From burnout to breakthrough!

Andrew and Kieron of "A Few Good People" reveal how shifting from time-based billing to value-based offerings is transforming the agency landscape.

With 40+ years of combined experience, we unpack the counterintuitive truths about client relationships that most service businesses miss.

Discover why "people-pleasing" destroys value, how a simple menu approach can boost profits by 17%, and why even creative agencies resist the very innovation they preach.

This masterclass in productisation isn't just theory, it's a roadmap for higher margins, happier clients, & more satisfied teams.

Plus: will AI accelerate this revolution or render it obsolete?

On the Docket:

• 00:00:00 - Introduction and discussion of service business challenges
• 00:05:21 - The evolution of advertising business models since the Mad Men era
• 00:15:46 - What prompted the founders to focus on productisation
• 00:19:04 - The restaurant menu analogy: why productisation creates better client experiences
• 00:23:43 - How to explain productisation to someone who's always used billable hours
• 00:27:23 - The language barrier between agencies and clients
• 00:32:00 - How a productised sales conversation differs from traditional approaches
• 00:37:42 - Case study: Transforming "aftercare" into "solution support"
• 00:50:00 - Common resistance to productisation and how to overcome it
• 01:06:40 - Addressing the objection that "you can't productise creativity"
• 01:13:36 - When a client is ready for productisation
• 01:21:22 - Misconceptions about product management
• 01:26:13 - Predictions for service businesses in the next decade

Key Points:

The fundamental misunderstanding in service businesses

"Being nice to someone is in some way encouraging them to be nice back... They try to keep their customers happy in ways that are detrimental to themselves, and they assume the customer notices, appreciates it, and will pay back that niceness."

Why people-pleasing doesn't work

"It's called people-pleasing, but what it's actually doing is behaving in a submissive sort of manner, which doesn't tend to generate long-term happy relationships."

The restaurant menu approach to offering services

"If you invert that to how a normal restaurant tends to work, it gives you a menu. It says proactively 'these are the things we've designed that we know we can do really well, would you like one?' This creates a positive customer experience but also means the kitchen has some ability to repeat things which makes them efficient."

The surprising outcomes of productisation

"Our relationship with them got better... The employees working on that client were also happier... The customer actually spent more in aggregate... We improved our margins from about 65 per cent to about 82 per cent - all whilst keeping the customer happier."

Why language clarity matters

"Most of the time the client is having a conversation with the agency and they think they're saying the same thing, and in reality it's different. I've even seen it to the extent where the customer believes they are buying a business transformation and the agency thinks they're delivering a website."

The shift away from time-based billing

"In the new model they didn't get to see any of that data, they just saw that a ticket got open and got closed in the timeline that we said it would be. We only now focused on things that didn't work... A relationship with them got significantly better because we were focused on the value we were delivering to the customer, not the amount of time taken."

Where to find Andrew & Kireon

AFGP: https://www.afewgoodpeople.co.uk/

Andrew Radley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-radley-6ab365/

Kieran McCann: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieronmccann/