The Fuel Podcast

This show is all about how to build rapport with your clients – from the first meeting, to the pitch and beyond.

My guest for this show is self-confessed risk-taker Matt Webster, whose never-say-die approach to selling makes most people blush.

Spoiler alert: It’s all about confidence and observation and in this show, Matt teaches us all how to notice the little things to build chemistry and rapport with people.

We discuss his early days as a unofficial freelance OTT salesman for Mr Freeze at school, through to selling utilities door-to-door and then how he formed his own marketing and sales business.

These days, he’s incredibly popular with his candid LinkedIn and social media activity and he claims that part of the reason behind his success is his ability to show an unvarnished personality, which means having the courage to capture the good – and the bad of your personal or business life.

Show notes:

Matt’s LinkedIn profile here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattwwebster/

Make Waves, Not Waste (Matt’s company) here: https://mw-w.co/

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The 5 Ds of Succession Planning

How do you prepare your agency for life after you? If it’s built in your image, round the work that only you control, how can someone else grow it after you’ve moved (or passed) on?

Talking about succession plans is like talking about making a will and like with families, if you exit - for whatever reason – and leave it intestate, dozens of careers will be left hanging in the balance.

Rachel Konrad has worked for some of the world’s biggest blue chip companies around the world, advising them on commercial aspects and she’s here to help you make sure that your business becomes a legacy.

We discuss:

Working for Carlos Ghosn, Elon Musk and the World’s Best CEO Jeff Immelt.

Why only 50% of businesses have a succession plan and when to have 'that' discussion.

CEO factories,

How the Vatican got succession right,

The Role of the Executive Secretary,

Underperforming bosses, handling the media, succession advice for creative agencies and turning fear into motivation.

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Amy Taylor - former Red Bull CMO - in charge of one of the world’s most

We discuss her 20+ year career at Red Bull and her transition into the mainstream soft drinks market to meet the needs of the modern, more enlightened consumer.

The science behind making healthy sweet drinks, what new flavors are being developed and why, generating ‘Brand Heat’, dealing with a government that says “all sodas are bad”, and educating consumers by positioning Zevia as a health food hack.

We also get Amy’s take on DEI & neurodiversity and how her policies benefit a high adrenaline challenger company in one of the world’s

Links:

Amy’s LinkedIn profile here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amytaylor2021/

Zevia web site here: http://www.zevia.com

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Tom Salmon and his team at Agency by Agency are modern-day marketing Magellans, charting the contours of the communications sector in the UK.

Along the way, they’ve uncovered so many useful and fascinating facts about its agencies.

This indispensable show is an exclusive look at the way we all view ourselves, what helps us stand out and what hurt us by making us all

Unbland your agency with Agency by Agency’s world first unbiased

Show notes:

Tom's LinkedIn profile

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomsalmonleeds/

Agency by Agency web site

https://agencybyagency.com/

Andy Farmer’s Spotify page

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2ynC1enfcKUTRzfh7bcVdW?si=gHZ623PfSHSJK6bmRZMWEQ

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If you want to keep your agency thriving, you’d better do everything you can to understand your audience.

75% of regular, everyday buying experiences are emotion-driven and Rob Harrison-Plastow’s company SourceNine has created a tool called the Empathy Framework. This tool helps companies build customer engagement strategies that foster trust, deepen loyalty, enhance satisfaction, and create connection. If you understand your audience, everything you learn after that will make sense. This show helps you understand how to put yourself in your client's shoes and generate empathy, which will help you get those deals over the line.

Show notes

Rob's LinkedIn profile here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-harrison-plastow-12314228/

Source Nine web site here: https://www.sourcenine.co.uk/

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When is your dream client going to hold a pitch?

Richard Robinson, Executive Director of Ingenuity+ and one

It’s a science - and science needs facts.

Richard Robinson knows pretty much everything there is to

The Ingenuity+ Pitch Predictor research will help you and your agency understand all the moving parts that are going to help you put a point on your new business.

What is a pitch? Understand what clients define it as and how agencies view them.

How to build a pitch process for the 21stCentury.

The value of chemistry and the investment needed, how to

The independent agency scene and how to break the holdco domination.

The two ingredients you need to pitch against the big agencies.

How much does it cost to pitch?

The top 3 comms disciplines being pitches in the next 6 months.

Are there still ‘Big Swing’ adverts?

The value of operational discipline in agencies.

Bad briefs & confessions of an advertising expert

Links:

Richard's LinkedIn profile here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rprobinson/

Ingenuity+ web site

https://ingenuitylondon.com/for-brands

The Tennent's Lager wall of fame

https://www.tennents.com/us/heritage/our-story

Our new theme tune! Musician Andy Farmer's Spotify page here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2ynC1enfcKUTRzfh7bcVdW?si=E9KdueGxSYmhYx9valpsvw

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Web design using no code software. Learn how to make your digital brand campaigns sing, soar and smash by listening to the wisdom of Hannah Springett – founder and CEO of HLabs – a trailblazing no code design studio that counts some of the world’s biggest companies as its clients.

No code is what it sounds like, it uses visual interfaces to replace lines of code, meaning that the aesthetics take priority over the function.

In this show, Hannah explains her strategy for lightweight marketing ideation for publishers and how to bring the subscription model into the 21st century using her proven methods.

Find out why constant innovation is critical and why over-servicing clients works for client retention.

Hannah explains the difference between luck and opportunity and how to network for new business.

HLabs is proud to have a diverse, remote-working team and Hannah explains how  this can work in today’s agency world.

We hear about how to avoid death by PowerPoint and get some great tips for pitch decks, using visuals.

Some examples of HLabs' no code work:

Agency Example

(Brand & Website): Plastic Pictures 

https://www.plasticpictures.tv/

Publisher Example

- RedBulletin Magazine (Webby Winner): 

https://redbull-trinity008.netlify.app/rbop-trinity-rodman/index.html

Branded Content / Advertorial Example (Illustration & Animation): Wired x

Microsoft 

https://www.wired.com/sponsored/story/empowering-ai-innovation-with-data/

Brand Example

(Editorial, Illustration, Design & Build) - 11th Hour Racing's Composting

Guide

https://composting.hlabs.co.uk/ 

Hannah's LinkedIn profile here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannahspringett/

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Can the world’s richest man - Elon Musk, get away with treating the US government like a startup, throwing out Nazi salutes and behaving like the citizens of the world are under-performing employees in one of his  companies, with no damage to the Tesla brand?

How much damage can one man cause for his shareholders and does he really care?

Rachel Konrad, Esben Pedersen and Craig Davis were all early employees in Musk’s fledgling Tesla business. They knew him in the early days, before most of us got to know him.

So has he always been the computer game end-of-level boss we

all know now?

Is there a charming side to Elon, or is he a 21st century Bond villain through and through?

How much hurt can moving fast and breaking politics cause to his companies and does he really care?

Three experts give their opinions on what he was like, how he won them over, and how he’s screwed us all over and made Tesla one of the most toxic brands in the world.

Most importantly – they suggest how Elon can get things back on track.

This is an incredibly revealing show that everyone who defends the man should listen to. It’s got all the facts you need to make a sound judgement on whether they were really Nazi salutes, whether he’s hell-bent on efficiency or self-enrichment and most importantly whether he has

ours or his own best interests at heart.

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Creative agency procurement expert Tina Fegent explains how her process helps CMOs navigate their marketplace and get the right solution and the best value.

We discuss the power of independent agencies and how they can compete against the big HoldCo agency networks.

Why diversity is an agency superpower, how to increase the odds of getting on the short list, the importance of creativity, how procurement solves business problems, agency remuneration models, whether public sector work is worth chasing and the efficiencies of artificial

intelligence.

Tina’s LinkedIn profile here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tina-fegent-fcips-2103573/

Tina Fegent Limited: https://tinafegent.com/

Tina Tells – latest edition:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update urn:li:activity:7311144893765087233/

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Keeping the conversation going.

New research – and evidence from hundreds of thousands of client and creative agency pitch processes, shows that it can take up to 21 months for a pitch to take place from the initial meeting of a prospect.

So what tips can you learn to help keep the client engaged, other than sending them annoying

“Just checking in” emails every few weeks or risking being accused of stalking them at their kid’s school plays?

The PRCA – Public Relations and Communications Association, recently held its inaugural

New Biz Fest conference, where hundreds of new business experts and those thirsty for knowledge gathered together to share their tips and experiences.

The Fuel podcast was there and I invited my friend and RockstarCMO Ian Truscott on for a live podcast, where we discussed what tactics work best when you’re trying to hold a client’s attention over this incredibly long journey.

Ian shared his best practice advice for anyone working in PR agencies on how to turn the

initial spark of a meeting into a flame that burns brightly and longly.

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