The client-agency effectiveness checklist
How can clients and agencies know they are ready for a great year together? We’ve written about the 3P’s that lead to effective client-agency relationships. The people need to be committed to the relationship and trained in all the skills needed to deliver great work that builds the business. Effective marketing and agency work needs […]
Is your agency ready to grow? Test yourself with the agency biz dev readiness checklist
Is your agency ready to grow this year? Doing great work and delighting your clients is essential. That great work creates referrals, references and in some cases even acclaim. But to grow you’ll need more than your great work. There are thousands of agencies in the US for clients to consider. How can your agency […]
Year-end gifts clients & agencies really want from each other
The end of the year is just round the corner and last-minute shopping will pick up steam every day. Clients and agencies will often treat their partners to year end gifts large and small. It’s a lovely idea. But what do clients and agencies really need and want from each other? Here’s a list of […]
Dan White & powerful marketing visuals
By Steve Boehler with special guest Dan White If you are a marketer and you don’t know who Dan White is, you probably know his visuals. Dan White is a business innovator that expresses important, complex marketing theories in simple to digest, beautiful graphics. His ideas, frameworks and visualizations have influenced generations of marketing and […]
Leading effective client/agency relationships: the 3P’s
Client/agency relationships only last if both parties succeed. Of course, it was much easier to write that sentence than for clients and agencies to achieve success in real life. Maintaining a highly effective marketing & agency relationship these days requires skills, expertise, and approaches that cover many areas. A way to simplify this long but […]
Turn your team into problem solvers with 7 questions
How do you train your people to be better problem solvers? We often hear from leaders that they wish their people would come prepared with recommendations instead of challenges. When that happens, they pass the buck to leadership to solve, think of a solution for them to execute, or for on-the-spot training. There has to […]
Ditch the Pitch, or Win the Pitch?
A recent report on pitch practices in the US suggested that agency pitches could cost over $1 million. Many in the industry jumped on that news and railed against pitching. The topic of pitches seems to be an easy way to bring out the pitch forks and torches! Pitching CAN be expensive. Some pitches ARE […]
Marketers’ and Agency leaders’ best advice to their 30-year-old selves
Senior leadership and younger staff can have a very different view of the world. Execs early in their career often want to make their mark and can be nervous about proving their worth. Successful senior execs often have learned they are worthy and don’t need to prove it. They have learned what they need to […]
The 4 letter word all marketers should know
Marketers and agency execs have some of the most demanding jobs on the planet. These jobs can be nearly impossible to manage in a 24-hour day. The expectations of marketers and their agencies has never been higher and the work is always-on and can be always stressful. In this world of constant challenges and stress, […]
Three rules for staffing your next agency pitch
The agency world, like many professional services, is full of small differences and limited brand awareness. Agencies are pitching new business often and the ability to win more than an agency’s “fair share” is critical to profitability. The ability to run a compelling pitch – especially in a competitive setting – is critical to a […]