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Clarity

Jody Sutter

New York, NY

I’m a business development coach who specializes in working with leadership at small ad agencies. I have more than 25 years’ experience working with many different types of creative services firms -- branding and design, content production, traditional and digital advertising, media, and technology services. My experience has given me a wealth of knowledge, both on what makes different creative firms unique as well as the common challenges they all face when it comes to winning the right new business. I started The Sutter Company (www.thesuttercompany.com) to help small agency CEOs identify and activate their natural talents for sales and marketing through programs that are easy to embrace and take both the agency's strengths and available resources into consideration.

$8.33/min

2 Calls

10 Reviews

40 minutes
Avg. call

Business Development Digital Marketing Advertising Marketing Strategy Online Advertising New Business Development Brand development Business Coaching Integrated Marketing Sales Prospecting

Call me to talk about

New Business Toolkit

From CRM to marketing automation, I can help you determine what tools are best suited for your ad agency.

Control Your Own Destiny: How to Proactively Pursue Prospects

Too often, ad agencies fall victim to reactively pitching the wrong clients instead of proactively pursuing the prospects they're best suited to work with. I can help you with the supportive structure and basic techniques to launch and maintain a successful prospecting program that includes:

> Target prospect identification
> Contact management strategy
> Cold contact strategies for solution selling
> Social media strategies

Persuasive Writing for New Business

Ad agencies are really good at communicating their client’s value in the marketplace, but when it comes to communicating their own, they too easily fall back on jargon, generalizations and wordiness. That’s because strong business writing skills are often overlooked in the blocking and tackling of daily job responsibilities. But when that game-changing RFP comes through the door, those persuasive writing skills can be what makes the difference between getting to the next round of the pitch and being discarded with all the other rejects.

We'll give you the tools you need to break your team of old habits and get them feeling more comfortable with expressing concise thoughts and ideas in their own voice.

• Reducing the reliance on jargon
• Incorporating a simple process to eliminate “blank canvas” anxiety
• Editorial methods for improving clarity and persuasiveness

Are You Ready to Start Pitching?

Maybe you've got big goals to grow your ad agency, or maybe you're simply staring into the abyss of an empty pipeline. Either way, you've got to get prospecting for new clients NOW. But wait just a moment - are you really equipped to sustain a successful sales effort?

I've designed proprietary diagnostic tools specifically for ad agencies and marketing firms that help them approach prospecting strategically by defining a value proposition, identifying the best prospects, and mapping out a communication strategy to reach those prospects.

Perfect Pitch: Executive Coaching and Consultation to Improve Your Presentations

When you are getting ready to pitch that game-changing client and you want your presentation to be perfect, it always helps to get a fresh perspective from a knowledgeable expert.

I work with ad agencies to hone their presentation skills, helping them articulate exactly what it is that the clients want to hear most. I also provide guidance on overall presentation strategy and content flow, collaborating with you to get your slides pitch perfect.

Answers 2
Reviews 10

Answers

Jody Sutter answered

How should I price my logo design service?

As a business development expert that works with ad agencies and design firms. What I teach my clients is to communicate the longer term value of their services.

Good design firms charge a premium for a logo design -- much more than the sum of an hourly rate multiplied by time. There are two good reasons for that:

1. A logo is the cornerstone of a brand's identity and therefore a prized asset. If it's designed well, it will endure and continue to add value to the company it belongs to for decades. This potential long term value has to be taken into consideration.

2. A logo is not a solo act. It's part of a much bigger brand ecosystem. The value extends beyond the mark to all the other elements that should accompany it -- colors, fonts, placement, behaviors, etc.

Of course, this all needs to be considered in the context of your business. E.g., how much value you bring to the client in terms of your experience.

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Pricing

Logos

Business Strategy

Jody Sutter answered

Best lead tracking website? Not too complicated and not too expensive? Not looking for advanced CRM.

I agree with David. Get yourself set up with a web-based CRM system. Salesforce used to be the only game in town but now there are lots of new competitors springing up. Here's a great article on three good choices, none of them costing more than $1200/year and some even less: http://fitsmallbusiness.com/best-crm-for-small-business/

Keep in mind that even though you feel like you don't need a "sophisticated system" now, if you may find you outgrow anything that doesn't have the ability to scale and it's going to be a bigger hassle to switch again in the future.

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Sales Prospecting

Target Marketing

Lead Generation

Reviews

Jody is a consummate professional -- smart, savvy and sincere. She knows how to get things done, and always, always keeps her eye on the ball.

Amanda Neville Source: LinkedIn

One of the best things about working with Jody is that she jumps right in. It was like she'd always been a part of the team and everyone absolutely loved working with her. I worked with her on a few very large global pitches where she provided a pair of expert hands that were badly needed. I could trust her with any assignment, large or small -- from working with the executive team to fine-tuning RFP documents. Jody is not just an amazing operational leader, she is also a invaluable strategist. She can easily navigate the challenges of managing and running a pitch with the need to lead the ideation process!

private private Source: LinkedIn

We started working with Jody because we needed a boost on an important pitch during a busy time (by the way, we won the business). Since then, she's been a valuable resource to me on strategic planning, prospecting and agency positioning. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her to any agency looking to reinforce their business development activities.

Rob Farinella Source: LinkedIn

Jody brought a sense of discipline and structure to our new business activities at VIA that helped us operate at a higher level. She not only kept us focused on the prospects we were most suited to pursue, she developed and followed through with strategic plans for each one. For a smaller agency like VIA, this was very valuable."

Julia Brady Source: LinkedIn

Jody is smart, decisive, and a great manager of people. She was there at the very beginning and one of a handful of key decision makers who catapulted R/GA into digital prominence.

John Mayo-Smith Source: LinkedIn

Jody was responsible for helping us secure our first significant client under some very challenging circumstances. She not only managed the client and their agency beautifully, but she provided guidance in unexpected and valuable ways (our positioning, marketing materials - even our client contracts). She gets in there, rolls up her sleeves and gets the work done.

Cecilia Gomez Source: LinkedIn

Jody really knows how to make an agency shine in a pitch. She was instrumental in directing the successful 2007 MPG pitch for the Sears and Kmart media assignment for mass & digital. At each stage of the review, Jody managed the process with agility and skill and made her team look great. She'd be an asset to any agency.

private private Source: LinkedIn

Jody has always been the consumate new business executive - button-up, responsive, professional and an asset to her organizations - and a pleasure too.

Joanne Davis Source: LinkedIn

You can't go wrong with Jody on your team. Hire her. Promote her. Praise her. She's super bright... creative... energetic... inspiring. What more can you ask for.

Lisa Spielman Source: LinkedIn

I consider myself fortunate to have had Jody as my supervisor for the past 2 1/2 years. It has been such a pleasure to work with her - she's smart, fair, thoughtful, creative, incredibly buttoned-up, and importantly, is just a lot of fun to work with (a necessary quality for all those late nights!). In addition, Jody is a brilliant writer who has a knack for taking complex and confusing copy and crafting it into a thing of beauty. She is also a pro at herding the agency cats... in a mindful and effective manner.
Best of all, Jody's been a true mentor to me. Any company would be lucky to have her.

Barbara (Scarpa) Pinkham Source: LinkedIn

Member since January 2015