Agency Newsletters

Flash Report - May 26, 2004

This BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT information is for agencyfinder.com Certified Agencies, Agency New Business Executives and agency subscribers. We communicate with registered member-agencies using e-mail.

CONTENTS:

1. Agencyfinder Survey Indicates Credibility
    a Driving Issue
2. New Business E-Mail Secrets of the 
    Rich & Famous
3. Agencies Decry New Business Investments
4. PSST!!!  Website substantially revised

AGENCYFINDER SURVEY INDICATES CREDIBILITY A DRIVING ISSUE

Richmond, VA - In a poll of over 4,000 marketing directors and business decision makers, Agencyfinder.com, the largest marketing services search engine of its kind in the world, has found that although advertising and PR agencies may say the right thing, clients are still concerned about the firms' credibility and truthfulness in the claims that are made.

"Issues of honesty and credibility ranked the highest in our survey," said Charles G. Meyst, Agencyfinder's Chairman and CEO. "Clients like what they're hearing, but they want reassurance that the information is current and accurate. Remarkably enough, the agency's size in terms of either billings or number of employees, ranked near the bottom of the list in importance."

Findings from the survey will be used to enhance the Agencyfinder service to allow marketing directors and business decision makers to conduct a fair and impartial evaluation of the more than 2,500 headquartered agencies participating in the service's database.

What can agencies do to enhance their perceived credibility by prospective clients? Agency-finder's Meyst suggests including third party references in introductory material so prospects can make screening calls in advance. "But if you're going to do that," he adds, "avoid setting up a bunch of client-side shills who will only say the good things about your agency. Everyone has warts and if a prospect calls your references and feels they're not getting the full story, that could actually be worse than not providing any references in the first place."