Hank Blank is an advertising agency search consultant specializing in conducting advertising, public relations and interactive reviews for clients. He recently conducted the advertising agency search for Jenny Craig and the advertising and public relations agency searches for Villeroy & Boch.
LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (Business Wire EON) August 18, 2008 --
Hank Blank is an advertising
agency search consultant specializing in conducting advertising,
public relations and interactive reviews for clients. He recently
conducted the advertising agency search for Jenny Craig and the
advertising and public relations agency searches for Villeroy & Boch.
Hank Blank has delivered presentations on advertising agency new
business practices to the MAGNET Global Network’s
(www.magnetglobal.org) New
Business Conference. He has also spoken to the Brand Establishment
advertising agency (http://www.brandestablishment.com)
on new business development.
Hank Blank’s new business presentations are
called, “Why Ad Agencies Don’t
Want New Business,” and “Networking
Your Way to New Business.”
Hank advises agencies to make themselves extremely easy to find and
connect with. “Surprisingly most agencies are
excellent at connecting their clients to their client’s
prospects but make themselves tough to connect with,”
said Blank. “For instance 14 of the top 20
agencies in Orange County, where I live, list their contact info as
info@ or contact@. They rarely check those e-mail boxes, yet those are
the only e-mail addresses that any company searching for a new agency
would access,” said Blank.
Agency principals should also make themselves easy to connect with.
Blank is always surprised how many agency principals’
e-mails have no salutations. “Make sure that
your complete contact information is in your salutation including your
direct line and cell phone. It’s very
frustrating when you are in your car or an airport and trying to make
follow-up calls and the information is not readily accessible,”
said Blank.
Hank also advises agencies to train their gatekeepers, as they are the
ambassadors for the agency. Often they appear to have no knowledge of
the new business process. Educate them and train them on how to handle
prospective new business calls. Consultants calling the agency shouldn’t
be interrogated, they should be welcomed.
“A poor gatekeeper can cost you business.
During my most recent review I called 18 agencies and asked for the name
and e-mail of their new business person. Seven out of the 18 agencies,
or roughly 40%, wouldn’t give me the
information,” said Blank. “If
you make it difficult to connect with, it is easy to find other options,”
said Blank.
Hank Blank also cautions agencies to stop wasting time and effort on low
probability submissions. “I often receive
submissions from agencies that aren’t in the
ball park and then notify them that they are not going to be considered
further. They respond that they know it was a long shot. Why did they
submit? Even wasting 10 hours of time is a loss of productivity.
Remember, hope is not a new business plan,”
said Blank.
Hank Blank also believes that frenzied activity is not a high return new
business strategy. “If my reviews get leaked
to the press, agencies are like sharks in the water with wounded prey in
it. They spend countless hours and effort chasing clients that they aren’t
remotely qualified for, or aren’t
geographically relevant. Activity on its own is not a high return new
business strategy. It is just churn and in most cases a waste a time,”
says Blank.
About Hank Blank Inc
Hank Blank Inc is a marketing services firm based in Laguna Niguel. Hank
specializes in helping clients find advertising, public relations and
interactive resources in California and also nationally. Hank has over
25 Years of new business experience for agencies such as DDB, JWT, and O’Leary
and Partners. His bio is available at Hank
Blank.
Hank loves speaking to Ad Clubs and PRSA Chapters on new business and
networking, if you would like a speaker for an upcoming event.
For more information please visit www.hankblank.com
or e-mail hank@hankblank.com.
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