Category: Uncategorized

STANDOUT agency owners think like business owners.

Always put yourself in the shoes of your employees, considering what they want rather than solely focusing on your own desires.

STANDSTILL agency owners think like entrepreneurs.

STANDOUT agency owners think like business owners.

#StandoutOrDie

STANDOUT agencies SAVE their clients time.

STANDSTILL agencies SELL their clients time.

STANDOUT agencies SAVE their clients time.

Selling clients blocks of time at an hourly rate is not only a flawed business model, it’s a flawed proposition.
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STANDOUT agencies make £££s

If you run a marketing agency in 2023, you are not in the business of making clients happy – that’s a prerequisite not a result. Neither are you in the business of making bespoke websites, hugely complex apps, or highly creative marketing communications – not really.

You are in the business of making money.

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STANDOUT agencies target best fit clients

STANDSTILL agencies think “who do we want?”

STANDOUT agencies think “who are we for?”

Don’t think about what what a difference they could make to you. Think about what a difference you could make to them.

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STANDOUT agencies inspire early and reassure late.

Agency pitch decks. I’ve produced and presented hundreds of them. Over the past 6 years I’ve seen even more.

There is no right or wrong way to do a pitch deck. If only it were that simple. However, I do see agencies making the same mistake over and over again: Front loading the deck with loads of stuff about themselves rather than the brief/client.

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A word on STANDSTILL agencies

Today I want to show some love for the STANDSTILL agencies. Yep, you read that right!

STANDSTILL agencies are the ones that are struggling or spreading themselves too thin. While I usually champion STANDOUT agencies, there’s a bit of Adrian, the STANDSTILL character from my book, in all of us. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

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STANDOUT agency owners let negative feedback REFINE them.

If somebody tells you something less than positive about you or your agency, take it for what it is, an opportunity to learn and improve. Don’t dwell on it or take it to heart, use it to improve how you operate.

STANDSTILL agency owners let negative feedback DEFINE them.

STANDOUT agency owners let negative feedback REFINE them.

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STANDOUT agencies never assume

My Account Director in my first agency taught me an immense amount. I will always be grateful to him.

One of the key learnings was borne out of his favourite phrase; “never assume”. In essence, always check things are happening, never assume they are. Never a day went by when I didn’t hear those words.

STANDOUT agency owners never assume. Assuming can easily make “an ASS out of U and ME”.

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STANDOUT agencies think like buyers

STANDOUT agency owners don’t think about selling their agency, they think about buying it.

If you want to grow your agency, don’t think like a seller, think like a buyer.

What would you want to see if you were buying your agency?

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STANDOUT agencies invest in their new business lead

Don’t set your expectations too high.

If they hire a New Business lead, STANDOUT agency owners expect them to achieve somewhere between 1 and 3 times their employment costs in their first year.

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STANDOUT agencies share knowledge

I’m often asked how much financial information you should share with your team.

My answer…

STANDSTILL agencies share information.
STANDOUT agencies share knowledge.

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STANDOUT agency owners delegate.

If you own an agency and want to scale it there is one thing you absolutely must embrace with….

STANDSTILL agency owners do.

STANDOUT agency owners delegate.

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STANDOUT agencies use Oterap’s Law

Whether you’re charging clients by the hour or not, if you’re running an agency, you’re in the knowledge business. You make your money from selling your people’s expertise. That means you want as many of those people as possible billing as much of their work as possible to clients.

That said, we are dealing with human beings and growing a business entity here. Nobody can bill all their work to clients all of the time. Team meetings, admin. etc are all necessary and valuable internal activities. Moreover, as you grow, you’ll need more people dedicated to admin, marketing, finance and HR. Many of these won’t directly earn revenue for you at all.

So how do you know what numbers of billable staff you should have?

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STANDOUT agencies know their RPE

One of the most common reasons why agencies struggle is through being overstaffed.

Time and again I see agency owners paying themselves too little, and/or running their business on minimal profits, because they employ too many people.

So how many people should you employ? That depends on a number of factors, but there is a simple, but often overlooked, metric that can provide a useful guide: Revenue Per Employee (RPE).

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STANDOUT agencies have shareholder’s agreements

Shareholder’s agreements outline shareholders’ rights and obligations which provides protection for each shareholder. They also protect and govern the management of the company.

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STANDOUT agencies employ a team.

Lots of agencies operate a freelance model these days. They have few full-time employees and run their business through a network of freelancers. It’s an attractive model for some, but one I struggle with.

STANDSTILL agencies deploy freelancers.

STANDOUT agencies employ a team.

#StandoutOrDie

STANDOUT agencies employ a team.

Lots of agencies operate a freelance model these days. They have few full-time employees and run their business through a network of freelancers. It’s an attractive model for some, but one I struggle with.

STANDSTILL agencies deploy freelancers.

STANDOUT agencies employ a team.

#StandoutOrDie

STANDOUT agencies are confident agencies

I often get asked what the biggest differentiator between STANDSTILL and STANDOUT agencies is.

It’s a tricky question to answer as many factors come into play. If I had to pick one though it would be this: confidence.

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STANDOUT agencies don’t have a winning mentality.

STANDSTILL agencies have a winning mentality,

STANDOUT agencies don’t.

”Wait…what? Surely it’s the other way around?” I hear you say.

I can think of no other industry where commercial success is so commonly and overtly labelled as “winning”. In other sectors businesses acquire users, they attract new customers, they do deals, they sign contracts, they form partnerships.

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STANDOUT agencies sell AND deliver.

STANDSTILL agencies sell OR deliver.

STANDOUT agencies sell AND deliver.

To run a successful agency you need 2 core skills:.

1. The ability to SELL – You need to be able to find and convert new prospects into clients.

2. The ability to DELIVER – You need to be able to effectively and consistently deliver a service to your clients.

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Even STANDOUT agencies take a while to sell.

Despite what most people believe, agencies are notoriously difficult to sell.

For those deals that are done, the sales process itself can take 12 months to plan and negotiate.

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