Commercial trainer

I lead training workshops covering the fundamentals of:

• Agency marketing
• Qualification
• Pricing
• Cross-selling
• Outbound lead generation and account-based marketing (ABM)

…plus bespoke training on most elements of marketing and business development.

I also partner with agencies as a new business leader over the long term, which typically looks like this:

1. An audit of your current new business capabilities, including:

• Strategy
• Marketing
• Team Incentives
• Process Pipeline

…developed into a plan you’ll find straightforward to implement.

2. A training bootcamp, over 1-2 full days, attended by:

• Agency leadership
• Marketing
• Client services
• Sales

This is best in-person but can be fully remote if necessary. Hybrid isn’t quite right for this training, so if someone absolutely can’t make it (and I can’t simply catch them up later), it’s best to do it remotely and record the session(s).

3. Weekly or fortnightly coaching calls, usually for an hour at a time on a scheduled day, attended by as many of the bootcamp attendees as are available. Calls cover:

• Specifically requested training - introducing new concepts or refreshing tactics covered in the bootcamp
• Coaching through RFPs, pitches and negotiations (including with procurement)
• Qualification prep and criteria for specific deals
• Strategy for cross-selling to specific clients
• Troubleshooting client relationships
• Increasing the effectiveness of marketing activity
• Consistent application of personal brand to generate the right leads

The outcomes of this high-touch coaching style are:

• Increased conversion rate
• Faster close rates
• Higher deal values
• More widespread understanding and adoption of the agency’s strategy
• Lower cost to pitch overall

This type of engagement works well for agencies in which:

• The founder is the de facto sales leader but is struggling to give it the time
• The sales; marketing; and/or client services teams are led by someone at “manager” or “head of” level but who owns “director” or “CXO” level targets
• Sales; marketing; and/or client services do not line into a single person (whose main job is growth), so the agency needs someone to orchestrate and implement the strategy with its various teams
• Targets must be achieved; either because the founding team is looking to sell, or because the agency has already sold and has an earn out/PE cycle in mind.

Can I engage you for a new business audit, without the training?

Yes.

Can I engage you for training, without the audit?

Yes.

How long is a training session?

I can cover the fundamentals of most topics in an hour or two, or I can train your team to solve the unique challenges your agency is facing over a several days.

In most cases, we can talk through your agency's situation and I can give you several training options and costs in our first phone call.

Do you do outbound lead generation?

No. Outbound lead generation is right for some agencies and, if your agency is one of them, I’ll train you and your team to do it (and feel comfortable doing it), or help you to make the right hires. Teach a man to fish etc.

I’ve worked with outbound business development agencies and usually brought it in-house eventually.

In most cases, my approach involves building an inbound marketing engine over time, which can be supplemented with outbound.

Do you use a sales methodology?

I’ve trained in and applied some of the most common sales methodologies in marketing agencies, including Challenger and Win Without Pitching’s The Four Conversations. If you’re already using one of these, I’ll pick it up pretty quickly.

Ultimately, though, you’ll end up with a bespoke (and documented) playbook because every agency has different strengths (and clients) and every industry (and country) buys marketing services differently.