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FunctionFox is the leading provider of simple, affordable, time and project tracking systems for small creative companies. TimeFox, our web-based application, has helped thousands of small creative agencies increase productivity and profitability and do more with their valuable time.
Ever wonder why your creative agency spends so much time and money to land so few accounts? This month's article discusses key questions to ask when acquiring new business and how they will help you land more accounts with less work. Enjoy!
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Feature Article: The 4 Keys to Qualifying
Talk to the Fox: How to Set up New Business
Contact FunctionFox
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The 4 Keys to Qualifying
By Blair Enns – President of Enmark Performance Development, the sales consulting firm to marketing-communication agencies
We have all heard the term "qualified prospect" in reference to potential customers, but what does 'qualified' really mean? A qualified client-to-be (my term of choice for 'prospect') is someone in your target market whose place in the buying cycle is known. In other words, you have determined how close that person is to buying. Coveted late-stage buyers absorb a lot of your agency's business development resources in the form of meetings, proposals, and other work required to land the account, but without proper qualification, most people assume the client-to-be is closer to buying than he really is. This leads to far too many resources being applied too early in the buying cycle.
You can reduce your business development workload by using the following four areas of questioning to qualify your clients-to-be and determine how close they are to buying:
1. Is there a need for your services? Does the client-to-be have a current or imminent need, which your company can fill?
If the answer is no, congratulate yourself! You have qualified your client-to-be, and he is a long, long way from buying. No is an answer you can do something with. You have identified that the client-to-be is early in the buying cycle. He's still buying; he's just off in the distance. Don't ignore him, but you certainly don't need to treat him the way you would treat someone who is ready to buy right now. If the client-to-be does have a current need for your services, that's even better: you can move on to the next important question.
2. Who makes the decisions? What is the decision making process, who are the decision makers and is the person you are dealing with one of them?
The common mistake of applying more business development resources than necessary often begins with selling into an organization at too low a level or at the wrong entry point into the organization, or neglecting other decision makers to court just one. If you don't know how decisions are made or who makes them, your likelihood of closing the account before it gets to a competitive pitch is slim.
I once had a client-to-be that I courted for almost three years. He repeatedly expressed interest in our agency and I repeatedly bought him lunch for his expression of interest. After he left the client-to-be company I found out that the decision-making responsibility for the assignment I was pursuing did not even rest in his department, let alone with him! But I repeatedly rewarded him for not setting me straight. His disclosure would have put an end to his free lunches! If I had known how decisions were made and who made them, my time –and money – would have been better spent on those with real decision-making power.
More ...
This article has been provided by Enmark Performance Development. For more information, please visit their website at
www.winwithoutpitching.com.
If you have an article that you would like to share, please contact us at 1.866.369.8463 or email
info@functionfox.com.
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How to Set up New Business
Question:
Is there a way to account for time spent on acquiring new business within TimeFox?
Answer:
The best way to account for time spent on new business is to set up a client called "New Business Development". Add the prospect or client-to-be as a project within New Business Development. This way, you will be able to track the total hours you spend for each potential client and know how much time you are allocating to new business in your company. What most companies do, is track all tasks using a rate of $0.00. Once you've acquired the client, you will be able to recoup some of the costs that you've incurred (such as proposal writing, and account management) and transfer that to the real client.
You can transfer information from New Business Development to a real client once you have acquired their business. Simply go to Setup–>Projects and pick the client you want to transfer from. Next, click 'edit' next to the project you want to transfer and you should see a 'transfer to client' pull-down menu near the top of the screen that allows you to pick the client you want to transfer information to. This is an easy way to transfer all information from one client to another without any manual input.
A Client Report is a great way to see the total hours you've entered for all new business. Other TimeFox reports will help you interpret the information that you have gathered in other ways. Try the Ranking Report to get an overall idea of the amount of time spent on new business compared to time spent on existing clients, or the Project Report to see how much time you have spent on specific prospects. To see these reports and others in detail, please try our
online demo.
Below is sample Client Report showing total hours for all new business from January to October
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Call: Toll-Free 1.866.369.8463
E-mail: info@functionfox.com
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