The thing with marginal gains is that it feels small. And we could be forgiven for thinking that applying this approach to agency growth is simply about tinkering around the edges, making small improvements and seeing small incremental results.

I know it has a far bigger sales and marketing role to play, but wanted to talk to someone who has experienced rapid agency growth to understand the interplay between big strategy and marginal gains. 

And who better than Stephen Kenwright, exited co-founder of one of the last decade's the most exciting agency start-ups, Rise at Seven. 

Join us as Stephen takes us through this incredible growth story and shares his top tips for leaders who are eager to scale their agencies fast.

As always, we'll be giving away a copy of Stephen's recommended read: Why Does the Pedlar Sing by Paul Feldwick. Listen in to find out how to win.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Good advice from J Schwan

The Challenger Customer by Brent Adamson, Matthew Dixon, Pat Spenner and Nick Toman.

EP51: Raising Your Profile with Ash Jones

Ride Shotgun

Rise at Seven

 

It's been 6 years since Tony Walford from Green Square joined me on Small Spark Theory to discuss the practicalities of selling an agency. 

To say a lot has happened since then would be an understatement. Aside from the obvious economic rollercoaster and acceleration in technology, we've seen a seismic change to the way many of us work. 

I was curious to find out how these changes have affected the agency M&A market, so invited my fellow Design Business Association expert David Blois from M&A Advisory to share his observations and insights. 

Join us in conversation to hear:

• which agency services are in demand
• how to measure your preparedness for sale
• what to consider when assessing a buyer

As always we have a book giveaway - David's recommendation is The Trusted Advisor by David Maister, Charles Green and Robert Galford. Simply join in the conversation on X, Instagram and LinkedIn using #smallsparktheory for a chance to win. 

 

Regular listeners to this podcast will know that we spend a lot of time here talking about relationships. Of course there is much to say in our industry about creativity and marketing and technology innovation, but fundamentally, as agencies we are service businesses and so the process of attracting, winning and retaining clients has as much to do with the the people involved and the relationships we create as it does with the creative or technological outputs. 

This year I've spent a lot of time auditing client relationships on behalf of agencies, so have been paying particular attention to the behaviours and dynamics that define successful working relationships - from early new business conversations all the way through to retained (and referred) business. 

So I was particularly excited to receive a copy of Tuning Up, the new book by David Meikle, exploring how responsibility and control relate to one another in ALL of our relationships but specifically within the client and agency dynamic. 

In this episode David joins me to discuss how using his clever Meikle Matrix to help us better understand responsibility and control,  we can improve our performance and reduce stress. 

Don't forget, we'll be giving a lucky listener a copy of Tuning Up, listen in to find out how to win. 

This episode is sponsored by E2M, the #1 white label digital agency partner. Visit https://www.e2msolutions.com/smallsparktheory/ to enjoy 20% discount on your first month.

Also mentioned in the episode:

David's previous book: How To Buy A Gorilla

EP30: Rethinking Procurement

 

I have met many agencies over the years who have had ideas for spinning out their own products. 

The outcomes have been varied. From those who have successfully launched and created additional revenue streams, to those who have continued to scale and ultimately sell their product business. For many though, the constant pull of client projects and the day to day demands of running an agency mean that many brilliant product ideas just never make it out of the agency doors. 

In this episode I speak with Paul Halfpenny, Co-Founder and CTO of digital agency Filter, just as the agency launches PersonalizeWP. 

We discuss the importance of defining and getting behind the 'right' idea for the agency. The challenges of managing resource, securing investment and launching to market all while keeping the agency ticking along with a happy team and clients. 

Paul's recommended read is Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett. Listen in to find out how to win a copy. 

This episode is sponsored by E2M, the #1 white label digital agency partner. Visit https://www.e2msolutions.com/smallsparktheory/ to enjoy 20% discount on your first month.

Further reading:

The Marketer's Guide to Personalisation

5 Ways To Use PersonalizeWP To Personalise Your WordPress Website

If you've enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with someone or even better, leave a review - it really makes our day!

How much of your agency revenue comes from overseas clients? Did you know that the US is the largest recipient of UK exports, receiving £3.9bn worth of advertising and market research services, – a value that has more than tripled since 2020?

In this episode I chat to Kat Thay, Co-Founder of K&C, Co-President of the Austin Advertising Federation. Since moving to Texas in 2018 Kat's flair for research, networking and connecting talent has revealed lucrative opportunities for UK agencies looking either to break into the US or expand their existing US revenues.

Building on this insight, Katalyst now supports agencies to confidently navigate and succeed in the US market. We discuss the perceptions of cost and quality of UK creativity and the industry and state-specific nuances of doing business overseas.

We'll be giving away a copy of Kat's recommended read: The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. Listen in to find out how to win.

This episode is sponsored by E2M, the #1 white label digital agency partner. Visit https://www.e2msolutions.com/smallsparktheory/ to enjoy 20% discount on your first month.  

Understanding how clients are buying agency services is fundamental to how we shape our new business and marketing strategies and processes.

In recent episodes we've heard perspectives from procurement expert Tina Fegent and lead generation expert Alex Sibille, so it feels only fitting to add an intermediary point of view into the mix.

Dominic Glenn heads up the Brand Services offer at Ingenuity and joins us to share insights gleaned from years of client / agency speed dating events and helping brands navigate the agency landscape,  either to build an entire roster or solve a particular knotty challenge.

As always there are marginal gains aplenty and a book competition. Listen in for your chance to win a copy of Brothers Emanuel by Ezekiel J. Emanuel. 

Do feel free to get in touch with Dominic via LinkedIn to introduce your agency!

Also mentioned in this episode:

Ingenuity acquires rival Future Factory

Recent pitch news 

This episode is sponsored by E2M, the #1 white label digital agency partner. Visit https://www.e2msolutions.com/smallsparktheory/ to enjoy 20% discount on your first month.  

 

Winning new clients has never been straightforward. But after the upheaval of the last few years, last year in particular we saw an added complication - resource.

And of course that scarcity of talent naturally increased salary expectations, meaning that profit margins on new and existing projects were being squeezed even further. 

For this episode I speak to Manish Dudharejia, founder and president of E2M Solutions (and I'm very proud to say, sponsor of Small Spark Theory) about how his 180 strong team support over 150 agencies with white label digital services to take the pain out of the scaling and resourcing process. 

We explore how Manish's desire to build a people over profit business has created a powerful niche which allows him to focus hiring and developing specialist digital talent, allowing agencies to focus on building their client relationships, all while protecting profit margins. 

We'll be giving away a copy of Manish's recommended read: Measure What Matters: The Simple Ideas that Drives 10x Growth by John Doerr, listen in to find out how to win. 

Also mentioned in this episode:

Traction: Get a Grip on your Business by Gino Wickman

Atomic Habits by James Clear

E2M introductory offer for Small Spark Theory listeners

This episode is sponsored by E2M, the #1 white label digital agency partner.

 

I feel as though we've been skirting around the edges of a beast of a topic for some time on this podcast, namely emergent technology and its impact on agencies.

Of course, no single episode is going to unpick the labyrinth of challenges and opportunities for our clients, and in turn the agency community, but as the chat about AI continues to rumble in the daily news cycle, it's feels like the right time to talk to someone who really understands that intersection of technology, people and brands.

Warren Hutchinson is Founder of Else, an experience design, innovation and strategy consultancy and Chair of the Design Business Association. He's spent 25 years helping businesses as they navigate a point of change.

In this episode, we discuss cutting though the hype and the noise, the power of kinaesthetic learning and its role in our positioning as experts and the importance of not having all the answers.

Warren's recommended read is Scary Smart by Mo Gowdat. Listen in to find out how to win a copy.

Also mentioned in the episode:

Diary of a CEO E252 Emergency Episode with Mo Gowdat

Newsletters:

TLDR

The Conversation

The Hustle

If you are a DBA Member you can join Warren discussing these topics in Glasgow on 15 June – find out more here

This episode is sponsored by E2M, the #1 white label digital agency partner. Visit https://www.e2msolutions.com/smallsparktheory/ to enjoy 20% discount on your first month.  

In recent episodes, we've talked a lot about change and uncertainty, the persistent undercurrents unsettling our new business efforts and impacting our client relationships.

So, it seems a perfect time to speak to someone who has an unrivalled perspective of the agency and client dynamic – Tina Fegent.

From becoming one of the first marketing buyers in the UK over 25 years ago, Tina has set up and led procurement teams at some of the largest buyers of marketing services and led commercial teams at leading UK agencies.

In this episode, we discuss the shifts in how clients buy, and how agencies sell, what we can do to maximise our client relationships, why positioning matters more than ever, managing a personal brand and how to get your portrait taken by Rankin!

Tina's recommended read is Buying Less for Less: How to Avoid the Marketing Procurement Dilemma by Gerry Preece. Listen in to find out how to win a copy.

This episode is sponsored by E2M, the #1 white label digital agency partner. Visit https://www.e2msolutions.com/smallsparktheory/ to enjoy 20% discount on your first month.  

Also mentioned in this episode:

IPA & CIPS Top Tips For Better Working Relationships

IPA Magic & Logic

When I saw the title of Matt Watkinson's new book, Mastering Uncertainty, earlier this year I jumped at the chance to interview him on the podcast.

 

Matt runs LA based agency Methodical. His first book, The 10 Principles Behind Great Customer Experiences had already been recommended on here by Nick Phipps back in episode 22 and having subsequently enjoyed his next book, The Grid, I was eager to see what Matt had to say about how we navigate these uncertain times.

It turns out the book is far from a response to our post-pandemic disarray, but a rallying cry to not only accept uncertainty as a constant reality, but to use it to our advantage.

There are so many new business takeaways in this conversation. I'll be bulk ordering copies of Mastering Uncertainty for my clients, and giving away a copy with this episode, as well as a copy of the Grid – essential reading for anyone running a business or selling marketing services to businesses. Listen in to find out how to win.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Gap Selling: Getting the Customer to Yes: How Problem-Centric Selling Increases Sales by Changing Everything You Know About Relationships, Overcoming Objections, Closing and Price by Keenan

Accelerating Excellence by James A. King

This episode is sponsored by E2M, the #1 white label digital agency partner. Visit https://www.e2msolutions.com/smallsparktheory/ to enjoy 20% discount on your first month.  

 

The recent acquisition of new business agency Future Factory by their leading competitor Ingenuity has been headline news in the new biz community. For me it was the perfect opportunity for a long overdue catch up with co-founder Alex Sibille.

In this episode we discuss the expanded new business and marketing services offered by this combined new business powerhouse, Alex reflects on how new business performance has fared through changing economic conditions and shares insights and best practice for agencies either looking to hire a new business agency or undertake their own outreach activity.

Just to mix things up, this month we don't have a book recommendation, but instead, content to follow on LinkedIn, specifically Tina Fegent and her weekly #TinaTells posts.

Also mentioned in the episode are Future Factory training courses and our previous conversations on the pod in EP24: The new business email and EP5: Lead generation.

This episode is sponsored by E2M, the #1 white label digital agency partner. Visit https://www.e2msolutions.com/smallsparktheory/ to enjoy 20% discount on your first month.  

 

Any regular listeners to this podcast will know that I love agencies. I have a deep fascination for the dynamics of what are often small businesses, almost always servicing larger organisations and adapting to the continually shifting sands of markets, consumer behaviour, the economy, competitors – and of course, technology.

In this episode I discuss the challenges of maintaining relevance with the brilliant Mark Wilson, one half of the agency previously known as Wilson Fletcher, newly rebranded as Futurestate Design.

How do you decide when to transform? When to stick and when to twist? How to you find the language to articulate your offer when technology moves so fast that 'digital' is no longer helpful.

As always we are giving away a copy of Mark's recommended read: No Rules Rules by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer. Listen in to find out how to win.

Also mentioned in this episode is Mark's own book Futurestate Design: How to step out of the past to create a business fit for the future.

Powerful by Patty McCord

This episode is sponsored by E2M, the #1 white label digital agency partner. Visit https://www.e2msolutions.com/smallsparktheory/ to enjoy 20% discount on your first month.  

Additional music: "Show Me" by Josh Woodward

Of all of the marketing tools available to agencies, I'd wager that one of the most effective, yet most overlooked, is the humble email newsletter. 

Which of course, makes it the perfect candidate for marginal gains and the perfect topic for this podcast. And this month, I have the perfect guest in the shape of agency newsletter specialist, Jamie Woodbridge  from The Inbox Club.

In this episode we discuss why newsletters are so important - particularly in the face of so many shiny new channels, how to set good objectives, what to measure, which platforms to use, the optimum frequency and what makes winning newsletter content. 

As always we'll be giving away a copy of Jamie's recommended read: A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger von Oech

I'm delighted that Jamie and his team are going to be relaunching  my very own newsletter (which has fallen ominously silent over the last year). The first issue of One Small Spark lands at the end of this month, so look out for it if you are already subscribed, or sign up here to join in the fun: http://eepurl.com/dql7rf

You can also sign up for The Inbox Club's own weekly newsletter, full of actionable advice, here: https://theinboxclub-tips.beehiiv.com/subscribe

 

How do you feel about the year ahead? Confident? Concerned? Uncertain?

Wherever you are on this spectrum, one thing we must be, is ready. 

I particularly like the work that Steve Parks does at Convivio because he focuses heavily on the macro issues facing clients and prospects and encourages agency leaders to use this insight to plan, adapt and respond as necessary. We discussed this approach when Steve joined me on the podcast back in episode 57, so I was keen to bring him back to get us in the right frame of mind for our first episode of 2023. 

This is a bumper conversation, full of solid insight and brilliant, practical advice. We discuss some familar themes from last year and identify the potential hurdles and opportunties that lie ahead.

As always we'll be giving away a copy of Steve's recommended read: The Alliance by Reid Hoffman- listen in to find out how to win. 

Also mentioned in this episode:

Books

Anti-fragile: things that gain from disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport

The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz

Further reading

The Agency Radar

High Altitude Thinking

The True Hope of Optimistic Pessimism

Support

The Trussell Trust New Business Trouble Shoot

Whichever way we cut it, 2022 has been A LOT.

The last few years have seen so much change; for individuals, businesses and our industry. Many of us are still adapting. Whether we are recalibrating, reinventing, surviving or thriving, we're doing it all against a backdrop of relentless economic and political turmoil and uncertainty.

So for our final episode of the year I wanted to focus on how we can maintain our confidence and positivity as we close off the year and look ahead to 2023.

Wendy Bollard is a mindset coach with many years' experience in the creative industry. Working with artists, designers, performers and directors, she uses her brilliant box of tricks to help her clients manage the day to day noise and bring out their very best performance.

Listen in as Wendy shares her valuable tools and advice and helps us understand how to give our minds a daily workout. As always we are giving away a copy of Wendy's recommended read: The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.

Thank you all listening this year and continuing to support Small Spark Theory, every time we get your feedback and reviews it really is like a big internetty hug. Wishing you all a warm and restorative break.

Also mentioned in the episode: Atomic Habits by James Clear

It's been a little while since we had a client perspective on this podcast, and given the current economic wobbles, now feels like an excellent time to remedy this.

So I'm delighted to share this conversation with Gareth Turner. Having enjoyed a stellar marketing career with brands such as Johns Smith's, Bulmers and Lurpak, Gareth was most recently Head of Marketing at Weetabix and earlier this year, published his own research on client / agency relationships.

We pick though the six key themes of this research to provide practical, actionable tips to help reinforce your relationships. You can download a copy of the report here – and while you're at it, I highly recommend subscribing to Gareth's newsletter: Sporadic Brand Ramblings.

As always we'll be giving away a copy of Gareth's recommended read: How not to plan: 66 ways to screw it up by Les Binet and Sarah Carter. Listen in to find out how to win.

For more information about Gunpowder's client audit programmes – get in touch.

It's been a while since we talked about new business talent on this podcast. But after a bumpy couple of years, it seems like the right time to shine a spotlight on the superstars in our industry who willingly show up every day to seek out new clients for their agencies.

I wrote about the challenges for new business practitioners for Mental Health Awareness week highlighting the importance of getting the right support in place to retain our industry talent. So I was delighted to chat to Adam Graham about his new business community, BD Matters.

Together we discuss the highs and lows of marketing and prospecting, managing expectations, the power of community and share some top tips for agency owners looking to support their new business folk.

Adam's recommended read is a Small Spark Theory favourite, To Sell Is Human by Daniel Pink. Join in the conversation on Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram using #smallsparktheory for your chance to win a copy.

You can find out more about BD Matters here.

To chat in confidence about Lucy's mentoring, feel free to book in a time here.

The theme for this series has always been to explore how we can use a marginal gains thinking to improve agency new business and marketing performance.

That said, I'm conscious that in some episodes, when we do a deep dive into a particular element of new business and marketing mix, our reference to marginal gains may seem a little abstract.

So with September upon us and in keeping with that 'back to school' vibe, I wanted to dedicate an episode to practical examples of how this marginal gains thinking can deliver tangible results.

Joining me for this conversation is Joe Perkins, founder and MD of Chaptr. Joe started working through Gunpowder's New Business & Marketing Bootcamp with me back in 2020 and shares his experience of the warts and all process and his top tips for applying this approach to performance improvement.

As always we have a book giveaway - Joe's recommended read is Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility by Patty McCord. Join in the conversation on Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn using #smallsparktheory for your chance to win a copy.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Agency Collective

Agency Hackers

Agency Local

The Trussell Trust New Business Trouble Shoot

There is no doubt these are troubling times. As the economic storm clouds gather, we are all bracing ourselves for some pain in the months ahead as marketing spends come under pressure.

But what concerns me most is the timing. For most of this year, I've witnessed agencies juggling an influx of projects, finally unlocked after the stranglehold of the pandemic, with the twin challenges of resourcing and post-Covid working practices.

Inevitably, when all hands are to the pump to deliver and bill client work, even the best laid new business and marketing plans fall by the wayside. And now, more than ever, this cannot happen.

So before we head into the most important window in the new business and marketing calendar, in this episode I share the best advice I can give to any agency, struggling with resource, knowing they are neglecting the pipeline and worried about the forecast six months from now.

Of course if you want to talk in confidence about any of the issues raised in this episode, please get in touch at lucy@gunpowderconsulting.com

Referenced in this episode:

Rory Spence at Wow Company

Blair Enns on pricing

Kelly Molson on marketing

IPA Bellwether

 

Over recent episodes we've been taking a deep dive into some very specific elements of agency marketing and prospecting. 

We revisited agency positioning with Roland Gurney at Treacle, really got to grips with thought leadership with Mark Wellings at Grist and in the last episode on relationships, Trenton Moss talked about the prospect communities he created and how they translated into billing clients. 

So for this episode I wanted to showcase an agency founder who has brought all of these elements together to really demonstrate how ANY agency can implement these ideas. 

Kelly Molson is co-founder of Rubber Cheese  a web development agency focussed on supporting the visitor attractions sector. We talk about the road to specialisation and positioning, and how immersing yourself in the challenges of your audience builds community, grows relationship, and in turn, your new business pipeline. 

For anyone who has found the strategies we discuss on this podcast interesting but perhaps inaccessible - maybe due to a perceived lack of time, resource or confidence, I urge you to listen to this episode and take inspiration from Kelly's experience. 

Kelly's recommended read is the evergreen How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. We will of course be giving away a copy - listen in to find out how to win. 

For any visitor attraction owners or marketers listening, you can access the Rubber Cheese Visitor Attraction Website Survey here. 

Want to see how you can refine your new business strategy? Contact Lucy.

After a tough couple of years, I've been spotting some really positive signs in agencies over the past six months; clients seem to be spending, delayed projects are being given the green light and new business pipelines are flourishing.

But there is no escaping the wider economic picture and we should rightly be bracing ourselves for impact on future marketing spend. And whilst there is much we can't predict, or control, strengthening our relationships and communication with our clients is only going to stand us in good stead for the future.

In this episode I chat to the brilliant Trenton Moss from Team Sterka. We discuss the rollercoaster of agency ownership, what happens when inbound new business referrals dry up, the power of growing prospect communities and how to become a relationship master.

We are giving away a copy of Trenton's book: Human Powered. Simply listen in to find out how to win.

Take the quiz to find out your communication style here!

For details of Gunpowder's client development workshops, get in touch.

Whether your agency has a fast track growth plan or a more modest desire to maintain the status quo, there are innumerable challenges that can derail even the best laid plans.

Client insecurity or overexposure, floundering new business pipelines or skills shortages not to mention the wider economic backdrop, can all create pinch-points for agency leaders. At each of these moments critical decisions must be made. Those agencies of real scale, with a sizeable exec board have some safety in discussion and consensus, but for the small to mid-size agency owner these can be lonely times. How do you find the right sounding board?

Many listeners of this show will know Daniel de la Cruz. Having experienced exactly these challenges running his own agency, and grown The Agency Collective alongside The Wow Company, Daniel has created Polymensa to provide the 'non-ego' board for independent agencies.

In this episode we get together to discuss the challenges of scaling, avoiding the echo chamber and why differing perspectives matter.

Daniel's recommended reads are: What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture by Ben Horowitz and Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire, and How to Want What You Need by Luke Burgis. Also mentioned in this episode is The First Minute by Chris Fenning. We'll be giving away a copy of What You Do Is Who You Are, simply listen in to find out how to win.

Read Daniel's thoughts on the shortcomings of the traditional non-exec director.

Within the ecosystem of agency new business, marketing, client development and the wider sphere of agency growth, there are certain topics which we will undoubtedly revist again and again. So, not for the first time, and certainly not the last, I wanted to talk about agency positioning. And not for the first time, and I hope not the last, I wanted to talk to Roland Gurney.

Roland joined us on the podcast in January 2020 to help us unpick some agency messaging pitfalls. So many people loved that episode and got in touch with Treacle for help, that it seemed only fitting get together again and take stock of where we are now.

How has the landscape changed in the last two years? Should we be thinking differently about difference? Is niching still the answer?

Listen in as we discuss all this and more. Roland's recommended read is The Advertising Concept Book: Think Now, Design Later by Pete Barry.

Small Spark Theory has always been about a mindset. When I started this podcast back in 2017 I wanted to harness the marginal gains thinking that was and still is, so prevalent in elite sport and apply it to an altogether different kind of winning - agency new business.

So when I heard Serotonin Co-Founder Clair Heaviside talking about her ultra-running at an agency conference earlier this year I knew she would be the perfect guest. How right I was! 

Join us as we discuss how training and competing in endurance sports has informed Clair's approach to running an agency.

This is one of the most inspiring episodes we've recorded. There is so much we can learn from Clair's experience about consistency, mental fortitude, decision-making and discipline and culture. 

Clair's book recommendation is There is No Wall by Allie Bailey. Listen in to find out how to win a copy. 

Also mentioned in this episode:

Jasmin Paris 

EP84 with Rachel Cook

International Women's Podcast Awards

Thought leadership – in its various forms, is a topic we have covered in a number of episodes over the years. Done well, it can be a game-changer for agency marketing, sparking and re-igniting meaningful prospect and client conversations. However, there are a number common hurdles I tend to encounter when speaking with agency founders which means that great content either never gets made, or worse, is created but not optimised.

To really get to grips with how to master thought leadership I got together with Mark Wellings, co-founder and client services director at specialist thought leadership agency Grist. Mark and his team work with leading B2B brands like PwC, PA Consulting and DLA Piper delivering insight-led programmes designed to fuel sales pipelines.

In this episode, Mark shares his 6 Golden Rules of Thought Leadership – so grab a pen and paper, there are marginal gains a-plenty!

Mark's recommended read is the ever-popular Win Without Pitching Manifesto by Blair Enns, listen in and find out how to win a copy.

As I know so many of you are keen cyclists, you may also be interested in Mark's own book RIDE! RIDE! RIDE! The Story of British Track Cycling.

Also mentioned in this episode:

The Leadership Book by Mark Anderson

You can read more of Grist's insights here.

I have a constant fascination with the power of agency marketing. I'm sure it's my age - having cut my new business teeth in a pre-digital era, but my enthusiasm for the growing array of channels available for anyone to share their message with an audience shows no sign of abating.  

So forgive me for revisiting the subject of profile building once again. Last year I dedicated three episodes to content resourcing, personal branding and LinkedIn profile building and back in episode 25 I chatted to Brandhook's Pip Stocks who shared her story of successfully building out a thought leadership campaign. 

For this episode, I wanted to showcase another small agency, but with a slightly different challenge - how do you balance the profile of the founder with the profile of the agency?

Dr Kat Arney is a multi award-winning science writer and broadcaster, and founder and Creative Director of First Create The Media. Having started the agency in 2018 after over a decade at Cancer Research UK, Kat continues to publish books, produce numerous podcasts and, given the opportunity, take to the stage to speak about science and society. Join us as we talk about the trials of the accidental agency owner, juggling personal profile projects with billable time and much more. 

Kat's recommended read is Story Dash: Find, Develop, and Activate Your Most Valuable Business Stories . . . In Just a Few Hours - listen in to find out how to win a copy. 

Also mentioned in this episode:

Rebel Cell - buy signed copies https://www.rebelcellbook.com/ or find it wherever books are sold

Genetics Unzipped podcast https://geneticsunzipped.com/

Ingenious https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000h0fy/episodes/player

So here we are in 2022.

I'm not really one for resolutions, but there is something about a new year that makes me want to clear the decks, remove distractions and create a renewed sense of focus. A new notebook and a tidy Dropbox tend to help but I find data the most useful tool. Whether that's marketing data, new business pipeline analysis or attributing the source of new client wins, good data removes emotion and really allows us to identify marginal gains.

With this in mind I wanted our first episode of the year to focus on agency performance data – and who better to talk to than The Wow Company.

This year, Wow launches the 10th annual BenchPress report, the largest survey of independent agencies in the UK, so I invited Rory Spence to join me to pick through a decade of statistics and uncover the insights that can give us confidence – or caution – for the year ahead.

Spoiler alert – you might need to increase your prices!

Whatever your agency plans are for this year I hope you are feeling refreshed, energised and inspired. Let's make 2022 one to remember.

You can find all the previous BenchPress reports here and contribute to the 2022 report here.

Rory's recommended read is I'm an Agency Owner, Get Me Out of Here by Jonathan Leafe.

 

 

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There has been much written on the subject of agency new business, but I'm not sure there has been a book which has resonated so deeply with agency founders and new business practitioners alike, as the Win Without Pitching Manifesto by Blair Enns.

So as we come to the end of another extraordinary year and the final episode of 2021, I wanted to chat with Blair about his reflections on the Manifesto, over a decade from its publication and his outlook for the year ahead.

Do the proclamations set out in the book still apply in these altered economic times? And can we still gain traction with the value pricing approach in Pricing Creativity?

Join us as we explore the challenges and opportunities ahead, and tackle a few listener questions!

This episode marks the 5-year anniversary of Small Spark Theory. So a heartfelt thank you from me to all of the listeners and guests who have been along for the ride so far. We'll be back in the New Year with more guests and more marginal gains. In the meantime wishing you all a wonderful festive break.  

Also mentioned in this episode

Icelandverse

Four Regrets You're About to Have

Win Without Pitching

In my work with agencies I witness a great deal of discomfort about the new business process. Of course there are brilliant, natural new business professionals out there who thrive on networking and relationship building, but for many, the possibility of rejection looms large and the process of prospecting or, shudder, 'selling', feels wholly unnatural.

This realisation was the basis for starting Gunpowder as a consulting business almost a decade ago and latterly, the understanding that taking a marginal gains approach could ease the some of that discomfort, the premise for launching this podcast.

Hot off the press, Catalyst: Using Personal Chemistry to Convert Contacts into Contracts  is a wonderful new book by Louisa Clarke and David Kean which gets to the very heart of new business. Exploring how our human interactions determine how we succeed and jam packed with actionable tips, this must read manual confirms that being a catalyst isn't just the preserve of the new business professional, but a set of skills can (and should) be learned by anyone, one marginal gain at a time.

Louisa and David join me in this episode to share their own 'catalytic' experiences and pass on their advice. This is an energising listen for anyone who has lost their new biz mojo or simply wants to feel more confident starting, maintaining and growing a professional network.

As always we'll be giving away of copy of Catalyst, listen in to find out how to win.

Also mentioned in this episode:

How to Win Friends and Influence Profits

Pitching to Win

The Caffeine Partnership

Forthwrite

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Carnival of Snackery by David Sedaris

We've talked a lot about leadership on this podcast, and rightly so. Sustainable new business performance starts with a growth mindset and that has to come from the very top of an agency.

No matter how many people I speak with on the topic of agency leadership, every conversation brings a fresh perspective. And none more so than this conversation with Steve Parks of Convivio.

Earlier this year Steve and I were both named as "Inspiring People" in the BenchPress report from The Wow Company, something we were both so chuffed about that we reached out across the internet for a for a virtual high five. Our resulting conversation was so interesting that I knew I wanted to get Steve to chat on here.

In this episode we explore the wider role of agencies, high altitude leadership, the many hats of an agency leader and a window into the world of a private investigator!

Of course, we are giving away a copy of Steve's recommended read: Organize for Complexity: How to Get Life Back Into Work to Build the High-Performance Organization by Niels Pflaeging, simply join in the conversation on Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram using #smallsparktheory and we'll pick a winner.

Further reading and listening:

What are agencies for? https://www.convivio.com/blog/what-are-agencies-for/

Too many hats: https://www.convivio.com/blog/too-many-hats/

Your day at the top: https://www.convivio.com/blog/your-day-at-the-top/

The Agency Radar Report: https://www.agencyradar.io/radar/

The Convivio Agency Leaders podcast: https://www.convivio.com/podcast/

Bench Press Agency Inspiration Report

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earlier this year, Claire Humphris was named CEO at Iris, the agency she co-founded with five other colleagues in 1999.

Iris now numbers over 1000 people across 17 offices worldwide. As agency breakaways go, it is a perfect case study. But of course, what interests me is the new business story. Claire has spent the past 7 years leading the agency's global new business operations, driving growth across the network and winning some of the agency's biggest integrated pitches.

In this episode we get together to discuss new business leadership and culture, the importance of the marketing calendar, marginal gains and making your own luck.

As we shape up for the final marketing and new business push of the year and begin planning for 2022, this is just the inspiration you need.

As always we'll be giving away a copy of Claire's recommended read, The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k by Sarah Knight listen in to find out how to win. 

In 2017 I interviewed Felix Velarde for this podcast to discuss agency growth planning. It was our 4th episode.

Lots of people got in touch to talk about that episode and the way Felix delivered such a calm, pragmatic approach to a subject that frustrates so many agency owners. How do you grow, and just as importantly, how do you sustain that growth?

Later that year, Felix mentioned over lunch that he'd been approached by an agent who had heard the podcast, and suggested he write a book about the process. Fast forward to 2021 and I'm delighted that Felix is back to discuss that very book: Scale at Speed: How to Triple the Size of Your Business and Build a Superstar Team.

This book is such an invigorating read, whether or not you are in a position to take on the full 2Y3X programme that Felix and his team deliver, it is full to the brim of practical tools and advice to motivate anyone to switch up their growth plans.

We always do a book giveaway with each episode but Felix has kindly agreed to donate 10 signed copies to listeners. Simply listen in to find out how to win.

I've said many times that the people in business I admire the most are independent agency leaders. And over the past 18 months, as our industry, largely populated by small businesses has rallied against such unforeseen challenges, my admiration and respect has deepened.

Through all of the conversations I had with agencies during this time I was aware that it was surely those in the events sector who had been dealt the most difficult hand.

In this episode, I speak to Sarah Yeats, Managing Director of events agency Sledge, to understand what happens when your projects are cancelled and your pipeline disappears.

I've called this episode 'overcoming adversity' but it's so much more than that. It's about leadership, resilience, communication, but most importantly, the power of relationships.

Listen in to find out how to win a copy of Sarah's recommended read: Be More Pirate by Sam Conniff Allende.

In the discussions we've had on this podcast, and in the work I do with agencies, the theme of walking in the clients' shoes has been a recurring one. From rethinking our messaging to talk to client needs rather than services, to our approach to prospecting and the way we build advocacy with our clients.

 

But aside from simply understanding the client / prospect business attributes - structure, revenue model, audience, product and service lines, what we really need to get a handle on is change. What's shifting for them? Buyer behaviour? The competition? Regulation? Supply chains? What does the change mean for them? I'd argue that a key differentiator in the best performing agencies is having a process for staying ahead of these issues and having more informed conversations with clients, a commitment of time that our traditionally lean servicing models often overlook.

 

However, as we stand here in 2021 blinking into the sunshine after the dull shock of the past year, there is change that we cannot ignore. Every client business will have been affected on some level from the pandemic, meanwhile the issues of sustainability, climate, diversity and inclusion are rightfully gaining traction. To ignore these challenges as we work together with our clients is missing a vital opportunity.

 

Someone who has been leading the charge for such conversations is Jennifer Crowley, Client Partner and Digital Sustainability Lead at Kin+ Carta and BIMA 100 Class of 2021.

 

In this episode we explore the benefits on engaging on broader businesses challenges and understanding shared values, and how, with such wide reaching topics, we can find marginal gains to build better client relationships.

 

As always we'll be giving away a copy of Jennifer's recommended read – Greener Marketing by John Grant.

 

Also mentioned in this episode:

https://www.kinandcarta.com/en/social-responsibility/

 

https://thegreenpages.bima.co.uk/the-green-pages/

 

https://www.londonspeechworkshop.com

 

Early on in my agency career I often used to hear the expression 'great creative work will sell itself', and its close cousin 'do great work and the clients will come'. Of course we know that in reality, certainly for the majority, these things are rarely true, but I'm still surprised by the number of agencies I meet who continue to operate as though under this misapprehension, highly focused on the creative or technical output but lacking in broader commercial acumen or practice. 

In this episode I talk to designer, agency leader and consultant Tim Perry about the most common commercial skills gaps he's observed and how he's tackling them through a range of bite-sized training courses designed especially for creatives.

This feels like the perfect discussion to be having now. If ever there was a time to sharpen our networking, relationship-building and negotiation skills it is now!

As always we're giving away a copy of Tim's recommended read: The Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda - listen in to find out how to win. 

 

It's always a good day when someone gets in touch to pitch a podcast episode idea. Even better when that someone is a client.

Andrew Southcott is Managing Director at creative agency group Captivate. Andrew hired me last year to work with Captivate's new business talent, a move that came as part of a wider initiative to bring in external expertise for advice, support or training on a range of themes across the business.

For me, this is a dream engagement. Mentoring up and coming new business talent is one of the most rewarding parts of my job, but I was interested to explore Andrew's leadership approach – a growth mindset clearly focussed on development, improvement, and well…. marginal gains!

In this episode Andrew talks us through his experiences of the last year and how a range of experts and outsourced resource are adding value across the business. It's a fascinating listen, jam packed with great insights and advice.

Breaking with convention, instead of a book recommendation, check out the YouTube channel Ashville Aggregates – for a example of entrepreneurship in action.

There are so many reasons for me wanting to do an episode on personal brand.

Let's go back to the beginning. At the start of my agency career, I worked mostly with ad agencies. This was in the 90s and honestly – it was dazzling. The high profile exit of Maurice and Charles from Saatchi & Saatchi to set up M&C Saatchi, Dave Trott setting up Bainsfair Sharkey Trott then WCST, Trevor Beattie making waves with Wonderbra and FCUK, and so it went on. Everywhere you turned there were names.

I've often said that to a degree, the rise of digital and social media has evened out the playing field from an agency profile point of view, allowing everyone a share of voice if they get a good plan in place. However, there has seemed a notable lack of high profile individuals in quite the same way as we had before. With so much noise – was it just too hard for anyone to cut through?

For me, that changed when Social Chain founder Steven Bartlett catapulted on to the scene, transcending industry trade press, appearing in mainstream media and attracting over 2 million followers online. All by the age of 27. (Not to mention taking the company public).

To help me understand how that happened, and what we can learn from it, I'm joined by Ash Jones, part of the founding team at Social Chain and founder of Great Influence.

We talk about what it takes to create a personal brand, how to cut through the noise and how to manage imposter syndrome.

As always we'll be giving away a copy of Ash's recommended read - the newly published Happy Sexy Millionaire by Steven Bartlett.

We've talked a lot on this podcast about LinkedIn over the years, and specifically the often untapped potential of Sales Navigator.

From the conversations I've had with my clients, I know that whilst consistent LinkedIn engagement can deliver fantastic results – for many, finding the time and focus required to create momentum can be a challenge.

Which is why I was intrigued by the service that Laura Hannan and her team at Pitch121 provide.

Laura joins me for the second episode in our mini-series exploring different techniques and resources to help raise your agency profile.

Listen in to hear a how the clever combination of tech, content and highly targeted Sales Navigator outreach is connecting agencies with their audiences, and a wealth of tips for elevating your own LinkedIn presence.

As always we'll be giving away of Laura's recommended read; Social Selling: Techniques to Influence Buyers and Changemakers by Tim Hughes.

Many of the conversations I've been having with agencies over recent months have centred around marketing and new business resource.

This is good news. It shows that we are looking forward and taking positive action to create better, more sustainable agency marketing practices. In particular, the biggest shift I have seen is agencies recognising the need to prioritise profile building activity, and in turn realising that there is a gap in their existing team skillset to provide this.

Over the coming months I'm going to be focussing on the different ways we can look at building agency profiles and the varying shapes of resource available to help us do that.

To kick us off for this episode, I invited Sarah Paterson, co-founder of CommsPeople to join me in sharing the story of her lockdown start-up; providing flexible support from a  talent pool of high calibre communications professionals.

This is an ideal solution for agencies with great ideas for connecting with prospects with relevant content, but find themselves too caught up in the day to business to make it happen.

If you need help defining your audience and content strategy then feel free to get in touch with me here or if you want to discuss a brief for support from the CommsPeople talent pool, you can reach Sarah here.

As always we are giving away a copy of Sarah's recommended read: The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz – listen in and find out how to win.

And of course, if you have a new business or agency marketing question for us, or a top tip to share, please get in touch.

Useful links:

2021 Freelance trends

How to manage freelancers 

Lunchclub

It's safe to say that for most of us, 2021 arrived without the usual fanfare, excitement and expectation but instead, with an exhausted sigh and a resolution NOT to have any New Year resolutions.

Let's be clear, the ambition and optimism are still there, but big fat goals can feel meaningless when we are surrounded by so much restriction, distraction and uncertainty. So what can we do?

In true Small Spark Theory, marginal gains style, for this episode we wanted to focus on some small stuff. Some helpful, positive habits. The things that can help us put one foot in front of the other, to keep going and stay motivated, even when we don't feel like it

To help me unpick the subject of habits I co-opted my long-term colleague and Small Spark Theory Institute co-founder Clare Rees. Clare learned a thing or two about forming good habits when taking on the mighty challenge of writing a novel, so has a great perspective on how to take small steps, avoid procrastination and keep our motivation strong.

As always, listen in for the chance to win a copy of Clare's recommended read: Atomic Habits by James Clear - you can also download the first chapter here. 

We also have some questions and tips from our fabulous listeners. If you have a question or hot tip and would like to contribute to an upcoming episode – please get in touch.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Stephen Covey's seminal 7 Habits of Highly Effective People 

Liz Wilde

 

I can't imagine finding an agency owner, who since March, hasn't tuned in to at least one of the myriad of webinars or zoom chats that have been made available through either our industry bodies (see our earlier conversation with DBA CEO Deborah Dawton), individual agency experts or peer networks. From HR and culture, finance and operations to client service and new business, the range of advice and resources available have been momentous. So for our final episode of this year, it feels fitting to pull up a chair and chat with the founder of one of the UK's leading agency peer support groups.

Ian Harris has been running Agency Hackers for the last four years, providing a community of agencies with insight, education and support.

Ian joins to me to reflect on a year of twists and turns and look ahead to 2021.

As always we'll be giving away a copy of Ian's recommended read: Charlatan: The Fraudulent Life of John Brinkley.

So don your Christmas jumper, grab a mince pie and settle in. The end is in sight.

In previous episodes we've tackled various aspects of pitching and presenting, specifically with Tony Spong from AAR (episode 10) and Catherine Allison at Master the Art (episodes 3 and 33). In those discussions we concentrated largely on our behaviour - our pitching processes, how we question, how we listen. But the area we didn't really touch on is our presentation materials.

We've all heard the statistics about how much of our verbal vs visual communication is heard and seen, but at a time when we are mostly communicating through a Zoom window and many of the other subtle body language cues are missing, the pressure is on to make sure our presentation materials are working harder than ever.

And as a marginal gains exercise, this one is a whopper! Presentation decks are so often overlooked, either hastily rehashed or totally over engineered. Time spent rethinking how we approach this vital part of our new business armoury is undoubtedly time well spent.

So who better to unpick this than presentation expert Shan Preddy. Design Business Association members will know Shan well as a founder member of the Experts Register and trainer and advisor to swathes of organisations across the sector.

Listen in to hear Shan's best tips and tricks for powerful presentations (and a bonus insight into the communication skills of the new US Vice President-Elect….!)

Shan's recommended read is Slide:ologyby Nancy Duarte. 

Links:

Preddy & Co

Shan Preddy

"I'm speaking..."

This is also your last chance to contribute to our new year episode about new business habits - let us know your thoughts here.

Back in April this year, Claire Beale wrote this brilliant Campaign article about the client/agency dynamic. It was a rallying cry for cultivating deeper working relationships built on partnership, trust and mutual support and a move away from the procurer/supplier mind set we know all too well.

I've reflected on this theme often over the intervening months. In my conversations with agency owners, account teams and new business practitioners I sensed a polarising effect of the pandemic. It has been no surprise that the stronger the partnerships with clients, the better able both parties have been to communicate and problem solve. At the very least, for agencies that communication has been vital to provide the financial visibility required for scenario planning.

Whatever lies ahead, I hope this experience galvanises more clients into investing in the process of hiring agencies, but that's a big, thorny topic for another day. What I'm interested in right now is how agencies can fulfil our part of the bargain. How can we actively shift our existing client relationships from transactional and reactive to trusted and proactive?

In previous episodes we have discussed the process of client development planning, but this time, we're taking it to the next level and exploring client satisfaction audits.

My guest is agency powerhouse Alisha Lyndon, founder and CEO of B2B growth consultancy Momentum. Alisha and I worked together last year to re-invigorate Momentum's client satisfaction programme and in this episode, we discuss the process, the outcomes and share some top tips for building trust and advocacy.

As always we'll be giving away a copy of Alisha's recommended read Insight, by Tasha Eurich.  Listen in to find out how to win.

For details of Gunpowder's client satisfaction audit consulting, get in touch at lucy@gunpowderconsulting.com

The podcasting juggernaut shows no sign of slowing. Four years ago, when we started planning the idea behind Small Spark Theory I thought we were too late to the party. Yet here we are now and with Apple estimating some 1 million active shows and over 30 million episodes on iTunes (double the figure in 2018), it would seem that audio content is still very much a thing.

But what about podcasting in a B2B context, and more specifically how does it fit into an agency new business and marketing plan? Is it just a shiny new thing or can it really deliver new business?

I noticed a number of new agency podcasts popping up this year so thought it might be time to explore if and how this channel can add value.

And who better to join me? Small Spark Theory's very own producer and editor, Isabelle Jarvis. Izzy has been the driving force behind this podcast since its inception and has gone on to produce, edit and advise on a variety of other shows.

In this episode, we discuss the need for strategy (spoiler alert – it's your ideas and content that are important, the podcast is simply a different channel to allow those ideas to live in another format), thoughts on formatting and make sense of the technical implications.

 

The recording, hosting and editing tech mentioned in this episode is as follows:

 

Zencastr

Squadcast

AnchorFM

Libsyn

Buzzsprout

Podbean

Audacity

If you have a great content idea which supports your proposition and marketing strategy, fancy your hand at podcasting but don't know where to start, you can contact Isabelle@gunpowderconsulting.com 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the biggest challenges we face for the remainder of 2020 and beyond is undoubtedly our ability (or inability) to plan ahead.

Almost daily, we are bombarded in the news by a roll call of redundancies, rumours of regional lockdown, interspersed with "is it a V, U, W or 'swoosh'?" predictions for our economic recovery.

The end of furlough, Brexit (oh yes), and the prospect of a Covid resurgence over the winter all paint a picture where the only real certainty is uncertainty. And yet, if we are to survive and thrive, plan we must.

So where to start?

This is the question I put to my guest, founder of Lab Eight, Deepa Shah.

Deepa is a vastly experienced, multi-award winning agency CFO and a fresh new voice on the agency growth advisory circuit having launched Lab Eight in April this year, exactly as the pandemic struck.

Deepa shares her advice for where we should be focusing now, and how to plan ahead.

It's worth noting good proportion of the guests on this podcast are people I have known and worked with for many years throughout my career. They are the experts I have turned to for advice again and again, who can be relied upon for their deep knowledge of a specialist subject. 

Then there are those who have been recommended to me and others (mostly authors) who I have simply stalked until I could persuade them to join me.

Deepa is someone who first appeared on my LinkedIn radar at the beginning of the year and quickly became a regular fixture in my feed, adding a constructive and positive commentary to the most interesting of threads. Aside from her insights on her specialist subject – Deepa's use of her network and LinkedIn as a platform has been a masterclass in how to launch a consultancy. But perhaps that's an episode for another day.

In the meantime listen in and find out how to win a copy of Deepa's recommended read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.

Over the recent months, I have observed how agencies have been experiencing the impact of economic uncertainty - including the stalling of client decision-making, frozen budgets, disappearing pipelines, and everything in between.

In their recent BenchPress report, The Wow Company described last year as 'brutal' for agencies, and as 2024 adds more political uncertainty, there is no sign of any immediate relief.

So, with this in mind, I wanted to share my thoughts on why 'new business' is such a problem for agencies and suggest some practical steps we can take to alleviate that ever-present feeling of needing to pull a proverbial rabbit out of a hat.

There's no book recommendation this month; instead, I've compiled a short guide to help you reboot your new business pipeline in five simple steps.

Download your free guide here.

Regular listeners will have noticed a slight change to our usual programming. A global pandemic has shifted our focus from the very specific, detailed insights intended solely to improve new business performance, to include a more contextual viewpoint. Of course, context has always been important to new business, but with so much change and uncertainty around us, it now seems imperative in broaden our discussion.

From the very beginning of this crisis I was blown away by the speed with which the Design Business Association team leapt into action to provide a virtual space for discussion, advice and community support. On any given week, agencies (members and non-members alike) could access free webinars to understand the implications of the evolving crisis and tap into expert advice to help navigate a way forward.

So here we some 4 months on. What have we learnt? And what is the outlook for the design industry? I managed to wrangle some time with Design Business Association Chief Executive Deborah Dawton to find out.

You can find out more about DBA membership here and access the 'Ask an Expert' scheme here.

There aren't enough podcasting hours to do justice to the agency positioning and proposition debate. We've explored this before in episode 13 with David C. Baker and then again in episode 36 with master of the agency messaging, Roland Gurney. 

But with entire industry sectors in crisis and an uncertain economy ahead it has never been more important for agencies to clearly define and signpost their expertise.  So buckle up, we're going in again!

In this episode we talk to Robin Bonn from Co:definery to get the lowdown on why positioning is dead but proposition is king and the perils of a pivot. Listen in to find out how to win a copy of Robin's recommended read: Good Strategy, Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt

You can read Robin's latest musings here and follow his Marketing Week column here.

Across the world, leadership is under scrutiny.  

Citizens are looking to their politicians, employees are looking to their employers. Amid continued uncertainly, everyone needs direction and reassurance.

So what does good leadership look like? Does it change in a crisis? And how can agency leaders look after their teams, and their own wellbeing, as we move from the challenges of lockdown to this next phase of the pandemic?

In this episode we explore these questions and more with Executive Change Mentor Sally Henderson.

Sally has worked with leadership teams at some of the most influential agencies and brands across the world. She joins us to share her top tips for leading with clarity, confidence and authenticity.

As always we'll be giving away a copy of Sally's recommended read: Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff, also mentioned in this episode is Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers.

You can find details of Fearless Fuel, Sally's peer-to-peer leadership round-tables here.

 

Over the past six weeks I've been speaking to lots of agency leaders. Those one-on-one conversations have highlighted to me, just how many variables there are determining how agencies are able to weather this extraordinary storm.

Aside from agency size and structure, services, client sector focus, and the deeply personal experiences of managing pipeline, clients and teams whilst either squashed together with, or isolating without family, there is the issue of cash.

In almost every case it is the agency's cash position going into this crisis that determines how able they will be to emerge. Cash provides time. Time to think, to adapt, to respond.

So as we move into this next phase, and negotiate anew with clients and prospects, how can we maximise our cash? How do we make sure we still get paid for our ideas and solutions?

In this episode, I talk to Independent Financial Director and cash flow specialist Michelle Cook. We learn how Michelle has harnessed Just-In-Time methodology used in manufacturing to revolutionise cash management and her top tips for invoicing, negotiating terms and avoiding payment delays.

This is another perfect example of how small changes in our processes can deliver marginal gains.

We'll be giving away a copy of Michelle's recommended read The Innovation Book: How to Manage Ideas and Execution for Outstanding Results by Max Mckweown. Listen in to find out how to win.

You can find Michelle on LinkedIn here. And if you want to discuss a new business challenge, you can book into my diary here.