Hi Matt,

I think thats a really good question. Here are some thoughts:

Perception is everything:
Step one is to get a company to talk to you. In order to do that, you need to create a certain perception of your company. The givens are to have a strong online presence - have an updated website with your work and an active social media campaign.
You should also consider small details like a secretary answering your phone. A while, the Big Idea (Donny Deutch's show) featured John Paul Dejoria of Paul Mitchell. John Paul Dejoria shared the story of how he started his company with no resources, but somehow got a secretary with a British accent to answer the phone - all to create a perception.

Know your audience:
Be a knowledge expert in a particular industry that you want to target. I feel that often when prospective clients know that you are an expert in their industry, they are willing to compensate/work around issues such as size of the company.

Know Your Strengths and Highlight them:
As David Grossman mentioned, there are certain advantages that come with a smaller agency. Know what you bring to the table and what differentiates you as company.
Typically the advantages of a smaller agency are: access, flexibility, direct access to partners etc.

Differentiate Yourself:
I think regardless of the size of your agency, I think what is critical to know what differentiates you from the other agencies. The differentiation can be based on methodology, talent, industry related work, approach, thought leadership etc.

Live Upto it!
If you've won an account by creating a perception of your agency being larger than it is, then you need to ensure that upon the start of your project you can live upto it. Referrals and repeat clients is what you need to be targeting to go after even larger accounts.

Hope this helps!

Thanks,

Rupam Patheja
Marketing Director, CO-OP
www.co-opbranding.com
www.co-operationblog.com

As a smaller enterprise, the client's business is worth much more to the bottom line, and the account would get a higher degree of attention and service compared to larger competitors. Senior employees would be available at virtually any time to respond to concerns, as there wouldn't be a bureaucratic layer of account management to contend with.

That said, there are also a variety of other ways to appear bigger that didn't exist in Draper's day -- technology being the first and foremost. Having a mobile workforce with smartphones, for example, can lead to instant communication from a small staff. Also, one could argue that the office has been replaced by the web site as a sign of competence and status. I would spare no expense to launch a great web site that made the business look smart and sophisticated, on par or surpassing larger rivals. The same could be said with social media as well.

Amelia Jeffers posted a snappy answer to this question on Inc.'s Facebook page but I thought people here should get the benefit of it:

"I own one of the smaller international auction houses in the country - but we market ourselves aggressively and have an image of being much larger, while competing against huge New York and Boston houses all the time. We choose to embrace the benefits to our clients of working with a smaller company and created an entire branding campaign around our 'Big fish service' (as in, big fish in a small pond gets a lot of attention....).

We always tout the benefits of dialing the phone and getting a real person, talking directly to a principal if you have an issue, etc. We also practice what we preach and patronize other small businesses for our goods and services."

Very good question and relevant to my situation given I have just started up. I own a strategic copywriting agency and always tout my ability to work at a personal level with the client. Aside from the attention to service you get with a small firm, just being honest with your size and capabilities will probably go a long way. I find that if your earnest and persistent, people will reward you with their business.

Thomas Aylmer
Founder, Text Branding
http://www.textbranding.com