We've Done Projects for Google & Ericsson... Now What? - Advice Needed

[Greg]

Hi all,

I'm looking for advice on where to start with business development.

I run a small agency that creates real-time 3D CGI experiences (interactive, immersive content, live big data visualisation, etc.) for big brands. Past clients include Ericsson, Arm, Google, The Open Championship, NTT Data and more.

The work is high-end, quite niche, and has been delivered to huge brands so our pricing reflects that. We have a strong portfolio, but here’s the problem: the projects have wrapped, and I’ve realised we’re virtually unknown without my partner, who brought this work in thanks to his contacts.

I am just the nerd doing it and supervising it basically.

Now I’m stuck. I don’t know where to start with finding leads, building visibility, or getting in front of the right people. I practically know nothing about business but have to learn and start doing this myself as well.

Any tips on outreach, partnerships, or places to look would be hugely appreciated. I heard of things like BNI, V4 and so on. Maybe that's all I need to do? Start attending networking places like these?

Thanks!

 

[Paul Carmen]

Not enough information to answer anything for you; you/we need to know:

• Who is your ideal customer; e.g. B2C or B2B, industry, affluence etc?
  Where do potential customers look, what do they look for?
• Is there an online website/portfolio showcasing this work that ranks in Google/Bing for the things people look for?
• Do people search on LinkedIn, if so are you presenting well there?
• Do you need to run PPC search ads on various platforms to showcase your work?
• Is it about trade shows; e.g. getting your name known in the industry?
• Is it something else; if so what; e.g. outbound marketing or having a sales rep?

These are the sort of questions you need to answer; your marketing and lead gen plan then follows on from this.

If you can't carry out the analysis and research yourself, then engage an individual or agency that can do this research, plus then generate and deliver a marketing plan to get you leads and business.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

I am just the nerd doing it and supervising it

So, without you, he doesn't have a business. You need each other - never short sell yourself.

Why isn't your partner finding the clients? If you find the clients and manage the work, will you be rewarded better?

Anyway, have you talked to your old clients?

Once you define who your ideal customer is, find them and market to them. It is unlikely (not impossible) that they do not go to BNI, 4N etc, unless you can do something for them on their budgets.

BTW, remember to sell results, not solutions.

 

[Greg]

Not enough information to answer anything for you; you/we need to know:

• Who is your ideal customer; e.g. B2C or B2B, industry, affluence etc?
  Where do potential customers look, what do they look for?
• Is there an online website/portfolio showcasing this work that ranks in Google/Bing for the things people look for?
• Do people search on LinkedIn, if so are you presenting well there?
• Do you need to run PPC search ads on various platforms to showcase your work?
• Is it about trade shows; e.g. getting your name known in the industry?
• Is it something else; if so what; e.g. outbound marketing or having a sales rep?

These are the sort of questions you need to answer; your marketing and lead gen plan then follows on from this.

If you can't carry out the analysis and research yourself, then engage an individual or agency that can do this research, plus then generate and deliver a marketing plan to get you leads and business.

Hi Paul and thank you for helping.

1. We do B2B. Our clients are Brand-side leaders (VPs, Heads of Brand, Innovation, or Experience) at: Tech-forward companies (telecom, AI, Hardware, Enterprise SaaS, etc.), Consumer electronics and luxury tech, Brands with complex or abstract products that need to be "felt" to be understood. We also work for other agencies that need a real-time, interactive supplier with deep technical knowledge.

2. Our potential customers look for proven partners who understand complex messaging, tech, and real-time 3D that can provide unique, memorable brand moments for events, showrooms and trade shows. They want a team that can deliver polished, technically advanced work without the red tape of big studios. Up until now they all came from private connections my partner has

3. Nothing came from linkedin. We didn't even have a company page there. All leads came from my partner.

4. We have a private portfolio website we showcase. But most clients didn't even see that. They were just presented with a deck my partner made for them specifically. We don't run any PPC search ads.

5. Our value shines in live contexts. Product lunches, keynotes, experience zones, sporting events.

6. That's what I'm trying to figure out but my initial idea was to focus on outbound, founder-led sales. I have built a target list of businesses to reach out to.

 

[Ozzy]

3. Nothing came from linkedin. We didn't even have a company page there. All leads came from my partner.

4. We have a private portfolio website we showcase. But most clients didn't even see that. They were just presented with a deck my partner made for them specifically. We don't run any PPC search ads.

Is there a reason that I could be missing from your opening post as to why you don't have your partner train you on what they do, and then you double up on what has already proven to be working between the two of you?

 

[Greg]

So, without you, he doesn't have a business. You need each other - never short sell yourself.

Why isn't your partner finding the clients? If you find the clients and manage the work, will you be rewarded better?

Anyway, have you talked to your old clients?

Once you define who your ideal customer is, find them and market to them. It is unlikely (not impossible) that they do not go to BNI, 4N etc, unless you can do something for them on their budgets.

BTW, remember to sell results, not solutions.

Hey Paul,

Thanks so much for helping out, I really appreciate it.

Yeah, exactly. That’s why we make a good team. Without me, there’s no delivery, and without him, there are no clients. He’s great at bringing people in, which I can’t really do right now, and I handle the actual project work, which isn’t his thing at all.

He does find clients, but sometimes it takes a while. I’m really keen to scale things up quickly, and being able to bring in clients myself would make a huge difference. At the moment, that’s the bit holding us back.

We do stay in touch with our clients regularly. Unfortunately, we just lost a big one, not because of anything we did, they’ve just decided to stop sponsoring a certain event altogether. Still, it made us a bit too reliant on them, which I’m not comfortable with.

The more clients we have, the less influence any single one has, which feels much healthier for the business in my view.

Quick one, when you mentioned BNI and 4N, were you saying our kind of clients do go to those, or not really? Just want to make sure I got that right. Are the people there more small-time, or could they actually be the kind I’m looking for which are relatively big ones?

Thanks again, really means a lot!

 

[Greg]

Is there a reason that I could be missing from your opening post as to why you don't have your partner train you on what they do, and then you double up on what has already proven to be working between the two of you?

Hey Ozzy,

The main reason is that there’s not a whole lot I can take away from his process. We’ve talked about it quite a bit, and it really just comes down to a network he built over the years from working at big companies as a Producer, Google included.

It wasn’t some repeatable strategy or system, just relationships he built naturally through experience and time. Being a producer, he had direct contact with clients.

That’s something I don’t have on my side. So I feel like my approach has to be different, I need to build my own network in a different way, especially since I’m not coming from a big company background where I had direct contact with their clients and management teams.

Hope that clears it up a bit, and thanks again for your help!

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

@Greg From your response #4, you really need to work in plain English - too much techno babble - that could be part of the problem.

When you spoke to your partner about speeding things up, what did they say?

I would suggest that whilst you learn about the selling side, you focus on the delivery. If you lose focus, your projects could suffer.

Get your partner to work harder and/or get another sales person in. YOu can then attend meetings and see how they do it.

Remember - STSNTS! (I am really going to write a book about this!!).

 

[Ozzy]

It wasn’t some repeatable strategy or system, just relationships he built naturally through experience and time. Being a producer, he had direct contact with clients.

Sorry, I'm going to disagree here, everything is repeatable, and I'll use myself as an example.

I've run my business for more than 25 years and am very well known in my industry and Government, but I want to exit my business and I can't do that if everything relies on me.

So, a few years ago, I started having one of my key staff members shadow me. Then she started dealing directly with the clients she had previously shadowed me with. Then she started attending meetings with new contacts without me, and then she started going to industry and Government meetings without me. Now, most people look to her and not me, I'm no longer the most important person in the company.
She is using her connections to win new business, some which used to be mine and those open up new doors for her to new connections, or as often the case these people move to new organisations and take her with them.

It doesn't happen overnight, but starting to work on a strategy like this is repeatable and would work for your similar issues.

 

[Greg]

@Greg From your response #4, you really need to work in plain English - too much techno babble - that could be part of the problem.

When you spoke to your partner about speeding things up, what did they say?

I would suggest that whilst you learn about the selling side, you focus on the delivery. If you lose focus, your projects could suffer.

Get your partner to work harder and/or get another sales person in. YOu can then attend meetings and see how they do it.

Remember - STSNTS! (I am really going to write a book about this!!).

Haha, you're absolutely right. I promise I don’t speak like that with clients. We definitely focus on selling the outcome, no need for tech-speak in those conversations. The technical stuff only comes up when we’re working with agencies, but when it's direct to businesses, I know I’m talking to non-tech people and adjust accordingly.

When I brought it up with my partner, they agreed with me. But honestly, I get the feeling there’s a bit of a power dynamic at play. Their main value in the business is bringing in clients, and if I were to learn how to do that myself, it might feel like I’m stepping on their turf. So I think there's a part of them that wants to keep that control.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

How is the business setup/whats the relationship with the partner?

 

[Ozzy]

So I think there's a part of them that wants to keep that control.

Then this is a problem you need to address.
My personal view is that there cannot be any ego's in a successful business. Again, only speaking for myself, and as the business founder and majority shareholder (I don't own all the business, I have investors) I work where the company needs me. If I need to answer the phones I will, if I need to work under the CTO for a while I am happy to, whatever is in the best interests of the company.

A wise man once said to me business founders only realise the true value of their business when it sells.
That will never happen if one or more of the founders is protective over their role. For me, I want nothing more than my team to not need me any more.

 

[Greg]

Sorry, I'm going to disagree here, everything is repeatable, and I'll use myself as an example.

I've run my business for more than 25 years and am very well known in my industry and Government, but I want to exit my business and I can't do that if everything relies on me.

So, a few years ago, I started having one of my key staff members shadow me. Then she started dealing directly with the clients she had previously shadowed me with. Then she started attending meetings with new contacts without me, and then she started going to industry and Government meetings without me. Now, most people look to her and not me, I'm no longer the most important person in the company.
She is using her connections to win new business, some which used to be mine and those open up new doors for her to new connections, or as often the case these people move to new organisations and take her with them.

It doesn't happen overnight, but starting to work on a strategy like this is repeatable and would work for your similar issues.

I totally agree with you. That being said, I don't think the dynamic is exactly the same. In your situation you were actively seeking giving up control. When a business is in its infancy there is a different power game beneath it. We are partners.

He brings the clients in for project I know how to do. It's much easier for me to learn how to bring clients in compared to what it would be for him to learn to do what I do and he knows it. This creates a dynamic where I believe he wants to maintain that control so that I can't overpower him and get rid of him.

It's a subconscious dynamic but I truly believe it's there and it's very human. I don't believe it's something about my partner in particular. I think it's shared between most people actually. (Not that I would get rid of him anyway).

 

[Ozzy]

I don't believe it's something about my partner in particular. I think it's shared between most people actually.

Again, sorry, I do disagree.

Do you have a documented business plan that lays does include roles and responsibilities, growth plans and exit strategy? If not, spend some time together looking at this.

Taking another approach/angle on this discussion - why are you wanting to get involved in bringing in new clients. Your post above lays out a pretty standard and normal partnership relationship, one works to their strengths bringing in customers and other other focuses on their strength on operations. What isn't working here that is making you ask the questions you are asking?

 

[Greg]

Again, sorry, I do disagree.

Do you have a documented business plan that lays does include roles and responsibilities, growth plans and exit strategy? If not, spend some time together looking at this.

Taking another approach/angle on this discussion - why are you wanting to get involved in bringing in new clients. Your post above lays out a pretty standard and normal partnership relationship, one works to their strengths bringing in customers and other other focuses on their strength on operations. What isn't working here that is making you ask the questions you are asking?

We don't have a formal plan where we have laid that down yet. Quite frankly it all happened so quickly that we didn't need one and the roles/responsabilities have been quite clear between us from the beginning.

I want to be involved because I don't see the downside in doing it. In my mind if we have a period of pause between projects and I could also look into brining more clients it would only help us grow more.

But yes I do agree that as a partnership is a quite standard one and works well precisely because of that. We both have played to our strengths so far. Nothing is not working per-se but more can be done to grow exponentially in my opinion

 

[Greg]

How is the business setup/whats the relationship with the partner?

The business is 50/50 between the two of us when it comes to the shares of the company. That being said, I usually receive more money than him from the projects as I actually deliver them. This, very honestly, was never something I proposed but something he proposed instead.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Shareholder agreement? I assume it is a ltd co?

 

[Greg]

Shareholder agreement? I assume it is a ltd co?

Yes it is

 

[DontAsk]

The business is 50/50 between the two of us when it comes to the shares of the company. That being said, I usually receive more money than him from the projects as I actually deliver them. This, very honestly, was never something I proposed but something he proposed instead.

He seems a pretty straight up sort of guy and worth staying in partnership with.

Have you considered contacting previous clients yourself, directly, if only to maintain space in their corporate heads. Perhaps a regular newsletter of example projects. Talk to your partner first, he may even introduce you.

 

[Greg]

He seems a pretty straight up sort of guy and worth staying in partnership with.

Have you considered contacting previous clients yourself, directly, if only to maintain space in their corporate heads. Perhaps a regular newsletter of example projects. Talk to your partner first, he may even introduce you.

Yes he absolutely is! I totally do not plan on ever ending our partnership at all. I just thought that's maybe that's how he felt in wanting to possibly retain that control.

No I haven't planned on contacting them directly myself because they are his contacts. I don't think that would be fair on my part. That being said you're absolutely right, I should talk to him more and he will totally introduce me.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

just thought that

Don't think/assume - ask! Talk about it.

I haven't planned on contacting them directly myself because they are his contacts

No they are not - they are the business's clients!

 

[ctrlbrk]

Remember - STSNTS! (I am really going to write a book about this!!).

I googled what I think is an acryonym and nothing came up.

What's STSNTS?

Edit: is it Sell the sizzle not the sausage - duh

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

SELL THE SIZZLE NOT THE SAUSAGE!

 

[ctrlbrk]

SELL THE SIZZLE NOT THE SAUSAGE!

Just realised

Ta.

 

[Greg]

So, without you, he doesn't have a business. You need each other - never short sell yourself.

Why isn't your partner finding the clients? If you find the clients and manage the work, will you be rewarded better?

Anyway, have you talked to your old clients?

Once you define who your ideal customer is, find them and market to them. It is unlikely (not impossible) that they do not go to BNI, 4N etc, unless you can do something for them on their budgets.

BTW, remember to sell results, not solutions.

Sorry to go back to this Paul but you have been very helpful so far. In this message did you mean it would be worth it for me to look at groups like BNI, 4N and so on or do you think it's pretty much a waste of time for my specific case?

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

No, you are unlikely to meet your potential clients there as they tend to be smaller businesses (and great ones, too).

I would say go to them to see what they are like and judge for yourself.

You are better looking at events where your targets are likely to be.

 

[Paul Carmen]

Some interesting and useful advice, but I suspect the target audience may not be quite who you've worked with historically. It may be an odd one, in that you've worked with large companies and senior stakeholders, while they may be part of the target customer audience. I suspect you've worked with them because your business partner knows them.

Unless you are going to go down the classic B2B sales route; e.g. have sales reps, attend trade shows, conferences, run outreach etc, in many cases finding product solutions or services will fall to someone more junior in a marketing/brand/product team. They may well search on Google, and then present options at team or board meetings, with more than one option considered.

This probably means that if you're not appearing for what they search for, then you're not even going to be considered. Are there any key major competitors? If so, you can you reverse engineer this, review their Google rankings and marketing strategy to get ideas for your own, and how your current proposition stacks up.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Skimming quickly through, it seems the logical answer is for you each to stick to what you are good at - and communicate!

However, from a marketing perspective, it would be interesting to know how you (plural) first made contact with Google, Ericsson etc? Was it through the front door (presumably metaphorically), or through a specific conduit?

 

[thetiger2015]

Very interesting - have you thought of contacting other agencies, who work with clients of a similar scale but don't offer your services? They've got the contacts, you've got the knowledge.

As others have also mentioned though, talk to your business partner about it. Maybe they're not aware that you want to grow the business quickly, they're just happy with the odd bit of work. I guess they have other business interests too, so they're not 100% invested in this?

 

[fisicx]

@Greg, is your partner still bringing in new leads? Are you earning enough to pay the bills?

What is it you actually want?

 

[Greg]

Very interesting - have you thought of contacting other agencies, who work with clients of a similar scale but don't offer your services? They've got the contacts, you've got the knowledge.

As others have also mentioned though, talk to your business partner about it. Maybe they're not aware that you want to grow the business quickly, they're just happy with the odd bit of work. I guess they have other business interests too, so they're not 100% invested in this?

Hey! Yes we have. Maybe it's like you are saying. I want to grow the business very quickly and aggressively and they have other priorities / wishes for it. It seems like with most human relationships the solution is always the same, communication

 

[Greg]

@Greg, is your partner still bringing in new leads? Are you earning enough to pay the bills?

What is it you actually want?

We had a little bit of time now (a couple months) where no new work has come in. We have potential prospects we are working on at the moment and hopefully they materialize.

I just want to be more aggressive