Be more American

Staying busy in quiet times

I’ve lived in the USA for 17 years now and observed that there are so many admirable qualities of the American psychology that have developed from a culture of not being oppressed by the ruling classes.

When it comes to sales and new business, Americans love saying the quiet part out loud. They are unashamed in their commercialism and their admiration of great sales talent.

In the UK, we like keeping the quiet part…well, quiet.

I was in a debate on LinkedIn this week, where a friend of mine - and I’m paraphrasing here – said that creative agencies need to be more willing to price according to market demand. When there’s no work around, it’s better to be busy for less money than not busy for no money.

My wife Donna, who is a thoroughbred American, and my IT wizard Matt (the same) are happy to call things like they are. They are prepared to work just as hard for less in bad times, than they do in good times.

Which brings me on to the topic of my newsletter - Putting yourself out there and generating new business in times of low demand.

I recently had two interesting guests on the podcast this last month, coincidentally discussing similar topics but from different angles.

The Fuel Podcast episode 163 ‘Pitch Perfect’

David Meikle – author of the books ‘How to buy a Gorilla’ and ‘Tuning Up’ was on the podcast, and one of the topics we discussed was why agencies often find themselves working for the wrong clients. Why they end up doing the wrong job because they’ve gotten into the weeds taking a job because they needed the money and getting caught up servicing a client that doesn’t inspire them. Being busy fools.

David created a sort of Eisenhower matrix to measure clients by how much stress (or not) they created withing the agency.

The Meikle Matrix

I mentioned, after the show, how this diagram could be used as a new business tool.

My friend Ben Potter makes a living from advising agencies on how to pre-qualify new business prospects, to ensure that you don’t end up doing the wrong work for the wrong client for the wrong budget.

This Meikle Matrix can be used as a very simple way of pre-qualifying potential new clients.

But in order for it to work, you need to ask the hard questions, or at least be able to answer them yourself.

This means knowing how much the client is going to pay; what they want you to do for it, and how much creative control over the job you will have.

In America, these terms are always expressed in the first two emails. In a nice, open and friendly way. If not answered, they are asked.

It just makes sense, because it’s a very easy way of developing trust, openness and managing expectations.

The Fuel Podcast episode 164 ‘The Power of Positive Thinking’

The second guest on the podcast was an old friend – Adam Graham, a business developer extraordinaire whose longevity in the business is a testament to his ability to do the job. We were talking about how the whole agency needs to be seeking out new opportunities in good times and bad - Digging Ditches.

He also surprised me when he started talking about why he created his BD Matters new business community:

“In the UK, there is complete snobbery. If you’re in sales, they turn their nose up to that and a big part of BD Matters was to change the perception of sales – seeing it as this exciting, dynamic role that it always has been and is becoming more of,” he said.

And he’s 100% right. When I first started out in sales, back in the 1980s, I was the sales bloke in newspapers who always turned up with a smile and was tolerated by journalists and executives. In the 1990s in creative agencies, I was the sapper who cleared the way for the experts; part of the team, but also not part of the team. In both instances, my success was always solely measured by a thin line that was expected to go up and to the right.

Every month.

Both David Meikle and Adam Graham make great points. From David’s perspective, if you have no control over the work you are doing, or expected to do, you encounter stress, and if you have too much control, you encounter arrogance.

From Adam’s perspective, the new business and business development function in an agency needs to be recognised for the value it delivers.

The new business person doesn’t have time to lick their wounds, they pick themselves up, dust themselves off and get back in the fight.

You need people like that in your corner.

We all do - in every area of business.

Tim Delaney once famously told me that UK companies should be used to the fluctuations of economies; “Britain is always lurching from one crisis to another!” he said. But in recent years the perfect storm of Brexit, Covid, cost of living increases and two significant wars, have exacerbated the problems.

The American economy is purring along quite nicely. No recession, low unemployment and wage growth, due in part to the US mentality of prioritising sales.

Selling without excuses and selling to clients that want to buy.

I propose that one of the ways that British companies can turn a flat economy into a roaring one, is to prioritise sales.

Unleash your salespeople and give them the head. Give them the tools to filter prospects based on what work the agency wants to do. Give them research, give them data and give them the best chance to make a first impression.

And be prepared to negotiate on price. It’s not showing weakness to lower your rates in exchange for faster payment, higher volume, up-the-chain selling and so much more. Knowing how to properly negotiate a bunch of variables around the work is just as important as knowing how to do the work.

Having a foot in the right door at the right time is the sign of a brilliant sales strategy.

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