Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Start with personal visits to the target companies. Request a few minutes with the corporate travel manager (or whomever would make the arrangements to use your services).

When you get the meeting, don't try to sell anything. Instead ask a few high-gain questions. Find out how they make agency selections? What are their most pressing issues? What would it take to get their business, at least on a trial basis? Who else would you need to talk with at the company?

Then thank them for the time and assistance. You can leave a business card if you want to, but be sure not to make it sound like a sales call.

Then a few weeks later you can come to them with a well-thought-out presentation and proposal to serve them, based on everything they told you in the first interview. If you do this right, they'll be very impressed at the professional way you handled this and reward you with their business -- or a test plan that gives you a foot in the door.

J
It's a numbers game. Not sure if you're with one of the megas or not, but the more companies you contact, the better your chances for getting invited to bid.

TMC contracts are normally 3 years so no telling where they are in the cycle. But, with SLAs there's always a chance you can get in early.

Learn the language of procurement. That will help you.

Michael

Find out what accounts left in the last few years, and recontact them. Find out why they left, what they're doing now, and what they learned. Like Michaels' answer, you're re-building a rapport with them to better understand your company's perception, clients' needs, and perhaps create a solution that can entice them to switch agencies.