Search results for: agency management

When I was early in my career, I measured my work environment on the people, parties and play.  Did we have a pop a shot? Darts tournaments were a plus and of course, the beer fridge.  But now, looking back on the agencies that employed me and even my own, my measuring stick is a little different. How much access to my boss did I have? Was there someone to kick ideas around with that didn’t squelch the creative process? Did I think my boss had a vision for where I would be in a year or five years? And was she or he open to talking with me about the possibilities? Agency owners, with a few noted exceptions, are some of the most generous, people first people I know.  They truly want to create amazing work environments where people can make a professional home for themselves.  They are proud when their team members grow and succeed. They have a very authentic affection for everyone in their shop.  But.  (You knew there was one coming, right?) But, I think all too often, agency owners see their employees as a collective they need to satisfy. While there is some truth to that, unfortunately I think some leaders stop there.  If the team is happy, all is good.  But inside that team are individuals who are hungry for you to go deeper and focus on just them.   When we surveyed almost 1,000 agency employees in our Agency Edge research series, the top two reasons why an employee would stay at their current agency were: I am given opportunities to keep learning/growing in my skills I have a career path that clearly outlines where I am going and [...]

Accurate prospective client intel, in the hands of a skilled business development team virtually guarantees a successful outcome. But clients today prefer to remain invisible, talking to Google instead of your agency directly. That's why successful agencies are leveraging the power of Content Marketing, Marketing Automation/Website Tracking Software and 2nd-Click Content to focus their business development efforts on truly qualified leads. Finding Today's Invisible Clients Requires A New Business Development Approach Once upon a time, agencies treated information about their approach to marketing as sacred. After all, information was power — it differentiated them from the competition. That’s why so many agencies created “proprietary” approaches and some went so far as to name and even trademark them.  Agencies believed that if they could force prospects to call and talk to a member of the agency team one on one, the agency could control the prospecting experience by carefully disseminating information in a way that would convince the prospective client to ultimately hire the agency or at least invite them to a pitch.  But, agencies, we have to abandon that point of view to stay competitive in the modern age of The Invisible Pitch. That systematic hoarding of information made sense once upon a time, but it’s totally obsolete in the search engine age, self-educating client age. Research shows that over 70% of these clients turn to Google or another search engine to begin their next agency search and they are more than 50% of the way through their hiring decision before they ever make contact with any agency.  But all is not lost. This new DIY agency search approach is actually a huge opportunity for smart agencies looking to replace their RFP habit with a [...]

I’m a huge baseball fan and one of the more interesting aspects of the game for me is watching how teams manage their roster.  They only have 32 spots- 20 position players and 12 pitchers.  They have to play over 160 games with that small set of players on the team.  They can’t afford for any of them to be in a slump for too long. If a player isn’t helping the team, they don’t stay on the roster for too long. They have to win with the team they have, so they can’t really tolerate a player who isn’t contributing in a significant way.  They can’t just add more people to make up for someone’s deficiency, so they’re forced to deal with sub par performances in short order. Unfortunately, our agencies don’t have a player cap.  Which means we often tolerate too many games where someone on the team isn’t holding up their end of the bargain and the team suffers a loss as a result.  I am working with a couple agencies right now who are dealing with the toughest thing I think an agency owner can face.  Wrong people in the wrong seats.  If you’re a small to mid-sized agency, you have no wiggle room when it comes to your team.  Everyone has to be an A or at worst, a B player if you are going to survive, let alone thrive. In this instance, I am not talking about having to lay people off (which also sucks) but I’m talking about coming to the painful realization that you hired someone to do a job they are not capable of doing.  Odds are you and the team have been working around this [...]

I’m super excited (also relieved, fatigued and so over it as anyone who has written a book will tell you) to introduce you to my latest book, which I wrote with agency owner and AMI member Stephen Woessner called Sell With Authority. The premise of the book is simple — it’s written exclusively for agencies and acknowledges that if your agency’s future is tied to making stuff, then you’re destined to be on a perpetual financial roller coaster. Someone will always make stuff less expensively than you can. We’re entering the era of the authority. While you may already be sick of the phrase thought leader, the truth is there aren’t that many of them in our industry. Thought leaders don’t write content that any other agency could claim. Thought leaders don’t write about anything and everything and thought leaders don’t compete on price. And their time is now. Experts are afforded the highest level of confidence and trust because they have a depth of knowledge that can’t be denied or easily replicated. Why wouldn’t we capitalize on that, as opposed to writing generic marketing tip posts that look like every other agency’s content? Agencies are at the cusp of a huge shift, and if you take full advantage now, you’re going to be tough to catch. You can own an authority position that will future-proof your agency. You’re going to be hearing more about some incredible research data that delivers proof that our  clients are seeking an agency with a deep expertise and when they find one — their relationship lasts longer and is more fruitful for both parties. The question is — are you ready to see your agency through this lens? Are [...]

I am a huge fan of doing one on ones with your team member.s. I outlined the strategy and benefits in an early podcast that might be worth a listen. The very first question that should be covered in every one on one is what is your quarterly growth goal and how are you going to accomplish it? It’s a powerful way for your employees to feel as though you are investing in their growth and care about helping them carve out their career path. From your leadership perspective, it gives you the opportunity to add new skills and knowledge to the team and to help your employees understand that they have to keep getting better — no matter how long they’ve been in the business. That, my friend, also applies to you. Many of us have been in the agency business for our entire careers and that probably means decades, not days. What are your growth goals? One of the patterns I see among the AMI agencies is that the most profitable agencies have leaders who still love to learn and set some impressive goals for themselves. No matter how long they’ve been doing this work. They take classes to improve their presentation skills. They get google certified so they can talk more intelligently. They surround themselves with other owners to learn about best practices, hacks, and industry trends. It’s incredibly easy to get stale in our world. It’s our job to stay relevant and it’s tough to do if we are not experimenting and evolving along the way. If you want your employees to keep evolving so they add more value — set the example and show them how its done. It will [...]