Running a successful agency is no easy feat. Outsourcing tasks is often the best way to keep things under control. With a ton of work and clients to deal with, one can easily get overwhelmed without help and an effective system in place.  When you’re an agency business owner, time is always of the essence. You want to cover all your responsibilities to build and maintain a great reputation. Unfortunately, there isn’t always enough time. As much as you want to grow your business and get more clients, minor tasks can keep you from doing it. Tasks such as scheduling client calls or responding to emails can take a lot of time. Though they are considered significant to your business, there are more valuable tasks that require your attention. You can make better use of your time growing the business and doing your “CEO” responsibilities. One of the more effective ways of doing this is to start outsourcing tasks that you don't need to do yourself. While business owners tend to want to make everything perfect, you need to be smarter than that. You need to start taking minor tasks off your plate so you can focus on the more important ones.   That being said, below are three ways you can use the power of delegation by outsourcing tasks so you can become a more efficient leader.  Getting leads through social media There’s no question that social media has become a very powerful tool. Gone are the days when social media was merely about “reconnecting with old friends.” Instead, it has now become a marketing powerhouse, allowing businesses to reach more people and connect with them as no other medium has done before. It’s not [...]

I’ve never met an agency owner who doesn’t find the job a bit lonely sometimes. Most of us grew up in the agency business and we’re used to having at least a portion of our social life stem from our co-workers. As our careers advanced, we were probably in the inner circle but it was definitely a circle so you had people to talk to, confide in, and bounce ideas off of when the &^%# hits the fan. But now that you own the joint, it’s not quite the same. You know and think about things that really shouldn’t be shared with anyone (or too many someones) and who your confidants are can have huge consequences — good or bad. In our work with agencies, we sit around the table with a lot of leadership teams. Here are some of the skills/traits that I think are mandatory if you’re going to give someone the privilege/responsibility of one of those seats: They can keep their mouth shut (you’d think this was a given but we all know better) They can step outside their departmental or day-to-day role to care about the agency as a whole They have mastered the ability to be “kind but clearly candid” with you, the boss and don’t pull punches They’re comfortable not knowing or with uncertainty (if they are fretters — you have trouble) They’re hungry to keep learning Naturally, there are more but those are some biggies. Miss one or more of them and, next thing you know, you’re confiding in the wrong people. By the way — hopefully, it goes without saying that age, title or years in the business don’t always guarantee that those traits are present. I [...]

RFPs are costly. As calculated investments, they may have great ROI, but on the whole, they waste resources. Some agencies have gotten to the point where they refuse to participate in the RFP process altogether. On the other end of the spectrum, some agencies get excited just to receive an RFP, submitting each one that comes their way. Which approach is right for you? Probably neither, and definitely not the latter. Despite the drawbacks of the RFP process, it’s unlikely to die anytime soon, and it remains the pathway to doing business with many brands. For most agencies, it makes sense to include some RFPs in their new business generation mix. The question is: what is the smartest way for your agency to approach RFPs? It pays to be picky. A lot of introspection and qualification should go into your evaluation of an RFP opportunity, just to determine if it’s worth your time. If you are unlikely to win it (or worse, if the prospect isn’t a good fit), what is the value in pursuing it? Exercise your right to say “no.” There is a lot of power in rejecting opportunities that are not worth your time; in being selective. Pursuing fewer, better-matched opportunities (instead of more, poorly-vetted ones) will lead to better outcomes. One of the dangers of RFP evaluation is a thing called “hope-ium.” That’s where you gloss over the red flags that tell you not to respond to the RFP because you are singularly focused on what it would mean for your agency to win the business. When you are thinking about how much you want to win the account, you aren’t focused on how likely it is for you to win [...]

You had a great conversation with your prospect.  Maybe even a few conversations. Emails flew back and forth.  You had done your research, figured out their challenges, and developed solid solutions.  You had shown the ROI that would come when they bought from you. It was going great. Or so you thought. Because one day they just weren’t there anymore.  Emails didn’t get returned, phone calls always went to voicemail, and your letters were sent back marked “return to sender.”  (OK, maybe not that last one.) But you had to accept the fact: You had been ghosted. The Pain of Getting Ghosted The term ghosting comes from the dating world when someone abruptly cuts off communication without warning or explanation.  Usually, it stems from one partner trying to leave the relationship without conflict or having to deal with the negative repercussions. And now the practice has infiltrated the business world as well.  Instead of telling salespeople or potential professional partners “no”, prospects cut off communication and become impossible to reach. This isn’t the same problem as when you are first reaching out to a prospect.  That has always been a challenge and will remain so. Ghosting is different because it happens once the conversation has already started.  And not only has the conversation started, it’s usually going well. There can be multiple phone calls and emails where the prospect is excited, and it seems like there is a legitimate chance to move business forward. That’s why getting ghosted hurts on both a business and person level.  It’s a surprise that doesn’t seem to make sense. Everything is going smoothly and then radio silence. Why Do Prospects Ghost You? Here’s the biggest challenge for salespeople when [...]

News outlets have been warning of a potential recession for a while now, and it’s no secret that marketing services are often the first items to go in the event of a recession. In 2009, the last year of the Great Recession, United States advertising spend fell by 12%, while it plummeted 9% globally. What’s more, a February 2019 survey of CMOs revealed that most CMOs are “on the fence” about the U.S. economy. So what can agency leaders do to prepare for a recession properly? Based on interactions AMI has had with our partner agencies, we have identified these top four trends that may affect how your agency prepares for the future. I recently contributed this article to SpinSucks.com discussing some steps agency leaders can take to prepare for another recession. I hope it provides some valuable insights into how to run a more productive agency, and I look forward to hearing your feedback on it!