The negotiation process can be fast and daunting. With the goal of having you take back more control in this process, Scotwork uses an eight-step approach to analyze and determine where you are on their “negotiation map” at any given time. When you understand and leverage the full negotiation process and map, you will gain more control. This leads to more effective and skillful negotiations.

By attending this session on negotiation skills, you will come away with:

• An understanding of how to apply The Scotwork Eight-Step Negotiation Method
• An organized way of preparing for any upcoming negotiation
• Additional strategies and tactics (that you’ve probably not considered) to improve your effectiveness

You will also learn the Scotwork “Preparation Guideline” which will teach you how to Trade instead of Haggling or succumbing to the Slow Surrender. Finally, you will be empowered to overcome some of the biggest fears, misunderstandings, and pitfalls of negotiating.

There’s a new role being created at agencies. And it’s brilliant. Several agencies have retained executives to focus exclusively on negotiations, compensation structures and overall agreement design. They are highly skilled, highly trained and know how to navigate the hidden traps that await agencies.

With this panel, we will first evaluate whether or not this new role is providing a return for the agency. As importantly, the panel will then share the best practices they are using during the critical negotiation stage. Expect to hear new insights revealed, which you can then apply to your own agency.

ModeratorZimmerman: Michael Goldberg, EVP & Chief Marketing Officer

Agencies consistently provide more work than what they get paid for. In fact, recent studies show that up to 60% of an agency’s workload is “underpaid and under-resourced,” resulting in lower margins and potential compromise to the quality of the work. Both create a time bomb for the future of the relationship.

Michael Farmer believes that agencies should get paid for 100% of their work, even when the scope increases. Sounds good in theory, but what is the best way to approach this?

Step by step, this session will walk you through exactly how to establish a system that proactively guarantees fair compensation:

• Establish a Better Structure for your Scope of Work
• Establish your Resourcing Standards
• Secure Client Agreement to your Resourcing Standards
• Create a Formula to Translate the Scope of Work into a Fee
• Implement a System to Track Scope of Work Changes

Leave this session with action items that you will be able to immediately begin implementing to improve margins on new and current account.

Proposals suck. Put them off as long as you can, delegate them – they’re not going away. Despite the fact that proposals make or break the financial relationship with every client, most agencies avoid putting the appropriate amount of strategic thought into the process.

Step by step, this session will walk through the key principles to transform your proposals from “generic financial recaps” into persuasive selling documents that reinforce the value and business impact that your agency will provide. Change them from simply providing information to building a clear, concise and compelling case for your (higher level of) fees.

In terms of dollar value, most new business in the U.S. passes through the hands of search consultants. They provide a much-needed service for clients, helping them understand what they need from an agency and then confirming the agencies that should be in their consideration set. At the same time, agencies can find it challenging to understand exactly what search consultants and clients are looking for in the selection process.

This first panel of search consultants will address the latest trends they see defining exactly how clients are selecting agencies. From selection criteria, to scope of work and compensation, the panelists will take a practical look at the changing – and often inconsistent – landscape. A lot has changed over the last 24 months… and with the sheer number of pitches they have facilitated, expect new insight into how you must evolve your approach.

Moderatorkirshenbaum bond senecal + partners: Matt Weiss, Chief of Staff

Research is experiencing a revolution online. There is an explosion of new ways to collect data and insights that you can better leverage to improve the persuasiveness of your presentations and convert more business. Michaela Mora, a market research innovator with expertise in quantitative and qualitative research, will walk you through the latest developments in marketing research using the online platform.

She will provide an overview on the application of tools such as:

• Quantitative trade-off techniques
• Mobile
• Qualitative – quantitative hybrids
• Real time chats
• Immersion IDI's
• Research blogs
• Research communities
• Social networking
• Video journals
• Web cam focus groups
• Web-intercepts/chats

Online research can be better and faster. Conducted strategically, it can also be efficient. Leave this session with new research tools that you can start to use to improve your next pitch.

Join a smaller group of fellow conference attendees as you spend time in a more personal and interactive session. Several industry subject matter experts and individual search consultants will host smaller roundtable discussions on a range of topics.

The Search Consultants will host "open topic" roundtables, where participants select the discussion topics.

The subject matter experts include Marian Temesvary of Linkergy who will lead a roundtable on "Getting First Meetings Faster: Prospecting Strategy." Another discussion will be moderated by Adam Lehman of Lotame, who will look at "How to Better Leverage Consumer Data & Insights to Convert More Business."

Please note: this session is “first in the room, first seated.”

Okay, so now you’ve got the big hit-it-out-of-the-park idea. But, how the heck are you going to sell it? As you know, having the big idea – and selling the big idea – are two different things.

Based on the latest best practices from Mirren’s Presentation Skills Training, Bob Wiesner (formerly a Mirren Training Director and head of Rogen Presentation Training) will provide lessons that you can take back to improve how well your team presents.

Do you have weak presenters on your team? Have others developed bad habits? Is your entire team not able to command and inspire the room? Is this impacting your ability to convert business?

This interactive session will address a number of key elements that improve your team’s ability to hold the room:

• Casting
• Tone
• Posture
• Transitions
• Openings
• Closings
• Becoming the prospect’s champion
• Storytelling

You will also be engaged in a few exercises, which you will then be able to use with your own team.