IF YOU ONLY FOCUS ON ONE THING – MAKE IT WINNING NEW CLIENTS

Looking back on my career so far, there are lots of moments that fill me with joy, but some moments just always peak above the rest.

Those moments?

The wins.

The feeling of bringing a new client on board is something that’s hard to beat. Very rarely in life does something happen that can bring you both a feeling of achievement and excitement at the same time.

Usually, achievement is reserved for when things are over, and excitement for before something has happened. However, winning a new client represents the apex of both these moments… Simultaneously can you be proud of the win, and excited for the project ahead… What a feeling!

And there’s a good, ‘evolutionary’, reason why this should feel so good too.

Because New Clients are seriously important!

I can summarise like this…

No clients… No Business.

Another way of spinning that is to say…

The more clients you have, the healthier your business is.

Look at the purchases Facebook has made over the years – spending $1bn for Insta in 2012, and $19bn for WhatsApp in 2014. What were they buying? Surely it wasn’t the technology… They could re-create those platforms in a second. No. They bought the users – otherwise known as the customers.

The same applies for any business, which is what concerns me about the majority of agencies that I speak to.

Over Reliance on Core Clients and Referrals

Here’s a model I see a lot:

·     About 4/5 core clients that deliver 80%+ of total revenue

·     A collection of smaller clients that make up the remaining 20%

·     New business ONLY coming from referrals and word of mouth

On the surface, this is fine – a healthy and functioning agency. Agencies can even grow with this model.

It’s absolutely fine… Until it’s not.

Until the worst-case scenario happens.

Until one of the core clients goes elsewhere or goes under.

Until the economy takes a dive.

Until a deadly virus spreads the earth.

The problem with this model is it’s precarious. I call this the Playing With Fire Model – eventually, you will get burnt.

So what’s the alternative?

In short, I would encourage all agencies to have 3 things in place:

1.    A system that brings new leads every week

2.    An Intro Service/Package that makes the first sale as easy as possible

3.    A culture that values clients above anything else in the business

Without a way to continuously generate new clients, and broaden your client base, you are playing with fire. What I find curious about this business model is you don’t see it in other corners.

MacDonald’s have never said, right, we’ve got enough customers now, let’s stop expanding and marketing.

Apple never had a Board Meeting that concluded, we’ve sold enough tech, let’s just chill for next year.

Yet, we see this in Agency Land all the time.

Why?

Generally because agencies find themselves too busy to even service the existing clients they have, never mind bringing on new ones! And honestly, I sympathise with this. I too have been guilty, in the past, of delaying new opportunities, or even side stepping them because of the lack of time and resource. However, this can’t be the strategy.

We can't let our present business restrict our future growth. If we do that, we will never maximise our potential.

Instead, we must be proactive in looking for quick solutions for how we can maximise our work capacity, and hence our bottom line.

Does this mean going out and hiring loads of people?

Absolutely not.

It means having a strong network of freelance talent, and some great strategic partnerships to match.

What it does mean, however, is we need to focus on the one thing that means we actually have a business – clients.

And apart from anything else, we need to open ourselves up to regularly experiencing one of life’s amazing pleasures…

That New Client Feeling.

About the author

Oliver Duffy-Lee is The Creative Sales Coach, and creator of The Infinity Model. He takes Agency Owners from having very few (and often very boring!) clients, to having a constant stream of leads, and a healthy pool of clients that are exciting to work with.

Hi!

 Olie here…

 Thanks v much for reading. 

Just a quick note, but I’m starting a Case Study Group for a new Programme next week.

It’s specifically designed to help agencies that have had their client work wiped out by Covid. The idea is to get you up and running – within 30 days – with lots of leads and a few new clients.

If you want to find out more, leave a comment with the words ‘Case Study’ and I’ll send you the deets.

Cheers,

Olie