To Attract Ad Agency New Business Perhaps You Should Ask “Why?”

Asking why is a simple way to get to the heart of what your agency really does and better help you and your staff communicate what it can do for clients.

If you were to go around the table asking your top five agency execs what your agency does, you usually get five different answers. That’s often the case with marketing service companies, and most companies in general for that matter.

To get a consensus view for “What do you do?” it might be a helpful exercise to have your team members take that question a step further by also asking “Why?”

For example, let’s say your VP of account service, when asked “What do you do?” answers, “We do breakthrough advertising for our clients.”

Now, have everyone follow that insight by asking “why.” Do it at least five times and record the five answers.

1. “We do breakthrough creative for our clients. Why?” – Because we are driven to make them successful.
2. “We do breakthrough creative for our clients. Why?” – Because we have an in-depth knowledge of consumer brands.
3. “We do breakthrough creative for our clients. Why?” – Because our key staff members grew up in that industry and had to differentiate themselves from their competitors.
4. “We do breakthrough creative for our clients. Why?” – Because our clients were always challenging the big boys and have to be more innovative with their products and we have to be with their advertising.
5. “We do breakthrough creative for our clients. Why?” – Because we never accept the status quo or that our clients’ brands aren’t better than the competition. We excel at cost-effectively helping our clients drive revenue growth and gain market share.

By asking why, you might summarize the responses by answering the question “what do we do” with a different and more client-focused answer: “We drive revenue and market share growth for CPG brands.”

This exercise can greatly help you generate a list of your team members deepest feelings about your agency, quickly reach a consensus view and most importantly, better communicate with prospective clients, “What it is you do – for them.”