Max Traylor, known as The Consultant’s Consultant, shares his transformative journey from providing standard marketing services to offering productized consulting. He explores why agencies often fall into the 'Tactician’s Trap' and how to escape it. Max reveals a game-changing tweak that resulted in a 10x price increase for a consulting package. He discusses three essential steps for agencies to start selling strategic insights instead of implementation services, emphasizing the importance of trust and strong client relationships in a rapidly evolving market.

He went from working 70-80 hour weeks to building a 7-figure agency with 50% profit margins while only working about 1 hour per week.Today he’s the founder of GrowthDaily.com & AgencyReviews.io & he’s known by his 45,000 followers on X as @MarketingMax, but several years ago he was an agency co-owner struggling to make the sort of money he wanted to make (and enjoy the work in the process).That’s when a timely LinkedIn post came across his feed & recommended a book that change the course of his agency–and his life–forever.In today’s conversation with @MarketingMax, you’ll learn:The book that changed the game for his agencyThe 2 core principles that he learned (& how to implement them in your agency)How he used time-tracking and project profitability data to double his agency’s growth nearly over nightResources Mentioned in Today’s Episode:An Agency’s Guide to Measuring And Improving Billable Utilization (Ebook) Follow @MarketingMax on X Subscribe to the Growth Daily Newsletter Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You by John Warrillow The Client (a film by Umault)Hiring Secrets from an 8-Figure Agency CEO w/ Eric Siu Want to watch the video version of the podcast on YouTube?Check it out here: Agency Life Podcast on YouTube Have a question about today's topic? Text it to us here!Want to get more content to support your agency life? Subscribe to the Agency Life newsletter, check out past episodes & find more content at teamwork.com/agencylife. This podcast is brought to you by Teamwork.com.

How can you leverage thought leadership to gain new followers, win new clients, keep them longer and increase referrals for your agency?Susan Baier, Founder of Audience Audit, where they help agencies create thought leadership content based on quantitative research that builds trust with potential clients, has seen thought leadership done well (with great results) and has seen it done poorly (with wasted time and money).Based on her team’s on research into the topic, in today’s conversation you’ll hear from Susan:The 3 specific elements you have to have to execute great thought leadershipWhat potential clients want (and don’t want) to see from your content effortsHow to discover your agency’s point-of-view (the foundation to your thought leadership efforts) through a process Susan calls “The Rant”Resources Mentioned in This Episode:An Agency’s Guide to Measuring And Improving Billable Utilization (Ebook)Connect with Susan on LinkedIn Achieving Managed Growth for Your Agency w/ Joe Sullivan 3 Steps to Owning Your Niche in 90 Days w/ Nick BennettA Simple Formula for Setting Your Growth Goals w/ Drew McLellan (Webinar)The Client (a film by Umault)Want to watch the video version of the podcast on YouTube?Check it out here: Agency Life Podcast on YouTube Have a question about today's topic? Text it to us here!Want to get more content to support your agency life? Subscribe to the Agency Life newsletter, check out past episodes & find more content at teamwork.com/agencylife. This podcast is brought to you by Teamwork.com.

Alyson Caffrey, Founder & COO of Operations Agency, specializes in helping agencies boost organization and profitability. She discusses the five major overservicing mistakes that drain profitability. Alyson shares strategies to spot and avoid these pitfalls, enhancing both agency performance and client satisfaction. The conversation also delves into mastering client communication, particularly managing revision requests, and celebrates the importance of effective onboarding and recognizing small wins to foster strong client relationships.

Clients who are “happy” may still leave you.  But clients who are seeing results–and seeing them fast?Now, that increases the value you deliver and decreases the chances that new clients will churn.So, how did this digital marketing agency drive client results 70% faster, increase customer satisfaction scores and start getting glowing feedback from more clients?It was all about strategy.More specifically, they did away with the old divide between their strategy and client services teams and introduced a new client-facing role solely responsible for consistently updating the client’s strategy and delivering client results.By creating this new role that now works alongside their project managers, they’ve been able to decrease the feedback loop between performance data and the strategy the agency is executing for their clients.In today’s conversation with Kate Vasylenko, CEO of 42DM, you’ll hear:Why they hired marketers with more in-house experience for this new roleThe questions they asked to find the right talent How they made this structural change to their client delivery team (so you can learn how to do the same)Resources Mentioned in This Episode:An Agency’s Guide to Measuring And Improving Billable Utilization (Ebook)Connect with Kate on LinkedInThe State of Agency Operations ReportHiring Secrets from an 8-Figure Agency CEOWant to watch the video version of the podcast on YouTube?Check it out here: Agency Life Podcast on YouTubeHave a question about today's topic? Text it to us here!Want to get more content to support your agency life? Subscribe to the Agency Life newsletter, check out past episodes & find more content at teamwork.com/agencylife. This podcast is brought to you by Teamwork.com.

In this engaging discussion, Eric Siu, CEO of Single Grain and co-host of the Marketing School Podcast, shares his journey from beginner to leading an 8-figure agency. He dives into effective hiring strategies, advocating for a 'trust, but verify' mantra while using innovative recruitment methods. Eric also highlights essential operating frameworks, the importance of billable utilization for profitability, and offers insights on transitioning to performance-based pricing models. His candid sharing of both successes and failures makes this a must-listen for agency owners!

Today he runs an agency doing $25MM in ARR with around 150 employees.  But–as the story usually goes–this success didn’t come overnight & started with much more humble beginnings.  From not getting paid by one of his first clients to gaining traction with small monthly retainers on Fiverr to now running a successful performance marketing agency for SaaS companies, Garrett Mehrguth, CEO of Directive, has learned a forecasting model that’s allowed him to scale his agency well beyond those humble beginnings.In today’s conversation, he shares:The 2 part financial forecasting model you need to grow your agencyThe common mistake agency owners make regarding executive payHow to set goals that are meaningful, yet attainable, for your teamResources Mentioned in This Episode:An Agency’s Guide to Measuring And Improving Billable Utilization (Ebook)Connect with Garrett on LinkedIn Sign Up for Garrett’s Agency Academy Course The 3 Benefits of Productizing Your Services w/ Sam Shepler 3 Steps to Owning Your Niche in 90 Days w/ Nick Bennett 5 Steps to Win More Clients with Benchmark Data w/ Chris NaultWant to watch the video version of the podcast on YouTube?Check it out here: Agency Life Podcast on YouTubeHave a question about today's topic? Text it to us here!Want to get more content to support your agency life? Subscribe to the Agency Life newsletter, check out past episodes & find more content at teamwork.com/agencylife. This podcast is brought to you by Teamwork.com.

In this insightful discussion, Susan Fennema, CEO of Beyond the Chaos, shares her expertise in client communication risks. She highlights three primary risks, including the dangers of excessive visibility and communication leaks. Susan provides strategic tips for mitigating these risks while improving team efficiency. She emphasizes the importance of intentional communication, transparency, and maintaining trust in client relationships. With tactical advice and impactful anecdotes, listeners gain valuable insights into navigating the complexities of agency-client dynamics.

Wanna know how a 200-person agency reduced churn by 50% from one year to the next?Even though Hawke Media is one of the most successful marketing agencies in the United States and they’ve scaled to hundreds of millions in annual revenue, their journey hasn’t been without bumps in the road.At the beginning of 2022,  they saw client churn on the rise and their CEO, Erik Huberman, knew he had to adjust their strategy to address a new challenge.In today’s conversation, you’ll hear from Erik:How they created intense focus throughout the agency to reduce client churnThe role of incentive structures & systematic churn analysis in their impressive churn reductionHow they retrained their sales team to head off churn early in the client lifecycleWhat they realized was the Number 1 KPI impacting client churn (based on systematic AI analysis)Have a question about today's topic? Text it to us here!Want to get more content to support your agency life? Subscribe to the Agency Life newsletter, check out past episodes & find more content at teamwork.com/agencylife. This podcast is brought to you by Teamwork.com.

What’s one mistake you’ve made as an agency leader you’ll never forget?Several guests on this show have shared the same exact answer:  “I wish I’d invested in my own financial literacy sooner!”But, what financial metrics should you focus on the most?  Even if you answer that question—how do you (and your team) impact those financial metrics that matter most for your agency?To answer these questions, in today’s episode, you’ll hear from Ryan Watson from Upsourced Accounting, where he & the team help agencies just like yours avoid financial pitfalls & achieve financial health.  Ryan’s a former agency COO & CFO himself, so he comes with financial know-how but also real agency life experience.In today’s episode you’ll learn:The 5 Financial Metrics successful agencies get right (from Upsourced’s own analysis of agency client data)An introduction to the Hierarchy of Financial Needs (that will help you determine the right financial metric to prioritize right now)The building blocks to a successful Project Profitability Analysis (which Ryan says is the most important thing you can do to getting a handle on your agency’s gross margin)Want to watch this episode on YouTube to see the visuals?Check it out here: Agency Life Podcast on YouTubeResources Mentioned in This Episode:Connect with Ryan on LinkedInSubscribe to the Upsourced Accounting YouTube ChannelThe State of Agency Operations ReportTeamwork.com Profitability ReportingThe 4 P’s of Time-Tracking Your Team Won’t HateHave a question about today's topic? Text it to us here!Want to get more content to support your agency life? Subscribe to the Agency Life newsletter, check out past episodes & find more content at teamwork.com/agencylife. This podcast is brought to you by Teamwork.com.