Most marketing communications firms do a great job of building their clients’ businesses. But when it comes to marketing themselves they tend to rely on a “strategy” of “laying in the middle of the road and hoping to get run over” to win new business.

To break out of this commodity grid-lock and change your new business results, you have to change your new business marketing approach. And that’s why so many marketing communications firms have turned to Robb High.


“24 - 7 – 365” New Business Consulting

Whenever new business issues or opportunities arise, you can instantly reach out and contact RHC for confidential consultation via phone or email. This includes consulting on RFP responses, strategies for getting first meetings, developing new email campaign copy, evaluating email campaign performance, presentation strategy, compensation proposals, etc.

Full New Business Change Agent Engagement

This engagement is designed to (1) position the agency and optimize it’s business model; (2) create an effective state-of-the-art prospecting program; and (3) improve the firm’s competitive pitch performance with the objectives of generating more opportunities and increasing the win rate of the agency.

The full engagement covers 90 days. It begins with a complete analysis of the agency’s web site, presentation/ marketing materials, social media presence and the response to an extensive questionnaire. This is followed by a 2-day planning session with the agency management + new business team. Following the planning session I work with several designated members of the team on selected implementation projects and ensure that the programs are fully implemented.

Engagement Deliverables

In the 2-day work sessions we cover:

An understanding of evolving agency marketplace; where it’s headed; how it affects your firm; and what you will need to do to compete in it. Included is:

A research-based report on how clients are evaluating and selecting their agency partners; what they like and don’t like; what they look for when they conduct reviews; and how they make the final decision. (This is based on interviews with over 700 marketing executives.)

Recommendations/action plans for how your agency should evolve, and what initiatives it should take, to respond to those changing client expectations and dissatisfactions.

What the most innovative agencies are doing to restructure to adapt to the changing MarCom agency marketplace.

New services you can add to your current offering to increase agency income and appear more innovative to prospects.

Major changes about to happen to the television world that will disrupt the dominance of the 30-second commercial and, in turn, shake up the agency world.


New techniques to prospect for new clients more effectively. We will together:

Position the agency to achieve its 3 to 5-year goals: identify/describe agency services needed; properly “typecast” the firm to ensure that prospects see you appropriately.

Build your prospect list: set the optimum number of firms; determine the right decision-makers to communicate with; select which prospect database sources to use and how to use them efficiently; determine the impact of business growth objectives on prospect selection.

Create a unique communications program to increase agency awareness among prospects: new ways to use email + social media so prospects pay attention; create the right kind of content that they will read; methodologies for enhancing readership; use readership data to facilitate initial contact. This will enable your agency to develop awareness with hundreds of prospect decision-makers. We go through the actual online mailing process and how to identify specific prospects that read your email communications.

Make the agency web site a more effective selling platform to client decision-makers: create a relevant and interesting intellectual property section; make the creative/case study section more effective; make your client list more impressive; devise ways to properly showcase your key people and make your agency appear larger; strengthen SEO.

Create ways to use social media effectively: Facebook, Linked-In, Google and Twitter.

Develop a program for soliciting “first meetings” with prospects so the relationship development process can advance leading to an eventual assignment; who to contact; how to break through; what to offer; what to send; what to say; what not to say; and how to generate future meetings over time.

Create a press visibility program so the agency will consistently be contacted for “comments” by publications the client decision-makers actually read.

Discuss how to get noticed by agency search consultants; what criteria they look at; how to position yourself to them; how to communicate to them effectively.


New techniques to win more competitive pitches. This will include:

Ways to write better RFP/RFI responses in order to make it to the next round more often.

How to create the optimum pitch team; the right number of participants; choosing the right people; rehearsing properly; deck writing; scripting techniques; time-saving methods.

How to create the optimum pitch; the proper length; introduction techniques; using visuals; using PowerPoint correctly; focusing on the client people needs vs. the agency ideas; setting up the room; creating team interaction; answering questions; closing techniques; pitching via webinar; post-pitch strategies.

Individual acting training for key people; providing a “first impression” assessment; identification of strengths and weaknesses; suggested replacement behavior to correct weaknesses; drills to improve technique.

Included will be 50+ pages of detailed, comprehensive written explanations and action plans about everything being presented.


Post-planning session consulting: 90 days

Immediately following the 2-day session, I work with designated managers at the agency to drive the change process:

-      Prospect list selection

-      Web site changes

-      EEmail content

-      Prospect meeting content

In addition, the entire team will have 24/7 access to me by phone or email. You can contact me as often as you want for 90 days to discuss:p>

-      Developing the agency marketing communications program.

-      Strategies for responding to real RFP’s that come in.

-      New business presentations/pitches.

-      Organizational issues.

-      Matters relating to organization, hiring, succession, merger and/or sale