Small Spark Theory: A Marginal Gains Approach To New Business And Marketing

There aren’t enough podcasting hours to do justice to the agency positioning and proposition debate. We’ve explored this before in episode 13 with David C. Baker and then again in episode 36 with master of the agency messaging, Roland Gurney.  But with entire industry sectors in crisis and an uncertain economy ahead it has never […] The post EP41: Positioning v proposition | Robin Bonn | Co:definery appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.

Across the world, leadership is under scrutiny.   Citizens are looking to their politicians, employees are looking to their employers. Amid continued uncertainly, everyone needs direction and reassurance.  So what does good leadership look like? Does it change in a crisis? And how can agency leaders look after their teams, and their own wellbeing, as we […] The post EP40: Agency leadership | Sally Henderson appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.

Over the past six weeks I’ve been speaking to lots of agency leaders. Those one-on-one conversations have highlighted to me, just how many variables there are determining how agencies are able to weather this extraordinary storm.  Aside from agency size and structure, services, client sector focus, and the deeply personal experiences of managing pipeline, clients […] The post EP39: Maximising cash | Michelle Cook appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.

I’ve spent a lot of time recently thinking about small agencies. Typically, those with headcount up to 10/12 and/or annual revenues under £1m. It’s worth pointing out that this band of agencies makes up an increasing large proportion of the UK landscape. But regardless of their specialism, at this size, effective new business resourcing is […] The post EP38: The first new business hire | Dave Corlett appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.

There is no doubt there has never been a better time to rethink the way that agencies deliver their services to clients. With endless technology options, flexible workspaces, and an increasing supply of freelance talent, the barrier to entry is lower than ever for budding agency founders. So far so good. And yet I’ve met […] The post EP37: New agency models | Emma Sexton | MYWW appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.

For marketers, brand positioning, proposition, messaging and tone of voice are no less fundamental than a visual identity. However, as we’ve discussed here before, for agencies –  largely SMEs and often without dedicated marketing resource – finding the time to achieve clarity here, let alone implement change, is a challenge.  Back in episode 6 we talked […] The post EP36: Agency messaging | Roland Gurney | Treacle appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.

Whatever your planning cycle, at this time of year we are naturally drawn to consider our goals for the year ahead and begin shaping our marketing calendars. And as agency awards can take up such a considerable amount of time, energy and budget -it seems only right that we apply our marginal gains scrutiny to […] The post EP35: Agency awards | Stef Brown | On Pointe Marketing appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.

For a variety of reasons I’ve had the opportunity to travel across the country more than usual this year, speaking on behalf of the Design Business Association in Manchester and Leeds and joining the Agency Collective at events in Bristol and Edinburgh.  It’s given me the opportunity to talk to agencies outside of the London […] The post EP34: Northern agency focus Phil Gripton | Waypoint Partners appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.

Over the last three years we have received so much wonderful feedback from Small Spark Theory listeners, telling us how they have been putting the advice from the podcast into practice and seeing marginal gains improvements in new business performance.  In response to this, we have created the Small Spark Theory Institute, providing mentored, online […] The post Introducing the Small Spark Theory Institute appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.

Throughout this series we have been exploring the notion that by focusing on relationships, rather than a smash and grab for revenue, we build a more sustainable new business pipeline. So in this episode I wanted to explore one of the most underused skills in building relationships. Listening.  Catherine Allison, founder of Master the Art is […] The post EP33: Listening | Catherine Allison | Master the Art appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.

Almost every agency owner I meet will, sooner or later, ask the question “how does this compare with other agencies?” They could be talking about any number of measures; marketing investment, pitch conversion rate, client retention, or new business resourcing to name just a few. And I understand why this question is important. Running an […] The post EP32: Benchmarking performance | Peter Czapp | The Wow Company appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.

With 30 episodes under our belt if feels like the right time to get another client perspective on all things new business and the client and agency relationship. Our guest this month is Julia Howe. Julia has enjoyed a globetrotting career on both sides of the client and agency fence, and is currently EVP and Co-Head […] The post EP31: A client perspective | Julia Howe | 20th Century Fox appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.

We’ve touched on the subject of procurement over a number of episodes in this series so far, and it’s a topic I wanted to come back to and delve a little deeper.  Much of the time I deal with small to medium sized agencies, all specialists in their respective fields, many of whom are working […] The post EP30: Rethinking procurement | David Meikle | How to Buy a Gorilla appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.

This may not seem like the most obvious episode for what, to all intents and purposes is a podcast providing practical tips for making marginal gains in agency new business and marketing. However, when we consider many of the activities involved in attracting and winning new clients – the outreach to new prospects, networking, hosting […] The post EP29: Fear | Hilary Gallo appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about client relationships recently. Generally speaking our growth objectives will start with the financials – the revenue goals, the profit margin targets and the scale those numbers will then afford us – the extra bodies, extra offices, extra services – or even exit! This focus on the numbers […] The post EP28: Client development- part two | Jim Hawker | Threepipe appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.

“Whatever you do from here, even if you choose to ignore everything I’m about to tell you, please be good at LinkedIn.” This is a phrase I have repeated many times during my engagements with agencies over the years, and one I stand by now more than ever. LinkedIn has become an incredible tool to support […] The post EP27: LinkedIn | Alex Low | Digital Leadership Associates appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.

It’s easy to think that the secret to agency growth is cracking the holy grail of new business acquisition, but in most cases there are untapped opportunities for growth much closer to home, within our existing client relationships. Over the years I have met many, many agency owners, who have a nagging suspicion that they could […] The post EP26: Client development – part one | Iain Johnston | Hill Dickinson appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.

I’m calling this episode ‘thought leadership’ for the sake of brevity, and SEO but in reality this is about so much more. Pip Stocks runs Brandhook, a Melbourne-based brand and customer experience consultancy. Over the last four years Pip, and Brandhook, have owned the conversation around “Closing the Gap”, understanding how brands can get closer […] The post EP25: Agency Thought Leadership | Pip Stocks | Brandhook appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.

Dear prospect, my name is Lucy, I’m writing to introduce……. And so it goes, the new business email, putting the fear into agency folk across the land. It’s no surprise. For many people, selling isn’t something that comes naturally. And trying to sell yourself, or your agency, in a blank email window while the cursor […] The post EP24: The new business email | Kimi Gilbert | The Future Factory appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.

Just in time for Christmas, we bring you a very special episode of Small Spark Theory. Across the series, we have asked all of our contributors to share the best piece of advice they’ve been given in their career, so we thought we’d take a wander through the last two years of episodes and pick […] The post EP23: The Christmas Cracker appeared first on Gunpowder Consulting.