Build a Better Agency Podcast

Blair Enns, the founder of Win Without Pitching and author specializing in sales for creative agencies, shares invaluable insights into mastering pricing strategies. He discusses the psychology behind value conversations and offers practical tips, such as using one-page proposals and anchoring high with three-options. Blair emphasizes the importance of understanding a client's desired future state before proposing solutions and outlines a four-step framework for effective pricing. His approach aims to help agencies confidently convey their value.

Before we dive into today's topic — I first want to say thank you for your listenership and loyalty! We are downloaded in over 85 countries and I'm grateful for every listener. This solocast is Episode 150 of Build a Better Agency and I'm grateful for your time and the conversations we've had over the last three years. Way back in Episode 35 (in early 2016), we talked about the employee shortage and the challenge the shortage was creating for agencies and agency owners. If anything – things have gotten tougher. As you know, I see the financials for about 120 AMI agencies a year. I review their P&Ls, balance sheets, ratios, and some other information. And I will tell you that even though agencies may have had a good year financially in 2017 — they didn't actually get to keep a lot of the money they earned. And the reason why they didn't is because their employees are taking more and more of that money. This is happening because of scarcity. The truth of it is...scarcity wins. And right now, your employees are in control. There are fewer good agency employees than there are agency needs and jobs. And I don't think this is going to change any time soon. I thought it might be helpful if I shared how some agencies are addressing this challenge. I will walk you through some creative benefits employees consider to be brag-worthy, as well as the benefits that scored at the top of our research with over 1,000 agency employees. The truth is, 401k programs and insurance coverage no longer differentiate you from your competitors — they are table stakes. Here's the reality — we have to understand what today's workforce wants and you have to make sure that your culture and your benefits package match those expectations if you want to attract and retain the talent you need to grow your agency. What you'll learn about in this episode: How to attract and retain quality talent using today's tools and why you need to build a pipeline for talent in the same way you build a pipeline for new business How long you should reasonably expect your employees to stay with your agency What are some brag-worthy benefits that will get your employees talking about your agency with their fellow professionals How you can provide your employees the opportunity to have flexible work hours or work from home days without losing the valuable in-office collaboration Why your employees will actually take less time off if you provide them with unlimited PTO Why we cannot dismiss the changes in the needs of today's workforce as just a millennial thing What your employees consider to be the most important thing keeping them in a job – or – how they decide to accept a job they are offered How treating all of your employees fairly does not mean you have to treat them all equally Why just because someone is good at their job does not mean they're going to be good at supervising other people doing that job What are "boomerang employees" and why you should consider circling back to them Drew McLellan is the CEO at Agency Management Institute. He has also owned and operated his own agency since 1995 and is still actively running the agency today. Drew's unique vantage point as being both an agency owner and working with 250+ small- to mid-size agencies throughout the year gives him a unique perspective on running an agency today. AMI works with agency owners by: Leading agency owner peer groups Offering workshops for owners and their leadership teams Offering AE Bootcamps Conducting individual agency owner coaching Doing on site consulting Offering online courses in agency new business and account service Because he works with those 250+ agencies every year — Drew has the unique opportunity to see the patterns and the habits (both good and bad) that happen over and over again. He has also written two books and been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Fortune Small Business. The Wall Street Journal called his blog "One of 10 blogs every entrepreneur should read." Resources: Unlimited PTO examples Ways to contact Drew McLellan: Email: drew@agencymanagementinstitute.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan We're proud to announce that Hubspot is now the presenting sponsor of the Build A Better Agency podcast! Many thanks to them for their support!

In our industry, storytelling is one of those words that is so overused, it can lose its meaning pretty quickly. Great stories stick with us. My guest, the co-author of The Storytelling Edge, Joe Lazauskas, understands that good storytelling gives you an edge. In a world where content can be all-but-meaningless pablum, it can also tell a story that moves a customer and makes a connection with them. As a writer and storyteller myself, I always soak up any time I can spend with someone who's as passionate about this subject as I am. Joe gets into the brain science of why stories are so powerful – they are a way to understand each other and ourselves better. He takes that knowledge and helps brands tell better stories. For agencies and our clients, stories are how we build trusted connections with customers. In an era where there is pressure to churn out content, Joe helps us take a step back and understand why story is so important, and the key ingredients and tactics for telling good stories. Joe Lazauskas is an owner and the director of content strategy at Contently. If you're not familiar with Contently, it is a content strategy practice. It offers a dashboard, but they also help big-brand clients create stories and content for those brands. Joe was also one of the founding editors of the New York Egotist. After that, he became a tech and marketing journalist for FastCompany, Digit Day, and Forbes, among others. He joined Contently in the early days of their formation and in the beginning, he served as editor in chief. What you'll learn about in this episode: How the brain engages with story, and how you and your clients can benefit The four elements of good storytelling Why content without a story is missing something Key tactics for good storytelling, and how to apply them in your agency How to help clients have less fear about sharing the gap between what is and what could be in their business Discovering what the customer is interested in, and telling compelling stories around that Educating clients about the power of content that tells a story. It's not checking off the "wrote a blog post" or "sent out some tweets" box The companies doing storytelling content well, and how you can scale it Implementing editorial boards and newsrooms to get strategic about using content to tell stories Ways to contact Joe: Website: Storytellingedge.com On Twitter/Instagram: @JoeLazauskas We're proud to announce that Hubspot is now the presenting sponsor of the Build A Better Agency podcast! Many thanks to them for their support!

If there is a common pain point for agency owners today -- it's recruiting and retaining talent. It's a conversation I am having every day and it's more difficult than it's been in quite a while. Unfortunately, I don't see that trend reversing any time soon. Which means we'd all better improve our ability to keep the good ones that we either have or can attract. It's starts with hiring the right person for the right reasons. What are the most effective questions to ask during the interview process? What do you need to know about the candidate? What do they need to know about you, your agency and the culture there? For my podcast guest Steve Lowisz, it all comes down to purpose. Are you clear on the purpose of the position your hiring for? Are deliverables clearly spelled out in the job description you are posting? It's critical to discover if the candidate's purpose actually aligns with your agency's purpose, and if they do – you'd better have a plan for nurturing that shared passion. Steve Lowisz is an expert on talent acquisition, talent assessment, personal development, diversity & inclusion, and business performance. He has more than two decades of research and practical business experience allowing him to serve hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals. As CEO of the Qualigence Group of Companies that he founded in 1999, Steve regularly contributes to Industry events and publications and has been featured in Fortune Magazine, CNN Money, The Detroit Free Press and on Bloomberg Radio. What you'll learn about in this episode: Why job descriptions often don't provide the right information to get the right candidate for the job How to look at capacity, character, competencies, and culture when interviewing candidates How to discover what is motivating someone's job search Identifying what a candidate is looking for that they don't have now The different competencies needed for working on site compared with working remotely How facts, feelings, focus, and fruit can help get you through difficult, honest feedback conversations Numerous strategies for hiring and retaining great talent How to engage on LinkedIn, rather than using it as an "as needed" resume database Why having one-on-one meetings still matter and how to fill them with purpose Ways to contact Steve: Website: stevelowisz.com Website: qualigence.com/recruiter-fuel-directory We're proud to announce that Hubspot is now the presenting sponsor of the Build A Better Agency podcast! Many thanks to them for their support!

Business development does not just happen. For most of us as agency owners, sales is one of those things we wish we didn't have to do. In this episode of Build A Better Agency, we're going to really dive into sales. I think the reluctance comes down to a fear of rejection. Because of those fears and insecurities, we don't prioritize biz dev. We don't put it on the calendar. We don't make it a must do. I think the biggest change we can make, and this is my challenge to you, is to just carve out time to connect with your ideal clients. Maybe it's one morning a week. But as my guest says, if it's not on the calendar, you're not going to do it. My guest for episode #147 is Michelle Weinstein. Michelle has done it all. She's been on Shark Tank. She has raised over a million dollars for her last company, and she now teaches entrepreneurs how to sell. At the end of the day, Michelle is a sales strategist. She teaches mission-driven entrepreneurs how to sell without being sleazy. I think we make sales harder than it needs to be. That's why I wanted to bring Michelle on to have this conversation. She generously shared some incredible ideas and strategies that you can implement right now. What if you could make a list of your ideal top-tier clients and actually have the confidence and the plan to demonstrate to them that they're be losing out by not working with you. That's just the tip of the iceberg of our discussion. This is a must hear episode if you are looking to enjoy biz dev and ultimately the fruits of that labor in increased profits. What you'll learn about in this episode: Why saving those email and text "thank you's" and testimonials from clients is so important Why service-based businesses like ours are easier to sell than products How to block out time for business development The most useful tasks to tackle during your biz dev time Why "bumping into" your ideal clients at a trade show can be a truly winning strategy-and how to prep for it How to research and strategize for your pitch Creating and managing a list of your top 20 ideal new clients How to offer a gift that is something of value, without giving away the store or your trade secrets Ways to contact Michelle Weinstein: Website: www.thepitchqueen.com We're proud to announce that Hubspot is now the presenting sponsor of the Build A Better Agency podcast! Many thanks to them for their support!

Why do some agencies seem to "get" digital transformation and others struggle to cross that hurdle? Even more puzzling – among the ones who do get it – why are so many of them struggling to make money at it? These are some of the daunting questions I'm exploring in this episode with my guest Chris Aarons. We all understand that digital transformation is happening. Few understand this as well as he does. What does it mean for an agency to have digital-first DNA? Chris Aarons' book Digital Helix explores this idea and I asked him about it when we spoke. Part of this concept is understanding that everything is connected, and a digital asset is never "done" or complete. When we approach our work with that understanding, what we do for and with clients becomes less about putting out emergency fires or checking off the boxes on the latest trend. It becomes about a consistent and constant state of evolution. Chris believes the larger value we can all offer clients is helping them recognize and embrace that reality and then together, looking out over the horizon and planning for tomorrow's opportunities rather than focusing on today's fires. That's how we add incredible value and earn our seat at the client's table. In this episode we talk about how to make that vision a reality for your agency. What you'll learn about in this episode: The importance of an exploration mindset in moving you and your clients forward What it means to operate with a digital-first DNA as an agency How to encourage digital-first DNA thinking in your clients How to develop ongoing conversations with clients rather than operating from a one-off proposal framework Why talking with a client's customers is at least as important as talking with the clients themselves How sales are connective moments – not a journey Why identifying the current problem is not the agency's primary job How to be relentless about getting better over time When and how organic influencer models can beat the pants off of paid reach

When you're busy running an agency, it can be hard to take a step back to see broader trends. What is currently happening and what is on the horizon regarding client relationships? What tactics and deliverables are hot and making agencies money? This is the second part of a discussion I started last month about the we're tracking at AMI. One of the best aspects of our work with agency owners from all over the world is that it affords me perspective. In episode 140, Top 2018 Agency Trends Part 1, I talked about trends that were related to money and the changing structures of our teams. And in this episode, I'm going to talk about the trends that I did not have a chance to get to in that episode. What you'll learn about in this episode: How retail-facing companies are transitioning those skill sets into B2B space Why big consumer brands are decreasing their marketing spend and what it might mean down the road for small to mid-sized agencies The continuing rise of video and how to avoid the urge to over-produce video content Why clients are coming back to integrated agencies after splitting their marketing dollars among smaller agencies focused on narrow tasks What tactics and deliverables are earning agencies solid revenue in 2018 The rise of influencer marketing The fascinating ways in which voice is changing search and how to stay on top of the trend The love/hate relationship we all have with chatbots and what that might mean for their future Drew McLellan is the CEO at Agency Management Institute. He has also owned and operated his own agency since 1995 and is still actively running the agency today. Drew's unique vantage point as being both an agency owner and working with 250+ small- to mid-size agencies throughout the year gives him a unique perspective on running an agency today. AMI works with agency owners by: Leading agency owner peer groups Offering workshops for owners and their leadership teams Offering AE Bootcamps Conducting individual agency owner coaching Doing on-site consulting Offering online courses in agency new business and account service Because he works with those 250+ agencies every year — Drew has the unique opportunity to see the patterns and the habits (both good and bad) that happen over and over again. He has also written two books and been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Fortune Small Business. The Wall Street Journal called his blog "One of 10 blogs every entrepreneur should read." Ways to contact Drew McLellan: Email: drew@agencymanagementinstitute.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan We're proud to announce that Hubspot is now the presenting sponsor of the Build A Better Agency podcast! Many thanks to them for their support!

I've always described our work as being called upon to be creative on demand. Whether an agency employee sits in the creative department, codes apps, builds strategy or works on new business – we are all tasked with being fresh thinkers. Our clients hire us to ask the right questions. We feel the pressure to provide answers or at the very least, to know the next right question. It's incredibly satisfying when a prospect or client says, "I've never been asked that before." My podcast guest Larry Robertson, encourages his clients – and us – to sit with questions – to not look for quick and easy answers. But to recognize that the real insight rarely comes from the first layer of questions. The paradox is that in times of frenetic change, having the right answers are more important than having the quick answers. Organizationally speaking, it's a matter of life and death. Larry Robertson is an innovation and strategy advisor. He is the author of two award-winning books: A Deliberate Pause: Entrepreneurship and its Moment in Human Progress, and The Language of Man: Learning to Speak Creativity, honored with a combined 16 awards. During our conversation, Larry talked about the research he did as he was prepping to write "The Language of Man." He interviewed recipients of the McArthur "Genius" award to gather their collective wisdom on creativity and staying power in business and life. Along with being an author, he's also a columnist for Inc. Magazine and The Creativity Post, and a regular contributor to Fast Company. He also has been featured guest on or in MSNBC, the Chicago Tribune, AdAge, SmartBrief, and in numerous podcasts. He is a Graduate of Stanford University and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and a former Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business. What you'll learn about in this episode: How to help clients recognize their value proposition The five layers of "why" and how it can be a powerful tool for agency How to answer the "so what?" question about what you do and why it's important The importance of staying curious and open-minded no matter how long your agency has been around Cultivating the Five Habits of the Mind in your agency and weaving it throughout your discovery process What prospects are looking for when picking an agency The two things you can't do as you implement the Five Habits of the Mind Your role as an agency during the discovery session Larry's perspective on change and how it affects your agency and clients The three key things you need to do to expand your agency's brand lifespan to last longer than 15 years The benefits of implementing "play" as a habit and how it can help you become a better on-demand creative How to encourage better micro-habits as a leader within your agency Ways to contact Larry Robertson: Website: larryrobertson.me We're proud to announce that Hubspot is now the presenting sponsor of the Build A Better Agency podcast! Many thanks to them for their support!

We live in the ratings and review economy. While our clients (and I suspect we are guilt of this too inside our agencies) are busy chasing after the new customer, the truth is – if we don't create an amazing experience for our existing clients – we're sunk. It's tough to attract new business when your current customers are giving you mediocre reviews or rushing to social media to share your customer service blunder with their connections. Never forget that 70% of your net new revenue should come from existing clients. Odds are your clients are in the same boat. In today's world of commoditization, the experience we create is often our point of difference. And let's face it – you're probably not on the front lines with your agency's clients. Your team is. That's why I was eager to speak with my guest Stan Phelps – an expert in customer experience and employee engagement. Among the many things on his plate, Stan runs purplegoldfish.com where he digs deep into these topics in his best-selling book series and on stages across the globe. I wanted to ask Stan about the links between customer experience, embracing weirdness, employee engagement, and above all – purpose in an organization – how they are all tied to one another; how they are often the difference between surviving (or not) and thriving as a company. Stan Phelps is an IBM Futurist, TEDx Speaker, and Forbes Contributor. He has spoken at over 250 events on every inhabited continent, in over a dozen countries for Fortune 100 brands such as IBM, Target, ESPN, UPS, GlaxoSmithKline, and Citi. Prior to focusing on writing and speaking, Stan held leadership positions at IMG, Adidas, and the PGA. He also spent seven years as Chief Solutions Officer at Synergy, an award-winning marketing agency. At Synergy, he helped create larger than life brand experiences for brands such as KFC, M&M's, Walmart and Starbucks. Stan received his BS in Marketing and Human Resources from Marist College, a JD/MBA from Villanova University and a certificate for Achieving Breakthrough Service from Harvard Business School. He is a faculty member on ANA's School of Marketing and also serves as an adjunct instructor at Rutgers Business School. What you'll learn about in this episode: How exceptional customer experience means current customers will be eager to bring you, new customers What the concept of lagniappe (pronounced, "LAN-yap") – a tradition in New Orleans – is all about and how you can use it to go that extra mile for your clients The bottom line importance of warmth and competence Making your best clients aware of your full range of services How to embrace weirdness as a business development strategy The 5 things that impact the growth and health of a goldfish – and what that means for your business The correlation between the first 4 months of your business and its overall health to this day How to put purpose at the bullseye of everything you do The law of worthy intentions Ways to contact Stan Phelps: Website: stanphelpsspeaks.com All the "Goldfish" books: stanphelpsspeaks.com/author We're proud to announce that Hubspot is now the presenting sponsor of the Build A Better Agency podcast! Many thanks to them for their support!

Obstacles are a given. We don't get to waltz through life without facing some tough days, barriers and people who are pretty convinced we're crazy. As a result – we all have "those days." Those days of doubt, of worry and of asking ourselves, "what am I doing?" I don't know about you, but there are days when I wonder how I got on this crazy roller coaster. But then I realize that I stood in line just for a shot at the ride and most days, I love it. Every day we make choices and those choices have consequences. The choices we make lead define the life we live. I work hard to come at life from a growth mindset. I know there will be uphill days, but I am going to tackle that hill and figure out how to avoid having to climb it again. My only other option is a limiting mindset. My guest for this podcast is a person I've followed and admired for years and I couldn't wait to speak with her – in fact we planned a return visit to the podcast not even halfway through this one! Pam Slim digs deep to get to the bottom of those tough questions that keep business owners stuck in place or afraid to step out into the light. Her goal is to find answers that allow us to face and overcome those inevitable challenges, so we can enjoy the ride. Pam had just embarked on some pretty incredible research on this very subject of overcoming or not overcoming challenges right before we got together. I wanted to get a sneak peek at the findings and Pam delivered! We talked about the power of building a community around you and the power that unleashes as you both get support and support others. Pam Slim is an award-winning author, speaker, and small business coach. Most of you probably know her from her book, Escape From Cubicle Nation, but there is a lot more to tell. Pam spent the first 10 years of her solo practice as a consultant to large corporations like HP and Cisco and to worked with thousands of employees, managers, and executives. Then came then Cubicle Nation, the blog which led to the book. Her latest book, Body of Work was released with Penguin Portfolio in 2015. In her hometown of Mesa, AZ, Pam has opened up what she calls a business learning library called K'é, which is a Navajo word meaning "a system of kinship connection." What you'll learn about in this episode: What kinship has to do with building a business The impact of your attitude toward obstacles Why people gather in ecosystems of shared values and experiences What it means to have a "growth" vs. a "fixed" mindset How to course-correct your business whether you've been in it for a year or 30 years Why a great business ecosystem is like the ultimate dinner party What the High Council of Jedi Knights can teach us about sharpening our business outcomes The toll that a lack of shared values will take on you in a business (or any) relationship The results of a major research study on overcoming obstacles The power of a group of people who both have your back and hold you accountable Ways to contact Pamela Slim: Website: pamelaslim.com We're proud to announce that Hubspot is now the presenting sponsor of the Build A Better Agency podcast! Many thanks to them for their support!