Design Agency Wisdom - How to Fail a Client Pitch in Three Minutes!

August 7th, 2008 � No Comments

I got a call from a web design agency yesterday. The lady on the other end was cold calling the company I am consulting to, and somehow got through to me.

Here is a summary of the interaction:

‘I’m calling from agency X’, she said, ‘and I was wondering if you were planning any web design projects in the near future?’

Now you see, I am this cold caller’s dream target: I am actually looking into a design project for my client, and I was willing to hear her out.

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘you actually called at an opportune moment. I’m looking for agencies to pre-qualify for a tender, do you guys design as well as code?’

‘Erm, yes, we do both,’ she said. She mutters some client names that I don’t recognise and can’t remember.

‘Great! How big is your agency, how many people work for it?’

‘I don’t know exactly, in the 20’s,’ she said.

‘OK, and what’s the split between technical and non-technical at your agency?’

‘erm, I don’t know, I only started two weeks ago. I’m just… I can arrange a call for you with someone to discuss the detail…’

At this point I stop asking questions, she’s obviously wasting my time. Why would I want to arrange another call with someone from a company I know nothing about, who has just cold called me with no further information?

‘I can send you some info,’ she offers, ‘what’s your email address?’

So I give her my email address, but on reflection she didn’t verify it with me, and she obviously didn’t catch it. I never got that email.

And here’s the thing: I understand that the agency put an intern or rookie on cold-calling duty and that’s entirely not her fault, but if you are out to catch a client - make sure the person on first-contact duty is prepared for the call that will actually get you what you want. If she could have answered my questions knowledgably, and talked me through some good portfolio examples, I would at least have considered her agency.

Now, but for this entry, I would have forgotten their name.

Update: Five days later I did get an email with more details. Five days?

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