Business Development Apprenticeship

By Martin Jones

In 2013, we launched our Business Development Apprenticeship in recognition of the fact that, for a skillset that has always been integral to an agency’s success, there was very little ‘formal’ training available.

Since its inception, we have seen over 300 Apprentices receive their highly prized certificates and hopefully take away a new mindset and practical ideas (and stories) when it comes to the lottery of pitching.

One of the first observations that we make about the subject of new business is ‘If you don’t love it, you really should get out of it!’. In our experience, new business and business development is a vocation and part of the role of the course is to both enthuse and educate, particularly when it comes to understanding the mindset of potential clients when they are thinking about changing agencies.

Aimed at participants who are new to the world of new business, the five-week course offers a foundational introduction to the various elements of agency business development through a mixture of theoretical tips and practical feedback.

In 2021, both the Spring and Autumn Business Development Apprenticeships remained virtual, but in 2022, we were able to introduce a hybrid model with both the introductory gettogethers and ‘Chemistry Meetings’ taking place in real life.

For the duration of the course, the Apprentices were divided into teams, invited to create their own agency name and positioning, respond to a Request for Information and participate in a live Chemistry Meeting.

As always, there was an eclectic group of agency names suggested, including ANGL, FavourTheBold, Moon Landers, Radar, Raion House, Rise and Sliced Bread. So, if you are looking to create a start-up agency, these will hopefully provide some stimulation.

For the 2022 courses we were delighted to welcome two ‘real life’ clients from OVO Energy to participate in the Chemistry sessions and share their own personal perspectives and insights, which proved invaluable to the participants. We also suspect that both of them were very happy to have a break from the energy crisis, at least for a short while!

As ever, we were extremely grateful to Tracey Barber of Havas for sharing her incredible insights into life in the new business fast-lane with our Apprentices.

“Thanks for organising this course. I’ve really enjoyed it and am taking a lot back to my role from it. It’s been fun and informative, and I’ve found it eye-opening to work with peers from other agencies and learn from their processes.”

2022 Delegate

While the course hopefully provided some objective learnings for everyone, it also served to remind us how random the world of pitching can be as we latterly discovered that the clients were allergic to pineapple and chocolate respectively! It, therefore, provided everyone with a salutary reminder to check out any dietary requirements in advance of meetings!

We’ll be holding at least two Business Development Apprentices in 2023, with the first currently scheduled to start on Tuesday 28th February, running through to Tuesday 28th March from 9.00am to 10.30am each Tuesday morning for five weeks, with a combination of virtual and “in person” sessions.

So, if you have any budding stars that you feel would benefit from a crash-course in the art of new business, please do let Katrina know at Klaw@aargroup.co.uk, and full details can be viewed on our website. ●