Tangerine has had huge success with organic growth, but as we scaled past 110 people and £8m+ in revenue, we wanted to take a new approach to new business to sustain our future ambitions. The creation of the Head of Growth role was a crucial first step in rebuilding the function from the ground up. And we’ve learned fast and adapted even faster.

The biggest learning, which came pretty quickly, was not to say yes to everything. There is real power in recognising that you are not the right fit for every potential lead that comes your way, and that’s ok.

It felt uncomfortable at first to say no, but pursuing relevant opportunities that aligned with our values, our purpose and with brands with a shared ambition to do great, effective work, was the right move.

In order to make this change we have had to be brave and set clear boundaries and criteria to help us determine what a ‘good fit’ looks like with three key factors:

1. Can we do a great job.Our strength lies in creative effectiveness, so our ideal client partner is one where we’re able to work together to deliver and demonstrate tangible business impact.
2. Human relationships. Recognising the importance of human connection and the part relationships play in the process was crucial. If a prospective client doesn’t have time to meet face to face and just wants a deck sharing over email… that is red flag. Success is built on relationships and collaboration, and that needs to be present from day one, on both sides.
3. Will we enjoy it? Maintaining and attracting the best talent is crucial to our success, so doing work that our people enjoy and that gives them the best opportunities to develop their skills and progress their careers is essential.

There have been three main outcomes from this new approach:

1. This shift has paid off. We’re no longer jumping from pitch to pitch. We’re pitching less and winning more meaningful work that we’re really proud of.
2. We’re seeing more clients opting to avoid a lengthy pitch process and instead putting relationships to the test with a project, and we’re here for that. Try before you buy. We’d much rather prove our worth and deliver outcomes vs. a pitch document with great ideas that never see the light of day.
3. Alongside our clients, we’re working together to champion our industry, our craft, investing in measurement studies and new frameworks that prove the business value of PR and Social to elevate its importance within wider comms mix.

If what you’re doing isn’t working, don’t stick with it just because it’s familiar. Be brave. Change is uncomfortable at first, but absolutely worth it. Test and learn, but learn quickly. You won’t have all the answers on day one and that’s ok.