It’s an age old problem similar to the chicken and the egg. Which comes first, new business prospecting or existing client work? A lot of agencies make the choice of existing client work and then a quarter or two into the year they realize they have no new business plan. Worse, they have the hard realization they don’t have a pipeline either. The fact remains, however, their budget calls for a 20% growth in agency new business.

As experts in the agency space, the Catapult New Business team hears from agency decision-makers all the time about how they don’t have a new business plan. Many big, small and boutique agencies don’t even have an assigned new business person. New business is often shouldered by a very loosely structured committee or the execution lies in the hands of an already busy principal.

For the small slice of agencies that do have a plan, they know a proactive new business plan is key to scaling a 20% growth goal. However, the challenge that often arises in managing the elements that round out the program’s sectors include things like qualified data and relevant case studies. Sure, agencies leverage case studies in pitches, but few think of them as something to leverage to start a conversation. This is where having a new business consultant can really pay off. Agency consultant’s tap into their experience, agency and vertical brand knowledge and networked resources to craft a strategy specific to the agency itself.

As budgeting and planning begin for 2015, agency decision-makers who take the time to evaluate their existing plan with their team will have a far higher likelihood of defining the right opportunity, presenting a proposal and winning a new client.