Beware the ‘zeal to appeal’!

When did you last spell out your Ideal Client Profile (ICP) to your team? 

Come to think of it, what would an ideal client engagement look like? 

Do you have a set of qualifying ‘filters’, ranked in order of importance, to help you decide who you should court and who you might politely turn away?

I often have to warn agencies against dropping their guard.

In their zeal to win new business, people will lower their standards and make compromises they might live to regret. 

I look at agency pipelines all the time and spot ‘phantom prospects’ that really shouldn’t be there at all. They give the impression that you’ve got a lot in the pipe when you haven’t, and people then take their foot off the gas.

The worst culprits? Owners.

Owners worry about cashflow, about paying the wages, and they can overrule people who might apply a more realistic lens. 

The problem with that is your team then wastes time pointlessly pursuing prospects who either aren’t a good fit for your agency or just aren’t very likely to come off (not ready, unrealistic budget, unclear brief, poor cultural fit…)

When times are tough there is an even greater temptation to be less choosy about who you entertain. I am amazed how often agencies get to Pitch stage before they realise how poor a fit the client is for them, and vice versa.   

Whether you’re fielding incoming inquiries or proactively reaching out to prospects, it’s incredibly important to agree on a set of criteria that allows everyone involved in the new business effort to discern between genuine enquiries and the tyre-kickers, and to prioritise their efforts accordingly.

Beware the ZEAL to appeal!