The New Business Dingo

I see my fair share of new business teams, both the good and one's that provide an opportunity for improvement… most days. So you can imagine my pleasant surprise when I sat in on a talk titled "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: How PJA Built a Three-Year Winning Streak (in Good Times and Bad)." at the Mirren New Business Conference back in April.

What I loved about their speech was the fact that they knew exactly who they were, what they were specialists in and why they should target specific companies for new business (yes, apparently it took some time to discover). They also delivered the information in a style that is uncommon at similar events, unvarnished and open to ridicule, including some great stories about pitch disasters they might have hoped to forget.

What can you learn from these guys?

Well, for starters I’d recommend taking a look at their agency scorecard that they developed to map performance against a set of specific goals. It has several sections from Positioning, Pipeline, Pitching and Perceptions; each a key component of their new business cycle.
Download a copy here

I’ve taken a look at the agency scorecard and rated some of Catapult’s client’s against the same criteria and it’s amazing to see the differences in ratings that have occurred in such relative short periods of time. We've moved agencies from 1’s and 2’s to 4’s and sometimes 5’s in most categories within 6 months – no small feat in a couple of specific cases.
Of course you’ll need to customize the agency score card for your agency to determine the right mix and priority of indicators, but as a template, it’s right on the money.

Next, the team itself – all seasoned professionals with dedication and genuine focus to a common new business growth goal, otherwise known as the ‘A-Team’. This is a team comprised of individuals who know their own key strengths and let their counterparts roll with theirs. I’d love the opportunity to see these guys in a live pitch. Phil Jonson (Twitter: @philjonson), who you can also follow on Advertising Age ‘Small Agency Diary’, Greg Straface who runs new business and Mike O’Toole are a team of blokes that we could all learn a few tips from.

All too often a new business team consists of a cocktail of people who have no business in new business. Excuses range from handing the new business outreach torch to the Account person with the least billable hours, to including the ‘nice new guy’ for experience, or allowing the intern with the ‘big idea’ to pitch it to the prospect. No, No, No.

Make no mistake, each and every touch point with a prospect, can be a make or break for your agency, and I believe PJA knows this. Get an A-Team together and know that from the very first point of contact with a prospect your agency is ‘on’.

Well done PJA, hope to cross paths again soon.