From ad-hoc to intentional
Generating new business is a perennial agency challenge. You have mouths to feed and growth ambitions. But other things often end up taking priority: delivery, cashflow, people, recruitment, culture, operations, legal… And the time, resource, focus and perspective you need? That’s in short supply
It is important. You know it’s important. But it’s rarely urgent. So it gets pushed down the list.
Until it is urgent. Like when a client pulls work:
They’re taking it in-house
There’s a new CMO
Procurement’s calling a review
The roster’s being rationalised
Budgets have been cut
Priorities have changed
The political climate’s shifted
And suddenly it’s panic stations. That “holy shit, we’ve got no leads and a hole in our forecast” moment, Cue a scramble for a quick fix: cold outreach, lead gen, anything to plug the gap. But without a coherent strategy in place, that’s a hard slog with limited returns that you struggle to maintain.
It’s firefighting, not growth.
Not having a new business strategy is a business-critical risk.
And until you invest in a proper strategy and commit to doing the work, you’ll stay stuck in this cycle. Feast and famine. Peaks and troughs. There are no quick fixes that last.
New business is an ecosystem - like building a brand - and it takes time. Start with strong foundations: targeting and positioning, to make a solid strategy, because when you’re clear on who your customers are, what you do for them, and how you add value, you know what to do, what to say, and who to say it to. Because a proper strategy makes everything easier:
It’s a decision-making tool
A focus for your efforts
It makes outbound easier
It makes inbound work harder
Improves referral quality
Makes measurement (and course-correction) simpler
And gives you stability for the long term
So how do you build that when you’re already stretched? Because this shit is hard. Not rocket-science hard, but focus, effort, and consistency hard. And everyone struggles to do it for themselves.
This is where I come in.
I’m the extra brain and pair of hands to make it happen.
The outside perspective to bring clarity.
The accelerant to move you forward.
The cheerleader to keep you on track.
I bring focus and perspective to help you build your strategy, and consistency to help embed it.
We’ll define your objectives, targeting and positioning. Then build the right channels, tactics, systems and processes to move your new business activity from ad-hoc to intentional.
You won’t need me forever. I’ll help you design, build and launch. I’ll create momentum and help bring in the people you need to keep it going (because I know I’m not the answer to everything). Then it’s over to you, to take your agency forward, with intention, in the direction you want to go.
From ad hoc, fits and starts, held together with sticky-backed plastic, panic and sleepless nights…
To a calm, confident system that everyone contributes to, that delivers a much more steady, manageable flow of the right kind of opportunities.
If you’re ready to invest in a proper strategy for the long term and would like to talk, get in touch!
