Build Your Agency’s Pipeline with an Outbound Approach

As 2024 comes to a close, signs point to improvements in the agency world. Inflation is coming down, and interest rates have been cut. But there’s still a feeling that a lot of pipelines are a little too slow for comfort.

The question on everyone’s mind is, ““What can we do to build up our pipeline?” 

That’s why we sat down to talk with Adam Kurzawa, Director of Business Development at Infinum: On the front lines of the digital design space, Adam has tried and tested advice for sales teams in creative agencies as they prepare for a strong 2025.

“The place where I continue to see agencies struggle is getting out of their comfort zone and taking an outbound approach on the sales front,” Adam says. But first, a caveat: “If you've already got a good cadence with your marketing practice, whether it's writing blog posts, going on podcasts or doing events, keep doing all that.”

With agency's facing slower pipelines, it’s important to jump into outbound work now, if you haven’t already. “You’re likely looking at business opportunities two quarters in the future,” Adam notes, “which means you need to do the work now and get at the forefront of their decision-making process.”

Here’s how he recommends getting started. 

Start from Existing Connections

Based on what he’s seeing at Infinum and hearing from other agencies (founders, heads of biz dev, etc.) is that work is not coming from net new clients or net new projects from those clients. It's coming from upsells to existing clients or extensions of existing projects. 

“The first thing I would do is double down on over-delivering to those existing clients and being in their face,” Adam says, “If you're not in their market or in their city, go see them in Q4, in person, and figure out what they've got going on for the new year.”

From there, he adds, “figure out if there's anyone else in the org that you can expand into, like a different line of business. Go visit someone and say, ‘Hey, we're in X department, but we're not doing anything with these four other places. Is there somebody you think I should be talking to?’”

Then try to nurture that opportunity. “These clients are also going to be great sources of referrals,” Adam says. “Those people know your work. They trust you with the brand. They hire you over and over again.” 

Warm Up Leads with a Personal Touch

No one wants a cold, phish-y email, voicemail or call – so Adam’s outbound approach centers on the referral.

When you’re starting with a new company, Adam recommends looking on their website for two key things: titles (head of product, head of design, technology lead, CTO, etc.) and internal LinkedIn connections who might have a senior role and could serve as a connector.

“Then I ask myself, ‘What is my best chance of getting that first conversation?”

If he takes the title route, he recommends doing a little homework. “You have to figure out something a bit more personal about them. If they have public social media and they're posting things that are interesting, maybe you find a mutual connection around a hobby – running, music, parenting. Also try to figure out if they are doing the conference circuit: Are they coming to your city? Can you get coffee and meet in person?” 

If he decides to try the referral route, he makes it as easy as possible for the friend who’s going to help him. “I write the note. I explain what I want to get out of the meeting with their connection. How do I think I can add value? Why should he waste his time talking to me for ten minutes?” 

Expand Your Referral Network

Not all referrals are from close contacts. You can work with different degrees of connection. 

“Start with people that have given you money before,” Adam suggests. “That could be a client that hired you three years ago that you're no longer working with. Maybe they went somewhere else. Talk to your team and learn about their network: where they worked in the past and what alumni they might know who have insights into possible companies to target.” 

Then there are second and third levels of connections: alumni from your college, fellow parents at your kid’s school fundraisers. This doesn’t mean laying it on thick. Sometimes it’s just a question of talking to people, building relationships, and learning what they’re doing. “Odds are they're going to need something that you're working on,” Adam says. “If nothing else, you're building those relationships and maybe that person will make a referral.” 

“It's really hard when you're in sales not to force it,” Adam admits. “We all have numbers we have to hit. But it doesn't have to be icky. There’s that Glengarry Glen Ross quote, ‘always be closing.’ I say, ‘Always be useful.’  If you can help somebody, you do it and you do it because it's the right thing. You don't do it because you think you're going to get something out of it. Sales is good karma. Do enough good stuff and like it's going to find its way back to you in your organization.”

Lead with the Connection (and Skip the Cold Calls)

When you’re connecting with someone new, think about it like a standup comedian: You’ve got just seconds to connect with your audience, otherwise, you might as well walk off the stage. Get your intro down pat. Start with your connection, whether it’s a shared colleague or common interest; let them know who you are, what you want to discuss and plans for follow-up.

For example, “I’m reaching out because I saw X, Y and Z. I'm going to be at this conference next week. Hope you're going to be there. We'd love to get coffee. I'm going to follow up with an email. Here's my number. If you want to ring me back, I'll shoot you an email after. Hope to see you there.”

If you find a mutual connection to that person, drop that name right away. People are often uncomfortable asking for referrals. “But,” Adam advises, “You're basically vetted by osmosis at that point. They know and trust who's referring you. That elevates the conversation to a point where you don’t have to prove you’re worth their time. They’re thinking, ‘Oh, I’ll take that call.’ Then the conversation can be on a business level. It can be supremely focused.”

"The sooner you can get a lead from ice cold to somewhere in the middle,” he says, “you're in much better shape.”

Most salespeople hate cold calls, which makes sense to Adam: “Never, ever cold call anybody. It's brutal. You become afraid of the phone pretty quickly. It probably comes through in your calls. You get robotic and when you get robotic, people pick up on it. Especially now in the world of AI, if you sound like a robot, you’re just getting hung up on.” 

When it comes to the bottom line on sales, Adam and I see eye-to-eye: “It's really about nurturing relationships and manufacturing opportunities like that is your job all day, every day. I don't care how you do it, but that's what you have to be delivering for your agency.” 

To learn more about how we make our agency clients more profitable and support them in reaching business goals, check out our virtual CFO services.