It is important to keep a good stream of customers and clients. It is very an easy task to get complacent when you have enough clients - but if one of those clients disappeared would your business have the effect? Or worse would it not crumble?? Working with a New Business Agency can assist you win clients and grow your business. T here  is absolutely no denying that home based business / lead generation can be time consuming, hard work and expensive but overall it really is worthwhile and affordable.Many Creative and Marketing Agencies work with New Business Agencies; it is an effective way to really get your work before companies you want to work with. I wrote this short article after to speaking to the Directors of Creative Agencies and other Business Development Managers. This article is for small Creative and Marketing Agencies not used to new business and looking to work with a HOME BASED BUSINESS Agency for the first time.I believe it fair to say in the wonderful world of home based business you do get everything you pay for. You may get a telesales person to call a large number of companies and pay a minor fee, or it is possible to choose an agency that approach new business intelligently. The second will be costly but can you afford not to? get more info  specialise to find you clients to be able to grow your organization. Although agencies work in different ways, the long and lacking it is that, they will phone companies in your stead with the view of setting up a gathering between you and the potential client. Sounds not difficult, but the new business process is more than merely cold calling.Before you jump in at the deep end here are a few factors to note when choosing a fresh Business Agency. All of them are different and can all have diverse ideas concerning the way new business ought to be conducted. Below are a few questions to ask your new business agency before you work with them?Question 1 -Results or Numbers?If a HOME BASED BUSINESS Agency promises to focus on 500 companies weekly and guarantees you five meetings, be aware. This can be a potential time waster for some agencies. If a New Business Manager is pressured to get you before x amount of clients, they will. If the meeting is worthwhile or not, isn't their problem they have to reach their targets.If the individual handling your brand-new business account is a really good sales person with a difficult sales technique they might be in a position to force a potential client to have a meeting with you whether they have work, or you are suitable. They are good sales people, however they may not be producing qualified leads.For example, if you are a design agency who specialises in content managed  website s for small businesses, you do not desire to end up at a meeting to rebrand Kellogs. Yes, this would be a fantastic opportunity, but in competition with top branding agencies do you stand a chance? In the event that you only work for big brands similarly you might not want to arrive to a meeting to discuss a �300 website.A good New Business Manager should be keen and results driven but also able to evaluate a qualified lead. By giving too many targets you're ultimately pushing them into a corner to create meetings. You do not desire to attend any old meeting. A perfect meeting is a potential client who's looking for a company for a particular project or seeking to change their roster of agencies. A good meeting is also a straightforward credentials meeting with one of your wish list companies, who you plan to impress with solid ideas.Rather than a company driven by numbers, consider a company driven by results. Unfortunately, but realistically, new business is not always about getting work now. It really is about developing a pipeline and raising your profile. If your Account Handler includes a good conversation with a choice Maker about a suitable project which is commissioned later that year, this is better than a credentials meeting. After that you can keep in regular contact with the decision maker until that project arises. By the time you have the meeting you will end up talking about a specific project rather than running right through a portfolio.Consider the pipeline around the amount of meetings.Question 2 - How Targeted is their New Business Approach?Are you attempting to reach as much companies as possible to provide your services to? For some businesses this might work but I doubt if this works for most. A FRESH Business Agency which implies a highly targeted approach will more than likely receive better results. For instance a design agency seeking to build up litigant list does not want to target 'any' business with "we do design" it truly is not going to stand out, also it simply becomes a game of chance.A web design agency who mainly works with restaurants producing content managed websites could contact other restaurants with a similar offer. However, you don't need to limit yourself to restaurants, always look to expand your market but do it with careful consideration. In the event that you work with restaurants you could then aim at hotels, pubs, bars and clubs. Of course, it is possible to always expand your market but showing a potential client experience in your field is going to be beneficial. (My next article will go further into this subject).Consider the size of the business - assuming you have only ever caused SMEs build this up gently don't suddenly aim for Coke. Consider the location of businesses, do you have enough time and money to visit from London to Glasgow for a meeting or should you stay local. A good New Business Agency will create a database tailored to your business capabilities. So that you can tailor a database it is advisable to initially work with your brand-new Business Agency, they should be in a position to give advice for you. But you have to know which direction you're heading with your business, and where you sit, and wish to sit available in the market place.Although this might sound as if I am stating the obvious, a few of the home based business managers I spoke to told me stories of how their clients took little interest in the strategy and left to them to get meetings with no direction. These clients then refused to leave London to attend meetings and refused any project under �5000 (although that they had never completed a project because of this much money).Question 3 - Just how do they discover the Decision Maker?When your HOME BASED BUSINESS Agency will send your information to the company, how are they going to find the appropriate person? There is a lot of information available on the internet nowadays on Marketing Directors of companies. Although it would be wonderful to get a meeting with someone so high up in the company how likely is this?The Marketing Director of Nike is not generally likely to interview agencies for a microsite. Usually it would be a waste of time and money attempting to reach them on the phone to set up a meeting. Aim lower. Nike is a huge corporation and it will take patience and careful research to find the person responsible for commissioning microsites also it won't be the Marketing Director.Especially lately an increasing number of new roles are appearing in companies, new media managers, advertising managers, mobile managers, interactive managers, account directors, creative directors - who are you looking to use? Aim for less companies as research can be time consuming, but make sure your representative is talking to the right person. Letters simply addressed to the Marketing Director are hard to follow up with a phone call. Find out how and who your New Business Manager will undoubtedly be trying to contact.Question 4 - Who else is the agency working with?It is great to work with an agency which has skills in selling what you are offering, better still to get a HOME BASED BUSINESS Manager with one of these exact skills. If a HOME BASED BUSINESS Manager is dealing with three Mobile Marketing Agencies can be your account being kept separate? What is your agencies ethics of sharing clients?Your new business account ought to be, if possible, separate to any other companies. You don't want to spending money on someone else's new business. It really is all too easy for a fresh Business Manager to get details of an organization looking to rebrand almost all their marketing collateral... and keep two design agencies happy.Question 5 - Who's your Account Handler?Always ask to meet up the person handling your account. It really is your business, plus they are representing you, be sure you just like the way they run into. Your New Business Manager should not really read from the script and really should be confident and knowledgeable enough to carry an in-depth conversation. If you're a New Media Agency does your New Business Manager know their augmented reality from their rfId barcodes, and what lengths can they carry on with this conversation?And discover common ground with a potential client it really is good to know about their business before having a conversation with them. This means your brand-new Business Manager has to be knowledgeable about the sectors they are targeting.New Business Mangers should be versatile. They must be good researchers, communicators and in a position to grab information quickly. Providing a New Business Manager has already established experience in marketing or creative agencies they will understand the processes and jargon and may generally adapt to other industries which have specialist interests. Someone on the other hand, who has no background in design, marketing or creative industries in general will probably think it is harder to learn everything from scratch and discover about niche markets.If your brand-new Business Manager has generated a relationship with a Decision Maker it could be a concept to take them along to the meeting as part of your company. Does your New Business Agency allow this? Within an ideal world your Account Handler should feel they are a part of your team.It is important for you to go to meetings prepared and know what is expected from you at the meeting. It is down to one to give your New Business Manager all the information they need. You know your market and it never does any harm to keep them updated together with your knowledge of industry events. Once you launch a fresh project let your New Business Manager know, keep them involved.Question 6 - How does one prepare to utilize an HOME BASED BUSINESS Agency?Be prepared to be engaged. Most HOME BASED BUSINESS Managers spoken to for this article said, "The closer they will have worked with clients the more likely they are to achieve results." Usually do not expect a New Business Agency to start out work and come back to you seven days later with plenty of new work - it rarely happens like that. If your New Business Agency is starting conversations with the proper people ensure you have the supporting materials. Many clients will ask for an email with links to work, PDFs, show reels or brochures - it is down to you to provide these. When attending the meetings, which you have essentially paid big money to get, ensure you are ready for the presentation. Your New Business Agency can only just take you up to now. Remember that if you run your business you should really be the best person to attempt your new business as you know your organization inside out, your capabilities, strengths and weaknesses. If you cannot get yourself a �500,000 contract don't expect a new business agency to. Be realisticMany creative agencies I spoke to had worked with at least a number of New Business Agencies before locating the one they felt they might work with, hence the reason for this article. You can find obviously many questions to ask before undertaking the trouble of a New Business Agency but I hope this article covers a few! Please see more advice on handling your own home based business on my website http://www.kerinewman.com.Keri Newman - Freelance Web site design and marketing for small businesses.