In this episode, Chip talks with Jody Sutter of
The Sutter Company, a frequent contributor. They discuss strategies for small agencies, emphasizing the importance of clear positioning and targeted messaging for effective business development.
They highlight the necessity for agency owners to identify their strengths and leverage them, using methods like 12-week sprints to achieve incremental progress. They also address the challenges agencies face when looking for quick revenue boosts and the significance of tapping into existing networks.
Key takeaways
* Jody Sutter: “I think business development is one of those things that the tools may change and yet the underlying philosophy and the underlying skillset rarely changes.”
* Chip Griffin: “It is so much easier to sell what you’re doing if you’re clear about what it is that you do and who you do it for, because your prospects hear themselves in that. And I think that the whole notion of being a full service agency that can do this for everybody and their brother just doesn’t make sense.”
* Jody Sutter: “Kind of simple, let’s get agency owners not using business development tactics that they don’t like, they don’t feel like they’re good at, and let’s get them doing the things that they do feel like they’re good at.”
* Chip Griffin: “All too often agencies do look at new business in isolation. They come up with plans for growing the business from a revenue standpoint, but they don’t think about what it means operationally.”
About Jody Sutter
Speaker, blogger, and owner of The Sutter Company, Jody Sutter ran business development teams at large agencies like R/GA, OMD and Havas, and spent over a decade in sales for a range of creative services firms, from branding design to digital advertising. She now provides the growth strategies and tools for agency owners to win new business.
Resources
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Email Jody about the Agency New Business Accelerator (or anything else)
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Jody Sutter’s LinkedIn
Related
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Planning for 2023 Agency Biz Dev
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Business development mistakes agencies make and how to solve them (featuring Jody Sutter)
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Small Agency Talk – February 5, 2021 (featuring Jody Sutter and Lee McKnight Jr.)
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Getting help for your agency business development efforts
View Transcript
The following is a computer-generated transcript. Please listen to the audio to confirm accuracy.
Chip Griffin: Hello and welcome to another episode of Chats with Chip. I’m your host, Chip Griffin, the founder of SAGA, the Small Agency Growth Alliance. And I’m delighted to have back with me today a very regular contributor to really all of the different platform...
