There are only a few people in the U.S. who have a broad-based and in-depth view of the proactive new business market, and who can speak to all geographic regions, industry categories, and types of services being purchased by large and small clients alike. One of them is Dave Currie, President of Catapult New Business. I interviewed him yesterday to get an insider’s view of where and how to successfully prospect – today.
What categories are currently hot?
- Consumer Package Goods (CPG).
- Food.
- Retail – both big-box and super markets.
- Consumer banking – particularly regional banks who want to acquire customers from their larger rivals.
- Travel and tourism.
- Education – colleges and universities (all types), and MBA programs.
What outreach techniques are most effective?
- Email marketing with trackable links to landing pages.
- Rifle vs. shotgun: carefully identify your hard targets, but be sure you have a lot of them.
- Small email batches (less than 20 per group).
- 60-second, HD, production-quality video case studies.
- Webcasts with niche content.
What messaging is most effective?
- Show something they may not know, that’s a result of research.
- What’s your solution that will help your prospect – NOT why your agency is best.
- Specify your value: why should they talk to you?
What follow up techniques are most effective?
- Plan for 15 touch points.
- Variable media: email, phone, webcast, direct mail, video case studies.
- Concise voicemail messages, each with a value message.
- Relevance: get to the point very quickly, with specifics.
- Consistency: success only comes if you regularly follow up.
How fast is work being won?
We’ve seen first meetings progress to projects in a week, as well as 6 months. The key is consistent follow-up, at least weekly, by phone as well as other touch-points. Be proactive and suggest days and times to connect with your prospect by phone.
Most importantly: “Ask for the meeting. Marketers are taking meetings today that they wouldn’t or couldn’t take last year.”
