Business Development interview prep.

Behavioural questions to expect

1. Walk me through your career.
2. Tell me about your most significant pitch win.
3. Tell me about a weakness, a failure, or feedback you have received and worked on.
4. Why agency new business - vs client-side marketing, consulting BD, or martech sales?
5. Why the firm?
6. Why this move now in your career?
7. How do you see the firm's recent pitch trajectory + new business position?
8. If you joined, what do you think the biggest new business priority would be in year one?

Technical concepts to master

• Pitch + RFP mechanics

  Qualification + go / no-go · Capture plan · Tissue session · Scope of work + rate card · Final presentation + Q&A

• Prospecting + qualification + pipeline

  Inbound vs outbound mix · Pitch intermediaries · Conversion economics · Holding co conflict checks

• Chemistry meetings + procurement + commercial

  Chemistry meeting choreography · Procurement gate · Remuneration models · AOR vs project pitch

• Agency review + market intelligence

  Trade press monitoring · CMO mapping · AOR history + incumbent intelligence · Category + competitive set read

Practical drills

• A category-leading client has issued an AOR review through a major pitch consultant. Response due in six weeks. Walk me through how you run the pitch end-to-end.
• You have a 90-minute chemistry meeting with a target client next Tuesday. The CMO + brand director will be there. The agency is competing against three rivals. Walk me through how you prepare and run the meeting.
• The CEO has asked you to build a 12-month plan to grow the agency's new business pipeline. Walk me through your approach, including target sources, qualification framework, and what success looks like at the 12-month mark with rough conversion maths.

Smart-question anchors

• New business function structure - dedicated NB team vs shared; reporting line; CEO sponsorship
• Pitch win-rate + KPI ownership - what NB is measured on at {firm_name}
• Intermediary relationships - which pitch consultants the firm works with + depth
• Pipeline + qualification discipline - source mix + go / no-go culture
• Recent pitch trajectory - notable wins + losses + what they signal

Sourced from

AAR (Agency Assessments International) - pitch intermediary methodology · ANA (Association of National Advertisers) - agency selection + management guidelines · IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) - new business + commercial practice · AdAge + Campaign + Adweek - agency review + pitch coverage · Mirren + RSW/US - agency new business benchmarks · Indeed + LinkedIn + Glassdoor - agency new business interview prep