New Business Tools

94 Pages·2013·3.04 MB·English

by  Victoria Comfort

New Business Tools:
The Definitive Guide
NEW BUSINESS TOOLS: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE 2

While social media is an extremely popular tool
for agency new business (used by 87% of agencies),
only 18% think it's effective.

And can you guess what the most over-rated of all
the social media tools used for new business is? If you
guessed Facebook, you're correct. It's too personal
and not useful for prospecting.

Any guess on the most over-rated CRM? Agencies tell
us it's Salesforce. They think it's too complex, too
expensive, and not designed for the agency world.

And the most over-rated presentation software? Prezi.
Agencies complain of it crashing, it being too
distracting, and too hard to edit.

With so many new business tools popping up
every day, how does one know what's best for
their agency's new business needs?
NEW BUSINESS TOOLS: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE 3

BACKGROUND

The 2013 Mirren-RSW/US Definitive Guide
to New Business Tools is a must-read resource
for any agency employee involved in Agency New
Business.

The Definitive Guide houses information gleaned from
close to 300 agency executives about the effectiveness
of different new business tools they use to support
their business. The list is deep and it cuts across a
variety of different categories, so grab a cup of coffee,
or a stiff one and enjoy the ride!

The survey used to collect the data in this guide was
released to respondents in April 2013. Mirren Business
Development's database and RSW/US' database of
senior agency executives were used for this study.
NEW BUSINESS TOOLS: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE 4

About Mirren

Mirren is exclusively focused on new business strategy
for marketing services agencies across all disciplines.
They work closely with agency principals and new
business leaders who are fighting the battle every day
at their agencies. Mirren offers three services: New
Business Network & Resource Center, On-Site New
Business Training, and the annual Mirren New Business
Conference. More information about Mirren can be
accessed at www.mirren.org or by contacting Brent
Hodgins at [email protected].

About RSW/US

RSW/US is a full service, outsourced agency lead
generation and new business development firm that
helps marketing service companies (exclusively) find
and win new business. They help Agencies find
qualified leads, set meetings, better position them in
the market, and help move them closer to close. More
information about RSW/US can be accessed at:
www.rswus.com or by contacting Mark Sneider at
[email protected].
NEW BUSINESS TOOLS: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE 5

The size of the agency responding was fairly consistent
with the distribution of agencies nationally.

How
 many
 employees
 do
 you
 have
 in
 your
 agency?

0-25
7% 14%
26-50
43%
51-99
15%
100-150
21%
150+

The majority of the respondents to this survey were
either the President/CEO/COO of the agency or the
New Business Manager/Director/VP of the agency.

Please
 select
 the
 title
 that
 most
 closely
 represents

your
 role
 in
 the
 agency.

President/CEO/COO
36%

49%

Account Manager/Director/VP
Creative Manager/Director/VP
New Business Manager/Director/VP
11%

4%
NEW BUSINESS TOOLS: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE 6

If you would like to reproduce any of our findings
in any format whatsoever, please either give Brent
Hodgins a call at Mirren Business Development
(212.388.9545) or email him at
[email protected].

Or you can call Mark Sneider at RSW/US
(513.559.3101) or email him at [email protected].
NEW BUSINESS TOOLS: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE 7

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Usage of Agency New Business Tools 8
Frequency of Agency New Business Tools 10
Usage
Social Media Platforms 12
CRM Software 18
Research Services 22
Presentation Software 26
Prospect Contact/List Building Services 30
SEO Tools 34
Email/Auto-Responder Services 37
Survey Software 41
Social Media Monitoring Tools 44
Inbound Marketing Platforms 48
Marketing/Webinar Platforms 51
Project Management/Collaboration Tools 54
Glossary 58
NEW BUSINESS TOOLS: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE 8

USAGE OF AGENCY
NEW BUSINESS TOOLS

Usage of new business platforms varies greatly. Social
media is by far the most widely used tool for new business
development. Inbound Marketing is among the least used
- which is not surprising given the relative newness of this
vehicle/approach to new
business.

“Fewer than
Interestingly, fewer than half
of all agencies use a list half of all
service or a CRM, suggesting
agencies use
that having an organized and
a list service
detailed program within an
or a CRM”
agency for new business
development isn't necessarily
universal. We suspect many
agencies are either still living off the
referral/networking lifeline or they are piecing together
agency new business efforts on an ad hoc or on an "as
time permits" basis.

We will see additional evidence of this as we analyze the
use of specific tools later in the report.
NEW BUSINESS TOOLS: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE 9

% of Agency Executives that Use the
Following Agency New Business Tools

Platform % of Agency Executives Using
Social Media Platforms 87%
SEO Tools 67%
Meeting/Webinar Platforms 65%
Presentation Software 64%
Research Services 60%
Project Management/ Collaboration Tools 59%
Email/Auto-responder Services 55%
Survey Software 54%
Social Monitoring Tools 53%
CRM Software 45%
Prospect Contact/List Building Services 43%
Inbound Marketing Platforms 22%
NEW BUSINESS TOOLS: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE 10

FREQUENCY OF AGENCY NEW
BUSINESS TOOLS USAGE

Not surprising, the use of different new business tools
varies as well. We are surprised to not see more frequent
use of things that can be vital to a successful new business
development program, like CRM, Social Media, SEO, and
List. If running a well-oiled new business program, CRM is
managed daily, social media is worked at least a couple
times a day, you're checking who's on your site with some
regularity, and lists are worked on-going.
Many agency principals tell us that too often they feel like
the Cobbler, whose children have no shoes. While they are
doing great things for their clients, it's often their own
business that suffers and loses out (rightly) to good paying
clients.
If, as an agency principal (or New Business Director,)
you're going to invest in these types of tools, for goodness
sake use them! Or set yourself up so you have the right
people in place to use them.
Buying Salesforce or setting up a Twitter account (as
examples) and not using them to their fullest certainly isn't
a great use of your financial resources.