Referrals and word-of-mouth marketing is usually the primary method used to find new business. However, if you want to consider a different approach to new business development it's worth looking at how a New Business Agency can help.

New Business Agencies are effectively an outsourced new business team that will work with your agency or consulting firm to target, develop and win new business. They pretty much do everything that an in-house new business team would do; it's just that they are an external agency.

So, what does a New Business Agency do? Broadly, they provide services in four key areas:

1)Desk Research

2)Collateral Preparation

3)Appointment Setting

4)Pitch Support

Let's briefly look at each of these areas where a New Business Agency can add value.

Desk Research

A New Business Agency will help you target the right prospects for your firm. This is all about targeting the accounts you want to work with ? think if it as your ?wish-list?. Your new business agency will work with you to build this wish list, identifying the correct contacts within the buying circle. Perfect lists are seldom bought, which is why a new business agency is the perfect partner to help you research and target prospect account.

Desk research also includes monitoring relevant sector news, combing for events and intelligence that can trigger an opportunity or be leveraged to open doors within a targeted account. Again, this is an area which a New Business Agency will bring immediate value.

Collateral Preparation

OK, so you've built your wish-list and researched targeted individuals within each account, now your New Business Agency will need to prepare the necessary sales collateral to position your firm. Sales collateral includes email copy, sales letters and even the call plan used by the agencies own new business agents.

This is all about getting the messaging right, crafting your email copy so that it both gets through and gets read. Don't be surprised if your new business agency dismisses your expensively designed marketing collateral in favour of a simpler (and often shorter) home-grown version. Branded HTML emails might look good but that's no good if it goes straight into the junk folder.

There's a big difference between something that opens doors and collateral that you use during your presentation; your new business agency will know what works.

Appointment Setting

Now the fun begins.

All the research and a tightly honed email account for nothing if your new business agency can't put you in to pitch your target accounts.

Setting up appointments with prospects is what any new business agency worth its salt is all about.

If you're working with a good New Business Agency they will be focused squarely on this aspect and often be rewarded on booking appointments that result in success.

Pitch Support

Finally, many new business agencies will offer services to support you prior to, during, and sometimes after your pitch. Agency support services can include presentation preparation, deeper account research and competitor intelligence, accompanying you to meetings, through to following up afterwards and managing prospects through various stages of the sales process.

The extent that these services are useful will depend on your in-house resources and capabilities and you should consider this when selecting a new business agency.

For example, if you are a small start-up agency, support with pitch preparation and pipeline management could be something you want from a new business agency. Alternatively, if you are a larger agency or consultancy with an account team, you may simply want a new business agency to focus on appointment setting and leave the ?back end? side to your team.

So, in summary, a New Business Agency can be an effective partner for marketing services firms and management consultancies to help find, develop and win profitable new business.