Agency Blueprint

Running an agency can be stressful and overwhelming. After all, there are so many moving parts involved that even making a simple decision becomes difficult. Fortunately, there is a way to help mitigate the anxiety you may have around making a decision. And it lies in my favorite topic: data. 

In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I talk about how data can give agency owners peace of mind when making decisions about their agency's future. I also share some of my own decision-making experiences, as well as those that I've gone through with clients. To find out how you can ensure you’ll make the right decisions for your agency, jump right into the podcast!

The Key Questions:

• How can data help you make the right decisions? (9:07)
• What should every agency owner know about tracking data? (11:24)
• How can you find your ideal client profile? (12:57)

What You'll Discover:

• What every agency owner needs to do before making a decision (5:02)
• My personal experience of managing decision-making anxiety (6:02)
• A real-life case study that shows how data helps with decision-making (11:57)

Episode Links and Resources: 

• 00:14 To Download Your Free Copy of The International Best Selling Book "The Agency Blueprint" just click this link
• 1:08 How Failing to Track Data Had Negative Consequences for a Creative Agency (And How Data is King for Your Agency)
• 6:10 CRM, Hubspot and other powerful sales tools.
• 12:04 Agency Service Offering
• 13:30 Find your ideal client profile through the Agency Analyzer Guide
• 15:17 email [email protected] to know more about the specific data you need to track
• 15:58 CreativeAgencySuccess.com

Free Copy of The Practical Agency Book.

Real Life Agency Success Stories

Weekly agency tactics YouTube Channel

Profitability Accelerator Call - If you're looking to make a change today schedule your profitability accelerator call to define what is possible for your agency in the next 90 days.

Have you ever worked hard on a project… only to find out that you weren’t profitable or that you made very little money? No agency owner wants to work for months on end, only to receive financial reports that show they are not doing well. Unfortunately, it happens a lot.

In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I talk about the importance of reporting and the different types of reporting you should be doing in your agency. I also give insight into how you can see what’s going on across your agency without being directly involved. So, if you want to sleep well at night knowing your agency is functioning well, jump right into the podcast!

The Key Questions:

• What is the first thing agency owners need to do before setting up a reporting system? (2:30)
• Why is it important that information gets into the right people’s hands? (6:43)
• What are the different types of reporting? (10:29)

What You’ll Discover:

• The simple method I use for easily figuring out which metrics to focus on (7:45)
• What agency owners should be looking at from a sales and marketing perspective (10:30)
• The top metrics to consider when creating a financial report (15:54)

Episode Links and Resources: 

• 00:14 To Download Your Free Copy of The International Best Selling Book "The Agency Blueprint" just click this link
• 00:31 Busy doesn’t mean productive. Why is your hard work not profitable?
• 2:30 How to identify the reports you need before setting up a reporting system.
• 6:43 Why it’s important that information gets into the hands of the right people. The Power of a Team!
• 10:30 What you should be looking at in a Sales Marketing Report 
• 15:54 The Most Important Financial Metrics and Reports You Should Be Looking At
• 18:34 CreativeAgencySuccess.com

Free Copy of The Practical Agency Book.

Real Life Agency Success Stories

Weekly agency tactics YouTube Channel

Profitability Accelerator Call - If you're looking to make a change today schedule your profitability accelerator call to define what is possible for your agency in the next 90 days.

KPIs and reporting data are fundamental to business management. If you and the rest of your team are not measuring your respective KPIs correctly, you are setting your agency up for failure. 

In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I talk about KPIs – why they are important, which KPIs you should measure to match your business and agency type, and why KPI data should be accessible to managers and your agency’s middle management. So if you want to learn how to take your agency to the next level, jump right into the podcast!

The Key Questions:

• Why is it important to know which KPIs to measure? (2:22)
• How does measuring KPIs affect an agency owner's ability to know what's going on in their business? (7:19) 
• What are financial KPIs? (5:45) 

What You'll Discover:

• Why you shouldn’t measure KPIs for the sake of measuring (1:27)
• The relationship between the KPIs you report and the type of industry you are in (2:03)
• Why agency owners should focus on project management (9:45)

Episode Links and Resouces: 

• 00:14 To Download Your Free Copy of The International Best Selling Book "The Agency Blueprint" just click this link
• 2:21 Why choosing the right KPIs to measure for your sub-niche agency is extremely important.
• 5:22 Primary KPI Pillars and how Financial KPIs fit into your agency.
• 8:25 The Agency That Achieved 100% On-Time Completion With KPIs (And How to Use KPIs to Leverage Your Team)
• 15:13 Microsoft Power BI: An Incredibly Powerful Tool
• 17:19 CreativeAgencySuccess.com

Free Copy of The Practical Agency Book.

Real Life Agency Success Stories

Weekly agency tactics YouTube Channel

Profitability Accelerator Call - If you're looking to make a change today schedule your profitability accelerator call to define what is possible for your agency in the next 90 days.

It can be incredibly daunting to scale your agency. Fortunately, there are ways to make it happen without making you feel that it’s intensive. To increase your agency’s sales operations, you need to start paying attention to the sales input and output metrics.

That’s why in this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I talk about the importance of sales inputs and output metrics and how they affect each other. I also give you a detailed example showing that it's possible to boost your agency's revenue without increasing costs. Tune in to discover how you can scale your marketing and sales operations and get some fantastic wins.

The Key Questions:

• What is the difference between sales inputs and output metrics? (0:51)
• What are the key factors that agencies need to consider when increasing or scaling sales operations? (2:00)
• How can agencies improve the lead qualification process? (10:10)

What You'll Discover:

• The importance of understanding the difference between sales inputs and output metrics and how they affect each other (1:27)
• Why agencies should be clear about who they are and how they can help prospects (6:40)
• Why you should listen to your potential clients and pay attention to their interaction at each stage in the funnel (11:22)

Episode Links and Resources: 

• 00:14 To Download Your Free Copy of The International Best Selling Book "The Agency Blueprint" just click this link
• 1:31 Why it’s important to understand your sales metrics.
• 6:46 How to generate better leads, better prospects, and better clients.
• 11:36 How listening to your clients and building connection is key to profitability. 
• 13:02 CreativeAgencySuccess.com

Free Copy of The Practical Agency Book.

Real Life Agency Success Stories

Weekly agency tactics YouTube Channel

Profitability Accelerator Call - If you're looking to make a change today schedule your profitability accelerator call to define what is possible for your agency in the next 90 days.

Many agencies start out with a lot of freelancers on their teams due to the perceived benefits. To start with, you don't have to be so involved in client work. You can also scale up and down as needed. However, there are also pitfalls to hiring freelancers, especially when an agency starts to grow.  

In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I talk about the differences between hiring freelancers and offshoring. I also provide insight into what every agency owner needs to consider before deciding to work with freelancers. Tune in to discover how you should pick your team to ensure you're setting up your agency for success.  

The Key Questions: 

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of working with freelancers? (0:20) 
• What are the differences between freelancers and offshore team members? (8:18) 
• What is the #1 thing agencies must keep in mind when hiring offshore workers? (9:57) 

What You'll Discover: 

• How to work effectively with freelancers (3:11) 
• The #1 benefit to working with an offshore or nearshore team (10:49) 
• A case study demonstrating the financial impacts of working with freelancers versus a nearshoring team (11:32) 

Episode Links and Resources: 

• 00:14 To Download Your Free Copy of The International Best Selling Book "The Agency Blueprint" just click this link
• 1:26 Freelancing: is this a bad thing?
• 8:18 The key differences between freelancing and offshoring. 
• 10:49 #1 Reason why you should work with an offshore team and how to overcome the barriers to offshoring.
• 13:37 CreativeAgencySuccess.com

Free Copy of The Practical Agency Book.

Real Life Agency Success Stories

Weekly agency tactics YouTube Channel

Profitability Accelerator Call - If you're looking to make a change today schedule your profitability accelerator call to define what is possible for your agency in the next 90 days.

Every agency owner wants to increase the number of clients they are working with. After all, greater profitability is the overall goal. But how do you go about doing that? The answer lies in the information that is available to you.

In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I discuss why gathering information and communication are the cornerstones for a successful agency. I also share four tools to help you gather, present, and communicate information across your teams. If you'd like to learn some tips to improve communication and sales reporting in your agency, jump right into the podcast!

The Key Questions:

• What is the clear distinction between marketing and sales? (0:38)
• Why should there be clear communication between your marketing and sales team if you have segmented teams? (1:47)
• What are the most important KPIs to consider? (2:35)

What You'll Discover:

• Four tools that will help you gather, present, and communicate information (2:35)
• The important role a CRM plays in managing your sales operations (5:18)
• Why listening to your clients' questions is critical during the sales conversation (11:12)

Episode Links and Resources: 

• 00:14 To Download Your Free Copy of The International Best Selling Book "The Agency Blueprint" just click this link
• 2:35 Important KPIs in Sales
• 5:18 How to Manage Your Sales Operations
• 8:03 The Comfort That Data Brings
• 9:02 Power BI
• 13:52 CreativeAgencySuccess.com

Free Copy of The Practical Agency Book.

Real Life Agency Success Stories

Weekly agency tactics YouTube Channel

Profitability Accelerator Call - If you're looking to make a change today schedule your profitability accelerator call to define what is possible for your agency in the next 90 days.

70% of agencies average getting between one to three new clients per month. There are lots of different components that feed into that number, such as generating leads, establishing urgency, and price. But one of the most important components that’s missed is a long sales cycle.

In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I talk about why you need to consider your agency's sales cycle when planning and projecting your revenue. I also provide insight into what it's like to work with enterprise-sized companies versus small-to-medium-sized companies. Tune in to discover how you should pick your clients so that you're setting up your agency for success. 

The Key Questions:

• What should agencies consider before working with an enterprise-sized business? (2:53)
• What is the number question every agency should ask themselves before choosing a client? (7:10)
• What is the typical sales cycle when you work with enterprise-sized businesses? (7:41)

What You'll Discover:

• All the hurdles you need to get through when you work with an enterprise-sized business (3:36)
• The advantages of working with small-to-medium companies (7:56)
• How the clients you work with have a significant impact on your agency's sales cycle. (11:02)

Episode Links and Resources: 

• 00:14 To Download Your Free Copy of The International Best Selling Book "The Agency Blueprint" just click this link
• 2:18 What Leads to Long Sales Cycles (And What You Can do to Mitigate the Issue)
• 7:10 What You Should Do Before and During Sales Calls
• 12:30 CreativeAgencySuccess.com

Free Copy of The Practical Agency Book.

Real Life Agency Success Stories

Weekly agency tactics YouTube Channel

Profitability Accelerator Call - If you're looking to make a change today schedule your profitability accelerator call to define what is possible for your agency in the next 90 days.

Utilizing analytical data is prime to finding new paths from new insights using historical data.  

In this episode, Robert Patin talks about how you can discover actionable insights using your agency’s existing data to help you make informed decisions based on data.  

Data-driven decisions that will ultimately scale your business in ways you were not able to in the past. 

Episode Links and Resources: 

• 00:14 To Download Your Free Copy of The International Best Selling Book "The Agency Blueprint" just click this link
• 1:08 The Comfort That Data Brings
• 8:25 Agency Analyzer
• 10:11 Tips to Improve Your Agency's Client Retention and Keep a Solid Cash Flow
• 15:44 Why Your Agency Needs KPIs (And the Three Ways Of Implementing Them Into Your Business)
• 18:12 CreativeAgencySuccess.com

Free Copy of The Practical Agency Book.

Real Life Agency Success Stories

Weekly agency tactics YouTube Channel

Profitability Accelerator Call - If you're looking to make a change today schedule your profitability accelerator call to define what is possible for your agency in the next 90 days.

Building long-term, exceptional value client relationships is pivotal to your agency's success. 

Establishing these relationships can often prove difficult, mainly when negative client behaviors drive the working relationship.  

In this episode, Robert Patin shares valuable advice for agency owners to position the dynamic of the agency-client relationship in a way that works with and not against the goal. 

Episode Links and Resources: 

• 00:14 To Download Your Free Copy of The International Best Selling Book "The Agency Blueprint" just click this link
• 1:24 Positioning Your Value to Clients the Right Way
• 7:16 Getting the Price Right with Sara Dunn
• 11:13 What makes clients happy?
• 13:23 CreativeAgencySuccess.com

Free Copy of The Practical Agency Book.

Real Life Agency Success Stories

Weekly agency tactics YouTube Channel

Profitability Accelerator Call - If you're looking to make a change today schedule your profitability accelerator call to define what is possible for your agency in the next 90 days.

In this episode, Robert Patin speaks with Charlotte Maldri, founder of Kafeen. Charlotte helps design agencies to create and implement marketing activities that generate new business. 

Both share valuable expert insights for marketing strategies that give agencies bulletproof tools to power agencies to the next level. 

Here are a couple of good reads by Kafeen. 

How to win new business when you can't show your client work 

How to get data when your client won’t cooperate. 

38 Results To Ask Your Client For When Writing An Effectiveness Award Entry 

Episode Links and Resources: 

• 00:14 To Download Your Free Copy of The International Best Selling Book "The Agency Blueprint" just click this link
• 00:23 Kafeen
• 1:03 The Importance of Selecting a Niche
• 18:21 How to get data when your client won’t cooperate.
• 19:42 How to win new business when you can't show your client work.
• 26:01 38 Results To Ask Your Client For When Writing An Effectiveness Award Entry
• 34:23 Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
• 38:13 FREE Agency Marketing Mini Course for Agency Blueprint Listeners. Reach out to Charlotte Ellis Maldari to avail: [email protected]
• 38:42 CreativeAgencySuccess.com
• Charlotte Maldari LinkedIn
• Kafeen Facebook
• Kafeen Instagram
• Kafeen Espresso Podcast

Free Copy of The Practical Agency Book.

Real Life Agency Success Stories

Weekly agency tactics YouTube Channel

Profitability Accelerator Call - If you're looking to make a change today schedule your profitability accelerator call to define what is possible for your agency in the next 90 days.