The Agency Leadership Podcast with Gini Dietrich and Chip Griffin

It’s not uncommon to hear agency owners talk about wanting to target small businesses because there are so many of them and you can talk with the decision-maker more easily.

While it may be an appealing target, there are reasons to be cautious. There’s a good chance that you will be dealing with the owner, which can help lead to a faster sale since they may treat it as an impulse purchase. On the flip side, every penny you get is out of the owner’s pocket so they will be scrutinizing results far more closely than an employee in a larger organization.

The post ALP 216: Beware easy-to-sell but hard-to-serve clients for your agency appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

It seems so alluring to be able to put a Fortune 500 logo on your agency’s website. Many of us dream of the creative things that we can do for these household names.

Yet often these big brands end up being bad deals for small agencies. They are time-consuming to sell, difficult to service, and often subject to onerous contractual terms.

The post ALP 215: Small agencies should beware the big brands appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

In this episode, Chip and Gini take a question from the SAGA Community on Slack about ways to motivate freelancers just as you do with employees.

The reality is that freelancers and employees aren’t the same and contractors should treat your agency as a client and produce excellent results — just the same way you do for your own clients.

The post ALP 214: How to motivate your agency’s freelancers appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

It’s easy for all of us to get stuck inside our own heads. Having someone we trust who can help to provide some independent insight and challenge our own beliefs can be very helpful.

In this episode, Chip and Gini talk about why it is important for agency owners to have someone outside of the business — a mentor, consultant, coach, friend, or even another agency owner — who can help to play that role.

In addition to getting a different opinion and perspective, that individual can help hold you accountable. After all, who wants to report to their advisor that they haven’t met their commitments?

[read the transcript]

The post ALP 213: The value of outside perspective to agency owners appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

If you’re anything like Chip and Gini, you have discovered employees doing work for clients that is outside of the scope of work you have agreed to.

There are many reasons for this behavior and this episode explores those as well as potential solutions.

The post ALP 212: Hidden overservicing by agency employees appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Most small agencies at some point experience the sinking feeling of losing a whale client or seeing a sudden sharp reduction in revenue.

When you get that kind of news, what do you do?

That’s what Chip and Gini discuss on this week’s episode — especially for agencies that may not have an active pipeline of prospects in place.

The post ALP 211: What to do when your agency needs new revenue NOW appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Many agencies overvalue their websites and spend too much time thinking about and working on them.

In this episode, Chip and Gini talk about what matters — and what doesn’t — when it comes to your website design and content.

The post ALP 210: Real talk about agency websites appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Agency leaders need to stop casually discussing the chaotic environment common to so many agencies.

Too often you will hear firm owners and others talk about agencies as hectic and fast-paced environments.

The post ALP 209: Chaos is not a virtue for agencies appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

With labor costs usually accounting for the largest share of agency expenses, it is no surprise that owners are particularly sensitive to any indication that salaries might be creeping up.

Recent conversations that Chip and Gini have had with agency leaders suggest that both prospective hires and current employees are asking for much higher salaries than many owners feel comfortable paying.

In this episode, Chip and Gini talk about why salary expectations are on the rise and what agencies can — and should — do about it.

Often the problem is that agencies have held their own rates steady even as salaries have increased, effectively reducing the firm’s profits. Paying more without charging more is a recipe for disaster.

The post ALP 208: The rising salary demands of agency employees appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Too often agency leaders don’t do enough to set realistic expectations during the business development phase of the relationship. It’s exciting to get a deal done so we often allow prospective clients to entertain inflated expectations without correcting them — or to avoid discussion of expectations altogether.

Chip and Gini explain that for healthy, sustainable relationships with clients, agencies must get agreement on shared expectations every step of the way. The agency’s process and timeline should be clearly explained so that everyone knows what will happen and when results can be expected.

The post ALP 207: Setting expectations for agency clients appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.