by Erinn Farrell, SVP of Business Management at space150

"You do New Biz — right?"

It's a question I've received a lot over the last couple of years. A few years ago I was unofficially, officially, assigned to look after New Business as a discipline at space150. I, like many before me, walked into the role assuming a few things: (1) that the process was broken, (2) that I could fix it, (3) that it would be easy, and (4) that I could do it alone. Spoiler alert: My assumption was right on for (1) and couldn't be more off for the other three.

The not-so-secret secret is that the New Business process for both the agency and the client is ripe with frustration, filled with unanswered questions, wavering fears, maybes, and could-have-beens. For the most part it is broken and often doesn't yield the results it deserves. But don't worry — it's not beyond repair.

Over these last few weeks I have broken down components of the New Business process in hopes of lifting the curtain on how agencies operate (well, ours at the very least), and all sides of the "new biz" equation along the way.

12 AGENCY SEARCH MISTAKES TO AVOID

1. KNOW YOUR BUDGET, SHARE YOUR BUDGET!

​Whether it's a range, a cap, a "go-any-higher-than-this-and-we'll-all-get-fired," or a specific number, if you know your budget share it. By sharing the budget you will receive responses that show what the agency can do with known resources, not what they could maybe do in another environment. Budget shouldn't be about constraints, but about problem solving. By providing this info you see not only their creative ability but their business ability as well.

2 . FIND AN AGENCY THAT IS THE RIGHT SIZE FOR YOU IN DOLLARS AND STAFF.

Ideally you find an agency that is not stretching too far down, or too far up to meet your needs. For example, a big-name-agency is a great badge to have, but if your budget is meager compared to their other clients there is a good chance that both sides will end up frustrated by feeling like either the attention or the dollars are not there to support the necessary work. You should never be in a position during the search to apologize for the budget you have. If an agency is reaching too far up, as a client you will likely feel the pain of training in new agency staff, inconsistent work, and operations that are not ready to support an account of your size. How do you find out an agency's capacity prior to engaging them? In your initial RFI conversation ask them questions like "In this case study you shared X, what type of budget were you working with? Was that part of a larger annual budget? If you didn't have any constraints what would you like to have done? If you had half the budget for that project, what do you imagine the solution would have been?"

3. BRING IN PROCUREMENT/ACCOUNTING WHEN YOU'VE MADE YOUR SELECTION.

Their role should be to help onboard your partner of choice, not to select the partner for you. Time and time again we see procurement departments dictating the agency or shifting the requirements during contract negotiations. If procurement is involved be sure to understand when they want to be involved to help make your job easier. BTW, we've also worked with some awesome procurement people that have made the process easier, more informed, and more beneficial for all parties — we just wish they were the norm!

4. ARTICULATE THE CURRENT, 90-DAY, AND DESIRED STATE CLEARLY.

Again, this may mean more work for you up front but no one outside of your company should tell you what your goals are or what success looks like. Those goals are, at the very least, something you should determine together, but ideally is something you can share up front. Providing honest context of your situation and goals will help the agency engage at a deeper level and will likely help streamline and improve solutions. If you don't know what your goals are, or why you need an agency, or what success looks like, then you should reconsider your RFP.

5. SET YOUR COMMUNICATION STYLE DURING THE PITCH PROCESS.

If you are an email person, or always want to jump on the phone, or be in person, then set that expectation during the pitch process! Sometimes in the interest of being fair to all agencies, clients change their working style and therefore miss out on the opportunity to "dry run" the relationship. By the time you make your selection it should feel like you've already been working together over the course of the month, because you have been. Communication style extends to not just how the work is communicated but the pace as well. If you expect fast turnarounds, fire drills, or previews of presentations before they go to leadership, make sure that you are executing in that style throughout the search process in order to get a sense of not only the end product but the environment of the work as well.

6. MEET THE TEAM, MEET THE LEADERSHIP OF THE AGENCY — AND BE SURE TO BRING YOURS AS WELL.

Don't settle for the "sales" person, and whomever is leading the pitch from the agency side. Be sure to understand their roles moving forward as well.

7. PLAN FOR PARALLEL PATHS WHEN THE WORK STARTS.

You are likely going to have some strategic/discovery needs and time with your new agency, but you'll also have some "just get shit done" stuff. Be sure to plan for both, whether that means a heavier team (both agency and client side) right out of the gate, or keeping on a former partner to overlap a bit, or taking on work internally while the agency gets up to speed. Be ready to invest (in both time and money) in strategy and foundation while the other must-haves are being addressed. If you don't take this time it will likely be run over by the immediate needs rather than the important ones.

8. IF YOU ARE HOSTING THE FINAL PRESENTATIONS FROM AGENCIES BE SURE TO PLAN TWO HOURS FOR THE PRESENTATION.

After 15 minutes of intros and getting the room in order it leaves plenty of time for presentation, questions, and a bit of of conversation. Do not schedule finalists on the same day if you can avoid it. If you do have them visiting the same day space out the meetings by at least an hour and clear the room between presentations. It honestly does not matter who is pitching or if other agencies know, but you want to make sure each meeting feels personal and focused.

9. LEARNING HOW TO WRITE YOUR RFP CAN'T BE FOUND ON GOOGLE.

If this is the first time you've written a RFP you'll likely search "How to write a RFP" which will come up with some pretty solid suggestions, especially in the way of sections to cover (this is a good example of standard content you should be gathering), but that's how to write a RFP — not YOUR RFP. Your RFP should include not only details relevant to the ask, but about your business in general. If you're concerned about content, then execute a NDA. Long story short, don't create an assignment in a vacuum. Create one with context, that's informed, and that will be the right springboard for great work to come.

10. DEDICATE AT LEAST ONE PERSON, IF NOT TWO, TO THE EFFORT OF FINDING YOUR AGENCY.

Who doesn't love a huge task piled onto their already existing workload? No one? Right. Finding your agency partner is a big deal. It requires focus, research, commitment… it requires an owner. Ideally this same owner is the person who will own the relationship moving forward. Do your best to commit this person's time and energy for my recommended 6–8 weeks and at the end of that process you will not only have a new agency, but a partner.

11. GIVE CLEAR AND FRANK FEEDBACK TO AGENCY PARTNERS YOU DO NOT SELECT.

Be as honest as possible, this helps not only the agency that you've asked to dedicate time and resources, but it also forces you to be honest internally and clear about why you are choosing the partner you are. Do not ignore them, don't go dark, reach out and own your feedback. Also, it's a pretty human thing to do.

12. DOCUMENT THE PROCESS & KEEP IN TOUCH.

It's easy to build strong relationships throughout the search process with all the agencies involved, not just your selected partner. Do yourself a favor and document the agencies along with your thoughts, feedback, etc. Stay in touch with new biz leads and continue to be aware of what their agency is up to. Why put yourself through this extra work? Because turnover is inevitable, and another person may take over your role, or the selected agency will not work out, or an agency you liked might be a great fit for another project or business you take part in. You've put a ton of effort into this search, take care to preserve the work you've done!

Well, there you have it. A few ways to make the New Business process a little less painful, a little more enjoyable, and hopefully a lot more successful.