Lead On: The Drum Network meets new business agency The Future Factory
Having worked previously in the marketing and recruitment sectors, Alex Sibille and Dan Sudron were well aware of the terrible reputation of the ‘lead generation’ industry when they founded the Future Factory in August 2011.
“The overriding feedback we heard about other new business agencies was that they were ‘call centre style’ set-ups, filled with sales people who had no affinity for or connection with the creative industry they represented,” says Sibille, joint managing director of the consultancy. “Our ambition when we began was to demystify the business development and lead generation process and bring back the human element, the intelligence and the trust from clients.”
Today, the Future Factory employs 28 people and works with more than 40 creative, comms and digital agencies from its HQ at London Bridge. The business has grown 45 per cent year-on-year for the past three years, prompting it to move office three times so far to keep pace with its rapid expansion.
“Over the past few years we’ve developed a fantastic reputation and now 85 percent of our clients come through word of mouth and referrals,” says Sibille. “The majority of our clients are small to medium sized independent agencies. We also work with agencies within WPP, Omincom, Mother London and Chime, but these tend to be the smaller, challenger agencies within the groups who need help to make their mark and attract their fair share of new clients.
“One of our major differentiators is that almost half of our time is spent working from our clients’ offices. This ensures we have an in-depth understanding of their work, their proposition, their ambitions and ethos. We are subsequently much better equipped to accurately represent them, and uncover fitting opportunities. It also shows confidence and transparency in our approach and way of working, and means we develop a closer partnership with our clients.”
Sibille believes that one reason the Future Factory has been successful is that it applies the same approach to its clients’ lead generation as its own. When I press her for a few ‘top tips’ on lead generation she offers the following:
“Showcase a genuine interest in the company or person you’re targeting; don’t be pushy (it doesn’t lead to long-term mutually respectful relationships); and be lovely (people buy people).”
Think about the future
While the art of sales may be an open book to the Future Factory, joint managing director Dan Sudron confesses that growing and developing the consultancy’s team has been more of a challenge: “It’s a pretty unique and broad skill set we look for. The role swings from being a meticulous researcher, a super organised PA, a strategic thinker and a relationship builder, all in one day.
“We’ve always invested a lot of time and effort into making sure our team love where they work and develop their knowledge rapidly. Not only will happier people be more successful and driven in their roles, we know that many of our team will go on to become the best business development directors in our industry, and we’re proud to be their incubator for success. On a monthly basis our team attend formal training as well as industry talks to develop their understanding and strategic thinking when it comes to agency growth challenges.”
Sudron adds: “The end result is that our team loves working side-by-side with the founders and directors of these agencies and making a positive impact on their fortunes. We still celebrate every piece of new business our clients win with champagne – so we take regular deliveries from Naked Wines!”
Looking ahead, the focus of the Future Factory is to no longer just help agencies start new relationships with marketing directors, but to support and guide them in converting their leads into long term clients, says Sudron.
“Our work doesn’t stop at lead generation anymore – we cover the full client acquisition cycle.We work with our agencies to advise on and leverage their marketing and PR activity and work alongside a number of the industry’s most respected experts and trainers who equip our agencies with the skills and confidence to present themselves successfully in chemistry meetings and pitches.
“We’ve also developed a design division which is working with agencies on the look and feel of their assets and, of course, their content. As a business we speak with over 100 marketing directors each week, so have a good sense of what information resonates with them. Equally we’ve seen hundreds of agency credentials decks, newsletters, showreels and websites, so we know what will stand out from the crowd.”
Sudron explains that the last six months have seen a huge swell in enquires from agencies in Manchester and, also, from New York. He says: “While there are no dates set for expansion into another city, we’re certain it will happen within the next five years.”
It seems that the reputation of the lead generation industry is on the rise.
Content created with:
The Future Factory
With a mix of lead generation, board level consultancy and coaching, we help to make the future more predictable for agency Owners, Founder and Directors. www.thefuturefactory.co.uk
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