How to get the attention of a company that’s working with another agency

The other day, I was telling you that the ideal situation to contact a potential customer was when they are actively looking for an agency like yours.  This is the ideal situation because this company is ready to hire and pay for an agency like yours.The problem is that it is very difficult to spot these customers.

Until you get to a point where customers call you, you will need to go out and look for customers.  When you do this, you may find customers who have hired another agency to provide the service you want to offer.

These customers have the advantage in that they know very well the benefits of the service you offer, but you have the disadvantage that, in order to hire your agency, they need to substitute their current agency with yours and this is not easy.  They may have a personal relationship with the other agency and have had a great experience for many years.  They could have a signed contract.

Another possibility is that the company is using its own personnel for the service you want to provide, which would make this change even more difficult.

In this case, in order to get their attention, you could convince the customer that your agency offers something that his present agency is not offering.  For example:

• It is cheaper.  Price is an important differentiator, but it is also a dangerous one.  If you offer the same services another agency offers,but at a fraction of the cost, many companies will listen to you.  But, bear in mind, that if another agency offers a cheaper price in the future, they will probably change from your agency to the new one.  When price is your main argument, you will start to attract companies that are not the most adequate because they will only value price.
• Your agency brings more value and gets better results.  If you are a specialist and have strong experience in a sector or service, and think you can provide better results than what a company is getting now, you can use this as a point of differentiation.  If the customer has hired an agency that is not specialized, you can convince the customer to give you the service where you are an expert, because you are going to get better results.
• Your agency offers something different and unique that the current agency is not offering.

But it is really difficult to get a company to open its door when they already have an agency with which they are happy.  The next time, I will tell you about a service that can serve as the perfect door opener.  Stay tuned.