The Extra Foot

Sometimes, little actions can go a long way. About a month ago I bought a pair of shoes at Brooks Brothers. Yesterday I got a hand addressed, hand written note in the mail from the salesperson I dealt with thanking me for coming in the store and letting me know to contact her if I ever needed anything else (she also enclosed her business card). While I'm used to getting and immediately discarding the mounds of junk mail that I get on a daily basis, receiving this note really knocked me out.

There aren't many chains that will send you a hand written note these days and this salesperson took the time to follow up on her sale in a very classy way that reflects well not just on her but on the company she works for. I'm not a huge fan of Brooks Brothers so I don't know when I'll be back in the store again, but I know that with this small gesture this person has built up some memorable positive equity with me that will make me more likely to return.

One of my favorite quotes about business actually comes from a former baseball player, Lou Piniella, who's now the manager of the Chicago Cubs. I don't remember the exact statement but when asked what makes a great ballplayer he said it's how well you do the small things. So, when you're in a service industry like we are, you don't have to always go the extra mile. Sometimes the extra foot will do just fine.

Reasons for Reasons

5 reasons for writing a list of reasons

1. There's not a lot of writing (but, hopefully, a lot of thinking).

2. It's easy to read if people don't have a lot of time.

3. Your opinion/advice can help someone.

4. You can promote yourself or your company without promoting yourself or your company.

5. In your research/thinking you may come up with an idea that you can use.

Requiem for a Pitch Man

Billy Mays is dead. The brash, loud television pitchman was found dead by his wife in his home yesterday morning. Billy certainly wasn't a cultural icon the way Michael Jackson was or even Farrah Fawcett. Nor was he a television staple as long as Ed McMahon who with his boss Johnny Carson was part of what may arguably be thought of as the most famous 2 shot in the history of TV. No, Billy was just a guy promoting Orange Glo and OxiClean on commercials. And yet, I feel really sad that we won't be seeing him anymore (unless his estate has the ghoulish idea of continuing to run his spots). For one thing, I really didn't mind the intrusion Billy made on my television viewing because he was just plain entertaining. He was a hawker who didn't make any pretence that he was trying to get you to buy his product and got in your face to do so. In many ways, he was a throw back to the old informercial stars of yesteryear (Ron Popeil must be shedding a tear) but in Billy's case, he was saying this is my style, I don't care if I'm too loud because I really believe in the products I sell. (One of the funny stories I read in one of his obituaries is that he gave all the guests at his wedding samples of OxiClean and did his pitch on the dance floor). This was a guy who loved what he did for a living. And if he really didn't, then he was a better actor than we can give him credit for. Billy Mays was as everyman as you can get, an anti-star and yet an icon in his own way for advertising and I'll miss his over the top 30 seconds of hawking.

Discovery Channels

5 Reasons Why a Discovery Phase Makes Sense:

1. The scope of work hasn’t been defined. A thorough discovery phase will allow you to establish the business, creative and technical requirements of the project.

2. You’re engaged with the client sooner. If the project’s scope hasn’t been established in detail, signing an agreement for discovery allows you to start the relationship rather than having to wait for someone to figure it all out.

3. It’s a great way to become immersed with the brand. You’re way ahead of the game if you can become an expert in the client’s business.

4. You can test the waters to see if this is a client you want to work with. A discovery phase is limited to a relatively short period of time so you’re not committed if you need to bail. Likewise, the client can see how wonderful you are to work with.

5. You may discover other business problems that need to be solved and hence, more potential work for your company.

7 elements every proposal should have

1. Make sure the layout conveys the level of professionalism the client will get if they hire your company for the job but the design should never get in the way of the information. At the end of the day this is a business document.

2. Less is more when it comes to text. Let’s face it, the first page people turn to is the pricing. People shouldn’t have to wade through paragraph upon paragraph of copy which no one reads anyway.

3. Save selling for the cover letter. The pitch in your proposal consists of your solution to the problem you’ve been ask to solve so no need to lay on the superlatives about how great your company is.

4. Let them know who will work on the project. Meeting the principals of the company at initial meetings is crucial but letting the client know exactly who’ll be on their project team will add to their comfort zone.

5. Make sure you answer the question: what makes your approach to this project unique from your competitors? Just regurgitating what the client has written in the RFP won’t get you very far and since you’re most likely vying for the business against other companies, you need to make a splash.

6. Having multiple people write different sections of a proposal is fine and necessary in most cases but when you’re ready to put it all together during the final polish make sure the document speaks to the reader with a consistent voice.

7. Give them more than they ask for. A little extra can go a long way to telling the prospective client that you really want to win this business.

From the Horse's Mouth

I attended an interesting panel discussion last night about digital marketing for CPG at the Interactive Advertising Club that featured panelists from Schering Plough, P&G, Kraft and Mars. One of the questions that was asked to the panel was what they think makes for a good sales presentation. The consensus seemed to be the following:

1. Differentiate yourself from your competitors

2. Understand their business of the marketer you're meeting with and the problems they're looking to solve

3. Show them results

I've discussed topic before on my blog and it's also part of an ongoing focus within Firstborn but thought it very helpful hearing these thoughts from the type of people we're hoping to work with.

Pitch during the Pitch

I've discussed in the past about how a pitch meeting can very often be a gauge of the type of relationship you'll have with a prospective client. Last week we had a meeting with some people at a research foundation that does some incredible work in making the world a better place. The CEO of the company gave us an overview of the foundation and I have to say it was one of the most compelling presentations I've seen. Not only did he have such incredible stories to tell us but the way he told the stories was remarkable. Talk about interactive presentations, he even had us go around the room and read flash cards which described some of their work in various disciples so we were all involved. I can image how well he does in fund raising meetings. This made us want to work with this client even more, not only from a monetary perspective but from having the opportunity of being a part of the telling of their wonderful stories.

Some of my best friends are horses

Those of you who know me are aware of the fact that I'm an avid equestrian. Learning how to ride horses is both a joy and a challenge because it's such a metaphor for life. Horseback riding is so counter-intuitive to everything we do on the ground so it's all about letting go. If this sounds a lot like Zen that's because it does have that quality and you never stop learning how to ride.

The lessons I've learned from riding my horse are often ones that I apply to my life outside of the stables. The other day in preparation for the first competition of the season I got very frustrated about what I perceived to be my lack of progress. My instructor, Tara Bowles, then asked me if I want to get high scores in the horse show or if I want to ride. I thought that was such a great question and statement at the same time and (here comes Zen again) it really reminded me that it was all about the journey and not the destination.

Well, the competition was yesterday and during my rides I really focused on being in the moment. I came in 2nd place and got my highest score ever.

So what does that have to do with being the Executive Vice President for business development at a digital creative agency? Quite a lot actually, I'm pleased to know. My work is all about preparation, attention to the small details and the day to day tenacity that's necessary in order to keep opening doors.

Seth Godin Rocks

This morning, my colleague at Firstborn, Dan LaCivita, passed along this TED presentation by Seth Godin. It’s an oldie (from 2003) but definitely a goodie. Seth talks about how marketers need to figure out what people really want and how to give it to them. Not only is his message fascinating but how he delivers it is awesome. Seth is a dynamic, charismatic, engaging and funny presenter. This is story telling at its best and all under 20 minutes. And there wasn’t one slide that had a bullet point; they were truly supporting his talk rather than competing with it. Coming in with a presentation like this would knock any marketer’s socks off and Seth has done much sock removal in his career.

The Passover Question

"Why is this night different from all other nights?" That's the question being asked at seders all across the globe. In addition to fond family memories, thinking about the Passover question always reminds me of one of my old playwrighting instructors. He always said that when writing plays you had to have an answer to that question in order to guage whether or not your story is compelling enough. I think it also applies to many other areas. I've been thinking and talking about sales presentations a lot lately, for instance. What is so special about what you have to tell your audience? Why should they listen to you? Why is your company different from all other companies?

Telling Stories

I just read a wonderful book on how to put presentations together called slide:ology The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations by Nancy Duarte, one of the principals of Duarte Design. I really got a lot out of reading her thoughts on how to create ideas and stories instead of just slides. At Firstborn, we've been working on refining our message as well as our presentation materials over the course of the past few months and her book has inspired me to look at our presentations in a new light. A presentation needs to serve as a visual aid to your message not as a document. There's a great quote by Seth Godin in the book: "Communication is about getting others to adopt your point of view, to help them understand why you're excited (or sad or optimistic, or whatever else you are). If all you want to do is create a file of facts and figures then cancel the meeting and send in a report".

The Subject is the Subject

E-mail can be an effective sales tool. I'm not talking about all the obnoxious spam we're getting because some poor souls out there actually do buy Viagra and do send money to that guy from Nigeria. What I mean is a targeted, well thought out introduction to you and your company to someone specific you'd like to do business with. I try to be as brief as possible - long blocks of text can send people screaming into the night. One of the most important facets of a sales related e-mail that's often not considered carefully is the subject line. Your subject line is the first element people see when a message hits their in box and you've only got seconds to grab their attention. Again, I don't mean something along the lines of READ THIS NOW! that shouts people to hit the delete button but a few honest words or a phrase that's at the core of why the recipient will want to read on. Make your subject line as good as what you say in the rest of the message.

Believing the Hype

We recently met with a client that markets a cool collection of brands. In doing our research prior to our initial meeting we came across this very clever application they developed that really impressed us. During the course of our praising the client for having come up with such a great idea, we learned that they made it all up and never actually created the product. Well, their plan worked. It certainly got our attention and they had already gotten a lot of press mentions which was how we found out about it in the first place. Is this dishonesty or one of the oldest PR tricks in the book? Technically anything you want to mention can be "in development". Of course, here at Firstborn we would never hype a project that we couldn't show since our portfolio of work is our most effective marketing tool. Nonetheless, just as impressed as we were about this client's idea, we came away even more impressed by their idea of hyping the idea.

Be Prepared

I never made it past Tenderfoot in the Boy Scouts but I do remember the motto: Be Prepared. Preparation is key to any meeting, especially a sales presentation. Who are you meeting with? What's their background and experience? What are they doing with their brand? What is happening within their industry? What have other people been saying about them? What are some of the ways you can help them do a better job and make them look great?

Battle of the Presentations

Godzilla vs. Mothra. Ali vs. Frazier. Kramer vs. Kramer. Obama vs. McCain. Then there's Keynote vs. PowerPoint.

For some time now, PowerPoint has been the de facto corporate presentation tool. It's relatively easy to use and fairly seemless with the other Microsoft Office products. Firstborn's a creative agency and P-Point doesn't give us the oomph that's on a par with the work in our portfolio. Some of my co-workers had suggested using Apple's Keynote on the MacBook we have in our office. Being a PC guy, I was reluctant at first but now I couldn't do without it at meetings.

Keynote allows much more impactful presentations with really simple to use but powerful design tools and transitions. Also, we tend to show a lot of our work using video captures of our projects since we might not have an internet connection. It's just a lot easier to talk over videos of projects rather than having to click around. Quicktimes in Powerpoint just don't work but with Keynote, they're a charm.

Keynote, you won me over.

Show and Tell

The one rule about giving presentations is that there are no rules. Every client is unique; every situation different. In some instances, we may be presenting to a room full of people having to respond to specific questions that the potential client has laid out in their RFP. In those cases, we'll put together a very structured Keynote presentation.

Then there are those meetings that are much more informal. We may be getting together with 1 or 2 people, often in their office, sitting around their desk. It may be about a specific project or it may be just a general capabilities introduction. In those circumstances we'll certainly have an agenda but be flexible enough to change our approach on the fly. Do we show work from our laptop? Do we just talk? Or a combination thereof?

Our approach will also depend on the type of client we're meeting with. If it's a marketer, they're going to be more interested in results and solving business problems than an ad agency client who might want to learn about how we can execute and enhance their wonderful idea.

Ultimately it's about having a feel for the room which is different everytime; knowing when to get in and when to get out. Being prepared enough to be quick on your feet with every different circumstance.

Asking the right questions

Sometimes first impressions are the best. I had an initial meeting today with a potential client. We gave our usual capabilities presentation at the end of which he asked us a series of very insightful questions. The net effect of this was 1) This client knows what he's doing so consequently 2) He's definitely the type of person that we'd like to work with. We always say that the best meetings are ones in which the client does most of the talking and it's more of a workshop than a one-way version of our giving our company spiel. Such was the case today and if we do end up working with his brand, we know that we're ahead of the game with a client who gets what we do.

The Sales Cycle

The sales cycle can be a long process - over many months in most cases but years in some. About 4 years ago I had a meeting with a large potential direct client in the Atlanta area (who shall remain nameless for the time being). They really liked Firstborn's work but we never hooked up on a project mainly because they were already committed to their agencies of record. Flash forward to a few months ago when their long time traditional agency approached us about co-pitching on a very large assignment for this brand. During one of the very first calls when we were at the agency and had the client on the phone, they were told that Firstborn was in the room and the first question out of the client's mouth was "Is Kevin Arthur there?" This had to be one of the most gratifying moments of my career at Firstborn because right from the start the client was already familiar and comfortable with their agency's digital partner. Wait until they see the out of sight creative work that our team produced! The actual final pitch meeting is going on as I write this but it just goes to show how a sales meeting can finally pay off years down the line. Thankfully they all don't take that long but in this case, I'll take it.