Sell With Authority

When I sit down with agency owners and their teams for the first time, our conversations often revolve around the same themes — where new clients are coming from, how engaged their email lists are, and the consistency (or lack thereof) in sharing valuable content to grow their audiences.

And without fail — I hear something along these lines:

"We're the cobbler's kids, Stephen. We know what we should be doing, and ironically, we're doing that work for our clients. But when it comes to our own agency, we either drop the ball entirely or we're consistently inconsistent."

Sound familiar?

Being consistently inconsistent is not just costing you opportunities — it's costing you peace of mind. Having a predictable biz dev system in place can provide a sense of stability that's priceless.

We often talk about the Sell with Authority methodology — and how it can solve these issues.

But for this episode of the podcast, I want to approach the cobbler's kids syndrome from a slightly different angle.

That's why I invited Audrey Kwan to join as our special guest expert today to talk us through about rewiring leadership.

Audrey is the Founder of AJK Consulting Inc. and specializes in helping agency owners who are at capacity leverage systems and leadership to reclaim more of their time — time that can be dedicated to business development if they choose.

What sets Audrey apart is her deep understanding of how agencies, like yours and mine, operate from the inside out. Having worked alongside over 150 agency owners and their teams, she knows the ins and outs of agency life like few others.

This conversation with Audrey about rewiring leadership shines a light on the constraints, obstacles, and roadblocks that may be silently hindering your progress. We tackle the feast and famine of biz dev head-on — and address that nagging feeling that your agency is the cobbler's kids.

Taking and applying the insights and wisdom Audrey shares during this episode will unlock opportunities so you're equipped with the time, space, and capacity to Sell with Authority — and roar through 2024.

• Steps for moving from agency doer to strategic leader
• How to recognize and address avoidance behaviors that stifle growth
• Why delegation isn't just about passing tasks along
• 4 pivotal leadership styles that empower your team
• How to prioritize marketing as a key CEO activity
• How you can start rewiring leadership within your agency

• Website: https://audreyjoykwan.com/
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwanaudrey/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ajk-consulting-inc/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/audreyjoykwan/
• Breakfree From Being the Bottleneck in Your Business Podcast: https://audreyjoykwan.com/breakfree
• Free Workshop for Agency Owners: https://audreyjoykwan.com/leadershipstyles
• Register to this FREE 60-minute live workshop and become efficient in rewiring leadership in your agency

• Website: www.predictiveroi.com
• Visit our newly expanded Resource Library
• Join us in our free How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline Facebook Group
• Check out this similar podcast about rewiring leadership from our guest, Sue Hawkes

In this episode of Sell With Authority, we tackle a question that's fundamental to our success: Can we all be better at allocating our time so that we have the space, capacity, and focus to more effectively lean into business development?

The short answer? Yes. Of course, we can with the help of strategic hiring. There's always room for improvement in how we manage our time and efforts.

Here's the twist — there's another crucial variable in the equation of biz dev and time allocation — and that's putting yourself first. When it comes to filling the seats within your organization, putting yourself last doesn't serve you well.

We often hear the needs of others within our teams, and we rush to fill those roles. But — does that truly free up our capacity to sell more effectively?

More often than not, the answer is no. In fact — it may even increase the pressure to sell more just to keep up with the added capacity.

I recently read Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell, which completely shifted my perspective.

Rather than hiring for specific roles based on perceived needs, Dan advocates for hiring individuals who can take specific tasks off your plate, thus freeing up your time for biz dev.

Today, I'm joined by a special guest expert, Sue MacArthur, President of Strategic Talent Management, who manages the firm's business development, operations, and client services.

Sue shares invaluable insights into strategic hiring — how to prioritize roles, hire effectively, and ensure that you have the right people in the right seats to propel your business forward.

I'm thrilled to have Sue on board to guide us through this crucial aspect of building a successful business.

Get ready to take notes because the golden nuggets Sue shares will revolutionize how you approach hiring and time allocation.

By applying these strategies, you'll free up your capacity, sell more effectively, and position yourself for success as we charge through 2024.

• Why agency owners don't often use strategic hiring to free up their time for biz dev
• Why the "seat-filler" mentality can undermine growth potential
• Why agency owners should put themselves first when hiring for seats that need to be filled
• The tell-tale signs of mediocrity and the best tactics to eliminate it
• Dedicating 50% of an owner's time to biz dev can be the key to your agency's future success
• How strategic reevaluation of roles and responsibilities can turbocharge your agency's efficiency and growth

• Website: www.strategictalentmgmt.com
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suemacarthur/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/strategic-talent-management/
• Stay Interview Questions: https://strategictalentmgmt.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/stm-stay-interview-questions-sheet.pdf
• Make your strategic hiring process go from ordinary to extraordinary

• Website: www.predictiveroi.com
• Visit our newly expanded Resource Library
• Join us in our free How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline Facebook Group
• Want to streamline your strategic hiring process? Then listen to this podcast with our guest, Michael Redbord

Get ready for a marketing strategy that balances profit with authenticity to differentiate your brand by using the power of storytelling in business. In this episode of Sell With Authority, we unlock some rock solid awesome insights with our special guests, Sean Tracey and Predictive's own Mad Scientist, Hannah Roth.

Sean is an award-winning creative strategist and speaker with over 25 years of experience in brand marketing. He is the Founder and CEO of Sean Tracey Associates, a full-service advertising and marketing firm.

Sean is sharing his groundbreaking P equals P framework, which has revolutionized the way his agency connects with brands and elevates their success. We dive deep into practical tactics, including the power of authentic storytelling and focusing on a customer-centric approach.

This episode illuminates the path to creating meaningful emotional connections with your right-fit clients using the power of storytelling in business. Double down on strategies that resonate on a deeper level and drive unwavering loyalty to your brand.

• The strategic tenets of the P = P framework
• Why the power of storytelling in business is more important than aesthetics in authentic branding
• Strategies for building emotional connections and trust to establish your reputation with right-fit prospects
• Why trying to be everything to everyone can lead to zero impact
• Steps to illuminate the path and fuel the inspiration of your right-fit clients

• Website: http://www.seantracey.com/
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seantraceyassociates/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sean-tracey-associates/
• Mercer Island Group Workshops: https://migroup.com/mig-workshops/
• Want to know more about the power of storytelling in business? Then check out these stories from the website of Sean Tracey

• Website: www.predictiveroi.com
• Visit our newly expanded Resource Library
• Join us in our free How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline Facebook Group
• Check out this related podcast about the power of storytelling in business from our guest, Gary Vaynerchuk

My guest on this episode of Sell With Authority has spent nearly 20 years working in strategic and leadership roles focused on growing national and local client brands with award-winning, ROI-generating digital strategies.

Corey Morris is President and CEO of Voltage, a powerhouse in the digital marketing sphere and has a deep understanding about the benefits of SEO marketing. Corey is not only a VIP contributor to esteemed publications like Search Engine Journal and Search Engine Land but also the author of the eagerly anticipated book, Digital Marketing Success Plan, set to release later this year.

We dive into the mystic dark magic voodoo that search engine optimization sometimes feels like — and we dispel some myths.

Perhaps even more importantly — we highlight the strategies and tactics you and your team should focus on for 2024 — and beyond.

Because if you do — you'll attract more right-fit prospects into your agency's sales pipeline.

And what we discuss will also help you score some more wins for your clients.

If you take and apply the insights and wisdom Corey shares during this episode — you and your team will raise the bar in how you help your clients when talking through the benefits of SEO marketing and where it's headed — and — you can use it to fill your sales pipeline and roar through 2024.

• Why aligning marketing efforts with business goals wins over simply tracking metrics
• The critical difference between being perceived as a valued partner versus just another vendor
• Secrets to overcoming commoditization in marketing services such as SEO and website development
• How Voltage's application of consistent SEO strategies leads to undeniable inbound leads
• The importance of creating engaging content positioned for various marketing channels to drive targeted business outcomes
• In-depth discussion about the benefits of SEO marketing so that many business owners will not be taking it for granted

• Website: https://voltage.digital
• Facebook Business: https://www.facebook.com/voltagekc
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreymorris/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/voltagedigital/
• Twitter Personal: https://twitter.com/coreydmorris
• Read more about the benefits of SEO marketing in this blog from Voltage

• Website: www.predictiveroi.com
• Visit our newly expanded Resource Library
• Join us in our free How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline Facebook Group
• A must-read blog for business leaders regarding the benefits of SEO marketing and many more

I am so thrilled Jamie Shibley joins this episode of Sell With Authority for an encore interview. Jamie is the CEO of The Expressory, a strategic gifting agency that believes the key to accelerating your business growth and profitability relies on your ability to effectively nurture meaningful relationships through your client engagement strategy.

Also joining this episode is Hannah Roth, Mad Scientist and Strategist here at Predictive. We dive into the critical world of nurturing client relationships and the artful science behind measuring the impact of your touchpoints. Jamie brings to the table her proven spreadsheet strategy for tracking engagement that's skyrocketed results to an incredible 80% engagement rate.

We also pull back the curtain on how to understand the goldmine hidden within your prospect list. Jamie shares key insights on the importance of knowing not just who's on your list, but who they really are — their goals, ambitions, and what lights their fire.

We tackle how to create emotional bonds that not only cut down the sales process — but build unshakeable trust.

Don't miss the chance to transform your client engagement strategy with Jamie's expertise!

• Constraints agency owners face when trying to nurture right-fit prospects
• Where to start when building a list of right-fit prospects
• The most important things to know about your right-fit prospects to help you stand out from the sea of sameness
• How to get the attention of your right-fit-prospects
• Why crafting a process for client engagement strategy ensures consistency and scalability
• How to measure the ROI of strategic engagement

• Website: https://www.theexpressory.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-shibley-76a3402/
• Check out some more content relating to client engagement strategy here

• Website: www.predictiveroi.com
• Visit our newly expanded Resource Library
• Join us in our free How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline Facebook Group
• Read more about client engagement strategy from this Predictive ROI blog

I am super excited to welcome our guest expert, Hannah Roth, to this episode of Sell With Authority. It is always a pleasure to have her on the podcast – so much so that this is her sixth time with us! And this time, she will be sharing her process to business owners on how to sell with confidence.

Hannah is Predictive ROI's mad scientist and strategist (that is her actual title, by the way) and works with clients to define and achieve their business goals, overcome challenges, and find new growth opportunities.

In this episode, we uncover the biggest A-HAs that she's identified from her time working alongside agency owners in the trenches.

In our conversation, we highlight pitfalls for agency owners — and the best ways to overcome them.

Hannah sheds light on how each of these observations are tied to one another, because solving one allows agency owners to solve the others.

• The biggest A-HAs that Hannah has identified from her time working alongside agency owners in the trenches
• Learning the process of how to sell with confidence step-by-step
• How to sell outcomes instead of deliverables
• What NOT to do on sales calls
• Understanding conceptual agreements and how they inject confidence and respect into the conversation
• How to align prices to business goals to sell with purpose and not fear
• How to sell with confidence and start making sales

• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-roth-387a6b223/
• Join us in our free "How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline" Facebook Group
• Learn how to sell with confidence and become an authority! Register here!

• Sell With Authority by Drew McLellan and Stephen Woessner: https://amzn.to/39y7x13
• Predictive ROI Free Resource Library: https://predictiveroi.com/resources/
• Stephen Woessner's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwoessner/
• Want to know more about how to sell with confidence? Then check out this podcast about approaching sales with Jeremy Miner

To celebrate our 100th episode, I am excited to welcome our guest expert, Drew McLellan, to the Sell With Authority podcast. This is Drew's second time on the show and it seems fitting to have him mark this milestone. He is not only my most trusted business advisor — but he's also been my best friend in the world for the better part of a decade.

Drew is the CEO of Agency Management Institute — which advises hundreds of small to mid-sized agencies on how to grow their agency and its profitability – and of McLellan Marketing Group. He walks the walk — and he pours the best of what he's got into his community.

In this episode, we focus our attention on how to build a community around the niche you want to serve.

In our conversation, we talk through how hosting a live event can be an exceptional strategy for growing your audience — and being helpful.

Drew shines a light on how to become a leader in the community by coming from a place of great love and a true commitment to serve.

• Why Drew empowers agency owners to find right-fit clients by niching down
• How to build a community around the niche you want you want to serve and what you want to teach
• The power of hosting live events as a strategy for audience growth and support
• How to create a successful conference without losing your house
• The building blocks of the Build a Better Agency Summit

Resources:

• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan
• Website: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/
• Episode 2 of Sell With Authority: How to Sell with Authority, with Drew McLellan

Additional Resources:

• Website: www.predictiveroi.com
• Visit our newly expanded Resource Library
• Join us in our free How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline Facebook Group

I am thrilled to welcome our guest expert, Sharon Toerek, back to this episode of Sell With Authority. It's her third time appearing on the show with us, but for those who are meeting her for the first time, she's the Founder of Toerek Law and the host of the podcast "The Innovative Agency". Sharon is also Predictive's wicked smart intellectual property attorney and has reviewed and advised us with our client agreements and created our buy-sell and partnership agreements.

She has been helping professionals in the advertising, marketing, and creative services industries protect and monetize their intellectual capital, and manage the legal implications of their marketing and advertising work.

On this episode, Sharon and I focus our discussion on agency-to-agency collaborations. We delve into how to manage risk — and the key documents to have in place when agencies go down the collaboration route to save time, stress, and money.

In our conversation, we go through the steps agencies should take before diving into an agency-to-agency strategic alliance.

Sharon emphasizes the importance of creating agreements for each stage of the collaboration between agencies. We also discuss her recommendations on an ideal timeline to establish such contracts so agencies don't put the cart before the horse.

Applying what Sharon gives you during this episode will help you grow your agency in 2024 — and — protect your shop along the way.

• Defining what is a strategic alliance and understanding its three kinds
• Establishing the similarities and differences between agreements between contractors or freelancers and agreements between agencies
• Understanding the ins and outs of white-labeling, especially when dealing with licenses
• Steps to take from a contract perspective before diving into a strategic alliance
• The importance of an umbrella document for every referral an agency receives
• The ideal timeline for drafting agreements

Resources:

• Website: legalandcreative.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharontoerek/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SharonToerek
• The Innovative Agency Podcast
• Yours, Mine and Ours: Legal Considerations in Agency-to-Agency Strategic Alliances Q&A Session
• Episode 52 of Sell With Authority: How to Protect Intellectual Property, with Sharon Toerek
• Episode 59 of Sell With Authority: AI Copyright Law, with Sharon Toerek

Additional Resources:

• Website: www.predictiveroi.com
• Visit our newly expanded Resource Library
• Join us in our free How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline Facebook Group

I am excited to welcome our guest expert, Chris Slocumb, to this episode of Sell With Authority. She is the Founder of Clarity Quest Marketing and has worked with digital health, life sciences, and technology firms on marketing strategy, business planning, and marketing implementation. Chris presently holds eight U.S. patents and is a Forbes Agency Council member. She is also author of the brilliant book Stop Starvation Marketing.

In this episode, we dive deep into the challenges agency owners face when thinking about how to raise the bar of excellence in how we show up for our clients and right-fit prospects.

During our conversation, we discuss the methodology and the moves that agency owners need to put into place to stop starvation marketing.

Chris also sheds light on how we can double down on selling with our hearts and minds — and move past conversations that focus exclusively on features, advantages, and benefits.

When we get all of this right — growing an audience and attracting a steady stream of right-fit clients is much more efficient because you focus on helping your audience solve real business issues, challenges, and problems that are creating chronic pain inside their business.

• The challenges agency owners face when thinking about content, customer journey, leads, and sales in biz dev strategy
• The Tower of Power Methodology and its most important part
• Three keys to building a strong foundation
• Moves that agency owners need to put into place to stop starvation marketing
• How to create emotional connections that transcend conversations about features and benefits

Resources:

• Website: https://www.clarityqst.com
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisslocumb/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/clarity-quest-marketing
• Stop Starvation Marketing: 23 Power Growth Moves for Health Tech, IT, Biotech Companies

Additional Resources:

• Website: www.predictiveroi.com
• Visit our newly expanded Resource Library
• Join us in our free How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline Facebook Group

I am excited to welcome our guest expert, Jody Grunden, to this episode of Sell With Authority. Jody has been on the front lines navigating agency ownership for over two decades. He Co-Founded Summit CPA Group, a trailblazing firm that pioneered fully distributed operations and became the top provider of Virtual CFO Services in North America. In 2022, Summit joined forces with Anders CPAs + Advisors, rebranding as Summit Virtual CFO by Anders.

On this episode, we dive deep into the challenges, opportunities, and everything in between that agency owners — just like you and me — face everyday.

In our conversation, we tackle key areas that can make or break your agency's success.

Jody sheds light on why building a thought leadership position is crucial — and — how to do it. We also take a comprehensive look into the key metrics that Jody and his team use to keep clients on top of their game, maximizing profitability and growth — and ensuring a healthy sales pipeline.

• How merging Virtual CFO Services into the agency space lead to accelerated growth
• Why Jody does not want CFOs to be solely agency focused
• The key reasons building a thought leadership position is pivotal
• The model Jody created to build a thought leadership position
• Ways Jody continued to grow his authority position through thought leadership
• Vital metrics for a healthy pipeline of right-fit clients

Resources:

• Website: https://www.summitcpa.net/
• Virtual CFO Consultation
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodygrunden/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vcfobyanders
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/vcfobyanders
• Tiktoc: https://www.tiktok.com/@vcfobyanders
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vcfobyanders/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vcfobyanders

Additional Resources:

• Website: www.predictiveroi.com
• Visit our newly expanded Resource Library
• Join us in our free How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline Facebook Group