Answers to the most common questions about The Agile Institute. This is an excellent way to quickly learn more about what we do.

1. F A Q
Almost everything you ever wanted to know about The Agile Institute
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
JUNE 2010
This document contains answers to questions people ask us most often.
We hope it helps you understand what we do and why we matter. As
always, check our website (www.theagileinstitute.com) weekly for any
updates to this and our other documents.
i n f o @ t h e a g i l e i n s t i t u t e . c o m • w w w. t h e a g i l e i n s t i t u t e . c o m

2. Frequently Asked Questions
CONTENTS
Who
.............................................................................................3
Who are you?
Who are your services for?
What
............................................................................................5
What is AGILE?
What is an Agile Team?
What do you do?
What is lead generation, lead nurturing, and lead conversion?
What is the Agile Research Group?
What is the CVD Test?
What types of things can The Agile Institute help me with?
We focus on three areas; lead generation, lead nurturing, and
lead conversion to assist in increasing revenue and raising capi-
tal. However, underneath these areas there a number of specific
projects we can help with:
When
...........................................................................................8
When were you founded?
When will your website be complete?
Where
..........................................................................................9
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3. Frequently Asked Questions
Where were you founded?
Where do you get your research?
Why
...........................................................................................10
Why do you exist?
Why are you special?
How
...........................................................................................11
How was The Agile Institute created?
How do you work?
How do you handle confidentiality?
How can you help a business looking for funding?
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4. Frequently Asked Questions
Who
Who are you?
We are a management strategy & implementation firm that uses an
extensive network of consultants and experts to help business lead-
ers with critical sales & marketing related problems. Our lean oper-
ating model and agile work style allows us to deliver the same serv-
ices Fortune 500 companies receive from McKinsey & Company, Ac-
centure, and similar firms to mid-market businesses affordably.
Who are your services for?
While we typically work with firms in the $5 - $200 million revenue
range seeking to significantly increase revenue to sell, acquire, or
raise capital, we also assist smaller and mid-size companies with
sales & marketing needs. Working with The Agile Institute is a good
idea if:
• You are serious about increasing lead generation, lead nurtur-
ing, lead conversion, or increasing your sales & marketing
strength to raise funds for expansion, prepare to sell all or part
of company, etc.
• You intend to significantly increase revenue by expanding
product offerings, opening new locations, entering new geo-
graphic markets or meeting other internal goals.You want tan-
gible results as soon as possible
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5. Frequently Asked Questions
• You lack the expertise, time, or both to solve the problem in-
ternally
• Your organization is committed and willing to assign a leader
or team with authority to make key decisions who can devote
up to 10 hours weekly for the first 2 weeeks and 3 - 5 hours
for the remainder of the project to ensure we clearly interpret
your goals as well as efficiently utilize your industry expertise.
• You understand we are AGILE - meaning we produce consis-
tently improving deliverables quickly and refine them with ac-
tual feedback from potential customers (we’ve found rapid ad-
aptation produces results up to 300% faster than traditional
approaches)
• You have a minimum budget of $10,000 to devote to solving
the problem
• You want a fun, collaborative working relationship
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6. Frequently Asked Questions
What
What is AGILE?
AGILE is the unique way we manage projects. It is based on a proc-
ess created by software developers who found they could create
better software faster if they developed parts of the software
quickly, tested it with users, and improved based on feedback. This
customer-centric approach has enabled companies with less than
20 full-time employees to adequately support over 3,000,000 cus-
tomers. AJ Igherighe began practicing the philosophy in 2003 and
has since adapted it to allow consulting projects to focus on what’s
best for clients while producing results faster and consuming less
time and money.
What is an Agile Team?
For each project, we assemble a group of "core" consultants and
"subject matter" or industry experts. The core team handles daily
consulting activities. Experts are used in the initial phase of the
project to create the best strategy and as needed to ensure imple-
mentation is as effective and efficient as possible. Since top experts
are very expensive, this unique structure allows us to deliver exper-
tise from seasoned professionals, for instance, Chief Marketing Offi-
cers or Noted Professors, to companies that may not have been
able to afford their help otherwise.
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7. Frequently Asked Questions
What do you do?
We help our clients either increase sales or clearly define their sales
& marketing model. Our work is usually in one of three areas: Mar-
keting (lead generation, lead nurturing) Sales (lead conversion) and
and assistance in acquiring capital . In each area, we develop and
implement innovative ideas to accomplish specific, measurable
goals more effectively and efficiently.
What is lead generation, lead nurturing, and lead conversion?
Lead generation (marketing) is how a business attracts sales oppor-
tunities. Lead nurturing (marketing) is communicating with pros-
pects until they are ready to buy. Lead conversion is the actual
“sales process” of helping a prospect purchase your goods/services
when they are ready.
In other words, lead generation and lead nurturing is mostly mar-
keting strategy and lead conversion is the execution of that strat-
egy. Unlike most firms, we not only consult and offer strategy, we
assist in execution.
What is the Agile Research Group?
The Agile Research Group is a team of consultants focused solely on
complex data research and analysis for our projects. The group
consists of industry experts, PHDs and MBAs from various fields and
is assembled based on the specific information being sought. Their
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8. Frequently Asked Questions
unique skill set enables us to help our clients make better decisions
and win more sales.
What is the CVD Test?
The Content & Visual Design (CVD) test is a tool we developed to
make sure all presentations are clear, concise, and compelling. In
May 2010, we began offering the test to potential clients to assess
their internal presentations to ascertain what it takes to create “A+”
presentations.
What types of things can The Agile Institute help me with?
We focus on three areas; lead generation, lead nurturing, and lead
conversion to assist in increasing revenue and raising capital. How-
ever, underneath these areas there a number of specific projects we
can help with:
• Creating business, marketing, or sales plans
• Managing marketing and sales campaigns
• Generating and grading leads
• Creating sales presentations
• Writing sales letters, whitepapers, web content, reports, arti-
cles, and social media posts
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9. Frequently Asked Questions
When
When were you founded?
The Agile Institute began in late 2008 as a small business produc-
tivity consulting company called Zibneal. We have expanded our
pool of consultants and will begin publishing our own research.
These changes along with our use of the Agile Project Management
philosophy lead to us where we are now with the The Agile Institute.
When will your website be complete?
Never. In keeping with our Agile approach, we quickly launched a
less-than-perfect website showing only our sales presentation ex-
pertise in late May. Based on feedback from our consultants, ex-
perts, and potential clients, we are rapidly improving the site. Fu-
ture plans include adding a more comprehensive list of our services,
posting examples of our work, and publishing tips & advice on a
business friendly blog. Along the way, we will likely find new ways
to deliver more through our site and will adapt again. This is why
we say our site will never be complete.
Visit: www.theagileinstitute.com weekly to see the changes and let
us know your thoughts.
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10. Frequently Asked Questions
Where
Where were you founded?
On the internet. No. Actually, we were founded in Atlanta, GA.
Fortunately, with today’s technology, we consider our “home base”
to be virtually global.
Where do you get your research?
We use existing information sources and gather information di-
rectly. To get information quickly, we use our access to business
and academic articles, reports, and paid research sources - for in-
stance, Bloomberg, Dunn & Bradstreet, Lexis Nexis, and Standard &
Poors. However, if the information we need is not readily available,
we collect custom research using surveys, focus groups, and inter-
views online and by phone through The Agile Research Group.
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11. Frequently Asked Questions
Why
Why do you exist?
We believe mid-sized companies deserve the same expert market-
ing and sales services that larger companies receive and we are pas-
sionate about giving it to them. In short, we’re looking to change
the world by helping good companies become great.
Why are you special?
We are the ONLY sales & marketing consulting firm that not only
develops plans and strategies using our team of experienced ex-
perts but also implements and adapts what we produce to ensure
promised results are delivered.
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12. Frequently Asked Questions
How
How was The Agile Institute created?
Akpo "AJ" Igherighe founded The Agile Institute in 2008. The com-
pany was originally called Zibneal and focused on improving pro-
ductivity. AJ started his career as a consultant for McKinsey & Com-
pany. For more information about AJ, view his bio at:
www.theagileinstitute.com.
How do you work?
We follow a project management methodology known as “Agile Pro-
ject Management”. The basic idea is, instead of spending numerous
hours planning, we create a simple short term plan and adjust
based on actual results. We believe adaptation in business (as in
nature) is the key to success, which is why we have built our firm on
it. While common among technology companies, we are the only
professional services firm to our knowledge that uses this for sales
& marketing projects.
How do you handle confidentiality?
Our clients operate in extremely competitive markets. For this rea-
son, we understand the importance of protecting the intellectual
property that comes from the work we do. For this reason, we re-
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13. Frequently Asked Questions
move sensitive information from published documents. We also do
not discuss details of any project without the consent of clients.
While this does make proving the quality of our work more chal-
lenging, we believe it is most important to protect our clients’ confi-
dentiality.
How can you help a business looking for funding?
From our relationships with private investors and investment firms,
we understand what it takes for businesses to successfully acquire a
business, sell a business, or obtain financing. We help our clients
by either launching sales & marketing projects to rapidly increase
sales or professionally present current sales performance to high-
light often understated, financial strength requirements. When ap-
propriate, we introduce our clients to finance contacts.
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