Hi, you’re through to the Sales Prevention Department – how can I NOT help? How agencies lose clients even before they win them

I can honestly say, as the owner of a small digital agency that I would be livid if our phones weren't being answered correctly or our enquiry forms weren't being replied to. I guess some big agencies just take new business leads for granted if they're well connected.

Jon Hobbs-Smith - http://www.tvidesign.co.uk

My mobile No is 07899 890672. Open 24 hours.

Receptionists seem to be trained more and more to be gatekeepers, preventing you speaking to the person who wold probably be quite interested to hear from you.

As for car dealerships, they make what should be a pleasurable experience into a long ,drawn out, horrible struggle to spend thousands of pounds. It's like they're doing you a favour by deigning to sell you a car.

A regular response is "Will he or she know what you are calling about?" My usual thought is "not unless they are clairvoyant".

We've all had our experience of the frankly less than receptive reception and agencies should consider what it says about them as a bunch of folk to deal with. Anyone who comes to us (client or supplier) gets the same welcome and offer of a hot/cold drink and that even includes our postie! A good receptionist (where they still exist) can be a great ambassador for their business .....and vice versa.

New Business is everyone's business in an agency, it's up to the new business director/manager or whoever's responsible for it, to ensure people are briefed on how to handle enquiries and ensure its as easy as possible. Every inbound enquiry should be treated with equal importance and with the attitude that they're the biggest and most important client in the world. Its about changing the culture. Need help? Drop me a line - http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-morgan/4/234/489

We try to be responsive and pleasant ALL the time - any relationship can start by a cold call. The phone here should not ring more than 5 rings as everyone is responsible for answering a call at this point as our receptionist is probably on a call herself. However, being so helpful and open does have a down-side - we are inundated by cold-calls from teleoms/insurance/utilities. Sifting the wheat from the chaff is not easy - and I am sure we may have had some casualties along the way!

Interesting post and we've also had contact with RAR in the past as well - a brief for a certain UK radio station. I completely agree with what you have said when dealing with agencies as we are primarily a tech house offering social media technology and offering our services to agencies - not treading on toes at all they give us the concept we make it happen - simple! Well no not really, trying to get hold of an agency to speak to the person either a) in charge of partnerships or b) new business. "They only accept email", "I don't have their email address would you mind giving it to me", "No we have a privacy policy", "O.K so can I email you and you can specifically forward it on", "No email it to enquiries/info etc, etc" "Bye..!". I'm even trying to sell anything but looking to offer a joint service where you can offer your clients the latest social media tech, create ideas that you/your clients have in turn making YOU money!

I can't understand it....and yes our phone's ring and are answered and each call is individually dealt with in a professional manner from idea conceptualisation through to a deal being closed.

There are other reasons which do affect the whole sales process such as the SALES PROCESS term itself which puts people off - it should be seen as NOT A PROCESS but a collaborative approach whether it's client to agency or agency to client. So many companies are out there to simply sell you XYZ regardless whether you need it or not and social media has certainly been tainted with this brush "Get it everyone else is doing it/using it and if you don't then you're missing out" and the worst part about this is that the product/service doesn't meet the needs of the client and then the agency looks bad because the offering went flop. What happened to well we've got a great product and this is how it will benefit you, what do you think? A few questions, a few emails, meetings etc. the MAKE SURE it meets the clients and work TOGETHER with them and NOT my way or the high way.

What does the collaborative approach do? It creates a happy client, an offering that achieves what it is set out to do and obviously well earned cash in the pocket. So reasons why people don't pick up the phone, divert people in different directions or do not follow up is the initial approach, think how many HARD SELL CALLS people get...think how many genuine calls you get - it is understandable on both agency and client side.

Another aspect to add to this is RECRUITMENT CONSULTANTS - they will call up under false names, companies, publications etc (Believe me I've been one of those people doing it on recruitment side as well - not a good seat to be in!) to poach your staff. So yes, there is a definite element of I can get them to call you back but no I'm not going to give you their details - a tough one to juggle but you can catch the little buggers out!

I will have to say Diane, and please do not take this the wrong way at all as I think creating the "broker" bridge between client and agency via RAR is great and your model is finding the right agency to handle the client's brief. I understand your business structure is that you get paid by the agency and the client on confirmation of contract to work with each other. It was Steve that approached me and I went out of my way to have a meeting that same day as the potential client was down in London from Scotland that afternoon - shuffled appointments and made plans to meet. The meeting went well although very last minute. The plan was then to wait to hear from yourselves...and wait. I chased up Steve regarding the meeting with X client several times after the meeting and also several phone calls to no avail. Unfortunately when I eventually heard back from Steve we were not chosen for the brief, which is not a problem. But the feedback was minimal just like your article states - this was a business opportunity which was missed by no contact and minimal communication. Again, please do not take this the wrong way, I am using it purely as an example as i believe you have an excellent business and would happily work with you again and we all have our occasional slip ups.

So last point...it may not be a case of not wanting to speak to someone but the eventualities which arise from deterring people to speak to/follow up. It takes a lot of time and for a business development person barking up the wrong tree is loosing them money. So if it is important make the contact regardless phone call or an email via the receptionist, if it is worthy you will be contacted back but time is money your cannot dedicate all your time if there is no contact it's sometimes better to move on...sorry almost a blog post in itself! Hope it is insightful and helps.

If you need to get hold of me feel free to do so via our website - all the contact info you may need (including a map - very useful for when a client/prospecitve client visits!) http://www.martechsocial.com/contact

As an agency representing some of Scotland's car retailers, missed enquiry opportunities are a gross wastage of the hard-fought budget which has been meticulously planned and implemented to generate the enquiry in the first place. Luckily our clients are proactive retailers who we're working with to ensure that the customer journey from enquiry through to sale and life-cycle ownership is enjoyable, and that ultimately no opportunity to retain the customer or attract a referral is missed.

In our own business the phone is answered promptly and professionally as far as humanly possible and the full team has been briefed on the importance of client calls. It does however never cease to amaze me, the ability of creatives to 'zone out' from a ringing phone when all of the client services team are already on a call! That's work in progress!

What! You mean didn't try to secure help @twitter? You ignored the like button on FB! Surely you IM'd new business via the bebo #.com iPhone app based QR bar code pulse monitor.

But hold on there, were you wanting the Digital team? Experiential? integrated? DM creative PR copy Ad social engagement team?

What is really interesting is the need of Agencies to rebrand what marketing is all about. Emotional Engagement. Precisely what your experience shows has been lost.

Bet you a contract that they are all crap dates...

Every good business development knows that leveraging your network, making your initial contact personal/relevant/interesting and following opportunities up is the key. No impersonal, rambling cold calling, no hard sell, and do things better and more professionally than your competitors. Treat people/customers how you would like to be treat yourself.

Every good business development person in the agency world knows that leveraging your network, making your initial contact personal/relevant/interesting and following opportunities up is the key. No impersonal, rambling cold calling, no hard sell, and do things better and more professionally than your competitors. Treat people/customers how you would like to be treat yourself.

We have an open door policy at Skandesign, except when the wind blows from the south it gets too cold in the studio!! I can never understand businesses that don't publish the correct contact information, don't return calls, have stupid gate-keepers or sales prevention officers, etc. If you can afford to turn away business in this manner you probably shouldn't be in business in the first place. Rant over!! T

direct contact email: Gary@realisedesign.co.uk direct phone contact 01225 58900

Realise Product Design & Innovation

Simples!!

Ouch! If only the person who told that receptionist they're far too busy to take sales calls would've said, "Unless they're trying to hand us a £1m account on a plate… then put 'em straight through. If I'm away from my desk, find me. If I'm out of the office, find me. If I'm on holiday, call me!"

Its not the things we sell rather understanding why we present them at the right moment that counts, from the first discussion to the hand shake. Its all relevant and a way to build trust. Creating a niche in the market is not possible unless you can see the gap in the discussion or opportunity. Agencies have become commodities and can be replaced, trusted partners however are a part of the team and thats much harder to dissolve especially if you are inspiring at the first, second and third point of contact.

No agency is better than the other, its about the people and what they bring to the table at a certain time of opportunity that fits the need. Selling a car or a lifestyle its all the same, attention to detail and understanding the persons person and commercial needs is what counts and always will.

Haroon Khwaja Radical Company

I agree. it only takes minutes to speak to someone or read their email to know if the opportunity is right for you, and them. Certainly there are times when things get a bit bottle necked, however that can only be a good complaint. As mentioned by another person on this chain, New Business is everyone's responsibility once the opportunity has been realised you should have the support network in place to carry it through.

Great article and a good wake-up call for many agencies I'm sure (I too have had the car dealership experience). Often the receptionist is the last to know anything, the last person to be trained on anything and yet they're the key to an amazing customer experience – investment in them will pay off. As for not giving contact details on websites, what's that all about?

As a small agency new business is vital and we always welcome inbound enquiries. Our phone is mostly picked up by a senior member of the team so that way we can deal with both sales calls and genuine enquiries head on. If any of the BIG agencies are too busy to take on new business then we're happy to help out!

In support of agencies, though, I will say that we also have a hard time when contacing new or potential clients. The cold shoulder treatment obviously works both ways... these corporate 'gatekeepers' could be knocking back the best idea ever presented to them by an agency. Richard: Breeze Experiential Marketing Ltd

So much of this is bad training. Many receptionist are trained to be gatekeepers by default. This is wrong they are the first and last person in the customer experience chain and as such should be trained to think on their feet and constantly adapt to any given situation.

I also can't believe an agency missed a £1M opportunity! stunning truly stunning. Even if it was not their core business they should have found a way to make it work

Had a similar experience trying to buy a car recently, so you have my deepest sympathy and empathy. Car dealers get a lot of flack in this respect, but my experience of the agency world would sugest many agencies are losing potential clients at all stages of the sales/new business process as well. The answer?

Sounds all too familiar. Our agency needed a considerable amount of signage implementing. I arranged a meeting at the agency with a local signage company. They failed to turn up. I called them asking why they hadn't turned up. Their reply was "You're only 5 minutes up the road, why can't your girl get out of her chair and come to us...?" Priceless.

I am in agreement with the very first comment! I can categorically say you would not have experienced any of the barriers outlined if you called or emailed here at DirectionGroup. Customer service is ingrained through all departments and is critical to our success. And any new business opportunity is treated with the highest respect!

Agree with all your comments and having worked with many of the largest companies in the UK, it is all about customer service in all its various guises. One note however, my company joined RAR a couple of years back and we were not referred once. Maybe because we didn't pay the higher fees to get noticed, but considering who we have worked with since, just goes to show that you can get in front of these people with your own charm and detective qualities.