Agency new business directors have one of the most important, as well as toughest, jobs in advertising – selling the agency.
Why is agency new business so tough? Primarily because agencies are notorious for their inability to sell themselves. Agencies desperately need an expert/specialist in the mechanics of new client acquisition, someone who has the sole focus and capabilities to bring“life-giving” new business to the agency.
“It’s just such a hard position to fill,” said Michael Zuna, New York managing director at Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi, “The Mad Men-rainmaker days — that doesn’t happen anymore. It’s a tough job.”
In my time in the trenches as a new business director for a number of agencies, I was often inspired by the writings, tapes, videos and presentations of Zig Ziglar, a fellow Alabamian. He is one of the most famous motivational speakers and authors in the world. He is also one of the nicest persons you’d ever want to meet.
Ziglar comes from a successful sales background and has a first hand understanding about the daily grind of being in sales and the need for motivation.
He once said,
“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily!”
To help feed your daily motivational needs, here’s my list of Zig Ziglar’s most notable motivational quotes (I’ve paraphrased a few of these to make them a bit more specific to our industry). Hopefully they will provide you with a spark of motivation as you attend to one of the most important jobs of your agency – business development:
- Motivating gets you going and habit gets you there . Make motivating a habit and you will get there more quickly and have more fun on the trip.
- Stop selling and start helping.
- Your agency’s most valuable asset is its reputation.
- Prospects are perishable – handle with care.
- Obstacles are the things we see when we take our eyes off our goals.
- If you’re sincere, praise is effective. If you’re insincere, it’s manipulative.
- The primary reason prospects will choose not do choose your agency is lack of trust.
- New business is more than a profession, it is a way of life.
- If people like you, they’ll listen to you, but if they trust you, they’ll do business with you.
- When we do more than we are paid to do, eventually we will be paid more for what we do.
- A goal properly set is halfway reached.
- Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street.
- If there were no problems, most of us would be unemployed.
- Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust.
Click here to heck out the official Zig Ziglar website for additional new business resources.
Additional articles that may be of interest:
- Ad Agencies: Three Things a New Business Director Needs for Success
- Ad Agency New Business Talent is Becoming Harder to Come By
- Ad Agencies: 5 Solutions for Hiring, Training and Retention
- 10 additional questions to ask before hiring your agency’s new business director
- More Women Pursue New Business for Ad Agencies
- The Changing Role of Ad Agency Rainmakers
- Ad Agency Principals on Point for Agency New
photo credit: Mr. Wright via photo pin cc
