2Bobs—with David C. Baker and Blair Enns

While analyzing data from his Total Business Reset surveys, David has noticed five significant trends which principals should be aware of to run their firms more effectively, as well as one thing your team wishes you'd stop doing.

The podcast explores the importance of referrals and word of mouth in lead generation, discusses indicators of successful referral strategies, emphasizes the role of personal connections and trust, and delves into the concept of referral fees and the importance of disclosure.

This podcast explores the concept of developing a referral strategy and emphasizes the importance of giving referrals. The speakers discuss the value of making referrals and helping other businesses succeed. They also talk about the challenges of outreach and networking, and the importance of doing good work and being cautious in making referrals. Additionally, they highlight the importance of having multiple referral sources and engaging in open and honest conversations when making referrals.

Blair runs through one of his constraint driven exercises with David by having us imagine running our business with nobody dedicated to the various functions under the banner of new business.

David has observed six common characteristics of agency principals that can affect whether or not their business succeeds.

Even after understanding and trying to adopt the philosophies from Win Without Pitching, Blair sees many creative firms struggling to increase profit because of these six obstacles involving their people and processes. Links Mastering the Value Conversation The Complexities of Commission Culture Innoficiency in Your Agency The Enemy Within The Complex Battle for Margin Debriefing After a New Business Call Is Your Firm Addicted to New Business? Who's Going to Own This?

This is your intervention and David has some tough questions about the important decisions you should be making to manage and grow your creative firm. LINKS "The Four Types of Employees at Your Firm"

David feels like project managers get a bad rap and has tried to raise their profile within creative firms. So he's gathered a list of traits from the best project managers he's met in the hundreds of agencies he's worked with over the years. Links "Understanding Account People"

A lot has changed since Blair wrote his article about seven mistakes he sees creative firms make with CRM years ago, and David wants to know why Excel isn't a good tool for managing sales leads.

Blair has six challenges creative agencies face when it comes to being compensated for the actual value they generate for their clients.