The three essential components that lead to the success of a Formula 1 racing team can be used as an analogy for agency new business.
The Crew – who monitor the performance of the car and driver and step in to fix any problems to keep the car on the track operating to its maximum potential and the driver safe.
The Car – honed to perfection by a group of first rate engineers and designers.
The Driver – whose role is to win the race.
To be a successful team each one of these elements needs to be place and working its specific magic. If the crew doesn’t monitor performance, the car could break down.
A superb driver in a Trabant with the best crew still wouldn’t win. And if I were driving the car, even if it was the fastest car in the world (or maybe especially if it were the fastest car in the world!) with the best crew, we would STILL come last if we finished at all.
And so to the agency new business analogy …
The Crew – is the agency management. You need to continually monitor, assess and train.
The Car – the marketing plan, the technology, the collateral, the database …
The Driver – the outbound lead generator. Motivated and focussed on their specific task.
In much the same way as you wouldn’t expect the driver of an F1 car to design the vehicle, an outbound lead generator may not be the best person to determine the agency’s marketing plan. They MAY, but they may not.
As the agency management team you should manage the performance of the driver daily, weekly and monthly. What are their stats? How many approaches to contacts are they making and how many contacts to identified opportunities?
Finally, don’t get everything else right and then skimp on the Car! Whatever you are paying the Driver expect to pay again on the right tools, training and collateral.
This last element is crucial; treat your new business team like your most precious client, not the one who never pays on time and almost complains. Get all of the above right and you have a new business F1 team. Get any of them wrong and you could be playing new business dodgems. DOWNLOAD OUR ONE-PAGER
