How to Start Building a Culture of New Business at Your Agency
Photo by Josh Calabrese
What does it mean to build a “culture of new business” within an agency? It’s a phrase I hear bandied about but, in my experience, it doesn’t always get defined in terms concrete enough to be effective. All the tools and techniques that experts like me pass along to agency leaders like you are rendered impotent if the environment isn’t primed to receive them.
Admittedly, building a culture of new business at your agency requires more than reading a 1500 word article, but we have to start somewhere! And so, here’s where I might start.
It starts with a strong story
Ugh, I feel queasy just writing that subheading. “Storytelling” is bandied about as carelessly and casually as “culture of new business”. And yet, you can’t create a new business culture—or any culture for that matter—without the underpinnings of a strong story. It’s simply the tool we humans use to understand where we fit in and why. Even McKinsey stresses the importance that story plays in contributing to a culture of growth. Their research has shown that “I have a growth story I tell all the time” is one of the mindsets that makes a business 2.4 times more likely to outperform its peers.
This corporate narrative must be owned by the agency principals and understood by everyone at the agency so that it can be told in all kinds of situations, from a new business pitch to a conversation with friends over a beer at happy hour.
It includes the agency’s origin story (inextricably linked to the story of the founders), the story of how the agency exists in the world today, and its vision for the future. By the way, there’s a wonderful technique I’ve written about before, Story of Self, Story of Us, Story of Now, that you might want to check out if you’d like to improve your own corporate narrative.
It should be inherent in the agency’s strategic positioning. Many agencies find it hard to commit to a positioning that’s distinctive and memorable. This leads to statements like “a commitment to innovation”, or a “scrappy work ethic”, or a “relentless pursuit of marketing results”. That all may be true, but it isn’t memorable, which means it’s not repeated by others, including your employees. And stories are meant to be repeated.
Storytelling is such an important method for bringing people together in all circumstances, but it’s especially useful in new business. We’re hardwired to engage with a story and when we hear–or are a part of–a really good one, we want to repeat it to others. If you’re one of those agency leaders who believes in the aphorism “new business is everybody’s business”, this is a step you cannot skip.
Everyone understands their new business role
However, I have problems with “new business is everybody’s business”. It’s a glib statement spoken with good intentions as a rallying cry. But it’s more likely to sow confusion, leaving your team to ask themselves, “what exactly is being expected of me?”, and ironically it may be interpreted as “well, if new business is everybody’s business, maybe someone else besides me will step up to the plate”.
As I wrote a while back in this article about why new business isn’t a democracy, new business responsibilities can absolutely be shared among a leadership team. In fact, I think it’s essential for most small agencies who don’t have the resources to hire a dedicated new business person. You'll just have more success if you match the right people to the right job.
Agency new business requires an impressive range of skills: interpersonal, organizational, creative, strategic, technical. Even the most experienced new business professionals will rarely be in possession of all of them.
Recognize the strengths of your team and use them to your best advantage. What’s more, as the decider, lead with your own strengths. Allow your strengths to define your agency’s new business culture and fill in the gaps where you are weak with the complementary strengths of your team.
For instance, if you're a networking superstar but maybe not so great at the follow-through, find someone on your team who is detail-oriented and can help you keep the momentum going. They might dread the thought of networking themselves but may be highly productive working behind the scenes keeping you to task.
There’s a system for accountability
Accountability is what results when there are repercussions–both good and bad–for the actions we take.
The problem I see at times is a desire for accountability, but no framework to manage it. If this rings true for you, here are a few ways to begin to build that framework:
Delegate outcomes, not tasks
A few years ago I was in a business coaching program for entrepreneurs. Of the many lessons I learned, perhaps the biggest one was the importance of communicating to my team the outcomes I wanted to see rather than the actions I wanted them to take.
In other words, instead of handing over an unnecessarily detailed set of instructions, which is not terribly rewarding for the person writing the instructions or for the person asked to follow them, describe what success looks like and let them figure out the best way to get there.
But definitely be clear on the outcomes!
I was meeting with one of my agency clients recently and he was expressing his frustration that when he’d recently asked two of his team members to contribute to a pitch deck, no action was taken. I probed for more detail and it turned out that his request didn’t include the outcomes he wanted to see. The team members were asked to “fill in” placeholder slides with their content. Neither person was entirely sure what to do, and no responsibility was assigned, which meant neither one felt particularly motivated to divert time and attention away from other priorities to fulfill the request.
Be clear on your desired outcomes and assign responsibility.
Communicate more!
Most of you have a weekly or biweekly new business status meeting (and if you aren’t holding a regular status meeting, start now). Do you define an agenda and stick to it? Again, most of you have answered “yes”, and thank goodness for that, but I’ve also been witness to many status meetings that are conducted ad hoc or get bogged down on a single issue. As a result, the agency doesn’t see progress, especially on proactive business development activities that don’t come with RFP-imposed deadlines.
Or, simply encourage more opportunities for dialogue.
Once when I was running a major global pitch for a big cosmetics brand, I instituted a daily team meeting. Only 30 minutes. Breakfast was served. Everyone groaned with displeasure at having another meeting put on their calendars. And truth be told, not everyone showed up and not everyday, but more often than not among the people that did show up there was a substantive conversation about pitch strategy or an exchange of ideas that would never have happened over email. It was so useful that it became a standard part of my playbook.
A real conversation is best but, from Slack to Loom to Voxer, we have so many tools at our disposal to encourage interaction despite our packed schedules and remote working environments.
Accountability is always paired with a commitment to mentorship
I’ve heard agency leaders complain that there’s a lack of new business skills outside of the core leadership team—skills like presenting, writing, and relationship-building.
Of course there is! Because there’s also a lack of new business mentorship.
Agency leaders, especially founders or principals of small agencies, are often blessed with an entrepreneurial mindset. They hustle, they do what they need to do to build a thriving business. And if it doesn’t come naturally, they learn those skills pretty quickly because they have to make payroll.
But most of the talented people that work for you are not necessarily entrepreneurially wired. They like the security of a paycheck and probably perform well for the job you hired them to do. And some of them will even be excited about doing more, but you can’t expect it to come naturally.
When I look back over my career, I’m so grateful for the mentors that shaped me as a professional. What they all had in common was the willingness to allow me to figure out my own way, but that doesn’t mean I was abandoned in the wilderness. They set expectations and were always there to guide me. They encouraged pride of ownership and helped me cultivate the confidence to introduce new ideas and innovations that would benefit everyone.
Be willing to find opportunities for less experienced people on your team to practice their new business skills. Invite them to prospect meetings if they show a talent for relationship-building. Collaborate with them on a new case study format if they’re a strong writer. Put them in charge of managing the contact database if they get joy from the satisfaction of clean, productive data. And be willing to recognize that these talents may be in people who aren’t the usual suspects.