US and European based agency owners are fightly vigilantly as the coronavirus pandemic unfolds in their region of the world. It’s affecting agencies and their clients in significant ways. I’ve been talking to agency owners non-stop for the last two weeks and one thing is for sure – one agency’s experience is not like another’s. For some, business and AGI has never been better. In others, 50% of their AGI has walked out in less than ten days. I wanted to connect with an agency owner who had already experienced everything we are going through today and could tell us what’s coming next.
Kiri Sinclair owns the 50-person PR shop aptly named Sinclair. They’re based in Hong Kong with hubs in several cities in China and they are about three months ahead of us in dealing with the coronavirus. Needless to say, there are some good lessons for us to learn from her experience.
Hong Kong and mainland China reacted differently to the initial outbreak than European countries and the US have reacted so our experience may not be perfectly parallel. However, the timeline still provides us with some idea of what to expect moving forward. The good news is – there’s good news.
Two and a half months in, client business in Hong Kong has picked up and things are moving back to normal. Every country and every agency is different, but Kiri’s story serves as a beacon of hope and helps us anticipate what is coming next.
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 You Will Learn in This Episode:
- How agency owners across the globe are responding to the COVID-crisis
- The experience of Hong Kong-based agency owner Kiri Sinclair since the outbreak first occurred there over two months ago
- How clients responded to the global pandemic in Asia
- How to be proactive in protecting client relationships and the team amidst the crisis
- How to consider handling internal changes such as pay and lay-offs
- Mistakes our guest made and what she would have done differently if she knew then what she knows now
The Golden Nuggets:
“Agencies in the U.S. and Europe are very lucky to have an additional two months of knowledge to make difficult decisions.” @SinclairTalkCLICK TO TWEET“Get your contingency plans in order. Then, communicate what those contingency plans are, how your business is operating at this moment in time, and how you are supporting the community to contain this outbreak.” @SinclairTalkCLICK TO TWEET
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Ways to contact Kiri Sinclair:
- Website:
- LinkedIn:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SinclairComms
- Twitter:
Tools & Resources:
Today’s episode is a twofer – and both topics are going to benefit your shop. The first is the idea of collaborating with your prospects to create content that is valuable for both of you. From there you can leverage that shared experience to create new opportunities for your agency. The second is how you can write that book you’ve been thinking about, despite how overloaded your calendar and life can be.
My guest is James Carbary, the owner of Sweet Fish Media, a podcast-first media company. James was with us once before back in Episode #156 where we talked about James’ approach to networking. And in the latest episode of Build a Better Agency, we dive even further into his creative collaboration methodology as we discuss the writing process and major talking points of his new book, Content-Based Networking: How to Instantly Connect with Anyone You Want to Know.
James asserts that when you partner with your prospects to produce content that will serve their organization’s business goals, you can connect and create the foundation of a relationship. That relationship will serve your agency in a variety of ways, ranging from referrals to a new client. On top of that, the content is also useful to your audience, so it’s establishing your position of authority, as Stephen Woessner and I detail in our new book Sell With Authority.
As if that wasn’t already a value-packed episode, I also asked James how he, as a busy agency owner, found the time to write the book. He reveals all of his shortcuts and secrets and you’re going to want to hear them all!
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 You Will Learn in This Episode:
- If you decide to go with a different keyword, make sure to have the keyword listed in at least one bullet point
- The concept of James’ new book, Content-Based Networking: How to Instantly Connect with Anyone You Want to Know
- How content collaboration serves your agency’s biz dev efforts
- James’ framework for content-based networking and how to apply it
- How to write and publish your own book
- How to use your book as a biz dev too
Subscribe to Build A Better Agency!
Ways to contact James Carbary:
- New Book: Content-Based Networking: How to Instantly Connect with Anyone You Want to Know
- Website: www.sweetfishmedia.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamescarbary/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweetfishmedia?fref=nf
- Twitter: @jamescarbary
Tools & Resources:
- BaBA Summit Registration: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/babasummit/
- Sweet Spot Client Filter: agencymanagementinstitute.com/client-filter
- New Book: Sell With Authority
There’s not a small business owner on the planet who isn’t concerned about how the coronavirus is going to impact their business, employees, clients, and family. Those worries are complicated by the fact that this is also a health risk to those you love. I can’t help with the health risk part – but I can help ease your fears about your business. We’re going to survive this together and in this episode, I am going to give you some tips and tactics to get you and your agency through this storm and back to calm waters.
If you’ve owned your agency for a while, you’ve already survived a similar season. We weathered 9/11 and in the U.S the ’07 to ’08 recession. It wasn’t pleasant or pretty — but you got your agency through it and I want you to recognize that you can and will do it again.
I’m going to walk you through steps to protect yourself and your agency in these areas:
- Your team
- Money
- Clients
- Biz dev
It’s going to require strong leadership and a kind, compassionate heart — and following the metrics to get your agency through the next few months. But you’ve got all of that in spades — so let’s get through this together!
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: https://www.whitelabeliq.com/ami/
What You Will Learn in This Episode:
- How this economic slowdown is not the first we’ve seen
- What to keep in mind if you shift to a remote work situation
- The place where you’re at the most danger of putting your agency at risk
- The financial metrics you cannot afford to ignore
- How to take a long-range view of the virus situation and find opportunities in the chaos
- The unlikely upsides of this season
AMI works with agency owners by:
- Leading agency owner peer groups
- Offering workshops for agency 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 over 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 several books, including Sell With Authority (2020) 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.”
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Ways to contact Drew McLellan:
- Email: drew@agencymanagementinstitute.com
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan
- Website: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/
Tools & Resources (if needed):
The more you know about a person, the easier it is to connect with them. One of the challenges when it comes to biz dev is that we really don’t know too much about the prospect we’re trying to build a relationship with, especially in the early stages of the sales pitch. But what if there was a way for you to gain those insights even if you’ve never met them in person?
Charlie Poulson’s first job out of college was building PPT decks for one of the country’s largest agencies. That experience gave him insights on the technical side of sales. A recent discovery of a tool that adds in some psychological insights has allowed him to build a business helping others succeed at sales.
In the latest episode of Build a Better Agency, Charlie explains how agency owners can structure proposals and presentations in a way that resonates with their audience, because they know who that person is and how they tick, thanks to Crystal, a Chrome plugin that provides DISC assessment information based on their LinkedIn profile and other social channels.
Take a listen and then connect with your prospects at a whole different level.
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 You Will Learn in This Episode:
- If you decide to go with a different keyword, make sure to have the keyword listed in at least one bullet point.
- The psychology behind agency sales communication
- How agency owners can communicate more effectively with prospects
- The art of presentation design for agencies
- How Charlie creates presentations and proposals that resonate with decision-makers
- How Charlie is using AI (Crystal the Chrome plugin) to gather data and insights about agency prospects
- How to create different pitch decks for a variety of personality types
Ways to Contact Charlie Poulson:
- Buy The Psychic Proposal: http://bit.ly/PsychicProposal
- Work with Charlie: https://calendly.com/hang-with-charlie/exploration
- Crystal: https://crys.io/s/gHYTrl
- Email: charlie@americano.design
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charliepoulson/
- Twitter: @CharlesPoulson
- Website: https://www.americano.design/
Tools & Resources:
- BaBA Summit Registration: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/babasummit/
- Sweet Spot Client Filter: agencymanagementinstitute.com/client-filter
- New Book: Sell With Authority
Many agency owners are familiar with the book Traction by Gino Wickman and his Entrepreneurial Operating System. It’s a fantastic methodology for improving your agency’s ability to scale effectively, growing a leadership team and building a more sustainable, profitable agency. If you implement Traction properly. Otherwise, it can be a huge waste of time and money.
Traction” is not just a book — it is a new way of running your business so that you can delight your clients but also make your own agency a priority. No more “cobbler’s children have no shoes” excuses about why your website is never updated, your internal priorities are ignored or your agency is stuck in terms of growth and profitability.
I have served many agencies as their Traction implementer and through that experience have figured out some of the biggest pitfalls, mistakes and challenges that agencies run into when they launch Traction inside their shop. In this solocast, I will walk you through the benefits of Traction and how to get the most from the effort.
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 You Will Learn in This Episode:
- How agency owners can benefit from Traction and EOS
- How to build your agency’s traction team
- How to implement Traction in your agency
- What decisions/practices impact the effectiveness of Traction in our agencies
- How to navigate the challenging segments of the Traction process
- Leading agency owner peer groups
- Offering workshops for agency 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 over 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 several books, including Sell With Authority (2020) 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
- Website: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/
Tools & Resources:
- BaBA Summit Registration: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/babasummit/
- Sweet Spot Client Filter: agencymanagementinstitute.com/client-filter
- Sell With Authority
- Traction
- Rocket Fuel