“NO!” It’s one of the most crucial words to use when it comes to new business.  

Over the decades, many agencies have asked me some version of: “Which agency is “killing it” or truly standing out in the pack when it comes to new business wins?”  

Truthfully, the answer isn’t relevant to the agency asking since the response is typically unique to that agency that is doing so well.  

However, there is one strategy that is vital to increasing new business and it’s learning how to say “no” more often. Sounds counterintuitive but it is key in agencies who are successful and critical when it comes to qualifying prospects.

Although it can be tempting to pursue any prospect who expresses interest in your agency, the truth is that not all prospects are going to be a great fit. It is in your best interest to identify good-fit prospective clients early.  However, agencies often ask these same typical qualifying questions about the prospect:

1. Good initial revenue potential?
2. History of being a good client?
3. Is the agency passionate about the brand?
4. Can the agency do innovative work for the brand?
5. Is there long-term growth?

They are all fair and legitimate questions but there are additional questions, in particular, that will help truly qualify and pinpoint an ideal client.  Let’s evaluate them here:

1. Know yourself.

Know what your agency excels at and what types of work are best handled by your team members. Create a target client profile, if you haven’t already, based on culture, emotional reasons for wanting to work on a particular brand as well as rational reasons. Know your values. When 72% of U.S. consumers believe that it’s more important than ever to buy from brands that reflect their values, you better believe mutually-held beliefs are going to be a major relationship driver for clients looking for a potential agency partner. Be aligned about what drives your team and what you believe in as an agency.

Just as important, think about your category and persona experience.  Is this client a good match with your expertise when it comes to sector and target?  One of the easiest ways to eliminate an agency from the pitch process is to disqualify them based on little to no category experience… Be sure to avoid that situation.

As for culture, as mentioned above, know what drives your team.  Know what makes you want to get out of bed in the morning and what makes your heart beat.  Know the “why” behind what you do and be sure the prospect is a good match for the way your agency works.

2. Determine the prospect’s timeline. 

During this upswing in new business opportunities, you might have the resources to expand your team or improve your tools as you reach for new business. But what you don’t have is the ability to add more hours to your workweek for the purpose of qualifying leads. That’s why you need to know if a prospective client has a defined timeline for their project, or if they’re still in the early stages of figuring out their goals. 

If a prospect knows their issue but doesn’t have a sense of urgency about solving it, they’re not ready to work with you. And you need to be focusing on companies who are ready to offer their business to your agency now. In this respect, qualifying leads is kind of like dating: You don’t want to waste time nurturing a prospect who doesn’t know what they want or when. You’re going to be much happier if you focus your client courtship energies on those who know what they want and have at least a moderately good idea of their timeline, so that you take the plunge together and both enjoy the ride.

It’s fine to keep the lines of communication open with a client still in the very early stages of figuring out their needs. Just don’t invest the bulk of your time and resources chasing these leads.

3. Get to know the person with the authority to commit

It’s super frustrating to spend time qualifying a lead only to hear, “I’ll have to run this by my supervisor/our team lead/our VP. They’re the one with the ultimate decision-making power.” 

You may have to spend time presenting your case all over again, or the details about why your agency is the best fit for the client’s project may get lost in translation at their next team meeting. 

Avoid wasting your time by working these two questions from The Brooks Group into your initial qualifying conversations:

 

• Who else, other than you, will be involved in the agency partnering decision?
• Could you describe the process you will be using to make this decision?

Knowing the scope of involvement and authority of the prospects you’re speaking with will help determine how your qualifying process moves forward- or not!

4. Ensure they’re willing to listen to and trust your team. 

Once they’ve explained their problem, are they going to be willing to sit back and listen to your solution? They need to hear you out and trust that your team has the expertise and skills to follow through with a workable plan.  And trust is not built in one meeting… it takes multiple interactions with the prospect.

A potential client who just wants to hear your solutions without offering any real insights, materials, research or details is not a quality client that thinks of an agency as a true partner.

You should gauge a new business prospect not only on the scope of their project but on the sense of trust you perceive from them from the start of your qualifying process by how much information they are willing to share in order to be part of successful solutions..

5. Find out their budget

Every agency wishes they could help everyone – it’s human nature to want to help others – but we all have to put food on our proverbial (and real) tables, too, so asking upfront what a prospect’s budget is isn’t tacky, it’s realistic.  No budget?  No go!  It’s that simple. 

Ask what their budget is early in your qualifying prospect to get an immediate idea if they’re a client worth pursuing. If they provide an exact amount or a confidently accurate estimate, and it fits your minimums for the project’s scope, great!  If they don’t have a budget (gotta love that one) then ask them for the scope of work and provide them with a budget range… see if they flinch at the number. 

If they hedge the question or provide a number you know is too low for what they’re asking, it’s time for an honest conversation about the value of an agency partner and your agency’s work in particular. If their lack of budget will be a dealbreaker, thank them for considering your agency and ask them to keep you in mind should their financial situation change.

6. Ask them what success looks like

This is another way that qualifying advertising prospects is like dating: You should agree on what a successful partnership looks like.

Be specific with this line of questioning. It’s not enough for a client to say, “We want to introduce a new product,” or “We want to increase sales.” By how much do you want to increase sales? Is that in terms of volume or revenue? By what deadline? How much reach are they hoping their new product will have? How much revenue should it earn? You get the idea. 

Establishing mutually agreed-upon, SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-oriented) goals will set up both your agency and the client for a better relationship.

Conclusion: Use the Pitch or Ditch Chart

Qualifying client leads can be a lot like dating: It’s fun if you both have the same goals and similar values. Lots of magic can happen when you’re on the same page as your client! But if one party isn’t sure about what they want, or keeps changing their mind, it’s best to end the budding relationship, refocus on what you want out of a relationship, and move on. 

I’ll leave you with one quick story where AAR Partners recently pitched a rather large insurance brand.  By the end of the hour not only did we realize that we were sharply contrasting groups in terms of culture and work ethics but the idea that they had no clue about a budget or if they needed one, two or three agencies just didn’t sit too well.  Within 20 minutes after we left the Zoom room, we sent them a thank you but no thank you email and wished them the best of luck with their review.  Knowing when to say “no” is a vital part of qualifying prospective clients.

And knowing what to ask a prospective client is the best way to qualify them before things go too far. Adopt these lead qualifying questions to your agency – they’re guaranteed to help you build a longer roster of leads that turn into long-lasting, mutually beneficial client-agency relationships.

If you would like to use AAR Partners’ “Pitch or Ditch” chart (see below), please feel free to implement it in your qualifying conversations and remember to always pitch with passion!