Business development consultant

As well as working with senior leaders as a non-executive director, I get hands on with sales, marketing and client development.

Sales and marketing audit

Most engagements start with an audit.

I'll assess the agency's performance across 30 dimensions, each laddering up to the main levers we can pull to drive agency growth. The findings are delivered with feedback on each: what you do well; what you could improve (and how); and where you should start.

You can take the recommendations and implement them yourself, or I'll recommend some next steps we could take together, often around the following:

Team structure

• Objective and target setting
• Incentive plans (commission and/or bonus structures)
• Job descriptions and ads
• Interviewing candidates

I can coach leaders to do it or I can do it for you.

Marketing strategy

• STP (segmentation, targeting and positioning)
• Planning, documenting and budgeting for marketing activity
• Content planning
• Marketing reporting and measurement

I can coach leaders to do it or I can do it for you.

New business process

• Qualification process
• Pricing strategy
• Pitching process
• Client development plans

I can coach leaders to do it or I can do it for you.

Training and mentoring

Consisting of one-to-one or group coaching with sales, marketing and client services teams (as well as agency leaders responsible for business development) on an ongoing basis, or standard or bespoke training modules for most of the above.

Who hires you?

I've worked with independent, private equity-backed and publicly-traded marketing agencies. Most already have established sales and marketing teams (or are about to make an investment in building one).

Often, one or more of the following is true:

• The sales, marketing and client services team(s) are led by someone at “manager” or “head of” level but who owns “director” or “CXO” level targets
• Sales, marketing and client services do not line into a single person (and, if they do, that person's main job isn't growth), so the agency needs someone to align the teams and make sure the job gets done
• Growth targets must be achieved, either because the owner is looking to sell within the next 1-3 years, or because the agency has already sold and is under pressure from its new owners.

What are the metrics of success?

Each engagement is different, but over the mid-to-long term you can expect to see:

• Increased conversion rate
• Faster close rates
• Less ghosting
• Higher deal values
• Lower cost of sale
• More widespread understanding and adoption of the agency's strategy
• More predictable pipeline

Can I book an ad-hoc call?

Yes, I work one-to-one with agency sales and marketing leaders on an ad-hoc or ongoing basis. If you need an experienced sounding board for a live opportunity or strategic initiative, we can book a chat for an hour every week or for a one off.

Do you do outbound lead generation?

No. If outbound lead generation is right for your agency, I can train you and your team to do it (and feel comfortable doing it), or help you to make the right hires.

I’ve worked with outbound business development agencies and always brought it in-house eventually. In most cases, my approach involves building an inbound marketing engine over time, which can be supplemented with outbound.

What do you know about sales and marketing?

I've worked with more than 50 agencies on their business development strategies since becoming a consultant.

You can read about my agency board experience, including my role as founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Rise at Seven, here.

I've worked on the other side of the table at Pendragon PLC, then the UK's largest automotive retailer, where I bought agency services and software.

These roles have variously allowed me to use more than 100 hours of sales training and my Mini MBAs in both Marketing and Brand Management.