Clients who are “happy” may still leave you.  But clients who are seeing results–and seeing them fast? Now, that increases the value you deliver and decreases the chances that new clients will churn. So, how did this digital marketing agency drive client results 70% faster, increase customer satisfaction scores and start getting glowing feedback from more clients? It was all about strategy. More specifically, they did away with the old divide between their strategy and client services...

Isn’t it refreshing when someone further down the path is willing to share the successes AND failures they’ve seen along the way? That’s exactly the type of conversation you’ll get from today’s episode with Eric Siu, CEO of Single Grain, Founder of Leveling Up and Co-Host of the top-ranked Marketing School Podcast. Eric’s journey has taken him from having “no idea how to run a business” at 27 to now having scaled his agency into 8-figures, all while building a media brand, authoring a book...

Today he runs an agency doing $25MM in ARR with around 150 employees.  But–as the story usually goes–this success didn’t come overnight & started with much more humble beginnings.  From not getting paid by one of his first clients to gaining traction with small monthly retainers on Fiverr to now running a successful performance marketing agency for SaaS companies, Garrett Mehrguth, CEO of Directive, has learned a forecasting model that’s allowed him to scale his agency well beyond those...

It can be terrifying to allow your clients to “see how the sausage is made,” and this is one of the main concerns related to handling client communications within your project management or professional service automation software. While there are benefits to streamlining your client communications and inviting them into the system that runs your agency–benefits like visibility, client perception & efficiency–each of those benefits comes with some pretty intimidating risks. What if...

Wanna know how a 200-person agency reduced churn by 50% from one year to the next? Even though Hawke Media is one of the most successful marketing agencies in the United States and they’ve scaled to hundreds of millions in annual revenue, their journey hasn’t been without bumps in the road. At the beginning of 2022,  they saw client churn on the rise and their CEO, Erik Huberman, knew he had to adjust their strategy to address a new challenge. In today’s conversation, you’ll hear from...

What’s one mistake you’ve made as an agency leader you’ll never forget? Several guests on this show have shared the same exact answer:  “I wish I’d invested in my own financial literacy sooner!” But, what financial metrics should you focus on the most?  Even if you answer that question—how do you (and your team) impact those financial metrics that matter most for your agency? To answer these questions, in today’s episode, you’ll hear from Ryan Watson from Upsourced Accounting, where he...

Want to win more clients (and keep them longer) in 2024? Of course you do! Offering a free benchmark consultation as part of your sales process might just be the key to doing both this year. In this episode with Chris Nault, Founder and CEO of Growth, he breaks down the process and results from his agency's 5-week experiment of adding a benchmark consultation into their sales and renewal processes. In this episode, you’ll hear from Chris: When and how to invite clients into a Databox...

38% of agencies struggle with frequently overservicing clients.  Of the 500+ agencies surveyed for the 2023 State of Agency Operations Report, 44% also said that client demands have become tougher to meet.     Are you finding clients more demanding? Is overservicing happening more frequently in your agency? If so, 2024 can be different on both fronts. Ken Yarmosh, Business Coach, Fractional COO and Founder of The Remote Solopreneur, recently joined the Agency Life webinar series and laid...

With your business, clients and the world changing so fast around you, it can be tough to know what your growth goals should be--or how to even approach setting them in the first place. Thankfully, Drew McLellan, CEO of the Agency Management Institute (and agency vet himself), joins the podcast today to break down the numbers in a simple formula you can use to set attainable goals in any market. In today's episode you'll learn: How to determine which of the 5 phases of agency maturity...

Whether you're looking at 2024 with aggressive growth goals or simply trying to maintain your existing trajectory, one thing's for sure: It's about more than top-line revenue. No matter what your agency's size, maximizing your profitability is a key part of thriving (or even just surviving in 2024). That's why I'm excited to share my conversation with Megan Bowen, Chief Operating Officer at Refine Labs.  Megan was the very first guest speaker on our Agency Life webinar series and this...

Are you sick of content about AI that just talks about how big of a game-changer it is without giving you practical tips on what to do with this technology? We were too. That's why we hosted Chris Mathieu, Chief Services Officer at New Breed, an Elite HubSpot Solutions Partner onto our Agency Life webinar series to discuss: 5 specific ways they're testing & leveraging AI within their agency, and how to avoid the most. common pitfalls with AI adoption right now. We also broke down data...

What got you here won’t get you there.  You’ve probably heard that phrase before.  And it probably couldn’t feel more applicable than it does right now as we round out 2023. So, the question is: Are you going to keep doing more of the same?  Or do something different in 2024? If you’re in that latter camp, then you’re going to get some encouragement (and hopefully some useful ideas to implement) from today’s guests, Pete Caputa and Karl Sakas. You probably already know, but in case you...

What are you concerned about as you plan ahead for 2024? How will next year be different than this year? These were among a few of the topics we discussed this week in a rare in-person recording with Peter Coppinger, Co-Founder and CEO of Teamwork.com, during his recent trip to Denver. You see, before Teamwork.com was the growing SaaS company we are today, serving agencies with a platform to run client work, Peter and his Co-Founder, Daniel Mackey, were doing client work–building a web...

You probably heard recently on this show, from the dozens of agency owners & leaders we spoke to at INBOUND this year, that the number one place they'd invest extra budget dollars (if they magically had them tomorrow) was in marketing their own agency. This begs 2 questions: 1) Why is this such a common answer? 2) What can you as an agency owner start doing to address this common need? (because an extra $10,000/mo isn't likely showing up in your mailbox tomorrow) In this week's...

Are you an agency owner who could never imagine handing over your agency's sales process to someone besides yourself? Or have you tried to hand over your agency's new business development to a salesperson you hired only to have it crash and burn? If so,  advice from Lee McKnight Jr, VP of Sales at RSW/US, an outsourced business development firm built specifically for agencies may be able to help. In today’s conversation, he shares: The 4 common mistakes agency owners make when hiring a new...

Many peers & consultants have said she's crazy for committing to this pricing model as a software development agency, but Amanda Moriuchi, CEO of AppIt Ventures, says the only crazy thing is to think any structure for your agency will be challenge free. Amanda & her team have made a name for themselves in Colorado & beyond, not only for doing great app development work for their clients, but also by committing to a pricing & delivery model of Fixed Bid project pricing when...

Many agency owners don't begin with the end in mind.  Did you? If you answer questions like "How much do we need to make?" with "I don't know...more!" or "When will I be able to retire?" with  "Not now!"... ...you're not alone. Seasoned agency owner, Karl Heasman, Founder of Greycott Consultancy has had his own successful exits and now helps other agency owners prepare for acquisition--by beginning with the end in mind. In this episode, he shares: Where to start looking for potential...

Many agencies--just like yours--are echoing this common refrain: Either it’s feast or famine right now.  In today's episode, Joe Sullivan shares how his agency, Gorilla 76, is experiencing a "feast" season where demand is exceeding supply.    They’re having to tell clients they can’t start working with them for several months–even if they’re ready to sign and start today. It’s a good problem to have, but one that they’ve still got to solve.  An aim for what Joe refers to as “managed...

Should you productize your services? Does a productized service business completely differ from the standard agency model? Can both models co-exist within the same business? These are all questions we answer in today's conversation with Sam Shepler, CEO of Testimonial Hero.   He transitioned from leading a full-service video production agency to founding a productized service business in 2018.  In this episode, Sam shares the 3 specific benefits of productizing your services--and the...

Over 500 agencies surveyed.   Agencies from around the world with different specialities: marketing, creative, web development & PR agnecies included. Agencies of all sizes, from those with less than 10 to those with more than 500 employees. The team here at Teamwork.com recently partnered with Audience Audit, a research agency who focuses on this sort of analysis for agencies themselves, to take on an extensive analysis of the state of agency operations. In The State of Agency Operations...

If your agency’s become a trusted advisor to your clients, then you’re probably getting asked for recommendations and advice all the time. I can border on a feeling of frustration if you’ve faced this enough: Can you help with this? Do you know anyone you’d recommend for that? If your clients are asking about other areas where you *can’t* help, you hate to not be able to help. But… What if you could add more value to your clients AND tap into partnerships that could generate net-new...

Where would you spend an extra $10,000 a month if you suddenly had that extra cash to invest in your agency?  No strings attached--available today--where would you use that sudden infusion of capital?  That's the 1st of our Fast Five questions you've likely heard us ask before on every episode of this show.  Last week we had the chance to ask this same question to more than 20 agency owners and their team members while several members of the Teamwork.com team descended on Boston for...

Do you feel the pressure of having to rely almost solely on word of mouth and referrals to continue growing your agency? If so, you're not alone. Even if you have all the systems and capabilities to grow your agency, you may not be effectively marketing your firm...and it's often for a common reason: You've become an "interchangeable agency." If you're like most marketing agencies, it's difficult for you to tell clients the problem you really solve. You struggle to get clients to see...

Just because you're a good baker, doesn't mean you can run a successful bakery. It's the same for agency life. You may be great at content marketing, branding, website development or building custom software, but none of that means you'll be great at all the things required to run an agency that delivers those services. It also doesn't mean you'll enjoy all the necessary elements of running an agency either. Maybe you've felt this typical pain that's described in The E Myth by Michael...