Welcome to the brand new series of Word on the Street Podcast where we’re delighted to be joined by Jody Osman Group Director of Business Growth at Propeller Group and Co-Founder of The BD100 and Tanba, and Richard McHardy, the BD100 and Tanba Co-Founder to discuss best practises, ways to increase the efficiency of your new business activity and the exciting launch of our academy Tanba.
In this episode we get heavy into tech – but it’s all very practical so don’t panic. We discuss an array of softwares and platforms that will help aid your agency with prospecting new clients and data hunting. We also delve a little into all their pasts and look at the experience that has led them to where they are now in the marketing world…what a trip down memory lane!
In this episode we discuss:
- Helpful tech and how it can benefit your efficiency
- Platforms that can aid your prospecting and data hunting
- What is Tanba and how is it going to help you?
- Understanding business development
- How to work on new business relationships
- The pressure on the new business teams
“Being reactive and in control of a call and getting a call to where it needs to get in an alarming situation to an end” – Richard McHardy [17:47]
“I found in the early days of working new business, people were very scared of just getting on the phone and calling someone they didn’t know” – Jody Osman [19:14]
“Over the years I guess technology has increased exponentially in terms of what we can do and what we can use” – Jody Osman [20:40]
“We’ve all talked about starting in sales and loving it, but I think sometimes people associate sales as someone giving you the hard pitch” – Jody Osman [21:27]
“Often, I’ve found that a lot of agencies, for example a lot of our work, is setting up appointments and meetings, but actually it’s absolutely key that we keep an eye on the next stages” – Jody Osman [22:35]
“You need to have eyes on everything to make sure all the right steps are being followed” – Katie Street [23:13]
“It’s very important to get very focused insights around the companies you’re targeting” – Jody Osman [24:40]
“A lot of the traditional technologies were built for big companies and they don’t service SMEs” – Katie Street [27:00]
“I think now, more than ever, we could not do what we do for clients without the technologies” – Katie Street [27:34]
“We are building a marketplace in Tanba that just showcases the best of those service providers” – Richard McHardy [30:51]
“When I meet a CEO I know when it’s gonna work” – Richard McHardy [34:36]
“Wishlist, situational and data combine to bring relationships back to the agency” – Richard McHardy [36:01]
“Ring those CMO’s and ask them what’s going on in their market” – Richard McHardy [36:28]
“The reality is that you really need to build your audience over time” – Katie Street [37:30]
“When you’re winning clients is actually the best time to really be throwing yourself at new business” – Jody Osman [38:32]
“You want to make sure you’re continually building, so your peak gets higher and it truly does” – Katie Street [39:17]
“In the world of new business it’s not just keeping your marketing and new business sales tactics going” – Katie Street [41:08]
“From the point of opportunity, to actually winning it and then actually recognising money, it’s usually around 3 months, sometimes longer” – Katie Street [41:42]
“Agencies expectations, or agency owners expectations need to be more realistic and they need to understand the investment” – Katie Street [42:37]
“We found that at certain agencies, we had one where it was really exciting, we kept getting them on pitch lists, but it was always a last minute pitchlist and their conversion rate wasn’t so great” – Jody Osman [43:47]
“Whether you’re hiring someone at an agency to do BD full time or working with a consult like me or a business like yours, you’ve got to invest in it long term” – Richard McHardy [44:32]
“To do business development properly, you’ve got to give it the love, attention, time, get everyone involved” – Katie Street [46:28]
“The challenge always is I think for new business people we’re generally target driven” – Jody Osman [48:08]
“It’s about bringing the best people in the industry in” – Katie Street [51:21]
“I think there’s one element that often gets overlooked, it’s the ability to project manage within new business” – Jody Osman [55:35]
“One of the things around new business is, you’ve always got to be clear on what your targets are and what you’ve achieved and what that looks like” – Jody Osman [56:06]
“We should not forget that business developers as a force, as a cohort, as a group of people, really can drive growth in the UK Economy” – Richard McHardy [58:46]