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Small Spark Theory: a marginal gains approach to new business and marketing

New business is one of those subjects guaranteed to get a reaction from agency owners everywhere. Many will have a nagging feeling they should be doing a bit more, wonder how other agencies manage to land the accounts they covet, have moments of wild inspiration and energy then falter because the day job just, well gets in the way.
Gunpowder’s Lucy Mann has worked in agency new business for over 25 years and has witnessed these scenarios, and many more like them, as an outsourced new business telemarketer, a new business recruitment consultant, in house new business developer, in house head of marketing, and new business mentor across multiple disciplines and agency shapes and sizes.
Regardless of size and discipline, many agencies encounter the same new business challenges, and more and more, the solution is not necessarily an ambitious marketing plan, or expensive sales resource, but instead a forensic application of process and a marginal gains approach to performance improvement.
Gunpowder’s podcast, Small Spark Theory® explores the small changes we can make to our sales and marketing process to achieve better new business results. With contributions from a range of experts, each episode will examine a single element of the process in detail, providing manageable tips for improvement.

Find our more about Gunpowder Consulting, please visit gunpowderconsulting.com
Follow us on Twitter @gunpowdertweets and join the conversation #smallsparktheory
Music from Jukedeck - create your own at http://jukedeck.com.
Host - Lucy Mann
Producer - Isabelle Jarvis

Dec 16, 2025

Here we are at the end of 2025 and our last episode of the year.

I know this year has been a tough one for many agencies, for many reasons. So I wanted to finish with a good news story.  A case study of an independent agency (well two in fact) flourishing despite the challenges.

Kim Lawton, Founder & CEO of Enthuse...


Nov 10, 2025

New business, business development, lead generation, prospecting.

Call it what you will – for agencies, the practice of attracting and winning new clients has evolved.

Technology continues to diversify our services and expand the marketplaces in which we operate. Alongside this, terminology shifts, client...


Oct 5, 2025

Finally – an episode dedicated to AI!

Not the big “future of our industry” debate, but a practical look at the contractual and IP implications of our growing use of AI tools in agency life.

While the larger networked agencies may already have policies in place, for many smaller independents — or those who rely...


Aug 31, 2025

Welcome to the 100th episode of Small Spark Theory!

You may have spotted that earlier this summer, Emily Penny and Joel Stein released the Fully Saturated  UK Design Agency Positioning Audit. Packed full of insights, analysis and examples of agencies that really manage to cut through the noise, it’s the first audit of...


Jul 10, 2025

I'm always fascinated with innovations in the space that exists between agencies and their potentail clients, whether that's new marketing channels (hello podcasting!) or services that are designed to make the process of agency selection or client aquisiition more effective. 

So I was delighted to be introduced to Pete...