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 the next few weeks I will break down components of the New Business process in hopes of providing some clarity on how agencies operate (well, ours at the very least), and all sides of the "new biz" equation along the way.

DETERMINING WHAT TYPE OF AGENCY RELATIONSHIP YOU ARE LOOKING FOR

Finding a new agency partner is something that seems easy to address, but is inevitably more exhaustive and taxing than you'd expect. Seeking out and responding to New Biz opportunities is equally painful. But why?

In short, the effort required to find and become a new agency partner is oftentimes underappreciated, underfunded, and unfocused. These issues are unintentional, but that very lack of intention leads to gaps in understanding and expectations that can plague both sides of the equation.

FROM THE CLIENT SIDE YOU ARE CONSTANTLY CONTENDING WITH:

• Who should run the RFP, who is involved, who takes lead, who's the owner of the process as well as the decision maker?
• Who will own this relationship internally moving forward?
• Where do we start when it comes to budget?
• How do we really know this agency is for us? Are we ready for this?

FROM THE AGENCY SIDE, WHEN RECEIVING A NEW BIZ OPPORTUNITY, SOME OF THE THINGS WE GRAPPLE WITH ARE:

• Do we put our best people on it… well, shouldn't they be on your existing clients?
• Do we build a sales team to keep pitching off "the floor"… but, is the sales team motivated by getting the right clients, and are they as invested in the success of the work down the road?
• Do we put talented yet inexperienced people on the work to help them grow… great, but what if the client thinks you're too young and immature to understand their business, or worse yet by not putting the "top dogs" in, that you are undervaluing them as a client?
• Do we put our senior most people on the pitch… sure, but what if the client now expects the president to be a part of every meeting?

All of these questions are fine, and should be addressed, but they are really symptoms of a larger question: Do you know who you are as a company? For both the agency and the client, you have to know who you are before you know what you're asking for or what you're providing. The "who" means more than goals, capabilities, or projects. The "who" is your culture, the values that drive you and the personalities that make up your company.

Once you determine who you are, then you need to decide if you are looking for a vendor or an agency. A vendor partnership can be a great one if you are a client who is looking for a team to execute your ideas, or if you want to keep the lion's share of strategy and creative direction in house. I know clients don't want to believe their strategy is dictation, but you have to be honest with yourself and who you are as a company and a team, if the reigns are staying in your hands because you are not ready or willing to release them, then look for a vendor to execute for you, not an agency to challenge you. To be clear, vendor is not a bad word, there are amazing vendors out there, but your agency shouldn't be your vendor, they should be your strategic partner — but they can only be your partner if you let them.

If you're reading this and think "hmmm, I think I should start looking at some vendors," congrats, you can probably stop reading now and get to your vendor search.

If you're reading this and thinking "listen, we know who we are, we're confident in finding an agency to make us better," then great — congrats! While searching for your agency partner, stop thinking about an RFP (Request for Proposal), but rather a RFR — a Request for Relationship. I know, I know, it sounds all hippy and emotional, but seriously, this is not a small request. You're looking for an agency to be an extension of your team. You better know exactly who they are; the people are just as important as the product. Your agency should not be a vendor, they should be your partner. They are going to be the partner that helps push you, pull you, and (hopefully) leads you in the right direction. RFP's can be like blind dates, full of pretty presentations and best-foot-forwards, but in order to figure out if this is the group of people that you want to not only produce great work for you — but with you — well that takes a commitment (more than you might think). In this case you need to architect an RFP timeline that focuses on conversations and time with your prospective partners in addition to assignments and presentations.