A round-up of useful articles on business development and Covid-19

I do a lot of reading in normal times. But if you’re anything like me, the search for answers, ideas and inspiration has gone into overdrive in recent weeks.

With so much advice out there, I thought it would be helpful to pull together the best (in my humble opinion) of the articles on business development. There is a tonne of great advice below from the likes of Blair Enns, Tim Williams, Mark Duval and Anthony Iannarino, as well as The Future Factory and The Drum.

It’s by no means exhaustive; there will be some great stuff out there that I’ve missed. But if you’ve not yet read the articles below, it’s well worth grabbing yourself a brew.

And whilst I don’t operate on the same plane as many of these guys, I hope you’ll forgive me for including one of my own articles that got some decent feedback.

Happy reading:

Is It Ethical to Sell in These Times? – Blair Enns

“Selling is not convincing. It is not your job to talk people into things. It is your job to look for people that you might help and then map out how you might help. These may be desperate times but you cannot feel desperate when selling. That desperation will shine through and you will instead feel like the pariah that you revile”.

What Agencies Should be Doing in This “Downtime” – Tim Williams

“We’re too busy taking care of our clients is the reason most agencies give for not investing time in their own brands. At the moment, things are different. While we’re all facing significant challenges, the current crisis provides an opportunity to work on the issues and opportunities that sit on the back burner of most firms. Now’s the time to marshal the time and brainpower of your key people to address these seven game-changing priorities”.

New Business In the Time of Coronavirus – Mark Duval

“Just as advertisers need to go back and re-evaluate all elements of their creative with the current environment in mind, so do we have to re-evaluate the messages we are sending out for new business. The tone, the statements, the work referenced, the closing and follow-up references, etc. Most importantly, who are we sending these to, and why?”

How to smash new business video calls now that we’re house bound – Lucy Young at The Future Factory

“…whilst you sit and wait for the world to go back to normal, many brands are looking at the current situation and crying out for advice for the future. When the briefs do start flying around again, you need to be the one they throw them to, so start building a pipeline by video…”

10 tips for turning no business into new business - Pedro Martins & Laura Vipond

“This is not the time to hold back, bury our heads or play a game of wait and see. We all need to be proactive, take individual and collective responsibility, support each other, adapt to the changes and keep the conversation alive online, sharing both light-hearted anecdotes and addressing the more direct questions. This can only help to strengthen our relationships, both within our teams and with our clients, to create some of the best work during some of the worst times”.

Selling Your Way Out of a Crisis - Anthony Iannarino

“There is every reason to maintain a mindset that is positive, optimistic, future-oriented, and empowered. Being confident doesn’t require that you pretend nothing is wrong in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Instead, it is the belief that you are going to succeed despite the challenges you face. An even more empowering belief system is one that believes adversity is a gift, one that stretches you, that causes you to grow, to improve yourself—and your company and your clients”.

The rule book has been ripped up’: agencies rethink pitching during coronavirus slowdown – The Drum (registration required)

“It’s absolutely fine to tell clients you can’t do something. I have the resource and the staff but right now I don’t have the processes. So when clients are asking for something, where I would normally say it would take five days….I’m telling them it will take eight because I don’t have the creatives in one room, I don’t have designers together. So just tell the truth. It’s so much easier to say “we’re thin on the ground and so I can focus on creative and strategy but I need another week.”

What impact will Coronavirus have on agency new business? – my own thoughts

“…life goes on. People are still reading emails and messing about on LinkedIn. If anything, this will increase in the coming months. Isolation leads to boredom. Boredom hits productivity as we become more easily distracted by alerts, pop-ups and pings. How can you take advantage (not the right way of phrasing it, but you know what I mean) of people being at home, with (potentially) more time for reading, learning and self-development? All those content ideas and new formats you’ve been meaning to try, this could be the opportune time to educate and inspire prospects with video, webinars, podcasts and the like”.

I’ll continue to share anything else that I think you’ll find useful over the coming weeks.

And if I can help with anything right now, just shout. I’m here with two (rather large) ears to listen and (I've been told) a comforting voice to advise. And if I don’t have the answer, I might well know someone that does.

Keep on truckin’ people.