Would you like your agency to win more new business?
I know – that’s a silly question. The better question is: how can an agency win more new business?
One way is to master the art & science of writing agency proposals that win.
Good agencies everywhere win less of their proposals than they’d like. The agencies are terrific, but the proposals aren’t. The team is talented. Your work is smart. Clients love you. And you’re often asked to write proposals. But despite all that talent and success, your proposals simply aren’t winning enough new business. Maybe you aren’t winning enough, or winning the big ones, or winning the ones you and your team really want.
We have read thousands of agency proposals and know what works.
There is art and science to writing proposals that win. The cornerstones include:
- Uncovering the business issues of your prospect
- Adopting a storytelling format for your proposal
- Using the 5 keys in writing winning submissions
Let’s cover these areas!
1. Uncover the business issues.
These are not always clear in an RFP or in discussions with the prospect.
Yet you should always remember that marketers don’t want to spend money on agencies or on advertising or PR or media or experiential or any other tactic. Rather, their business has opportunities or challenges that need to be addressed. It is these opportunities and challenges – aka “business issues” – that are the key.
As Fernando Machado once said: “Agencies have to have genuine interest in understanding my business… the challenges I have.”
Clients agency proposals with high expectations and questions like these in mind:
”Is this submission about me and my business or did they pull this off the shelf?”
“Did they understand the ask? Do they understand my business?”
“Did they offer solutions that seem custom to my business and business issue?
Winning proposals fluently address the prospects’ key business issues.
2. Adopt a storytelling format
Great proposals flip the format from being all about the agency to being about the prospect.
The proposal is focused on the client and the problem they need to solve.
The actual format including the order of the story and the elements included add up to a singular focus: the agency clearly understands the business well enough and has a plan to solve the problem.
This approach starts with the cover letter. The cover letter is about the prospect and their challenge, not about the agency. The proposal itself tackles the business challenge, adds insightful analysis and offers a glimpse of success. Case studies are specially selected that showcase how the agency has previously successfully solved the specific challenge. Bios and the team are crafted to match the needs of the prospect. The winning agency knows how to talk about the money.
3. The five keys to a winning submission
If your proposal includes the following five elements your agency is well on the path to success.
– a prospect centered cover letter
– the key business issues are identified
– strategy and solutions are presented
– strategic case studies highlight your experience having done this before
– relevant agency information
Agencies that recast their proposals from a focus on themselves to a focus on the prospect and their problem and use the 5 key elements will win more.
Steve Boehler, founder, and partner at Mercer Island Group has led consulting teams on behalf of clients as diverse as Ulta Beauty, Microsoft, UScellular, Nintendo, Kaiser Permanente, Holland America Line, Stop & Shop, Qualcomm, Brooks Running, and numerous others. He founded MIG after serving as a division president in a Fortune 100 when he was only 32. Earlier in his career, Steve Boehler cut his teeth with a decade in Brand Management at Procter & Gamble, leading brands like Tide, Pringles, and Jif.
Mercer Island Group helps marketers and agencies succeed. Company leadership is as much at home with marketers and their C-Suites as in an agency’s boardroom. With marketers, Mercer Island Group is a top 5 agency search consultancy covering all types of agency relationships (creative, media, web, PR, experiential) and assists marketers with marketing organization structure, workflow and critical skill development (briefing, creative evaluation & feedback, etc.). The company also supports leading and aspiring agencies with positioning, pitch and strategy training and pitch support.