The Mirren Blog
Our Mirren Search Consultant Review closes fairly shortly now. We've had a good response from the industry, with some interesting insight into what's working and what can improve in terms of how search consultants and agencies work through the competitive review process.
Here are some responses to the question:
What are one or two of the single biggest trends you see taking place with Search Consultants and their impact on new business?
"Growing number of digitial AOR reviews." "They are setting less boundaries around what a client can request for spec thinking/work." "Higher number of specialized searches--PR only; media only, etc. vs. AOR searches." "More (search consultant) services offered (to agencies) for a fee - revenue sources for consultants." "While there are still a lot of searches conducted by consultants, I see that more and more are... More ›
Each fall Mirren conducts a review of Search Consultants, as evaluated by you, the agency. The objective is to spark dialog and provide feedback that will ultimately lead to improving best practices.
You can participate in the review here: The Mirren Search Consultant Review.
Based on speaking with agency CEOs and new business directors over the last few years, our own experience as new business directors, and extended deliberation within the Mirren team, this is what we've... More ›
So you've decided that it's worth the investment of resources (it always takes more than you think) to market to the Search Consultants.
Well, we're happy to get you started with our Mirren U.S. Search Consultant Directory. In producing this relatively straight forward (but definitely time consuming) listing, we would like to thank the Search Consultants and our clients... who referenced a few that were not yet on our radar.
Please do let us know if we've missed any,... More ›
1) The business problem solved
2) The insight
3) The results
Let's now focus in on getting access to the kind of client results that will be meaningful to prospects.
Clients often don't provide access, because they see no benefit in providing you with this data.
From the perspective of clients, why... More ›
1) The business problem solved (is not relevant).
2) The insight.
3) The results.
In this third posting, we'll focus in on making sure you provide the kind of results that are meaningful to prospects.
First, address the subject matter of your results.
What is your point of view on what... More ›
From the perspective of clients, there are three issues with most case studies. To recap:
1) The problem solved is not relevant to the prospect.
2) The insight is predictable and fails to position the agency's strategic muscle.
3) The results are not meaningful.
In this second posting, we'll focus in on Insights that are Relevant and Unexpected.
Let's step back for a second. Why are Consumer Insights so critical?
We all understand that purchase... More ›
Case studies... always good dinner conversation.
Quite a number of good questions about case studies have come up over the past couple of years. The issue has become critical enough that we are now addressing it with brand new content in our September Workshops. Over the course of several postings, we'll also address it here.Over the last few years, we've personally seen several hundred case studies from large global and smaller boutique agencies. And well, please... More ›
Everyone loves to talk about themselves. And agency pitch teams are no exception.
We've seen many debates ignite amongst pitch teams as they battle the addiction of adding more content to pitch presentations. The collective energy of the team reflects a flawed approach to persuasion: "The more we cover, the better we increase our odds of hitting on something that will land with the prospect. The more we can say, the more we're selling."
However, the opposite... More ›
As requested by many of you who attended the conference in 2009, below are several of the handouts (often a condensed version of what was actually presented). Simply click on the link to download each PDF.
What Clients Want: Mary Ann Packo, Millward Brown
Where the Spending Is: Krista Faron, Mintel International
Keynote: 25 Things About Pitching To Win: Jason Whiting, AKQA
Breaking Into New Categories: Brent Hodgins, Mirren
The Importance of... More ›
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