Whether or not you're pro- or anti-Trump doesn't matter anymore. President-elect Donald Trump will be the 45th President of the United States. And the one thing we can all agree on without debate is the fact that it was one of the most horrific, mud-slinging presidential races of all times which actually divided our nation in half. Facebook was loaded with anti-Trump comments and posts. The media went wild attacking both sides. Stories were unfolding by the minute. What was true or false no one really knew. The one comment that was constant was that the polls were in Hillary Clinton's favor from day one and Trump consistently had the highest un-favorability rating of any major party nominee in history. But come election night the story took an unimaginable turn of events. As the night went into the next day, Hillary's "blue wall" deteriorated into a red sea that swept across the country and the traditional blue states fell like dominoes. The Associated Press called the 2016 election for Trump at 2:30AM EST and the nail-biting election had finally ended in his favor.
The big question in everyone's minds: how the hell did that happen?!
Without a doubt this election will be a case study in the political science books soon but until then, there were three keys to President-elect Donald Trump's victory and they can be applied to the hard-fought world of new business pitching.
I don't care what you call me just spell my name right. Donald Trump got called every name in the book. But you know what? He received tremendous exposure...something to the tune of $3B of free advertising from the media coverage. That coupled with the fact that he has been in the public eye for over 30 years meant he had entered the race with almost 100% name recognition, allowing him to ignore conventional campaign wisdom.
So how does this connect to new business? Name recognition counts. It alleviates the job of trying to introduce yourself while trying to pitch your services all at the same time. About ten years ago, CP+B had a PR department that could knock your socks off. They were printing press releases like it was nobody's business but that was the point. They made their business to be everyone's business. There wasn't an agency search client that AAR Partners worked with that said, "The agency universe list is great but you know what? I'd like to add that agency, Crispin." It didn't matter if the criteria fit the agency's sweet spot, they had name recognition! And it worked. It worked to the point that eventually CP+B didn't pitch for business. Instead they were turning business down and selecting who they wanted to work with in the industry. Lesson to learn: get your name in the press!
Take a position and drive it home. No one will ever be able to crystallize what resonated with Trump voters the most. But immigration and trade seemed to be at the top of the list. Trump focused his whole campaign on the idea that popular hostility to liberal immigration and free trade policies would catapult him to the White House. And it did.
What's the point with regard to new business? Have a point of view, a reason to believe, a mission, a vision...something that you not only stand for but have 110% conviction in when speaking with your prospects. In the book, @AARLisa: New Biz in 140 Characters (or Less), there is a Tweet that simply states: "Agencies without a distinct position will forever be re-branding their agency. Put a stake in the ground!" Lesson to learn: stand for something and sell it hard.
Silent supporters can swing you into success. There really was a silent Trump vote that the polls failed to pick up on. Many Trump voters felt intimidated by Clinton supporters as the months wore on and most decided to keep their voting intentions private throwing off the pollsters. In fact, there was a bumper sticker that stated, "Vote for Trump. No one needs to know." But come Election Day, the silent supporters made their voice heard and helped to swing the election into a Trump triumph.
How does this relate to pitching new prospects? You have many silent supporters that often go untapped to help you gain new accounts. Your current clients! Ask them to act as references and to be your voice when appropriate. They can support you in ways that you otherwise couldn't do on your own. They bring another dimension to convincing new clients to trust you and your team with their most prized possession: their brand. But there's one vital key not to be ignored for this to work well. Treat your current clients like prospects and keep them happy! Lesson to learn: silent advocates can be powerful.
So whether you're crying or celebrating, there are business lessons to be learned from the most unconventional campaign victory in the history of our nation to help increase your chances of new business success. And I will leave you with one final thought that I hope to see start to unfold, especially as we celebrate Thanksgiving as a nation. United we stand and divided we fall. Let's reunite, refocus and work together as a nation no matter who is called the President of the United States. It is only when people pull together as a team that true success can flourish just as it does with client-agency relationships.
Lisa Colantuono is the Co-President of AAR Partners, an agency search consultancy since 1980, helping marketers to find the best communications agencies for their marketing needs and assisting agencies with branding and new business growth. Her book, @AARLisa: New Biz in 140 Characters (or Less), offers more than 1,200 quick business lessons in the form of Tweets.