Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Spend the bulk of your energy identifying the clients who need your services and where you can really make a difference to their business. Get to know them ... maybe even better than they know themselves.

Then do some thinking and preliminary work on spec. Call the key contact and tell them you have some ideas you'd like to share. No obligation. Just want to show them some things that could make a real difference for them.

When you get to the meeting, spend 99% of the time showing them your ideas. Let them see how smart you are and how well you do your homework.

Before you leave they'll ask you if you want to take them on as a client.

That's the secret marketing strategy for agencies, consultants and other service providers. It works a lot better than sending out hundreds or thousands of postcards, brochures or email messages.

Good luck!

If you have been in business for 30+ years then you have a great opportunity to do some research with your current and perhaps past clients.

I suggest you talk with them, find out why they use your agency, what sets you apart from your competitors and what were the reasons they chose your agency. You can then see if there are common threads that you can use with potential clients.

Show the before/after effect of working with you (esp. in sales volume/growth) of your customers. You want to show that not only is the look better, but your clients see tangible results in their bottom line. If you have case studies, use 'em. If not, create 'em.

Don't forget to network with complementary businesses, such as technical writers.

My first agency client years ago used to start by trying to find people who are happily buying from his competition. He would let these people know that he was an alternative source. And then he would wait for the current source to screw up.

There are plenty of people who buy design services, and I agree with my former client that is largely a waste of time to try to convince people who have a habit of doing bad design in-house to suddenly change their ways and work with a professional firm like yours.

You might also look for professional announcements, when companies have hired new directors of marketing or managers of corporate communications. Often these new managers feel current vendors are loyal to their predecessors, and are open for a change. In fact, they were most likely hired (and very likely their predecessors were fired) because the company's management was looking for a change in marketing strategy or implementation. Good luck.