.

He is the founder of Fuel Lines Business Development, LLC, a firm which provides business development training and consulting services to advertising, digital, media and PR agencies.

%d bloggers like this: