As Odell Advertising / Marketing, Inc.’s Senior Account Manager, managing accounts is my primary responsibility. Er … like duh. But, before I can manage an account, I need to get an account. So, how does one go about doing that? Glad you asked, because that’s what this post is all about.

The first thing I do is target a prospect and not just any ‘ole prospect. I look for companies that are a good fit for our firm. These are companies in industries where we have experience and/or are likely to need the kind of work that plays to our strengths. Plus, I look for companies that are large enough to need ongoing work, not simply a one-off deal.

To find these elusive creatures, I read through our area business press and newspapers, poke around the Web and chat with my creative [albeit noncompetitive] cohorts. I also ask my current clients and contacts if they have any business associates that would benefit from our services.

When I have a prey … er … prospect in sight, I start to learn all I can about them. That means reading through their site, Googling up links, reading press releases, requesting annual reports and other company literature. If there’s an appropriate trade organization, I check them out, as well, to become as familiar as I can with the industry. Next, I check out their competitors to see what they’re up to. The idea here is to learn all you can about your prospect and their marketing environment. On occasion, I’ve had a prospect say, “Really? Gee, I didn’t know that.” When you can share information with a prospect about their industry, or even their company, that they didn’t know it goes miles toward positioning you as the ipso facto expert. That sure doesn’t hurt.

If the prospect comes by way of a referral from a friend or business associate, you’re pretty much good to go. If not, you’ll need to don your Sherlock Holmes hat and do some detective work. Fire up your browser du jour and go to some of the business networking and directory sites like Jigsaw, LinkedIn and ZoomInfo. Another place to find contact names is the News or Media pages of the prospect’s site. Often news releases will have the name of a p.r. contact. That can be a good place to start

Once you have a contact name, it’s a simple matter of sending off a letter of introduction and following up by phone. The letter is a device to warm things up for the call, so they’re at least familiar with your name. When you make the call, remember its purpose. Often when making calls, folks are tempted to try to sell their services. That’s usually a bad idea. Selling design services can be a complicated matter and a first call isn’t the time to try. All you want to do is sell the appointment. That’s a lot easier and it tends to take the pressure off. When you’re face-to-face you can begin the sales process. That’s what I’ll cover in my next post.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt