The Truth About Hiring a New Business Director
Lee McKnight Jr
VP Sales @ RSW/US |Outsourced Biz Dev for Ad Agencies, PR Firms & MarTech
🚨 Only 32% of small and mid-sized ad agencies and marketing services firms hired a full-time new business director in the past three years. 🚨
A lot of agencies are thinking about making that internal biz dev hire, but there are some stats you need to know first.
Welcome to “3 Takeaways,” our agency new business video series, where we share three insights to help improve your new business program. Let’s dive in:
📉 Takeaway #1: Don’t ignore business development while you’re waiting to hire. We see it happen all the time: It can take 6, 8, even 12 months to hire the right new business director, and during that time, agencies often pause their business development efforts entirely.
That’s a mistake. Not only does this put the pressure to succeed solely on your new hire, but it also slows momentum and results in missed opportunities.
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📉 Takeaway #2: 76% of new business directors last 2 years or less. That’s nearly double the turnover rate from 2023, when it was 38%. Why? Agencies often make one of these 3 mistakes when hiring: 1️⃣ Hiring someone green and hoping they can “learn as they go.” 2️⃣ Hiring solely for their network (which inevitably runs dry). 3️⃣ Not thoroughly qualifying the candidate’s inside sales skills.
Avoiding these pitfalls can save you time, money, and frustration.
📉 Takeaway #3: Biz dev directors love greener grass. Job-hopping is more common than ever, and while it’s not always a deal-breaker, it is something to dig into. Ask candidates tough questions, check their references, and evaluate whether they’re ready to commit to your agency’s long-term success.
🎁 Bonus takeaway: Supporting your new business director is critical. Once you make the hire, it’s on you and your leadership team to create a supportive environment and set realistic expectations. Business development is tough—giving your new hire the tools they need to thrive will make all the difference.
Thanks for reading! If you found these takeaways helpful, don’t forget to subscribe for more business development content.
Passions: learning, building, driving growth. Entrepreneurial, full P/L CEO, COO, CGO, CCO proven success in start ups to large companies in Health, Tech, Transformation, Operations #BD, #pharma #insights #marketing #ai
1moThanks LAM, Agency BD hiring is also increasing based upon Agency acquisitions. In healthcare we are seeing PE firms acquiring small to mid-sized (often founder led) agencies, and quickly mandating 3-5 year doubling in size. If you’re the hiring agency or the candidate, questions to ask: do we have, what is the infrastructure and investment to support growth? How does the go to market differentiate the agency and “earn” the right to grow quickly?! And no, the answer we give our kids “because I (PE firms) said so” isn’t acceptable in this context. If these questions are not sufficiently addressed, results will not folllow.