Turning Creds Meetings into Second Meetings
I’ve reviewed and read countless credentials decks over the past 24 years as an agency search consultant at AAR Partners and my firm point of view is that these presentations should be referred to as capabilities decks, not credentials decks. Why is this critical? Credentials focus on your ability, resources and achievements, while capabilities emphasize the expertise you can bring to prospective clients. That expertise should leap out of the deck quickly. Therefore, it’s essential to streamline your content for maximum impact. If your deck exceeds 12 to 15 slides, it’s time to cut back. Aim for clarity and brevity. Begin your presentation not with logistical details about your agency but “why you” and by framing the discussion around the client’s specific challenges and complexities. This approach sets the stage for a compelling narrative that resonates with the client’s needs. If your case studies are text-heavy, consider trimming them down. Focus on storytelling that highlights the challenges faced, insights gained, lessons learned, and solutions delivered. Illustrate the thinking behind the solutions and of course, the outcome is just as critical as the output. This method allows you to engage your audience more effectively than a simple list of bullet points ever could. One of the most vital aspects of your presentation is the way you conclude. Instead of closing with a polite “thank you,” take advantage of the opportunity to share insights you’ve gathered about the client’s brand from your preliminary research bringing it full circle to your strategic process. These insights can range from positive to critical, but they serve a vital purpose: sparking a conversation about the marketing challenges the brand is experiencing. This shift transforms your meeting from a one-sided presentation into an active conversation, significantly increasing the chances of a second meeting. In your approach, prioritize the client’s challenges over your agency’s background. Personalize your discussion by setting up what “complex” means specifically for them. Ground insights into reality by showcasing relevant examples from your research process, demonstrating not just data but actionable intelligence. Keep your deck visually engaging. Use minimal text and more visuals to enhance engagement. Prepare two versions of your deck: one for interactive live presentations that encourage conversation, and another as a scripted leave-behind that offers detailed information for self-guided review. As you lead with case stories, once again, it is vital to aim to illustrate the measurable impact of your solutions. This storytelling approach creates a connection with the prospective client and illustrates your understanding of their brand needs. Avoid using cluttered, verbose, overstuffed decks with excessive text or failing to demonstrate a clear understanding of the client’s unique category or regulatory environment. It’s crucial to address these issues head-on to build trust and confidence. Lastly, remember that the goal is to engage and continue the discussion—not just to thank them. It’s worth repeating that it’s important to replace the thank-you slide with a teaser that invites further discussion on consumer insights. This shift not only makes your conclusion more impactful but also sets the stage for ongoing dialogue. Key Recommendations for Your Capabilities Deck Flip the Pitch Narrative: Start with the client’s challenges, not your agency’s background. Personalize what “complex” means for each client. Emphasize Insights: Showcase insights from your research process, not just data. Bring them to life with relevant examples. Shorter, Sharper Decks: Limit your deck to around 12 slides and use minimal text. Create two versions: one for live presentation and another as a scripted leave-behind. Lead with Case Stories: Highlight challenges, insights, solutions, and measurable impacts through storytelling. Engage, Don’t Thank: Replace your thank you slide with a teaser that invites discussion about consumer insights. Make Logos Meaningful: Organize logo slides by category or complexity solved to demonstrate your agency’s unique strengths. Balance Detail: Avoid overwhelming clients with too much information. Show the value of collaboration and creativity. By transforming your approach from a credentials-based presentation to one centered on capabilities and actionable insights, you can create more meaningful interactions with prospective clients. Engage them thoughtfully, provoke their curiosity, highlight business benefits, and pave the way for possible future collaborations. Implement these strategies, and you’ll see your meetings evolve from simple presentations into valuable discussions that lead to potential and successful future partnerships.
5 Legal Mistakes Your Agency is Making in New Business – and How to Fix Them
Your agency invests massive amounts of time, energy and money pursuing its new business goals. And it’s exciting when the efforts turn into a new opportunity, project or long-tem lucrative contract. So let’s not spoil that good energy by missing a legal step or making a legal mistake that will jeopardize the agency’s efforts, create unsustainable risk or cost lost profit, OK? Over the hundreds of agency new business scenarios we’ve helped counsel our clients through, these are the mistakes we see, on repeat, in agency new business. Along with some suggested fixes you can implement before your next big new business opportunity. Mistake #1: Failing to Protect the Agency’s IP in Pitches and Proposals It takes a lot of creativity and ideation to attract new business. If your agency regularly pitches new business or responds to proposal requests from prospects, you are pouring your best creative concepts, strategies, and proprietary knowledge into your attempts to attract prospective clients. Do you want to give all of that away? If you’ve decided that it’s a worthwhile investment in the potential opportunity to do so, I support you – it’s an intentional business strategy. If you haven’t thought hard about it, or it isn’t your intention read on. How to Fix It: Make it your default to implement a mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with the prospect before sharing any creative or strategic materials. A mutual NDA demonstrates that both parties are committed to confidentiality. It also secures your claims to the work and ideas you share with the prospect. Side Note: If you’ve agreed that the prospect will own the ideas or concepts you share in a pitch or proposal, make sure the terms are clear, specific, and any compensation stated. Worried about putting this forward to a potential client? Don’t be. Presented respectfully and in the spirit of mutuality, brands are very accustomed to the requests (in fact, much the time they’re making the request for the NDA first, although their version usually isn’t mutual). If your agency is uncomfortable requiring the mutual NDA, there are two additional measures it can take to “stake its claim” to the IP it shares in a new business conversation: Add an IP ownership ownership clause directly into your proposal or pitch documentation. This clause should that any IP shared with the prospect remains the sole property of your agency unless a formal agreement is signed and the agency is compensated. Use a copyright notice (e.g., © 2025 Your Agency Name) on any deliverables included in your pitch. Remember that copyright protects only physical or electronic assets – it does not cover ideas shared verbally with the prospect. Mistake #2: Accepting Client Contracts Without Proper Legal Review Agencies eager to close deals often sign client-drafted contracts without a full review or negotiation. This can lead to highly unfavorable terms, including relinquishing rights, delayed payments, and excessive liabilities. How to Fix It: Always conduct a thorough legal review of the client’s contract before signing. If possible, have an attorney who understands agency operations assess the terms. Pay special attention to: IP clauses that transfer ownership of deliverables before payment is made. Payment terms that delay billing or tie payment to client “approval” of the invoice. Exclusivity clauses that limit your ability to work with other clients in a vertical or region. Approval processes that are missing, undefined, or put all risk on the agency. Liability clauses that make the agency responsible for client delays, misinformation, or failure to provide assets. Where feasible, seek to lead with your agency’s Master Services Agreement (MSA) in place of the client’s contract. And always have your agency’s own MSA as a benchmark even if you frequently sign the client’s document. A major assumption we see many agencies make is that they have no leverage to negotiate terms with a prospective client. Or that a big brand will never sign an agency-provided contract. It’s not true. You may have less leverage in some situations than in others, but you should always be prepared with an adequate legal review to use the leverage that you do have. Mistake #3: Creating New Legal Documents for Every Client Engagement A major reason many agencies avoid or short-circuit a full legal review of client contracts and related documents is the perceived extra time and investment of legal fees it takes. You’re in a hurry to get the work started and get the retainer flowing. One major reason for this? Many agencies lack a standardized approach to legal documents, treating each client engagement as a one-off transaction. This creates inefficiencies and opens the door to inconsistent language, errors, and legal exposure. It also makes the process more expensive, and slower. How to Fix It: Standardize your legal documentation process. Every agency should maintain a legal document library with vetted, customizable templates, including: A Mutual NDA that can be used across different engagements. A Master Services Agreement (MSA) for long-term, complex, or high-value clients. A Short-form Terms & Conditions document for smaller, one-time projects. Templates for Proposals, SOWs (Statements of Work), Change Orders, and Client Approval Forms. In addition to creating these core documents, assign central ownership of the legal process within your agency. Designate one person or team to manage the use and version control of legal forms. No one should send a contract or sign one without going through the designated point of contact or review process. And, again: if you must use the client’s contract, compare and benchmark it against your agency’s standard legal templates. This helps you identify gaps in liability protection, IP rights, and billing terms before you’re legally bound to them. Mistake #4: Giving Away Too Much IP—Or Giving It Away Too Soon Agencies frequently transfer ownership of creative assets too early in the relationship—sometimes even before payment is made. Worse, many fail to assert rights over unused or rejected ideas, leading to lost opportunities for reuse or repurposing. How to Fix It: Use a clear rule in
Why Good Agencies Get Ghosted (And Great Ones Don’t)
The uncomfortable truth about why prospects disappear (it’s not the economy) “We had three great calls, they loved our ideas, asked for references, and then… nothing. I sent a bunch of follow-ups over the next few months, thinking they were just busy – and we never heard back. Six months later, we found out they hired another agency when the work went live.” As an agency owner, you know how confusing it can be to figure out what clients actually want. More often than not, you are ghosted or given vague feedback…left feeling totally confused on what your prospects are thinking. Here’s the uncomfortable truth: You’re not being ghosted because prospects are busy or the global economy is a mess. You’re being ghosted for one of three reasons: You haven’t properly vet them (they were never a fit and you wasted your time) You did more than your 50% (and you missed the signs that they weren’t that into you) You didn’t give them confidence (you overfocused on your “services” instead of “outcomes” you create for them) Ghosting is a problem in our industry—that is not up for debate. But we are a big part of the problem. We’ve trained our prospects (brand and business leaders) to think our time has little value. We’ve shown them we are so hungry for opportunities that we’re willing to do almost anything they want, on the most unrealistic timelines, for the chance to just pitch. We’ve taught them to be lazy by creating a brief for them. We’ve taught them to waste our time by being willing to do hours of work (hourly breakdowns, strategy, creative ideas) without any commitment. We’ve taught them to disrespect us because we’ve disrespected ourselves. The good news is, this is an issue we can change individually AND as an industry. And the first step is acknowledging the truth: you are the problem. How your sales process actually trains clients to ghost you Let’s take a step back and look at where this all starts – your sales process. Most agency websites have a generic email or a very basic form. I typically see 3 questions on an agency website form: Name Email Tell us about your project A blank box where they can give you vague information is not good enough. Typically, these forms get filled in with less than a sentence, such as “branding project”. And how are you supposed to figure out if that’s someone worth your time? You need to gatekeep your time like the premium service provider you are (or want to be). At a minimum, we need to know: Is their business or industry one you have in-depth experience in (ie, not one random case study – you have earned knowledge in this space)? Does their goal align with your expertise? Are their expectations of timing and budget aligned with your business? Are they prepared and ready to hire an agency partner? (ie, they have clear goals, a brief, a budget, a timeline, stakeholder sign off, an internal project team, etc.) A better form would include these (mandatory) questions: Company / Brand name What is the main goal or desired outcome that would make your project a success? What is your ideal timeline for starting this work and completing it? What is driving this timing? What level of investment are you prepared to make? (I like to provide tiered ranges here – starting with your minimum viable project fee) How did you hear about us / who can we thank? And to clarify – you should know all this BEFORE getting on the call with a prospect. If they don’t have this information, then it’s simply a networking call. And we don’t write proposals for networking calls. Okay, so we’re aligned that we need to improve our website forms, yes? This is a step one. The next step is key. If they passed the form test and you took an initial call with them (which, by the way, should be 30 minutes max because you’re evaluating them as much as they’re evaluating you), do not (I repeat, do not) offer to write a proposal. At the end of your initial call, ask this question instead: “Great chatting and getting to know you and your brand. What feels like the best next step to you from here?” I promise this simple question will save you hours wasted in writing proposals. Because here’s the thing…when someone offers to write a proposal, you’re not going to say no. It’s awkward to say, “you know what, we don’t think this is a fit, so no thank you”. And this is WHY the majority of ghosting situations happen. A basic rule of thumb here – if they half-ass filled out the form, were 10 minutes late to the call, are non-responsive to your emails, return that energy. Don’t proceed to spend hours writing up scenarios for them. You’re actually showing them they can do the bare minimum and you’ll still do the maximum…and believe me, if they hire you, that translates over into the client partnership. They are THOSE clients you love to hate. The 3-Step Ghost-Proof Discovery Framework Here’s the framework that eliminates ghosting before it starts: Step 1: An Informative Website Form Prospects who can’t answer this aren’t ready to partner. And it’s okay to scare off a ghost. Step 2: A Pre-Call Email This sets the tone that you are leading the process – and allows you to get a feel for their responsiveness. Generally, I would let them know who is joining the call on your side and what they can expect. Here’s an example. “Looking forward to our chat this week. To give you a sense of next steps and what to expect, this is what our typical process looks like: We’ll have a Meet & Greet this week to talk about your project and together assess if there’s a good fit I’ll have you fill out
How Pricing, Not Price, Can Help You Win More New Business
Procurement professionals have a term for it: “supplier conditioning.” It’s the most widely used technique in the procurement toolbox, yet countless agencies enter into pricing negotiations oblivious to the fact their positions have already been molded by these professional buyers. Early in the buying process, procurement professionals present sellers with a series of “mandatory requirements,” often accompanied by politely worded warnings that failure to comply will result in disqualification. If you’re a chemical company being evaluated on scientific specifications, these requirements are to be taken seriously. But if the seller in question is a professional services firm like an agency, many “mandatories” can usually be viewed in the context of a poker game. Procurement is simply laying its first bet. Many of the “compulsory” terms outlined in the early stages of a negotiation are simply part of the conditioning progress. Because most agency executives don’t realize the techniques of professional buyers are inspired by game theory, they tend to take all procurement directives seriously. You’ve already won By the time you get to the procurement hurdle, keep in mind that you have likely already won the business. Procurement is only the “technical buyer” in the process. Their job isn’t to select the firm (that’s the job of the “economic buyer,” the executive with the budget) but rather to get the best deal with the firm that has already been selected. At this point, you may be told by procurement that “You need to sharpen your pencil by 5 o’clock to maintain your qualification status” or “We need a price reduction of 5% by end of day.” Is it true? Hardly ever. These are simply last-minute attempts at concessions your firm doesn’t need to make. No doubt you’ve had the sinking feeling of agreeing to a discount only to be awarded the business just moments later. The most obnoxious and counterproductive procurement “requirement” of all is the directive to supply your pricing in the form of hours and hourly rates. Much has been written of late regarding the impact of artificial intelligence on the agency revenue model and the degree to which AI makes the concept of hourly billing not only antiquated, but impossible. With AI doing much of the agency’s thinking and doing, agencies would be required to bill by the nano-second. Not a brilliant — or practical — revenue model. Standing out by standing up Most brands today are already clamoring for new and better ways to pay their marketing partners, and the rise of AI presents the perfect opportunity to do just that. Indeed, agencies really have no choice, and major marketers are coming to terms with the fact that they must now pay their agencies based on outputs (deliverables) or outcomes (results), not inputs (hours). Actually, agencies have at least five different ways they can monetize the value of AI: AI as a solutions propagator. AI helps agencies generate an exponential number of potential solutions to a problem, from strategic planning to media planning. As long as agencies charge for the deliverable – not the time – they can effectively capture the value AI contributes to the agency’s outputs. AI as an operations optimizer. By employing AI to automate routine tasks, agencies can save vast amounts of time in the creation, production, and delivery of their work. These savings can go straight to the bottom line. AI priced as outcomes. Instead of charging for the effort required to solve a problem, agencies can charge for the value of the solution. An because of the predictive power of artificial intelligence, agencies can greatly reduce the amount of risk they’re taking when implementing an outcome-based agreement with their clients. AI sold as a product. Agencies have the opportunity to package together their own problem-solving skills with the immense power of GenAI as a named, branded “product.” There are new examples of this every week from agencies both large and small. For inspiration, take a look at SKEPTIC from the agency Known. AI-as-a-Service. We’re all familiar with the SaaS business model, and AI-powered solutions can be developed and offered in the same way – licensing the use of agency-developed AI tools directly to clients. The agencies that position themselves on the forefront of these new pricing approaches will differentiate themselves in a way that makes them vastly more appealing to prospective clients.Your clients are waiting for you to make the first move. You’re the seller. It’s not the buyer’s job to develop pricing that meets the challenge of working an AI-powered economy; it’s yours.