| What has been your role in the new business efforts of the agency? | |
|---|---|
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | Lead generation / prospecting primarily. Focus of my position is to uncover opportunities in the Healthcare and Technology sectors. |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | I have been involved in the organizing of our prospecting but I have left much of the pitching to its own process. I have developed a positioning narrative in consultation with some of the team -- though I have not yet driven its adoption and use in the pitch process. I'll expose this to Brent next Tuesday. Ironically, in many respects I am a control freak, but I've let much of the pitch process operate without my direct oversight. |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | I have helped develop and, increasingly, present creative in pitches when it is required. In one recent pitch, I played the role of creative director and had some say on how the overall presentation should go. |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | Not as involved as I would like over the past few years given my job has been more focussed on managing accounts, But in the health plan/hospitals pitches I have been very involved and a primary author of both the pitch deck and scripting out the meeting. |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | 1) Offering, articulating strategic thinking. 2) Providing competitive analysis. 3) Uncovering audience insights. 4) Shepherding speculative creative thinking |
| Steve McCusker - New Business Marketing Manager | In short, helping to coordinate an array of new business efforts from name development and prospecting assistance to email and case study development to webinar dev and promo and various other activities. |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | I work on new biz efforts in the Technology and Financial Services practices |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | Prospecting, Pitching, RFP development, customer research, relationship building, strategy development, etc. as well as account management for several key accounts |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | Actively involved in selling our Contact Planning services (audience segmentation, media planning, campaign analytics). |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | Working with Jennifer O'Connell and Chris Demakis in all new business efforts around our technology and financial services practice areas. |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | - Manage new business team/strategy (Jesse, Steve, Deborah) - Developed the infrastructure/tools for how the team is set up today (marketing, prospect development, prospect management) - Handle prospect development primarily for health (majority of business) and some financial services |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | I frequently participate in new business pitches as either the lead presenter or co-presenter of creative produced by the agency for the pitch. I also attend new biz meetings as an active participant to field questions on our creative capabilities even when there is no spec creative involved. |
| Walter Mills, Principal & Chief Operating Officer | see previous response |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | Strategy, proposal writing, pricing, presentations |
| As if you were writing to a prospective client, describe the agency in no more than 3 sentences: | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | PARTNERS+simons is a marketing services firm specializing in helping healthcare marketers drive successful (and quantifiable) business outcomes. We combine deep audience and marketplace understanding with channel insights, technology and relentless measurement to help companies acquire, retain and grow customers. We offer an integrated approach to marketing in the areas of brand strategy, demand generation, interactive marketing, contact planning and measurement. |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | We are a brand communications firm in the outcomes business. We serve the health, financial services and technology sectors exclusively. Our deliverable: quantitative, comparative outcomes that demonstrate unambiguous ROI. |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | PARTNERS + Simons is a marketing communications firm that delivers strategy and creative to companies in the healthcare, high tech, and financial services industries. We work in all media, and our focus is on generating measurable results for our clients. |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | P+s is a brand communications firm in the outcomes business. We specialize in healthcare, offering senior people and a streamlined process that ensures clients get to market, and marketing, quickly, efficiently and surely. We're nice people from good schools who understand that our job is to serve as a reasonable, objective resource they can trust their money and (perhaps) career to. We do not disappoint. |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | PARTNERS+simons is a marketing communications firm in the outcomes business. We blend deep audience understanding with channel insights, technology expertise and relentless measurement to help our clients acquire, retain and grow customers. We have deep domain expertise in financial services, health sciences and technology. |
| Steve McCusker - New Business Marketing Manager | Built on a foundation of relentless audience research, cross-channel integration, social media, and emerging technologies, P+s has uniquely positioned itself to ensure successful outcomes for our clients. Through our deeply analytical approach to results-based initiatives, PARTNERS+simons demonstrates a keen ability to provide measureable outcomes to justify every dollar of your investment. |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | PARTNERS+simons is a marketing agency that helps technology/financial services organizations leverage deeper customer insight to deliver better programs that can contribute to business growth. Because of our focus on tech/financial services, we understand how tech/financial services organizations go to market, the complex business models that involve multiple sales channels and your evolving customer needs. As a result, we work with clients to develop branding/demand generation/social media/etc. initiatives that deliver relevance, resonance and results. |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | P+s is a fully integrated agency focused on 3 key verticals: health, technology and financial services. As a nimble, midsize, independent firm just celebrating our 20 year anniversary, we focus on our client's bottom line and their business outcomes, not answering to a large holding company and Wall Street. We believe that great marketing has to be customer centric and uncomplicated so your customers can see the brand at work and not have to work at seeing the brand. (PS: I would say this is how I personally describe P+s having been here less than a year and perhaps it is a bit aspirational. It reflects my personal beliefs (bias) about marketing but is how I position P+s when prospecting. The more tenured staff have not used these words in my presence.) |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | PARTNERS+simons is a brand communications firm in the outcomes business. Our deep domain expertise helps health care, life sciences, technology, and financial services companies to acquire, retain and grow customers. |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | PARTNERS + simons is a marketing services company that delivers successful business outcomes. We have deep domain expertise in three practice areas: Health, Technology, and Financial Services. Our solutions integrated solutions cross all channels and are specific to the specific client situation. |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | PARTNERS+simons is a brand communications firm with exceptional domain expertise in the (insert category here). Using a contemporary set of tools and technologies, we help clients build their brand and generate demand, generating above average business outcomes. |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | PARTNERS+simons is more than an ad agency. We're in the outcomes business. We partner with clients to create a wide range of marketing tools that have a measurable effect on business. |
| Walter Mills, Principal & Chief Operating Officer | see previous response |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | PARTNERS+simons combines measurement and analytics, audience research, social media and cross-channel integration with emerging and traditional interactive technologies. We focus on helping clients develop and execute rationalized strategies personalized to the right customer segments. This is balanced by an understanding of our client’s business objectives and how investments into connected mediums drive successful business outcomes. |
| Now bring the agency to life. You have certainly been through this exercise, however applying it to your agency agency can be quite revealing in understanding more about your "DNA". If the agency were a car, what kind would it be? What color? Why? | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | Grey Volvo Sedan - safe choice; not going to blow you away; competent; somewhat expensive; offers value and a solid ride, though lacking in "performance excellence"; a bit old school. |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | Volvo, in its former life. We are built upon common sense, reliability, stamina -- at a slight premium price. We are a very, very safe bet. |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | A blue Saab. Sleek and stylish looking, but reliable, with solid engineering and a long track record. A little different-looking from what else is out there, but not what you'd call edgy or trendy. Blue -- because it's a color pretty much anyone would be comfortable with. Not too showy. A little bit conservative. |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | BMW 5 Series. Black. Sophisticated, smart, cool, but not too expensive. |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | Green Taurus. Reliable and capable of getting you there without much expense. Not that flashy. |
| Steve McCusker - New Business Marketing Manager | Black Volvo. Our style is sleek and visually appealing, yet our reputation provides a blanket of safety to our clients, ensuring that their dollars are in good hands. We are reliable and remarkably consistent. |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | As Dudley Moore said in Crazy People, "Volvos. We know they’re not sexy. Be safe instead of sexy. Volvo: boxy but good." (FYI, our "logo" is even a box!!!) Color: Tannish Beige. Because our entire environment is devoid of color (white). We live in a place without color. Our agency brand color palate is neutral/beige. Beige doesn't ask for attention, it doesn't take chances, it doesn't stand out. And it goes with everything. |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | So, I'm not a car person, but I would say it is a Accura MDX - utilitarian, multi-functional, comfortable with a bit of luxury, fully loaded, with all wheel drive so it can get down in the muck with the best of them but come out on top with plenty of traction to be sustaining. Blue - we lack an elegance about us to be black or silver, though I wish we had a little more of it, red - we don't stop traffic necessarily with our creative but we do solid work - blue. |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | Aspiration: a Mini or a Prius, meaning nimbly, edgy, cool, functional Reality: a Saturn - a safe bet, sleeker/classier than say, a Chevy, but still not sexy or cutting edge |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | I think that it would be a Prius or a maybe a Tesla Roadster. It wouldn't be a bright color because we typically don't shout out enough about how we're different. We run right on the edge between being a very different traditional agency and an out there digital agency. How we could be positioned successfully in this way would be huge for us. We haven't quite yet figured out how to do it. |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | PARTNERS+simons is a black Volvo XC90. We're somewhat cerebral, but can have a bit of an edge when we need to. We're a smart purchase, safe, unpretentious, functional, overall a good buy for the money. |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | It would be a gray Toyota Highlander SUV. Why? Because we are about efficiency more than style. We do what it takes to get the job done quickly and correctly. That does not usually involve a lot of razzle dazzle that comes with high end cars. |
| Walter Mills, Principal & Chief Operating Officer | see previous response |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | Buick. Gray. Large, slow. steady. |
| List the top few agencies that you do/will compete against most often. | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | PJA Cambridge BioMarketing Seidler Bernstein |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | PJA, any number of health-focused agencies, One To One, Mullen, |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | Philip Johnson Associates, Allen + Gerritsen, the big locals (Hill, Arnold, Mullen) |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | PJA, and I don't know. |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | PJA, Gearon Hoffman, Connelly Partners, Allen & Gerrittsen |
| Steve McCusker - New Business Marketing Manager | Still learning the competitive landscape. |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | PJA White Rhino Mechanica |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | PJA Lehman Millet Wishbone Cambridge Bio Seidler Bernstein |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | PJA |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | Typically: Anyone outside of New England. It varies so much based on the assignment or space that we're competing in; sometimes it's interactive only shops, other times it's medium to large agencies. Or if it's a single assignment in health or tech, it could be a very small shop. The one agency that we do tend to bump up against is PJA. |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | PJA Allen & Gerritsen Inventiv Health agencies Lehman Millet Hill Holliday/Mullen Cambridge Biomarketing Group One to One |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | It varies. But some of the agencies include Phillip Johnson Associates, One-To-One and several of the medical marketing specialty companies. |
| Walter Mills, Principal & Chief Operating Officer | see previous response |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | N/A. |
| In the eyes of clients, what do you provide of value, that none of your competitors do? | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | NA |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | Domain expertise, responsiveness, a focus on what's important. |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | A flexible, modular approach to our services -- choose what you do and don't need, project by project. (But I suspect this is more common throughout the industry now.) Putting strategy/results first, before "cool" creative. We're not out to win awards. |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | We understand their business, and that goes beyond just their "market" but also their company's internal politics/peculiarities -- and are adept at helping them navigate both. We understand that in addition to producing work that works our job is to make them look like superstars (and many are more interested/appreciative in the latter than the former). |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | A better digital product |
| Steve McCusker - New Business Marketing Manager | See #5 |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | I like that we have a vertical focus. Sure, other agencies do, too, but it gets us in the door. As far as something unique that keeps us in the door, I can't think of something that "none" of our competitors do. |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | Vertical expertise primarily, but the following are also differentiators: _Begin with the end in mind - we don't throw tactics before strategy and hope that it sticks. Hope is not a strategy... _We pay attention to the fit with the client service team to match the right brand director with the right brand. |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | Domain expertise (?) A cultural fit (based on the limited exposure they get during the pitch process) |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | I've worked with a lot of very successful agencies. What we do differently from them is that we actually deliver on everything that we said we would do for them. And if for some reason we don't, we make it right for them. |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | No such thing as providing something that our competitors don't, however: - Serious domain/category expertise - An understanding of their complex challenges - chances are we've done it before - We speak the vernacular - A friendly, positive agency/client relationship experience - Committment to getting it done on time/on budget (half the battle) - A group that pays attention to the details (For the record, our claim around business outcomes/success is not unique to P+s, obviously) |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | To be honest I don't think what we have is unique. I think it often comes down to chemistry. |
| Walter Mills, Principal & Chief Operating Officer | see previous response |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | More in-depth vertical experience, burgeoning Interactive story. |
| Are there any negative perceptions that prospects might have about the agency that could hold you back in new business? | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | Price has come up recently |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | Price, deep strategic insights, freshest possible creative. I believe what holds us back in new business is our inability to convert the final meeting into a win. I suspect that we don't always totally understand exactly what the client is looking for beyond the stated rfp/pitch guidelines. |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | There may be some lingering pereception that we still work with a lot of freelancers and partners, like we did back when the business just got started. (Hence the "Partners" in the name.) Sometimes I wonder if there's a perception that we're just kind of...weird. Not really part of the Boston advertising mainstream. |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | When I see us pitch in areas -- particularly some of the newer life science/med device areas where we simply don't have the expertise I wonder if they see thru us pretty quick. I also don't think we have/show alot of depth in these pitches in terms of personnel. |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | May be seen as a traditional firm. |
| Steve McCusker - New Business Marketing Manager | Perhaps size of the agency, and the available bandwidth to manage large projects or campaigns. |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | Our web site doesn't convey who we are, and if it does, it's not the right message - it's difficult, complex, convoluted, outdated. Very "crafted" without a lot of personality. Not a great first impression if it's supposed to represent who we are! |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | Not global |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | We often go after categories (e.g., social media) and geographies (e.g., non-US) which are harder for us to sell in given limited experience we can point to. |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | Honestly, we don't know because we don't have any metrics for our organization that come from the general marketplace in which we compete. |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | Lack of strategic value; day to day account management/leadership may not bring needed insights to the relationship. I really think this is our single biggest dilemma. |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | Medical companies may consider it a liability that we don't specialize in ONLY medical. Interactive clients may not think we have the creative and technical bench required to take on complex interactive jobs. |
| Walter Mills, Principal & Chief Operating Officer | see previous response |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | Too much talk about brand in an "old world" sense. |
| The following is a list of potential roadblocks that hold you back with your overall new business efforts. On a scale of 1- 10, rate each on how much it is a road block (1 being not a road block, 10 being a significant road block): | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | 1 |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | 1 |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | 8 |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | 1 |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | 3 |
| Steve McCusker - New Business Marketing Manager | 1 |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | 1 |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | 1 |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | 1 |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | 1 |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | 2 |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | 1 |
| Specifically regarding pitches/RFPs, when you lose, what are typically the top 3 reasons? Consider both the client's expecations and how you compare to your competitive set. (check only 3) | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | |
| Steve McCusker - New Business Marketing Manager | |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | |
| When you win a pitch, what do you think are typically the top 3 reasons? (check only 3) | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | |
| Steve McCusker - New Business Marketing Manager | |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | |
| What format do you primarily use to present the content of your pitches? | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | Keynote |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | Keynote |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | PowerPoint |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | Keynote |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | Keynote |
| Steve McCusker - New Business Marketing Manager | PowerPoint |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | PowerPoint |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | Keynote |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | PowerPoint |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | PowerPoint |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | Keynote |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | Keynote |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | Keynote |
| What do you believe are the strongest elements of your current pitch presentations? | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | The key members of the pitch team (the people) |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | When we articulate marketplace understandings through domain expertise. We do have some superb presenters, they just are not used consistently on the same team. |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | Personalities / chemistry Creative presentation Contact Planning / Channel insights (When they're relevant. They aren't always, though we always seem to give them a lot of weight, sometimes at our peril.) |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | About us, Creative. measurement |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | Bringing preliminary thinking to life. Audience insights connected to strategy and creative. Team chemistry. |
| Steve McCusker - New Business Marketing Manager | From viewing the run through and the content, I believe we present high quality creative examples, and our team presents with a tremendous deal of passion. It is always thought through very well, and that speaks volumes to the prospects. |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | when we talk about our background in a vertical |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | strategy case studies |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | Delivery by the team |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | At our best we understand the client situation and connect it quite well to a creative solution |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | In order of priority: We win when we bring better insights to the meeting and we demonstrate we know their business inside and out and we show how we can move the meter. When we're ourselves and the whole team feels equally vested in the pitch from the earliest of stages, and we've determined we're going to show that we like eachother and have a good time with the meeting, our genuiness and likeability shines and we look like a group they can see themselves being in the trenches with. |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | It varies. But one thing is constant. Our written RFP response is very compelling in content and presentation. In the presentation itself, sometimes we have great chemistry and great work to show. |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | Understanding of digital, technographics, brand buzz and sentiment. |
| What do you believe most holds the agency back with its current pitch presentations? | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | Not focused enough (try to cover too much stuff); too much content about P+s |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | Lack of a gating theme/strategy for each presentation. Rotating team members. Many, many cooks, reinventing the broth with individual meetings. |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | Lack of clear narrative arc to the presentation Use of "Tissues" to present creative |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | Not knowing enough about the client's REAl pain, who matters in the room, and the needs/wants of those people |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | Not enough cross-department collaboration. Not enough time, or resources to generate the best thinking. |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | we talk WAY too much about ourselves, not enough about the client's business. |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | Too many words on a page - boring. |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | Long, disconnected slide presentations |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | When we don't take the time to do our homework from a strategy perspective or from doing the hard labor around creative opitons |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | In addition to not regularly bringing true out of the box insights to a pitch (it happens..but not ALL the time), we are not disciplined enough at showing what the business impact of our recommendations will be. So much of this has to do with our across the board insecurity with essential parts of our offering . Our measurement capacity is half baked. And our brand strategy offering is having a much needed overhaul at this very moment but it has been broken for some time. Our strategic approach is not always consistent...and this often times has alot to do with who is involved at the very senior most level of our business. |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | We often don't have the kind of insight that large agencies have. Those agencies usually have Account Planners and are populated with seasoned consulting veterans from places like Bain, McKinsey, BCG, etc. |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | Lack of deep examples, lack of cross-channel integration. |
| On a scale of 1-10, how well do your decks set up the creative idea/concept/program with an irrefutable logic trail? | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | 3 |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | 5 |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | 5 |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | 7 |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | 5 |
| Steve McCusker - New Business Marketing Manager | 9 |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | 5 |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | 5 |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | 3 |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | 5 |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | 6 |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | 7 |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | 6 |
| On a scale of 1-10, how well do you orient your presentation around a new and unexpected consumer insight (vs. a predictable strategic set-up): | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | 1 |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | 4 |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | 7 |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | 2 |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | 3 |
| Steve McCusker - New Business Marketing Manager | 7 |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | 2 |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | 9 |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | 3 |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | 4 |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | 6 |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | 2 |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | 7 |
| On a scale of 1-10, how well do you demonstrate the business impact of your recommendation? | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | 2 |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | 6 |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | 5 |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | 2 |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | 5 |
| Steve McCusker - New Business Marketing Manager | 7 |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | 2 |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | 6 |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | 3 |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | 4 |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | 3 |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | 5 |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | 4 |
| On a scale of 1-10, how much do your decks rely more on visuals to "tell the pitch story" vs. text oriented pages? | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | 1 |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | 10 |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | 4 |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | 2 |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | 2 |
| Steve McCusker - New Business Marketing Manager | 5 |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | 4 |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | 2 |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | 3 |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | 4 |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | 4 |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | 4 |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | 5 |
| On a scale of 1-10, how strong is your agency team chemistry during a presentation? | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | 3 |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | 6 |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | 9 |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | 7 |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | 5 |
| Steve McCusker - New Business Marketing Manager | 9 |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | 3 |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | 4 |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | 9 |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | 8 |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | 7 |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | 7 |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | 8 |
| On a scale of 1-10, how well are your team presentations rehearsed? | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | 2 |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | 5 |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | 7 |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | 4 |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | 3 |
| Steve McCusker - New Business Marketing Manager | 8 |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | 1 |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | 6 |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | 5 |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | 6 |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | 7 |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | 5 |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | 5 |
| On a scale of 1-10, how well do you rehearse handling questions from the prospect? | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | 2 |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | 3 |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | 5 |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | 3 |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | 1 |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | 2 |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | 1 |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | 3 |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | 5 |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | 6 |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | 3 |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | 5 |
| How much interaction (dialogue) with the prospect do you typically have during the presentation? | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | Some |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | Some |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | A Little |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | Very Interactive (50/50) |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | Some |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | Very Interactive (50/50) |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | Very Interactive (50/50) |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | Very Interactive (50/50) |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | Some |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | Very Interactive (50/50) |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | Very Interactive (50/50) |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | Some |
| How much interaction (dialogue) does the agency create with the prospect throughout the pitch process (leading up to the final pitch presentation)? | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | Generally good in this area. We try to engage with the client in order to learn as much as we can before the final pitch presentation. |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | An average amount. We do nothing entrepreneurial to encourage more than the expected dialog. Our key biz dev folks are VERY good at establishing individual relationships with client contacts. |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | Not sure. |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | Not enough -- but not for lack of trying. I think we make assumptions and then go all in based on those often weak or incorrect assumptions about what the client wants and needs. |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | It varies, but we definitely spend some time with the prospect. I think we err in not talking enough to prospects because we want to give the impression that we understand the business and the space. |
| Steve McCusker - New Business Marketing Manager | From observations, I think there is a great dialogue, not only with the prospect, but with the agency as well. Our new biz folks are meticulous with their updates, and are extremely accessible to the clients and prospects. |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | as much as possible, usually, but varies by person |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | As much as we possibly can - the more the better. |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | A lot. We usually have multiple telephone & email communications to further refine our approach & strategy. |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | It depends on the individuals involved. I try to get as much as we can within our constructs: I think that powerpoint actually makes our presentations a lot less interactive than they were a while ago. We used to always try to get the prospect to discuss their issues before addressing and adapting to them. Now it's much more difficult because you're going in with a structured approach. |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | We strive for a continuous dialogue and I think we do a very good job at it in terms of meeting/having calls with the prospect team, asking questions, exposing them to our thinking early on to gauge their reaction/POV. But as you know, alot of the times the client dictates how much access you can really have. |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | Almost every pitch in which I have participated in the last 4 years was filled with back and forth dialogue. That is not our problem in my opinion. |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | The Business Development does a good job at creating a dialogue. |
| Bottom line, what do you think the agency most has to do to improve at new business pitching? | |
| Jesse Strawbridge, Director of Business Development | Becoming extremely focused on developing and presenting a specific POV/insight that clearly positions P+s as a firm that will help the prospect move their business forward. |
| Tom Simons -- CEO / Chief Creative Officer | Developing the final pitch, choreographing the meeting and staffing it with the best possible presenters. Our insight/strategy/creative could be lifted up a bit. |
| Jane Roper, Senior Copywriter | There are too many cooks, and too much bet-hedging on what the prospect is really after. This often leads to to rushed, "kitchen sink" pitches that spend too much time on our capabilities without concisely and compellingly addressing what the prospect is looking for. |
| Tony Cotrupi, President | I believe we need to be more selective about what we pitch, and work harder to learn more about the prospects we do pitch so we can be more relveant/effective/smart. We need to listen more and talk less. And we need Tom/Tony/Walter to become more intimately involved in how these pitches are structured and presented. We also need to create a core "pitch team" that more or less represents us in every pitch. |
| Todd Baird, Director Strategic Planning | Understand client team players and business needs better. |
| Steve McCusker - New Business Marketing Manager | Having not attended a pitch, I don't feel that I am in a place to speak to this question. |
| Jennifer O'Connell, Director, Business Development | getting outside our own story and getting into the client's. we need to bring INSIGHT, INSIGHT, INSIGHT - what's our POV on the challenge, business, etc.? |
| Deborah Hernandez, Director, Health Professional Marketing | Stronger presentation |
| Stephanie Rogers, Senior Director of Contact Planning | Tighten up the story and develop a repeatable process for doing so. |
| Walter Mills Principal & Chief Operating Officer | Set up an outside feedback mechanism that takes into consideration prospect and current clients perceptions etc. Figure out how to get the Prius/Tesla story out there. |
| Chris Demakis, Senior Director, Business Development | 1. Determine what it is that *really* makes us unique: Every 18 months our firm's positioning changes. (Current positioning = business outcomes) This is a blessing and a curse. By the time we've absorbed who we are, we're moving on. While those of us involved in new business breathe this on a daily basis, the majority of our people can't describe what makes P+s unique. The language is continuously evolving and honestly, at times, is not grounded in prospect speak or reality around what we can deliver on. This comes from the very senior most level of our business. 2. Make a committment to innovating around what we offer our clients: We have some very valuable and differentiating services. But they are not shining through like they should be. And most importantly, how they all work together has become something of a nightmare. We're not out in front in terms of innovation when it comes to what we offer...lots of times playing catch up with the marketplace. So we're not seen as innovators. 3. Be willing to try new things when it comes to pitches: We have settled in to something of a pattern in our approach to pitching new business. It had been working most of the time until the last 12 months, to be very frank. Only recently have we begun to talk about an open mindedness around a new way of pitching. Which is good. 4. Make a committment to bring better insight to every new business pitch: This has to do with both strategy and creative. Not every pitch includes creative and I think recently, within the last year, we have dialed up the level of creative we've been willing to bring to the most basic of pitches. But there is still a challenge with bringing very innovative/differentiating strategic insights to our new business meetings. This has partly to do with the quality/capability of some of our account service folks involved in different meetings (hence desire for more consistency on this front with new business team) and I suspect the lack of a formal planning competency within our business. Our contact planning team has been helping to improve this process..but their time is in high demand and their level of participation is not consistent. |
| Steve Lynch, Creative Director | We need true insight and then have the creative work spriingboard from that insight. What we usually do is have an assignment that is fairly vague then bracket our creative solutions. |
| James Burke - Director, Interactive | Improved lead qualification (budget allocation, availability), greater discussion about market and market trends, improved ROI/analytics story to client. |