Raising the Standards: The Importance of SOPs, with Robert Brill | Ep #695

Are you prepared to elevate your agency team and pave the path to success? As your agency expands, the need to grow your team becomes inevitable, and having standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place beforehand can save you a lot of headaches.

Today’s guest went through a rapid growth phase with his agency and found he was ill-prepared to delegate responsibilities and clearly define tasks. As a result, he lost employees and clients but has since learned that SOPs should be in place before hiring and that a good SOP takes him out of the process as quickly as possible. Tune in to gain valuable insights on navigating the complexities of scaling an agency effectively.

Robert Brill is the owner of Brill Media, a white-label media buying agency that helps clients supercharge their business. At his agency, Robert works with a fully remote team of passionate experts and has created a culture of promoting from within, keeping the team members engaged, upskilled, and motivated to take leadership roles.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

• When rapid growth meets poor processes.

• Consistency and clarity as a result of proper SOPs.

• How to correctly implement SOPs.

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Sponsors and Resources

E2M Solutions: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by E2M Solutions, a web design, and development agency that has provided white-label services for the past 10 years to agencies all over the world. Check out e2msolutions.com/smartagency and get 10% off for the first three months of service.

From Dreams of Advertisement Glamour to Owning an Agency

In a departure from the most typical agency owner narrative, Robert says this is the only thing he’s ever wanted to do professionally. Growing up, the idea of working on high-profile projects, like commercials, sounded like a dream to him. He craved the recognition that would come from showcasing his work. “I didn’t have the ability to become a rock star, so I went into advertising,” he jokes.

After working a couple of marketing jobs as a college student, he continued that path following graduation and spent the next ten years in the advertising business. By 2013, he still had a love for the business but felt himself becoming a bad employee. The desire to operate according to his vision and the prospect of reducing the stress of taking time off motivated him to establish his own business.

Most agency owners know that - contrary to his expectations – running his agency demanded even more and he ended up working twice as hard. However, becoming a CEO and taking on more responsibilities was the only path to what he wanted and it was a big motivator for him.

What Happens When Rapid Growth Meets Poor Processes?

Once you start gaining traction with your agency and your brand attracts more clients, you’ll need to be prepared to start hiring as the amount of work increases. For Robert, however, it was particularly challenging since he had to triple his staff throughout one summer.

The big lesson Robert took from that summer is that he should have started hiring sooner. It felt like a big risk earlier in the life of the business. However, he’s learned that of all the big risks, this is one he should have taken sooner.

Initially, he hired people he had worked with previously, assuming they would excel in their roles without much guidance. However, within six months, one of his key hires quit due to dissatisfaction with the lack of structure, organization, and process within the business.

At this point, no one was happy, — not Robert, the new hires, the existing hires, or the clients. It took him six months to figure out the missing piece was standard operating procedures. Simply put, the lack of clear guidelines, workflows, and systems was leading to confusion, frustration, and ultimately, high turnover rates.

Consistency, Clarity, Growth: The Impacts of Finally Implementing SOPs

Agency SOPs sounded like the most boring thing in the world for Robert. However, after hiring a Chief Operating Officer who created his agency’s first SOP, he quickly saw the benefits that come with sticking to your processes and refining them over time.

Now everyone on the team understood what was expected of them because they knew where their responsibilities started and ended. As a result, they were more satisfied with their job and stayed longer. The agency’s output grew stronger, everything ran smoothly, and clients returned.

With proper SOPs, Robert also has a better understanding of which steps of the process need documenting while still offering enough autonomy for his team to feel empowered. Furthermore, he has seen the importance of actually enforcing the SOP after it’s created, otherwise it’ll be useless.

Six years later, his staff once again doubled, but with the proper systems the agency’s revenue stayed consistent over time, and turnover was greatly reduced for both clients and employees.

3 Steps to Correctly Implement Agency SOPs

According to Robert, it’s important to start building SOPs before hiring new employees to streamline processes, prevent mistakes, and ensure consistent quality in operations. Clearly defined SOPs help to avoid the chaos and confusion that can occur when knowledge is only held by a few individuals. For him, the process of implementing new SOPs generally goes as follows:

1. Identify the tasks involved.

2. Document the process while performing it yourself.

3. Delegate the tasks.

Hiring first and letting that person figure out the process seems like a less effective approach to Robert. For starters, figuring out the process first can help you pinpoint the person you’ll need for the task.

Tip: There should always be someone in charge of the SOP, updating and refining it, and ensuring its implementation. Additionally, you can appoint another team member who normally would have nothing to do with that particular part of the process and ask them to follow that SOP to see if they can find any gaps that can be corrected to create a more effective guide.

How Outsourcing SEO Expertise Unlocked New Opportunities

After five years of trying to figure out SEO for himself, Robert finally hired an expert who did a year’s worth of work for him and dramatically changed what he understood about SEO. This investment not only improved his business's SEO strategy but also allowed him to speak more confidently about marketing in general, create content on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, and potentially offer SEO services in the future.

As a result, he’s learned that a proactive approach to learning not only benefits the individual but also the team and the business as a whole. In the future, Robert may want to change his offering to include SEO services, and investing in expert training can lead to improved performance, increased efficiency, and better results for the business.

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