A New Year's Resolution for New Business Development

Are you happy with your new business development program?  Is it working?  Could it be better/more effective/more efficient? This is the time of year when people reexamine their life choices, so it makes sense for agencies and other businesses that sell products and services to reexamine their business and especially their business development program. 

The old saying that the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results is never truer than in new business development.  Even if your company has been successful with past bizdev efforts, the dramatic and continuing changes in consumer attitudes, media consumption, etc. dictate constant re-appraisal and refinement. 

A good new business program starts inside the agency, not outside.
Before you begin an outbound marketing effort, you should make sure that everything internally is as strong and effective as it can be.  It's no surprise that economic conditions and the digital marketplace have affected all businesses, so the first step is to re-examine how external conditions have affected your company.  You should be asking yourself and your management team questions in several key areas.

Are we positioned correctly to attract and retain clients?

• Does our agency positioning have a clear focus that differentiates us from our key competitors?
• Is our agency positioning right for the needs of today's clients and prospects?
• Do we have any proprietary processes that can be leveraged to give clients and prospects "permission to believe" we can do things better than other agencies?
• Do we have all of the services we need to support our agency positioning?
• Have we focused on what we do best?

Do we have the right people to support the agency positioning?

• Do we have the right skill sets to support our agency positioning and meet the needs of current and prospective clients?
• Does everyone inside the agency understand our brand positioning and their role in delivering on our brand promise?
• Do all employees know how to communicate our brand positioning and their role in new business development?
• Are we organized in a way that supports our positioning strategy?

Do we have the right criteria and tools for identifying and approaching prospects?

• How well do the needs of our prospects match our agency capabilities?
• Do our promotional materials reflect our agency position in a way that will attract and intrigue prospects?
• Do we have a defined promotion and publicity plan for the agency that consistently builds awareness and credibility of the agency brand?
• Are there new products and processes that we should be developing to better meet the future needs of clients and prospects?

There are many other questions you could, and should, be asking that relate to agency policies and processes that will affect your new business efforts.  But as we begin a new year, you need to start somewhere.  In my experience, these are some of the most critical. 

It's time to make a resolution to take a fresh look at your agency and your business development program.  Welcome to 2010.