Reality: professional services are bought, not sold. Clients decide to look for a new MarCom partner for lots of reasons . . . new product . . . sales decline . . . or the ever-popular, “there’s a new marshal in town,” meaning a new CMO or CEO (which, by the way, is the cause of 53% of reviews.)

The one thing all of these have in common is that you, the agency, have absolutely no control over them. You have to wait for the client to act.

In the meanwhile you’re busy trying to meet with prospects. That’s absolutely the right thing to do. Because, in the end, “I like you and trust you” is why agencies are chosen. And that only happens when you've had face-to-face contact.

But, when you do meet with a prospect, never make it a sales pitch, no matter how tempted you are to “ask for the order.” Prospecting should be like medieval courting . . . paced, civilized and graceful. It should never be about aggressively selling yourself. No amount of pushing will make the prospect buy. The true goal of prospecting is not to get the business. jIt’s to develop a relationship so you’ll be considered when the client decides to make a change.

From Robb High’s New Business Boot Camp 2.0.