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What Successful Mentoring Looks Like & the Effect it Has on Your Agency with Mitch Matthews

Never had a mentor? Not sure where to start or how to structure a successful mentoring relationship with your employees? In my podcast conversation with Mitch Matthews, he helps us to understand what great mentoring looks like. Mitch will show you how to mentor your employees with a wide variety of tools and specific solutions to move both yourself and your employees down the road to a successful mentoring relationship. I love this quote from Mitch, ““I know especially in agencies … this is so critical because you want to inspire the best work, you want to inspire full engagement, you want to inspire loyalty, you want to inspire creativity, all of those things. One of the best ways to do that is through mentoring.” If you’re not familiar with Mitch, let me tell you a little about him. He has an amazing podcast that I highly recommend called “Dream, Think, Do” (http://mitchmatthews.com/) and it is at the top of the iTunes chart for a reason. Mitch has worked on mentoring with entrepreneurs, leaders and teams from organizations like NASA, Disney, booking.com and Principal Financial Group. He’s really passionate about helping entrepreneurs and leaders dream bigger, think better, become more successful, and do more of the stuff they were put on this planet to do. To listen – you can visit the Build A Better Agency site (https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/mitch-matthews/) and grab either the iTunes or Stitcher files or just listen to it from the web. If you’d rather just read the conversation, the transcript is below. If you're going to take the risk of running an agency, shouldn't you get the benefits too? Welcome to 'Build a Better Agency,' where we show you how to build [...]

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Time Management Advice for Agency Owners

Every fifth podcast — I’m doing a solocast. That’s just you and me, having a conversation about a topic that I know is on the minds of agency owners. For this solocast — we’re going to dig into a topic that I probably dive into every single week with agency owners — some good old fashioned time management advice.   How should an agency owner spend his/her time? As you know and are probably a example of — most agency owners struggle with extracting themselves from the day to day enough to actually work on the business. Too many agency owners are too deeply engrained in the work of the agency, which prevents them from running a successful and scalable agency. “If you are still serving clients, you are not servicing the agency.” That’s the bottom line. You are diminishing YOUR bottom line. Instead, you need to build an agency that someone would want to buy some day. An agency where you are dispensable. In this podcast, I’ll outline this time management advice by where you should invest your time and what vital priorities you can knock out if you do. We’ll talk about your role in new business, in mentoring your team and much more. To listen — you can visit the Build A Better Agency site (https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/drew-mclellan-solocast-episode-1/) and grab either the iTunes or Stitcher files or just listen to it from the web. If you’d rather just read the conversation, the transcript is below. If you are going to take the risk of running an agency, shouldn't you get the benefits too? Welcome to Build a Better Agency, where we show you how to build an agency that can scale and grow with [...]

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Hey agency owner — what’s your succession plan?

When I look an agency owner in the eye and ask, “what’s your business succession plan?” it’s amazing what I see in their eyes. I work with 150 or so small to mid-sized (1 employee to 150 employees) privately held agencies every year.  These are smart business owners who are successfully running profitable businesses that provide a great life for themselves, their families and their employees. These are people who make lots of right choices every day.  And yet most of them (and you) have not faced the succession plan issue dead on. I think for many agency owners it feels so far down the road that they don’t worry about because they’re focusing on hotter issues. I can’t tell you how wrong you are, if that’s what you’v been thinking. If you actually want some control over your own exit strategy — you should have a good idea of how you’d like it to play out at least a decade before you’re ready to hang it up. Yes, a decade.  The sooner you decide how you’d like your business succession plan to go, the sooner you can make decisions that increase the likelihood that it will happen the way you want. I’ve seen agency succession plans play out in many ways over the years but the truth is, you have a limited number of options. You can sell your agency to an outside buyer You can sell your agency to an employee or group of employees You can just decide when you want to be done and lock the door on your way out You can be forced out by partners You can die at your desk and leave your heirs to sort it out [...]

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Hey agency owner — the podium is calling (thought leadership for agency owners)

When I review an agency's new business plan (assuming they have one) one of the strategies that is usually built into the plan is building a thought leadership position for agency owners or leaders.  Within that strategy is usually a list of tactics and one of them is almost always secure speaking engagements. Hard to argue with that strategy or the value of using speaking gigs to put yourself in front of a room of prospects and influencers.  But it's a long road between putting it into your marketing plan and actually making it happen. Fortunately for you -- Karl Sakas has written a how to guide that will walk you through exactly how to secure those sought after opportunities.  His book, The In Demand Marketing Agency: How to Use Speaking to become an Agency of Choice is a primer for agency leaders whether you've been speaking for years or are just starting. Not only will this book walk you through the mechanics of securing the speaking opportunities, but it's also packed with templates, check lists and samples of everything from speaking contracts to post presentation surveys and follow up tools.  He has literally mapped out the entire process for you. Best of all, Karl is not someone writing a generic book.  He's a guy who knows agencies, has owned agencies and uses the tools he describes to promote his own consulting business.  So you know that every tip and trick was hard earned and learned. Karl has generously given me three copies of his book to give away.  To qualify for the drawing (i'll use random.org) all you need to do it leave a comment and tell me what you'd like to learn from the [...]

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Hey agency owner – want a no fail agency new business tactic?

One of the biggest issues that agency owners and other key staff that are charged with agency new business face is getting on the radar screen of their prospects. This is where a small business marketing technique could come in handy. Read on for more. Even when you have the experience, knowledge and chops to help a prospect move their sales needle or accomplish whatever they're trying to get done – it’s tough to get their attention long enough to be noticed. That’s even more of a challenge for agencies that don’t have a big marketing budget or exist in a crowded, competitive landscape.  Which by the way, is all of you. That’s where some psychology can be incredibly helpful. One thing that is almost universally true about us humans is that we are incredibly flattered when someone thinks we have something of value to offer in the way of experience, knowledge, expertise or hard-earned wisdom. And that, I believe, is the door we need to open if we want a prospect’s time. For this small business marketing technique to work, I think the following needs to be true about your agency: You/your agency has a niche/specialty in which you have a great depth of expertise You have some outlet (website, blog, podcast, newsletter) in which you share that expertise without a sales pitch or being self-serving You have a genuine interest in the people you serve and a passion for helping them in your unique way with whatever you do/sell You are willing to commit to working on agency new business on a consistent basis If that’s you, read on. Make a list of your ideal prospects and their influencers. Who would you most like to serve and are the people/companies that you [...]

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Hey Agency Owner — how do you keep your creatives on target?

An ad agency creative brief is one way to get your creatives to stay on target when they may be struggling. In today's digital, data driven agency environment -- many agencies struggle to keep their creatives on target. We're evolving from the Mad Men era where creative was king to a time when results, ROI and metrics are the sexy way that we bring in clients and billings. So, given the environment and the fact that your creative team is probably feeling a little displaced -- how do you keep your creatives on target? An ad agency creative brief is one way to get the ball rolling. First let me say this -- many creative professionals in the agency business get it.  They understand that their job is to help the client's cash register ring and that creative for awards, for pride or for cool just doesn't cut it.  But even the best of them can get off target.  To be fair -- sometimes the creatives aren't on target because the account team set them up to fail. Bad (or no) creative briefs Unreasonable timelines Unclear deliverables, details or wishy washy facts Regardless of the specifics -- it's incredibly costly (time, money and morale) to have the creative team work hard on something only to have the account team say it's so off target that we can't show the client. Ideally the entire agency should be constantly screening work as it evolves to make sure it's on strategy and going to be well received by the client.  It doesn't mean they have to buy it -- but they do have to feel like their money was well spent when they pay you for the development. No matter [...]

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Hey Agency Owner — are you mentoring for growth?

Agency owners are really good at a lot of things.  Unfortunately, mentoring employees for growth is often not one of them. I get it -- you want self starters. You don't have time to micromanage people. You want someone who can think/behave like an owner. You know how you get employees like that? You create them. You hire smart people and then you teach them how to drive your agency's growth, your client's confidence and your AGI.  None of that happens by accident. It's why you should be spending 20% of your time actively mentoring your team.  So what does that look like? Everyone on your staff should have a weekly (yes weekly) one on one meeting with their supervisor. So as an agency owner -- you'd meet with your direct reports weekly.  Here's what mentoring employees should look like: The employee owns the meeting.  They schedule it and re-schedule it if necessary.  If you're traveling -- do it by phone or Skype.  The employee is expected to come to the meeting prepared.  Use a form that outlines how the conversation should go -- and they should have it completed in advance and bring you a copy and one for themselves.  (Email me if you want to see a sample) The meeting is 20-30 minutes long and focuses on quarterly goals and big picture progress -- not a traffic meeting.  This is their opportunity to pick your brain, run ideas past you, and get your feedback.  It's your opportunity to coach, ask tough questions and encourage them. This aligned beautifully with the EOS process or any system where you as an agency, department or individual are working on quarterly goals. This is your chance to hold [...]

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2015 Salary survey results tell an interesting story

Business trends including changes in salaries and benefits can make or break an agency’s profitability from one year to the next. That’s why we conduct a comprehensive annual salary and benefits survey and we’ve just wrapped up our 2015 edition (you can buy the 40-page final report here). The results are quite insightful.   First a few facts about the respondents: 1,537 respondents Agency size ranged from 1 employee to over 150 employees All regions of the US and Canada were represented although there were not enough Canadian responses for statistical validity Salary Observations: Most salaries either held steady or rose in the 2015 results. One area that that saw its salary range decline or at best, hold steady was the CEOs salary. As agency salaries increase and the ability to increase billable rates or project pricing has not – it appears as though some CEOs are robbing from themselves to increase the pay of their key employees. The media department also took a hit in some cases. This may suggest that as agencies buy less traditional media (it seems like agencies are either specializing in this or hiring it out more and more) they are trimming some of their more expensive employees and keeping those middle-income team members. Copywriters and content writers also saw a healthy increase in salaries, ranging from 5-10%. Interestingly art directors and graphic designers did not see that same kind of increase; in fact in most categories they stayed steady with their 2014 salaries. The most significant increases came in the digital departments, with programmers leading the way. The average increase in this department was 10+% over the 2014 salaries. Benefits Observations: Clearly, agencies value their employees and try very [...]

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Hey agency owner — remember monkey see, monkey do

One of the first lessons that I learned as a Dad is that while my words mattered, my actions trumped those words every time. My daughter watched every choice, every action and inaction, every moment – and whether I liked it or not, mimicked me. The realization that I was a constant learning lab actually trained me to make some different choices, like wearing a seat belt which I’d never done consistently, simply because I wanted to model that behavior (and because she was a nag about it!) This same truth holds true in your agency and in creating an “Agency Management System” within your shop. Your employees, the ones who are the carriers of your brand’s spirit to your clients, vendors and prospects, observe you every day. We think of our brand as a logo or tagline but our agency brand comes alive in our words and actions, both internally and with our clients. Are you consciously modeling the behavior that you’d like to see your team adopt? Whether you like it or not – your actions will be reflected in every interaction your employees have. Is that good news or not so much? How do you talk about your customers? Even your agency's best clients can be frustrating sometimes. Maybe they’re being unusually indecisive or making a million little changes that are going to push you off budget. Or, they might be under a lot of pressure from their boss and you’re bearing the brunt of that situation. When that happens – how do you sound? Do you grumble about them or do you help your employees remember that this is the person who helps all of you pay your mortgages? How do [...]

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The Agency Owner’s Job Description

Here’s the ad agency structure kernel of truth you’ve been denying for too long. You can’t own/run a successful, scaleable agency and still be in the weeds of client work. You just can’t do it. I work with 200+ agencies a year and whether they’re small (1-15 people) or large independently owned agencies (100+ people) — if the owner is still servicing clients, they’re not servicing the agency. If you were hit by a bus or abducted by aliens, ideally your agency would carry on.  If your absence would dramatically change your agency’s monthly AGI, then congratulations — you just created company so you could be a day laborer. You simply traded one job/boss for another job/boss. And I’m betting your current boss makes you work worse hours for worse pay. What a jerk, right? Actually you're right. You shouldn’t tolerate that life anymore. Not only is it a lousy job for lousy pay but you can’t grow your business because you’re the bottleneck. The sticking point. The black hole where ideas and innovation go to die because you don’t have the time to think them through or execute them. If you are working in the business, you aren’t working on the business. Which means your agency will not scale/grow and no one will want to buy it because you’re too integrally involved. And if all of that's true -- why in the world would you take the risk, the pressure, the heartburn, and the worry? Just go get a job. So what should you be doing with your time? Here’s how a strong agency owner should be spending his/her time (roughly) every week. This is your agency owner's job description. Granted this is ideal [...]

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