Welcome
My name is John Heenan. I work exclusively with Agencies and Marketers. For Agencies, I provide growth services, including business development, positioning and differentiation, and prospecting. For Marketers, I provide agency search services using the latest techniques and technologies to find the best fit faster and more efficiently.
Whatever got you here, you’ve come to the right place. You may not know the best approach, but I bet you want new clients or a better agency. Let’s talk about the best way to get you there. Click on the calendar and start winning again.
What I Do
A few past examples of new clients I’ve helped agencies win as their new business secret weapon.
What Others Say
Don’t take my word for it. Read what nice things others say about working with me.
Newsletter
Subscribe to my free monthly new business newsletter—advice, analysis, how-to’s, resources and more.
What I’m Thinking About
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The Advertising Business Is Growing. Is Your Agency?
The Advertising Business Is Growing. Is Your Agency? I have some unusually good news for agency owners. The advertising business is growing. Really growing. Madison & Wall estimates that global advertising revenue increased 12.7% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, following 13.4% growth in the first quarter. It now forecasts 11% growth…
The Business Development Life
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Every Agency Win Is a Lesson for the Others
I’ve spent many years helping agencies win new business and helping marketers find agencies. During that time, I’ve heard hundreds of agency leaders explain why they believed they won an account. Sometimes it was the creative. Sometimes it was chemistry. Sometimes it was category expertise, the pitch team, or a brilliant strategy. This year, however,…
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Your Agency’s Problem Isn’t Prospecting. It’s Showing Value.
Your Agency’s Problem Isn’t Prospecting. It’s Showing Value. That’s why growth often slows long before anyone notices the real issue. Every few weeks, I end up having essentially the same conversation with a different agency owner. The names, agency sizes, and client lists all vary. Some have been in business for five years, others for…
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Winmo. The best tool for agency new business
Winmo. Best tool for agency new business Full transparency: I’m a big Winmo fan and a daily user, going way back to when they were the List. I blog about it, speak about it, use it every day, and brag about my successes. I want to share a few of the reasons that Winmo gives…
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Your BD Process Is a Test Drive
Your BD Process Is a Test Drive I recently read a McKinsey article that, though not about advertising agencies, made me reflect on the agency business development process. The article, “The Surprising Economics of B2B Growth: The New Survival Threshold and What It Takes to Thrive,” explores why some B2B companies continue to grow while…
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New Business Is Your Agency’s Biggest AI Risk
New Business Is Your Agency’s Biggest AI Risk Over the past year, I have observed ad agency leaders discuss AI with visible excitement and underlying apprehension. Many agree: “This changes everything.” The problem is that most of the industry is still focused on the sparks rather than the explosion. It’s easy to be captivated by…
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Will AI Kill the Craft of Advertising
Will AI Kill the Craft of Advertising Spend ten minutes on LinkedIn, and you would think the agency model is either dead or about to be fully automated. AI will replace strategy.AI will generate creative.AI will run campaigns end-to-end. The narrative sounds too good to be true: clean, simple, but completely disconnected from how marketing…