Only 35.3% of Agencies Have a BD Strategy and Team in Place. The Rest Rely Heavily on Founders

Marija Kata Vlašić

November 29, 2023

In the agency world, lead generation is a type of art.

Economic crises have been rolling in and out like tidal waves. AI-generated content has brought in a lingering obsession with harnessing its full potential. Still, an agency’s ability to reliably and predictably generate new business is crucial.

Often, agencies don’t have a robust enough system, team or organization behind their business development processes.

From January to June 2023, 796 agencies filled out our questionnaire on business valuations. Although the findings will be fully published in September 2023 (watch this space), we bring you a peek into the global state of agency bizdev maturity.

Namely, when these agencies were asked to rate the level of sophistication at which their business development strategy stands, our team found that:

35.3% have a BD strategy and team in place, but still heavily rely on founder(s)
26.5% have no real BD process, their founder(s) mostly acquire(s) clients
Only 21.1% of respondents have a dedicated BD team that owns sales, where founder(s) act as support to BD
Only 17.1% of agencies have a BD team that acquires new business and have active outbound and inbound strategies in place

But what was found in common with the top 5% of agencies with the highest valuations and annual revenue above $1 million USD?

Most of them have both outbound and inbound strategies in place (33.3%) or established BD team owning sales with founders support (33.3%).
All of the top performers were also fast-growing agencies – at the rate of 30% or more per year.

This past June, Blair Enns, founder of Win Without Pitching held a webinar on unclogging stuck pipelines. One key point he mentioned was that for agencies to move stale deals forward, it’s important to understand why the deals got stuck in the first place.

Karl Sakas, who has personally advised hundreds of agency leaders across the globe, recently talked about cultivating a robust pipeline in a challenging economic climate in this Agency “Office Hours” Q&A. He highlights the significant shift in sales cycles, including agencies seeing delays grow from 4-6 weeks to 4-6 months. To combat this issue, Sakas notes that larger agencies are dedicating people and budget to self-marketing, including doing paid ads. He advises agencies to use a higher-value lead magnet to connect with potential clients, and to consider a “Paid Discovery” offer to convert leery buyers.

So what are some bizdev methods that have proven reliable?

There’s a general sentiment and track record that, despite virtual everything, building relationships in person still reigns supreme in getting referrals that can or will bring in new clients.
The majority of us will also agree that newsletters are basic marketing hygiene. But what are those newsletters without strong thought leaders or memorable case studies?
Overall: diversifying methods is critical. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Then there are the myths…

You must relentlessly test new channels of acquisition to uncover the next big thing. But how much of your agency’s time should be dedicated to research and testing?
You can get more qualified leads via repositioning, you’ll surely become top of mind – somewhere. Could this potentially do your agency more harm than good, though?
Zoom in on specific verticals and dig for contacts. But is this method sustainable? What amount of effort should be put into digging until you hit gold?

Acquiring new business is difficult, but it is the lifeblood of agencies. Research shows that agencies still struggle with putting their sales teams together, working systematically, and becoming less dependent on their founders. But those who succeed – thrive better, grow faster, and end up getting higher valuations.