People-Powered New Business

The most important driver of success with proactive new business is when decision-makers change their companies or roles.

Recently, you may have read that American Express hired a Director, Global Sponsorships & Experiential Marketing, New Balance brought in a Head of Brand Marketing EMEA, and Primark appointed a new Head of Market, Social & Customer Insights. People-moves are certainly behind a significant number of new business opportunities we create for our clients. There’s fresh agenda, a desire to make a mark and to kick off with a clean slate. But above all there’s something about an open mind; a receptivity to new ideas and fresh thinking that makes these moments so valuable.

So far so good. But the big headache, with no easy fix, is how do you get your message in front of them?

Firstly, it’s going to involve contact data. Though straightforward to source generic titles like CMOs, and there are literally hundreds of suppliers for this, let’s say your offer is aimed at shopper marketing. That could well require a designated mid-level manager email that likely isn’t on your database. So, someone has to research and find it. It’s easier with LI Navigator, but not everyone wants to budget for it, plus Premium is too limited and standard LinkedIn has too many restrictions.

Then how prompt is your outreach? Too late and it will get lost. In addition to reacting to breaking news about people moving, most agencies typically have a universe of 100 to 400 companies they most want to work with. It’s very time-consuming keeping accurate tabs on who’s going where and when across this target set - pretty much a fulltime job.

And lastly, how effective is what you’re saying? If you’ve researched where they were, why they’re here now, and what their new agenda and challenges are, you can tailor your observations and service proof points to really hit home. And if you can pair down your agency descriptor to just one paragraph and in plain language – clearly positioning you as special and different then you should get a response.

So, contact data, timing, insight, and expression. You can manage this yourself or we can help you manage it to perfection. If you’d like to discuss how Rainmaker can connect you to all of the decision-makers arriving at the brands you most want to work with in the weeks and months ahead, schedule a call with Gareth Dixon.