In this episode, we get a unique opportunity to discuss agency life from both a client focus and a new biz viewpoint because we are joined by Louise Boothroyd and Ed Walker from Foolproof. Foolproof is an experience design agency that specialises in end-to-end digital product and service design for global brands.
Louise is Head of Client Engagement, where she and her team develop long-term partnerships with brands to help imagine new digital products and services while Ed is Business Development Director, meaning his remit is to shape the company’s business development strategy to identify brands to work with and how to win them as clients.
In this episode you will learn:
- Tactics to keep your pipeline busy
- The importance of agency culture
- Making content aimed at helping people with their problems
- Why it’s powerful having a ‘new biz’ team
- The future of pitching
- How to make current clients more profitable
Links & References
Katie Street: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiestreet/
Louise Boothroyd https://www.linkedin.com/in/louise-boothroyd-9717a818/
Ed Walker https://www.linkedin.com/in/edfwalker/
Series 5 of Word on the Street is sponsored by Tanba, The Agency New Business Academy is a brand-new initiative aimed at equipping agencies of all sizes with the knowledge, content, partnerships, and opportunities needed to accelerate agency growth by optimising their new business ‘engine’. Tanba is an on-demand and affordable solution for agencies looking to upskill their team via training courses, content, and insights delivered by our panel of industry experts, leaders, and partners.
The academy is all about empowering agency teams to get noticed, attract opportunities, increase conversion rates, and reduce the costs associated with the sales process. Visit https://tanba.io/ to find out more and start empowering your agency.
“Part of the role that we have to do in new biz is ensuring that when we’re pitching, we’re pitching for something we can genuinely win” – Ed Walker [12:18]
“Reputation and recommendation and referrals is how most agencies grow” – Katie Street [13:13]
“I think awareness through to opportunity can sometimes be really quick” – Ed Walker [20:59]
“Sometimes the biggest challenge we face is not convincing the client that we’re the right partner” – Ed Walker [22:06]
“Most of the people that I speak to, it’s those ones that you work on for the longest, tend to be the biggest” – Katie Street [23:19]
“If you’re going to go to a conference don’t just only have a stand” – Katie Street [25:10]
“For us, it’s always been incredibly powerful having a new biz team, so you can run those pitches and you don’t distract those who are in deeper relationships” – Louise Boothroyd [27:01]
“You need those thought leadership pieces that are going to give people some help or advice” – Katie Street [30:47]
“The real talent, in our practice particularly, is around the things that they love and making that relevant to our clients and our industry and using that to drive content” – Louise Boothroyd [31:25]
“I think everyone within the company, top to bottom has a chance to feel like they’re shaping the type of company we are and the direction we’re going in and I think that contributes a lot to the culture” – Ed Walker [33:12]
“Making sure you’re engaging with people in different ways, on different platforms is super, super important” – Katie Street [38:40]
“You don’t have to solve the problem in the pitch” – Ed Walker [41:24]
“We often used to be the only agency in the room that wouldn’t be even showing creative” – Katie Street [42:31]
“Quite often when we do pitches, we do videos of the experience” – Louise Boothroyd [55:25]