The New Business Dingo

Aboriginal tribesman, through tens of thousands of years of refinement developed custom tools for specialist application to be more efficient hunters; see Boomerang and the lesser known Woomera.

Ad Agency new business hunters today have the same opportunity to utilize customized tools designed to increase their efficiency in the pursuit of their agency new business prey.

Many believe that Microsoft Excel is a satisfactory new business tool for this task, managing and storing contacts and relationships being pursued and procured for the agency. Let me tell you otherwise, I’ve seen it kill (a new business process).

If you’ve felt the pain of trying to remember the details of one conversation three weeks ago after having more than twenty conversations each day since, or who needs the email follow-up note to be sent on the 5th, or even how Steve (one of your top prospects) broke his ankle last year, you’ll quickly realize why I’m ranting.

Your new business CRM application will become the foundation of your agency new business plan and a resource you will find you can’t live without.

The quality of the information and your ability to access is quickly and easily will be fundamental to your ongoing success, but as with any CRM, it’s only good if you USE IT. Keep accurate records and make sure every action, every call, conversation and email is kept within it. That way you’ll have a historical review of each touch-point over time and be able to evaluate the sequence of touch points that are proven to be most effective for you and your agency.

Investing in a quality hunting tool such as a customized Wommera or CRM application will yield a significantly greater numbers of kills by simply providing more accurate targeting and knowledge about the habits of your prey – a secondary benefit – you’ll be able to see your desk by removing the mountains of scrap paper and Post-it notes that no doubt accumulate on it from time to time.

I recommend the following online applications over software based CRM’s as you can access your data from anywhere you can get online, most provide a mobile option for cell phone access and you simply pay a monthly fee for access (no software upgrade fees!). 
 

1. Salesforce.com http://www.salesforce.com – We use this online application at Catapult New Business. It allows us the ability to integrate with peripheral applications like email marketing tools, intelligence reports, data providers and ensure the highest levels of data security.

The drawback to Salesforce.com is the considerable expense when compared to other applications available such as Sugar CRM.

2. Sugar CRM http://www.sugarcrm.com
An low cost of entry, open source CRM application I haven’t personally used, but have worked with ad agency new business people who have in many organizations with glowing reviews.

3. NetSuite CRM http://www.netsuite.com
A third option which I’ve interacted with over a period of the past few years and evaluated as a secondary option if Salesforce.com didn’t meet our needs.

If you’ve been on the fence about making a decision to invest or wait to invest in a CRM – don’t. The opportunity costs of staying in Excel and missing a follow up call that may indeed lead to a new client simply isn’t worth it.

I’ve seen the monumental changes that even a basic process can make to new business when paired with a quality CRM application.