Small Spark Theory: a marginal gains approach to new business and marketing

In previous episodes we’ve touched on the importance (or not) of agency positioning and over the last year it’s a subject that’s been popping up more frequently in my discussions with agencies.

So I was delighted to meet David C Baker at a Design Business Association event late last year. David is an author, speaker and leading thinker on agency positioning. Over the last 25 years he has advised hundreds of creative businesses across the world to help them make sense of what comes next.

I managed to persuade David to join me on Small Spark Theory to chat about his latest book, why positioning matters, and how to get started.

We’ve got a signed copy The Business of Expertise: How Entrepreneurial Experts Convert Insight into Impact & Wealth, to give away to a lucky listener, simply join in the conversation at @gunpowdertweets #smallsparktheory.

You can hear more from David at 2Bobs, his fortnightly podcast with Blair Enns and read more at www.ReCourses.com

Also recommended in this episode are:

The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday

Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott

A Beautiful Mind

To find out more about New Business Roundtables at YCN contact Nick Defty.

In previous episodes we've touched on the importance (or not) of agency positioning and over the last year it's a subject that's been popping up more frequently in my discussions with agencies.

So I was delighted to meet David C Baker at a Design Business Association event late last year. David is an author, speaker and leading thinker on agency positioning. Over the last 25 years he has advised hundreds of creative businesses across the world to help them make sense of what comes next.

I managed to persuade David to join me on Small Spark Theory to chat about his latest book, why positioning matters, and how to get started.

We've got a signed copy The Business of Expertise: How Entrepreneurial Experts Convert Insight into Impact & Wealth, to give away to a lucky listener, simply join in the conversation at @gunpowdertweets #smallsparktheory.

You can hear more from David at 2Bobs, his fortnightly podcast with Blair Enns and read more at www.ReCourses.com

Also recommended in this episode are:

The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday

Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott

A Beautiful Mind

To find out more about New Business Roundtables at YCN contact Nick Defty.

In episode 10 we gained some fantastic insight into best pitch practice from Tony Spong at AAR. Tony’s intermediary experience – seeing the process from a client and agency perspective, got us thinking how useful it would be to involve some clients in our future episodes.

So, we finish the year with the first of our client perspective episodes. Katie Pattison has been managing marketing budgets at FTSE100 businesses for 25 years, during which time she has hired agencies of all shapes, sizes, and disciplines.

In this interview, Katie shares her experience of agency new business approaches, lasting agency relationships, and her top tips or gaining and retaining clients.

As always, we’ll be giving away a copy of Katie’s recommended read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Listen in to find out how to win.

We’ve loved producing Small Spark Theory this year and have been overwhelmed by your feedback. We’ll be back in the New Year, chatting with more clients and experts and will be unveiling details of a very special Small Spark Theory event. For more details, sign up for our newsletter here or for more information on improving your agency new businesses effectiveness, please get in touch here.

Have a wonderful festive break and see you in 2018.

In episode 10 we gained some fantastic insight into best pitch practice from Tony Spong at AAR. Tony's intermediary experience - seeing the process from a client and agency perspective, got us thinking how useful it would be to involve some clients in our future episodes.

So, we finish the year with the first of our client perspective episodes. Katie Pattison has been managing marketing budgets at FTSE100 businesses for 25 years, during which time she has hired agencies of all shapes, sizes, and disciplines.

In this interview, Katie shares her experience of agency new business approaches, lasting agency relationships, and her top tips or gaining and retaining clients.

As always, we'll be giving away a copy of Katie's recommended read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Listen in to find out how to win.

We've loved producing Small Spark Theory this year and have been overwhelmed by your feedback. We'll be back in the New Year, chatting with more clients and experts and will be unveiling details of a very special Small Spark Theory event. For more details, sign up for our newsletter here or for more information on improving your agency new businesses effectiveness, please get in touch here.

Have a wonderful festive break and see you in 2018.

Whether going into battle with procurement to defend agency day rates, or agreeing the scope of a project for the available client budget – our ability to confidently and effectively negotiate can make a tangible difference to our bottom line.

In this episode of Small Spark Theory, I’m joined by ex-corporate lawyer, author and negotiation expert Hilary Gallo. Hilary and I met earlier this year at a Business for Bohemians workshop run by the brilliant team at the Idler.  I realised that his approach, honed over 25 years of solving complex, multi-million pound corporate deals and explored in his book; The Power of Soft, was ideal for the many agency teams I have worked with who continually struggle when faced with the negotiating might of larger client organisations.

Luckily, I managed to negotiate my way into Hilary’s busy schedule to find out his top tips. So grab a cuppa and tune in – it’s easier than you think!

As always, we’ve got a competition for you and will be giving a lucky listener a copy of The Power of Soft. Listen in to find out how to win.

Follow us on Twitter @gunpowdertweets and join the conversation at #smallsparktheory

For more information on improving your agency new businesses effectiveness, please get in touch.

Whether going into battle with procurement to defend agency day rates, or agreeing the scope of a project for the available client budget – our ability to confidently and effectively negotiate can make a tangible difference to our bottom line.

In this episode of Small Spark Theory, I'm joined by ex-corporate lawyer, author and negotiation expert Hilary Gallo. Hilary and I met earlier this year at a Business for Bohemians workshop run by the brilliant team at the Idler. I realised that his approach, honed over 25 years of solving complex, multi-million pound corporate deals and explored in his book; The Power of Soft, was ideal for the many agency teams I have worked with who continually struggle when faced with the negotiating might of larger client organisations.

Luckily, I managed to negotiate my way into Hilary's busy schedule to find out his top tips. So grab a cuppa and tune in - it's easier than you think!

As always, we've got a competition for you and will be giving a lucky listener a copy of The Power of Soft. Listen in to find out how to win.

Follow us on Twitter @gunpowdertweets and join the conversation at #smallsparktheory

For more information on improving your agency new businesses effectiveness, please get in touch.

Losing a pitch is just bad news all round. It costs an agency big; in time, money, resource, morale and confidence. So as new business performance improvement goes, there is surely no better place to make tangible impact than in the pitch itself.

The good news is that the opportunities for making marginal gains in the way we approach, plan and conduct our pitch activity are not only plentiful but often relatively simple.

In this episode of Small Spark Theory I chat to Tony Spong, Managing Partner at the original client-agency intermediary, AAR. Tony’s career has spanned both client and agency roles before settling squarely in the middle, where he has led hundreds of agency pitches. Who better to provide a unique insight on what works, what doesn’t and why?

As always, we’ve got a competition for you and will be giving away a copy of Tony’s recommended read ‘The Shallows: How the internet is changing the way we think, read and remember’ by Nicholas Carr.  So listen in to find out how to win.

Follow us on Twitter @gunpowdertweets and join the conversation at #smallsparktheory

For more information on improving your agency new businesses effectiveness, please get in touch.

Losing a pitch is just bad news all round. It costs an agency big; in time, money, resource, morale and confidence. So as new business performance improvement goes, there is surely no better place to make tangible impact than in the pitch itself.

The good news is that the opportunities for making marginal gains in the way we approach, plan and conduct our pitch activity are not only plentiful but often relatively simple.

In this episode of Small Spark Theory I chat to Tony Spong, Managing Partner at the original client-agency intermediary, AAR. Tony’s career has spanned both client and agency roles before settling squarely in the middle, where he has led hundreds of agency pitches. Who better to provide a unique insight on what works, what doesn’t and why?

As always, we’ve got a competition for you and will be giving away a copy of Tony’s recommended read ‘The Shallows: How the internet is changing the way we think, read and remember’ by Nicholas Carr.  So listen in to find out how to win.

Follow us on Twitter @gunpowdertweets and join the conversation at #smallsparktheory

For more information on improving your agency new businesses effectiveness, please get in touch.

Losing a pitch is just bad news all round. It costs an agency big; in time, money, resource, morale and confidence. So as new business performance improvement goes, there is surely no better place to make tangible impact than in the pitch itself.

The good news is that the opportunities for making marginal gains in the way we approach, plan and conduct our pitch activity are not only plentiful but often relatively simple.

In this episode of Small Spark Theory I chat to Tony Spong, Managing Partner at the original client-agency intermediary, AAR. Tony's career has spanned both client and agency roles before settling squarely in the middle, where he has led hundreds of agency pitches. Who better to provide a unique insight on what works, what doesn't and why?

As always, we've got a competition for you and will be giving away a copy of Tony's recommended read 'The Shallows: How the internet is changing the way we think, read and remember' by Nicholas Carr. So listen in to find out how to win.

Follow us on Twitter @gunpowdertweets and join the conversation at #smallsparktheory

For more information on improving your agency new businesses effectiveness, please get in touch.

The people part of our business can so often get overlooked in our efforts to generate new business. Yes, we might think about chemistry once we are faced with a pitch opportunity but beyond that, our thinking tends to get muddled when we consider the power of our people to drive referrals and introductions. There might be an expectation that this will happen, or an unspoken, mild resentment when it doesn’t, but the reality is that only a fully engaged, motivated and inspired workforce will act as true ambassadors for your agency.

Your culture is more than the Friday beer trolley, jolly Facebook page or annual karaoke / bowling / pizza night. It’s the glue that binds your people together with guiding principles, a way of working and a desire to succeed for the greater good of the business.

It’s the bit that truly makes your agency bigger than the sum of the parts. And for those agencies that really get it right, it’s the bit that will turbo charge new business.

In this episode of Small Spark Theory I chat to Katz Kiely. Serial entrepreneur, technologist and organisational change ninja, Katz shares her experience of culture and the way people work together, from agencies to start-ups and the UN.

This is one episode you will not want to miss!

As always, we’ve got a competition for you and will be giving away a copy of Katz’s recommended book ‘Predictably Irrational’ by Dan Ariely. So listen in to find out how to win.

Follow us on Twitter @gunpowdertweets and join the conversation at #smallsparktheory

This episode was recorded at Cameo Productions.

For more information on improving your agency new businesses effectiveness, get in touch with Lucy Mann.