Why most agencies fail at onboarding (and how to fix it) - Taylor McMaster, Founder of DOT & Company

Taylor McMaster (Founder of DOT & Company) joins Mikael to discuss client onboarding and account management strategies that help agency owners scale beyond the day-to-day operational bottlenecks. 

Over the past 6 years, Taylor has helped over 12,000 agency owners optimize their onboarding processes through her fractional account management services. After running her own marketing agency and feeling burned out from doing everything herself, Taylor discovered her passion for account management and client relationships. 

She pivoted to offer fractional account managers who work 10-20 hours per week, fully white-labeled within agencies to handle client communication and project management. The biggest challenge most agencies face isn't strategy or delivery - it's communication breakdown with clients who don't know who to contact or feel left in the dark about project progress. 

Taylor's four-pillar framework (onboarding, project management, agency structure, and communication) helps agencies audit their current processes and systematically improve client retention. The key insight: agency owners should focus on what they do best (strategy and results) while having skilled account managers handle the operational heavy lifting. 

Tune into the full episode to learn how to remove yourself as the bottleneck in your agency!

HIGHLIGHTS:
0:00 Intro
2:12 12,000 agencies helped
4:18 From agency owner to account management specialist
6:51 The first client success story
9:03 Scaling across different agency types
11:39 The origin of "Dot & Company"
12:15 The four-pillar framework for account management
14:36 Most common agency problems
15:39 Why onboarding is make-or-break
18:33 Handling client expectations about working with the founder
20:27 The business impact of better account management
22:06 When is the right time to hire account management?
24:18 Where to connect with Taylor
Connect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/
Connect with Taylor - https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylormcmaster/