As agency owners, the work environments we create are a direct reflection of our leadership styles. In a trust-led environment, our people should feel safe to speak up, take risks, and take ownership of the work they produce. Trust is the cornerstone for strong communication, creativity, and the innovation that fuels our business. So, what happens when trust isn’t part of the equation? Our guest for this episode of Build a Better Agency, Sue Dyer, is an expert on all things leadership. She wrote the book on trusted leadership (literally) and has seen firsthand how teams and even entire agencies tend to fall apart when the people at the helm aren’t leading with trust.

During our conversation, Sue and I unpack what it means to be a trusted leader, how agency owners can determine their leadership style, and what it takes to build successful organizations based on trust.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• What it means to be a trusted agency leader
• Why trust is the cornerstone of success for any business
• How to create a high-trust environment at your agency
• Ways to help new team members adapt to a trusted environment
• Why “fear-led” environments have wiped out so many businesses
• How to determine whether or not you are a trusted leader
• What to do in order to start becoming a trusted leader

Whether we realize it or not, artificial intelligence (AI) has already impacted countless aspects of our everyday lives. And as the technology we rely on continues to adapt and change, those changes will inevitably shape the future of our businesses, our industry, and our society. As agency owners, it’s our job to stay ahead of those changes — even if the thought of an AI-driven agency is, understandably, a little intimidating. Our guest on this episode of Build a Better Agency, Paul Roetzer, is not only an expert on all things AI, but he’s also someone who is dedicated to helping agency owners and other industry professionals. Paul teaches those agency owners and industry professionals how to pilot and scale AI technology so they can use it to drive efficiency, growth, and creativity for their business.

During our enlightening conversation, Paul demystifies the fascinating realities of artificial intelligence by walking us through what it really is, how AI agency tools can help make us better at our jobs, and why shaping the future of marketing starts with understanding how to use AI platforms, programs, and services responsibly.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• How artificial intelligence will — and already is — shaping the future of agency tools
• Why AI is NOT here to take your job
• Where you’re already seeing AI in your everyday life, and where you WILL see it in marketing in the marketing world
• What AI technology can do to help you make your agency smarter right now
• Why Paul says that you don’t need to go shopping for AI tools — and what to do instead
• How AI agency tools can be used to drive efficiency and growth for your business
• What Paul believes a “Next Gen” agency looks like — and how to become one

As agency partners, we have access to an insane amount of backend data and insights into our clients’ business. Now what? How can we use all of that data to build momentum in our clients’ revenue pipelines and translate those insights for them so that they can make the case when they’re at the table with the decision-makers on their team? On this episode of Build a Better Agency, we’re joined by CRM and sales expert Eric Stockton, VP of Demand Generation at SharpSpring. Eric gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the industry-wide shift in focus from outbound marketing to inbound lead generation. We talk about what this means for agencies and how we can help our clients adjust to a “quality over quantity” mindset — without freaking them out.

Eric is a past keynote speaker at a series of marketing-related trade shows, including MarketingSherpa events, eCommerce Retail Executive Summit, Email Summit, B2B Demand Generation Summit, ContentBiz, MarketingExperiements virtual events, and Affiliate Summit.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• Why the industry is shifting its focus from outbound to inbound leads — and what that means for agencies
• How to help our clients make that shift without freaking out
• Why focusing on quality over quantity does NOT mean you’ll be getting fewer leads
• What Eric means when he tells his clients to focus on their “North Star” metrics
• Whether or not the “quality game” is truly sustainable
• Ways we as agency partners can help clients divorce themselves from metrics they don’t — or shouldn’t — care about

How does your agency show up in the world? As agency owners, we have a responsibility to know what’s going on — with our business, our employees, and our clients. There’s a lot going on in the world, and understanding how these things affect the worldviews of others in our space is the first step in deepening our agency relationships, elevating our business, and making sure we go beyond the “one-word” values our industry seems to be riddled with. In this episode of Build a Better Agency, Karley Cunningham of Big Bold Brand joins me to talk about ways agencies can actually implement their mission, vision, and values into their processes in order to leverage them as strategic branding tools. She also offers expert insights into identifying the worldviews of the audiences who matter most to you, knowing when to take a stance on the important issues, and what to do when your worldviews no longer align with those of your clients.

Brand Strategist and Business Growth Accelerator Karley Cunningham takes businesses from overcrowded, competitive spaces out into blue ocean territory where they can confidently stand out and thrive as brand leaders in their sector.

Having built three successful businesses, Karley knows what it takes to start, develop and lead a company that delivers results. Her entrepreneurial success story is featured in the awarded book: The Widest Net by Pamela Slim. In addition, she’s a sought-after mentor and speaker for national and international business organizations and the host of The Made Possible Podcast.

Believing deeply in the practice of givers gain, she is well-known and networked and rarely goes a day without making a referral or connection. As a former pro athlete, Karley is performance-driven. An avid mountain athlete, she is a two-time finisher of the BC Bike Race, a seven-day, 325 km mountain bike stage race, and is always looking out for her next trail running adventure. When not focusing on the business or expanding her network, she can be found somewhere in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest with her wife and dog in their 4×4.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• How to proactively influence the way your agency shows up in the world
• Why it’s important to understand our client’s worldviews, how they align with our own, and what that means for our business
• Ways to implement your mission, vision, and values as strategic branding tools
• How to accelerate your business, improve employee retention, and deepen client relationships by taking your mission, vision, and values “off of the page”
• When it’s important to take a stance on important issues, and how to start those conversions with clients
• What your consumers want to know about where you stand
• How to identify and align the worldviews of the audiences who matter most to you

One of the unfortunate truths of our business is that as agency owners, we are almost never in the driver’s seat when it comes to sales engagements. At the end of the day, we have no way to inspire, incent, cajole, bribe, or trick someone into buying agency services until they have a genuine need for them. But, with so much of our focus centered around not making an ask at the wrong time, it’s no surprise that so many of us are left with the same question — when CAN we sell?

In this episode of Build a Better Agency, we’re going to answer that question in a few different ways. First, we’re going to talk about what the “right time” to sell looks like not only for our prospects but also for existing clients and former clients. We’re also going to explore ways we as agency owners can accelerate the sales process (because yes, that’s a thing we can do), provide value to our prospects long before we’re in their consideration set, and use our positions of authority to grow our reputation and crush our business development goals — all without selling.

For 30+ years, Drew McLellan has been in the advertising industry. He started his career at Y&R, worked in boutique-sized agencies, and then started his own (which he still owns and runs) agency in 1995. Additionally, Drew owns and leads the Agency Management Institute, which advises hundreds of small to mid-sized agencies on how to grow their agency and its profitability through agency owner peer groups, consulting, coaching, workshops, and more.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• How agency owners can know whether or not it’s the right time to sell
• What the right time to sell looks like for your prospects, existing clients, and even for clients who’ve parted ways with your agency
• Why agency owners are not always in the driver’s seat when it comes to engaging business development opportunities — and why that’s ok
• How to ensure that you’re providing value to your prospects long before they’re on your radar
• What agency owners can do to accelerate the sales process
• The reason Drew says you shouldn’t try to sell until after you’ve been helpful
• How agencies are crushing their business development goals — without selling

Running an agency in a post-COVID world means growing more and more comfortable operating in a virtual environment. This collective shift in our industry has been happening for a while, but after navigating a global pandemic, agency owners have had to pivot more rapidly than in the past. As a result, agency owners are left wondering how they can genuinely connect with their prospects and invest in those relationships when the human aspect of interaction has shifted to a digital one. In this episode of Build a Better Agency, I talk with encore guest, Tom Martin. Tom is the Founder and CEO of Converse Digital, and he knows a thing or two about the collective shift into the digital world – a shift that isn’t going to reverse anytime soon. Tom and I discuss how sales strategies, pitches, and the dynamics of client interactions have been influenced by this digital shift.

You’ll probably be just as relieved as I was to hear Tom share why that shift, while uncomfortable for many of us, is actually a GOOD thing for agencies. We also delve into the importance of strategically creating your prospect lists and how you and your pitch teams can use social media, the internet, and other digital environments our clients rely on to your agency’s advantage. Tom gives expert advice on successfully attracting, building, and effectively selling agency relationships in a virtual world.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• What sales, prospecting, and effective agency relationships look like in a post-COVID world
• How Tom went from being “unemployable” to owning his own agency
• Why Tom emphasizes the importance of strategically attracting your prospects
• What it means for your pitch teams to “do their homework” — and why it’s usually the key to winning a sale
• How sales strategies and client relationships have adapted to an increasingly digital environment
• Why Tom believes that your prospects list is ultimately worthless if it’s impersonal
• How investing the time in getting to know your prospects will place you leaps and bounds over your competitors
• What it means to be a “conversation catalyst,” and how you and your pitch teams can use what Tom calls “social reconnaissance” to offer more value to your prospects
• Why the industry-wide shift to virtual sales and virtual relationships is actually a GOOD thing for agencies

Time sheets. Taxes. Annual reviews. There are some things we don’t love as agency owners and leaders. Cybersecurity and compliance are absolutely on that list. But much like taxes, it’s a necessary evil today. The risks are too great, and the reality is – our clients are going to demand it. We’re far better off to get out ahead of it before we’re asked. Even my guest, Nathan Maxwell, refers to cybersecurity and compliance as “necessary evils.” But, as the CEO of CCITeam, Nathan also knows better than anyone that in a world filled with data breaches, security risks, and unpredictable online attacks, avoidance simply isn’t an option. Nathan isn’t one to sugarcoat the daunting realities of implementing solid defenses, navigating cyber insurance options, or tending to the growing list of compliance concerns we’re all getting from our clients. But during our conversation, he reminds us that those processes, while painstaking at times, are never insurmountable. In fact, when we take the time to do these things the right way, our efforts won’t just make our companies safer — they’ll make them better.

Founded in 1995, CCITeam (formerly Communication Concepts, Inc.) is a full-service cyber security, compliance, and IT firm, headquartered in the US heartland. President and CEO, Nathan Maxwell saw an important unmet need for a quality IT and cyber security provider that treated their clients more like family, rather than just a ‘number’. With over twenty years of experience in enterprise-level corporations, Nathan founded CCITeam with four core principles; care, ownership, sharing knowledge, and loyalty. Each of these principles is what makes CCI one of the most trusted managed IT and security providers in the region.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• What effective cybersecurity looks like for agency operations — and why you should care
• The risks every business should be aware of (yes, small agencies too)
• How cybersecurity and compliance are the same, and also very different
• Why your policies need to match your practices and how to make sure they do
• How your employees can either strengthen your cyber defense…or be its greatest weakness
• What to do to protect your business from big risks — including the ones lurking in your inbox
• When to start shopping for cyber insurance and how to know how much you need
• The ROI for agencies who “do all of this right”

As agency owners, we tend to view sales as a necessary evil. Even when we love what we do, believe in how we do it, and have proof that we do it well, having to put on our “sales hats” can still feel, well, gross. But…maybe we’re going about getting those sales in the wrong way. Nobody likes sales…except for David Priemer. David loves sales. In fact, he loves sales so much that he opted to leave his non-sales background to deconstruct the traditional sales approach and develop his own methodology based on consumer science, research, and psychology.

David has built a wildly successful career around his methodology: Cerebral Selling. And lucky for us, he uses it to help other business owners revamp and rethink their sales process to make it more efficient, effective, and most importantly, more human. I’m so excited to share our conversation with you so that you can start loving sales too — even if you hate selling.

As the Founder and Chief Sales Scientist of Cerebral Selling, David’s unique science and empathy-based approaches to driving revenue and talent growth have been published in the Harvard Business Review as well as Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Inc. magazines. Often referred to as the “Sales Professor,” David is also the author of the Bestselling book, Sell The Way You Buy, and an Adjunct Lecturer at the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University and the London Business School.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• How to sell your business even if you absolutely hate sales
• What it means to “sell the way you buy”
• The biggest mistakes agency owners make when trying to sell their business
• How giving people the opportunity to say “no” can win you more “yesses”
• Why your CTAs might be scaring your customers away — and how to fix them
• The one thing that customers buy 100% of the time (yes, 100%)
• Why your sales pitches should be focused on problems, not solutions
• How taking the pressure to sell off of yourself will take the pressure off of your customers too — and why that’s a good thing for both of you

Like so many other business environments, our industry is one that is undeniably extroverted on the surface. Agency work is collaborative, relational, creative, and dynamic — all attributes that seem to be catered almost exclusively to extroverted individuals. So where does that leave our introverted counterparts? Monica Parkin, my guest for this episode, is not only an award-winning public speaker, an acclaimed author, and an engaging business leader; she’s also a total introvert (a title she wears with pride). Like so many, she used to think that gaining momentum in this industry as an introvert was an uphill battle — that is until she decided to flip those false assumptions right on their head. And now, she’s here to help us do the same.

Monica knows firsthand that introverts offer a host of hidden talents and superpowers that are invaluable for all agency teams, talents that are often overlooked or overpowered by the “louder” voices in the room. During our awesome conversation, she reveals what those superpowers are, how introverted individuals can harness their unique skills to find success without pretending to be someone they aren’t, and how agency leaders can create environments that allow the introverted voices within their own teams to rise above all the noise and truly shine.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• Why introverts are natural relationship-building masters
• How career paths look different for introverts and extroverts, but lead to the same level of success
• Tips, tricks, and tactics for introverts looking to magnify their ideas, form meaningful business relationships, and make their voices heard
• Why marketing “like an extrovert” simply doesn’t work for introverts — and why that’s ok
• How agency leaders can create environments that empower introverted talent to thrive
• Why introverts and extroverts are both invaluable agency resources
• How to create magic by mixing introverted and extroverted talent into your agency teams

Today, we’re delving into a topic that’s been on my mind, and on the minds of agency owners in general, for quite some time: employees.

No matter where you are or how big your agency is, staffing is a challenge for everyone right now. Every time the subject comes up during my conversations with agency owners, there are two frustrations in particular that bubble to the surface time and time again:

1. It is hard to find and attract qualified agency talent
2. It is hard to retain the qualified and talented people who already work for us

To tackle those frustrations, let’s explore several things agencies can do right now to counter the rival opportunities your current team members are being poached and approached with on any given day (and yes, it is happening.) We’re also going to get to the heart of what it takes for agencies to create an environment that is attractive to new employees, and a culture that makes your current team want to stick around — and not just for a year or so.

For 30+ years, Drew McLellan has been in the advertising industry. He started his career at Y&R, worked in boutique-sized agencies, and then started his own (which he still owns and runs) agency in 1995. Additionally, Drew owns and leads the Agency Management Institute, which advises hundreds of small to mid-sized agencies on how to grow their agency and its profitability through agency owner peer groups, consulting, coaching, workshops, and more.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• How agencies can attract new, qualified talent
• What it takes to keep your agency employees around for more than a year or two
• What agency employees are looking for in a great employer, and how to be one
• How to create an agency environment that is attractive to both new and current employees
• How to utilize other tools for retention instead of relying solely on wage increases
• Why you should be sharing your agency’s vision with your employees as often as possible
• The massive value career paths offer agency employees — and owners too
• The importance of cultivating your culture not for, but with your employees