Heart over Hustle
During my time chasing the silver bullet (that game changing, transformational new business strategy), for 19 of our 20 years one component has remained consistent – identifying proven sales talent to lead the new business charge.
That rare species of sales professional who’s proven to open doors, close deals, guided by impressive sales acronyms and clandestine persuasion tactics.
The counter intuitive pivot
Over the past year, we made a deliberately unconventional decision about our new business approach and already we think it’ll be one of the most transformative steps we’ve taken.
Instead of hiring a traditional sales-driven New Business Director, we promoted someone who had spent ten years inside Sense but had zeroformal sales experience.
On paper, it looked counterintuitive. In practice, it’s paving the way for a very different approach to business development.
Our new Business Development Director had worked in both our UK and US offices, giving her an unusually rich and intimate understanding of our work, our culture, and the nuances of what we do best. She’d been the Account Director on some of our flagship clients so had spent years with the sleeves rolled firmly up, walking the walk. That history has brought something no traditional salesperson could manufacture – authentic passion, backed by detailed understanding of our craft.
Has it worked?
This shift has given us the confidence to rethink new business from the inside out. If authenticity was our differentiator, why limit it to one person? We began to make a concerted effort to bring others in the agency into the business development ‘engine’ – from creatives shaping thought leadership, to account teams feeding into our outbound thinking.
Not only did this broaden our perspective, it strengthened the sense of collective ownership behind everything we put into the market.
The impact on who we’re attracting
Perhaps the most important outcome, though, was what this approach taught us about our audience. Moving away from a traditional sales mindset made it clear that we thrive with clients who value talent, insight, creativity and personality over transactional deliverables. As we leaned into authenticity, we naturally found ourselves attracting brands, and individuals, who were also searching for genuine partnership rather than commodity services. In other words, this shift helped us migrate toward the right kind of prospects, the ones looking for collaboration, curiosity, and shared ambition.
Now let me not be disingenuous, 12 months on our world hasn’t changed unrecognisably – there is no silver bullet. But, our pipeline is 100% stronger, our conversations with prospects are richer, and there’s a new sense of energy, optimism and ambition across the agency.