Your agency will fail at hiring effective salespeople if you make these Top 3 Mistakes…..

It’s a well-known problem in the small to midsize agency space that salespeople are hard to find and usually end up bombing in their roles.

This is why most agency owners give up and just keep doing the sales role themselves. But it’s the hardest way to scale and grow.

Plus, when you go to sell your business and you are leaving the agency, the new buyers consider your agency acquisition “high-risk” when the top (or only) salesperson is taking off.

Join Trice and Ryan on Episode 34 of The Agency Growth Engine Show and learn why most agencies fail at hiring effective sales roles. But in the meantime, here’s the 3 Big Mistakes in Agency Hiring we discuss…..

1. Agency tries to hire an Account Manager/Sales hybrid role.

Guess what, these two roles are two completely different people. They will either be a great account manager or a great salesperson but you will be disappointed because they will only be great at one of these roles.

2. You hire a salesperson without someone to manage them.

Salespeople get frustrated when they don’t have a friend in the fight. They need constant clear direction and someone who will enjoy talking to them about their opportunities, challenges and victories.

3. The salesperson’s pay structure does not set the up to win!

Properly setting up the base pay and commission is challenging to non-sales experience agency owners. I know you don’t want to overpay AND risk low performance/results. But by getting the instant gratification pay and the long-term reward for building a book of business correct, you can have a salesperson for a long time.

I still agree that hiring salespeople for agencies is very challenging. But it can be done with success if you understand how these 3 Hiring Mistakes cause the role to fail before they ever get started.

What hiring successes or fails have you had in hiring for sales roles?

Learn more about Marketing Agency Coaching and Selling at Healthy Brands Agency Coaching and Selling website.

Before you hire a marketing agency, make sure they eat their own food!!! How do marketing agencies self-promote? Do they post as often as they are telling you to post? Why or why not? How do they generate leads? Is it the same way they are telling you to do it? I'm gonna cut right to it friends! If a marketing agency is telling you to do paid ads to generate leads, is that what they are doing? Or do they say "no, that doesn't work for us?" If they say you have to post twice a day, take a look at their social media accounts to find out how often they are posting. Ask them about their own lead generation tactics and what they have found successful. The reason why I ask is that often time I find that marketing agencies don't do the same things because they don't see the ROI or time. Remember this.... There are short-term strategies and long-term strategies. Your marketing agency should understand and do both. The best way to tell if an agency is truly accountable for their results is to investigate if they "do what they say". Does your marketing agency "walk the talk" or just "talk the talk?" Ask, them that if they would spend their own marketing budget on those tactics. If not, what would they change and why? Let's get into it on Episode 33 of "The Agency Growth Engine Show". We deep dive into one of my all time-agency pet peeves and why it's important. Learn more about marketing agency coaching and brokering from www.heathybrands.com.

Learn more about the hosts on LinkedIn

Ryan Parshall

Trice Alford

The Agency Life is glorified and admired by the world over. The fast pace, fun culture and abundance of creativity flowing every day attracts so may to this industry. So why would anyone want to sell their digital marketing agency?

Join Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford in Episode 24 of The Agency Growth Engine Show, we tackle the Top 3 Reasons Agency Owners Sell their business. Tune in and find out the reality and journey of owning an agency with all its glory and downsides both.

But first, here’s a sneak peak…

#3 Agency Owner(s) Retire

Plain and simple, time to call it quits. After a long run at the agency life, they deserve to go out in style and slow down a bit. Retirement and Divorce are usually the #1 reason why business are sold in general. But not with agency owners…read on.

#2 Can’t Grow Anymore

Every business owner has their limits. No matter how hard they try, they can’t seem to get past a certain revenue, head count, or client number. They had what it took to get the agency where it’s at, and have had a good amount of success to hang their hat on. However, most agency owners have to evolve with their agencies growth and sometimes it just reaches its limit.

#1 Burnout/Exhaustion

Often related to #2 above, but burnout can be for many reasons. They never worked into a leadership role and still doing the day-to-day work? Or they don’t enjoy selling and getting new customers? But the reality is that often it’s the business organization and operation of an agency that takes its toll on creative people when they “just wanted to do good work”.

And there it is! Listen as we tell stories about the final stages of owning an agency and all the emotions that go along with selling an agency!

Have you sold an agency? Why did you do it? Please tell us about your journey!

Learn more about Healthy Brands and Sell Your Digital Marketing Agency with a specialist with over 1300 Qualified Agency Buyers on our website.

Did you think owning an agency was gonna be easy? Here’s the 3 stages agency owners go through until they gain control…

Many tell me they would have bought an agency vs. trying to grow one from scratch. They often can avoid the first 2 stages of sometimes painful growth. But here ya go….

Stage 1: Startup

When you first start your agency for the first 1-3 years you will be between 1-7 people and taking all the business you can get from anywhere you can get it.

Be prepared, you will work a lot of hours and working “in the business”. Forget about being an entrepreneur and just leading others you’re too busy DOING the work and that’s how it’s going to be for a while.

In the Startup Stage, you know you don’t know most everything about business growth and are eager to learn.

What many don’t realize is that for a few years, you are usually the #1 salesperson in the agency. So if you loved doing website work, SEO or Social Media, guess what, you will be doing sales A LOT. So get ready to learn a new skill set if you have not learned sales 101 basics to get started.

Stage 2: Growth

In this stage you can be around 7-15 employees and you may still be doing some of the actual work, but mostly now you are helping find new business (still doing sales).

You are doing more leading and managing of people, processes and profits! You are growing and trying to grasp everything you need to gain control of what you are building. Things break almost daily and you are patching the ship and keeping it afloat.

You can still be working a lot of hours in this stage and you tend to find your “ceiling” and it’s damn hard to get past it. This is where I usually come in and help with agency positioning, getting organized and preparing to scale and growth to your agency’s potential.

Stage 3: Control

Finally, you have figured out what you do best and how to present your agency to world. You have a strong Mission, Vision and Goals. Your processes are tightening up and your sales come much easier now that you have the confidence of knowing what problems you solve and who you solve them for.

Congrats…you made it to the “Promise Land”. So many think that they will get here in year 2, but the truth is it's usually between 5-15 years depending on the owners experience and leadership teams ability to adapt and grow.

Listen to Episode 23 of The Growth Engine Show with Trice Alford and Ryan Parshall and don’t forget to Subscribe!

Learn more about Healthy Brands Coaching at https://healthybrands.biz/

What Stage is your agency in? What stage do you think is the hardest and why?

Agency Owners, when should you hire W2 employees vs.1099 Contractors (freelancers)?  

Most often the agency owner has this big vision of growing an agency with this massive team of employees. Somehow the way they see success is by how big the agency gets in revenues and employee counts.  

In my experience, this is disastrous thinking. More employees does not = more profits. In most cases it = less profits.   

Today’s healthy agency structure is often a hybrid model of a smaller team of full time client facing employees with an outside team of contractors that allow you to expand and contract as needed.  

No need to add overhead when you don’t have the full-time work.   

There are so many experts out there to hire for speciality work that are more than willing to be a part of your team virtually, on an hourly or project basis, that you simply don’t need the big building and huge staff.  

So when do you hire the full time employee? Usually it’s when you have 30s+ hours of work for them and client demand for those services.   

Join Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford on Episode 22 of The Growth Engine Show where we get into all the details of decision making on how you build out your agency or marketing team.  

Learn more about Healthy Brands Agency Coaching and Brokering Services on our website HealthBrands.biz

Welcome back to Season 2 of the Growth Engine with Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford.  Owning an agency without real profit is called a hobby! You are not….

a “successful business owner”, you are not an “entrepreneur”. So what do you do?

Two key things control margin: Labor and Price!

So what do most agency owners do? They dive into managing their labor. They spend so much time in spreadsheets, time tracking, micro-managing labor and hammering on their own people.

Hmmmm? Understanding your labor and being efficient is important. But do you have more control over labor, time or price?

If you said PRICE…you are correct. If you want to make real margin, charge the right amount, which is usually much higher than you are thinking.

How long are you going to continue trying to figure all this out before you find out that you simply have to increase your pricing. In many cases, you need to increase 20% or higher.

For some of my clients, I ask them to double their pricing if they are under $100 per hour. Anything less means you do not value your services and expertise.

Listen to Episode 21 of The Growth Engine where we tackle the most difficult decision for agency owners…price increases. But it’s much easier than you are making it!

Learn more about Healthy Brands business coaching for agencies and small to mid-sized businesses. 

So you started your company and had success. But now revenue is stalled out and you don’t know why…

Congrats, you’ve tasted success, added people. processes, customers, products, services and grown your business. Don’t get cocky! Guess what, your journey and hard work has to continue.

You see, you did good! You did all the right things, but you have hit a plateau and your business is now struggling to grow because you are NOT the same company you were a few years ago.

You know the saying, “what got you where you are at, is not what it will take to get you where you are going”. The is very true.

Most often you don’t know this, but you could be going through an “Identity Crisis”. You would never think to call it that. BUT…

Join me, Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford in Episode 20 of The Growth Engine Show, I’m going to give you my TOP SYMPTOMS YOU HAVE A COMPANY IDENTITY CRISIS.

Roughly 8 out of 10 times I coach a CEO, Business Owner or Leadership team, this is what I find.

• Revenues are stalled out and no matter how hard you try, you feel you are going nowhere.
• What used to feel organized in your business now seems like a tangled mess.
• It’s become hard to tell people what you do when asked (you do a lot of things, for a lot of people, with a lot of benefits)
• You now have a lot of different types of customers and cannot focus on just one segment or group.
• You are not, or no longer, dominating in your area and losing market share.
• Your marketing messages are no longer working and leads are declining.

You have grown to the level you are at and it’s time for a RESET. Discover who you are TODAY.

The answer is right in front of you. The answer already exists in your company’s DNA. You’re just too close to see it!

Things have gotten so complex that you cannot untangle that rope and get things organized in thought, reality and in your core messaging.

Solve this Identity Crisis and you will break through the ceiling and start growing again. It will create a new and exciting energy in your company’s culture.

Listen to this eye-opening podcast episode and then start taking the steps you need to Re-Build a Healthy Growth Engine!

Learn more about our business coaching and brokering services here https://healthybrands.biz/

Most business owners won’t pay attention to the real things that increase value in their business until it’s too late. It’s time to sell or retire and REGRET!

What if you could focus on all the right things now and have plenty of time to integrate all the things in your business that consumers love, will help grow your internal culture and make you wealthy when it’s time to sell the business?

Well let’s do that! Listen to Episode 19 of The Growth Engine Show with Trice Alford and Ryan Parshall and “Start Your Engines”!

Here’s our list of the TOP 10 Ways to Build Value:

1. Healthy Cash Flow: Stop milking your business dry for tax purposes.

2. Owner’s Benefits: Get a lot out of your business and make it worth it.

3. Build Recurring Revenue: Stop the one-off project/service cycle.

4. Big Contracts: Got some big clients? Make it contractual and win.

5. Customer Lists/Data: The #1 asset all companies should maintain.

6. Processes & Expertise: Create repeatable processes for success to follow.

7. Company Assets: Right size your liabilities and make sure they pay for themselves.

8. Build Leadership: grow a team of leaders that can run the company without you.

9. Own a Product/Territory: Try to negotiate or win marketable exclusivities.

10. Team & Infrastructure: Build a team of qualified people that are good at one thing.

This is my short-list and of course there are other factors that help your company get a raise in multiplying factor when it comes time to sell your business.

The truth is that companies usually do not excel at all of these items. But the more you can do, the better the payout when you list your business. Please join us and learn more about Healthy Brands Business Coaching and Brokering Services at www.healthybrands.biz

You think your people love you? You think you are a great leader? Then answer this… If you got fired as the owner, boss, CEO, and your team had the choice, would they hire you back? Let’s be honest, being the leader at the top means that you are not always loved by your team. You have difficult decisions to make and not everyone agrees with those decisions. It’s a hard job but somebody has to do it! Honestly, at times, I think they would not have hired me back to be their leader and other times yes. The leader is always judged harshly. Many times your people think they, or someone else, could do your job better than you do it. So would they hire you back because you did a fantastic job or would you get canned for good? Next question….would they hire you back in the leadership role or do they think your value to the team lies somewhere else? I know my team would have hired me back in the Sales role for sure. They knew when times got tough, I could make sales happen. Often I think they wanted me to drop the customer off to them and get out of the way after I brought them onboard. In Episode 18 of The Growth Engine Show, Trice Alford and me, Ryan Parshall, go in depth on these questions, discuss Dos and Don’ts and ways to win your team over. Learn more about Healthy Brands business coaching & business brokering services on our website.

Are you a Visionary CEO that has a creative mind and always coming up with new ideas? Or do you work for someone who has a hard time focusing on finishing one initiative before pushing the team to tackle the next? 

These are descriptions of a Visionary-Minded CEO. They may be high energy with a drive like nothing you have ever seen. Often times the Visionary CEO will stop at nothing until they get what they want. The problem is that what they want constantly changes and that exhausts everyone around them.

Most often they have a good heart and care deeply for the well being of others. But they are often misunderstand by those around them and others have a hard time understanding them. 

I should know all about this personality type because it was ME. I was just made this way. My mind loved to chase dreams, make things better and create new things all the time. But it drives other crazy!

Being a Visionary CEO is what made me successful overall, but at what cost? Before I truly understood how to lead a company, I was often railroading others in my company, talking over them, giving orders, and other really bad leadership traits. 

The worst trait of all was lack of focus and constantly changing directions. Nobody wants to work for that person. It's the definition of madness.

But with help from some books I read, other business owners like me and really focusing on getting organized and setting goals, I mastered this gift of Vision that was horrible when it came to leading others. 

Stop, breathe and organize your thoughts. Find ways to keep your mind from racing. Serve others before yourself! 

If you know someone like this, it's very hard to fix. Please don't judge them too harshly. When they can harness their Visionary thoughts to focus them for the good of the company and growth, they ARE the person you want to work for.

Fast growing, exciting companies often have a Visionary in the leadership team. Without their Vision, business would be very boring! 

So listen to Episode 17 of The Growth Engine Show with Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford and learn all about the Strengths and Challenges of a Visionary Minded CEO. I think you'll understand more!

Learn more about Healthy Brands Business Coaching and Business Brokering Services on our website.

Hands down, the fastest way to grow your business is to acquire another business but most small business owners don’t consider the option. Join Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford in Episode 16 of The Growth Engine Show: Strategic Growth by Business Acquisition.

When small to mid-sized business owners have money in the bank they have all kinds of options on how to spend it. The one most often made is to take disbursements and enjoy the profit.

I see them buy that new beautiful home, that monster truck or sports car, they take incredible vacations and live it up. But all those purchases do now make your money grow..they just make it disappear.

Others reinvest in the business and buy assets, a building, vehicles, equipment or maybe they hire some much needed help.

Some, but not many, just keep it in reserves or invest in their retirement. But here’s the last option that most of the

However, acquiring a business can do so many things for the business owner and the company both and can make you the money in the next 12-24 months that you were going to spend on your personal items you wanted.

In most cases you can buy a company and absorb all, or a portion, of that business owner’s salary. I have doubled, tripled and quadrupled business owner’s salaries by helping them acquire another healthy, profitable business.

A strategic purchase means you also can get more help for your team, more customers, more expertise, more equipment, more market share and more opportunity!

There are over 32.5 billion SMB’s in the U.S. and between 8-10,000 of those sell each year. So working with a Business Broker early on can help you find and acquire the right strategic business acquisition to help your business grow fast!

So whether you have not thought about buying another business or are ready to do so, you want to do it in years where you need to have a large expense to reduce your tax burden. But don’t wait!!! You want to consider that a strategic purchase can take 6-12 months and in some cases longer.

Contact me to learn more about Growth by Acquisition for you and your business. Let me know what you’re thinking in the comments below and watch or listen to the full episode 16 of The Growth Engine Show.

Learn more about our business coaching and broker services on our Healthy Brands website.

There is a huge movement going on! After Covid, there was another outbreak... Solopreneurs! 

Working from home gave people the opportunity rethink their lives, their passions and quit their full time jobs and create their own personal brands and be their own boss.  

So Personal Branding became more important than ever. Roughly 47 Million people quit their jobs in 2021.   

Majority of workers who quit a job in 2021 cite low pay, no opportunities for advancement, feeling disrespected.  

People across the U.S. were making low pay or not working it all, and having the freedom of no management watching their every move. It created the perfect environment for people to chase their dreams and do their thing now.  

As these entrepreneurial adventurists took to social media to gain attention for their new business, they realized how crowded the space was and how hard it was to stand out.  

Therefore, personal branding became more important than ever before. Just a few years ago, I couldn't find one Personal Branding coach. Now I can throw a rock and hit one on LinkedIn!  

So why is having a personal brand so important for your success whether you are the business owner, you still work for someone or starting something new?  

1. Your internal personal brand in a company protects your image as a leader and can extend the length of time and success in your role.  

2. Your personal brand is something you are remembered for throughout your career regardless of where you work.  

3. CEO's personal brand can protect them from an occasional bad publicity or internal company rumors costing your image as a leader.  

4. All the social posting and content you create, may never stick in people's minds unless your personal brand is memorable.  

5. Strong personal brand can instill confidence in your target audience and can build a tribe.  

6. Understanding who your are at the core gives you strength in your messaging and confidence in what you offer to others.  

7. Getting your personal brand right will attract more people that appreciate you, like and love you! It's a game-changer I promise.   

In Episode 15 of The Growth Engine Show we tackle these topics and more! Watch now and like, Subscribe, Share and join in the conversation.   

Learn more about Healthy Brands Business Coaching and Business Brokering on our website. 

Learn more about the Growth Engine Hosts on our LinkedIn Profiles. 

Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford

Most wait until it’s too late to prepare to sell their marketing agency. Here’s why….

You can drastically increase the value of your marketing agency when you go to sell it by getting ahead of it 2-3 years before you’re ready to exit.

It doesn’t mean you can’t sell your agency if you didn’t prepare, it just means you are poised to exit in style and plenty more cash in your pocket.

In episode 32 of “The Agency Growth Engine Show” with Trice Alford and me, Ryan Parshall break down the Top 7 Ways to Prepare to Sell Your Marketing Agency. Here’s a snapshot of the topics we cover…

1. Clean & Clear Financials in Quickbooks

2. Upward Trending Revenues, Profits & Clients

3. Recurring Monthly Revenue

4. Client to Overall Revenue Ratio %

5. Good Leadership & Processes 

6. Owner Operated vs Passive Income

7. Opportunity for Growth

Listen or watch this podcast episode as we tell you why these are important and what potential buyers want to see. It could make the difference in you getting nothing for your agency or a 5x multiplier. 

Go out on top, in style and really feel the reward of your hard work when you decide to sell your agency. Don’t have any regrets. Understanding these valuable tips will be the best starting point!

Have you bought or sold an agency? Please add your comments and tell us what you valued most and what you learned in the process. 

Learn more about Healthy Brands Marketing Agency Coaching or Brokering Services.

Your best opportunities for revenue in a down economy are right in front of you! 

Your current customers are familiar with you and your products or services and are the most likely to buy more from you. In a down economy, understanding how to cross-sell to your current customers is the best thing you can do. Continuing adding value over and over and over.

In Episode 14 of The Growth Engine, Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford wrap up this series of "Marketing in a Down Economy" with our experiences in overcoming tough challenges using customer data, CRM's, Email and great one-to-one tactics.

If you are a small company, start building your customer email list and data inside a low cost or free CRM. You don't have to spend a lot of money. The point is to get started now, you won't build an effective email list without seeing the value and doing it over time.

Mid-sized businesses should be actively using CRM/databases to create smart, cross-selling strategy FIRST before spending a lot of money on big branding campaigns and Google Adwords. 

I've seen a lot of companies sell to their customers once and then just move on to prospecting others. Then they have low loyalty, high customer turn-over and have to work much harder than they should to generate revenues. 

In this episode we share some cross-selling strategy and tips on how to energize your existing team to fill you schedule and get everyone involved in the effort. Tough times create GREAT TEAMS. And great teams start with you...a Great Leader!!! 

In a down economy, the more your company ACTS LIKE A STARTUP, the more successful you will be. So get out of the norm and lead strong by making change happen, show people you care about them and bring high value every day!

Learn more about Healthy Brands Coaching. 

Do you suffer from these common mistakes in Marketing in a Down Economy?

We just released our new episode of The Growth Engine Show where Trice Alford, CMO and me, Ryan Parshall, Growth Coach & Business Broker discuss Brand Strategy & Content in a Down Economy. Hear ideas and actions you can take to get through the toughest of times. Here's are just some of the points we make in this episode....

1. Importance of a Strong Brand

If you brand is memorable and relatable, then you will have TOMA (Top of Mind Awareness) when people need you right now. So strong brands win out in a tough economy!

2. Define Who You Are "Your DNA"

Do the research now so that you really know what your customers value the most. Define it so you know how to differentiate and deliver on those key benefits and beat competition out. After you define your Brand and DNA, educate your team on what your company stands for and what your culture is. They should know how to easily communicate these ideas and concepts to customers.

3. Tell Compelling Stories

Don't tell people you understand times are tough and so you are dropping prices. Instead go all in with confidence and smile and let them know you want their business!

4. Get in front of people...a lot!

CEOs..be the face of the company...get out there! Get on podcasts, create a lot of video for social, attend local events, book speaking engagements and more. The more you appear friendly and passionate about your industry, the better!

5. Create Timely and Relevant Content

Listen to customers for content ideas. Listen to their stories and tell them. Or better yet, video them telling it. Don't just complain about the economy, relate to what people are going through and show how you helped them. 

I know there is so much more we can talk about on this topic, but we only have one episode to discuss. So you tell us, what do you think is most important when it comes to Marketing in a Down Economy?

Learn more about Healthy Brands Business Coaching here!

Now is the time to review your digital footprint and where to spend your time and money. A recession means your marketing investments are under more pressure to perform and your dollars need to be efficient. So here are some low cost strategies from Trice Alford and Ryan Parshall that help carry you the distance. Listen to Episode 12 of The Growth Engine Show (link in the comments).

1. Your Online Business Listings with the focus on Google. Get it fully optimized and then set time apart to review every detail to make sure it's accurate, differentiates from your competitors and is designed to sell your brand and culture.

Most of all...is your headlines, copy and offers compelling enough to get you the website visit, call and the lead you want. A down economy means squeezing out every opportunity and not missing one customer. 

Yes, I understand it should always be this way, but it's just not. When business comes easier, everyone gets a bit lazy and relaxes in your company. But now is the time to sharpen your pencil and tighten up your operations.

2. Online Reviews are the easiest thing to ask for that has the most impact. It's a free activity that really works. Your future customers really do focus on what your online reviews say. I recommend constantly asking for reviews, but right now, go on a company campaign to go get good Google Reviews. Plus it helps your Google Maps ranking.

Your goal should be to have THE MOST authentic, customer Google Reviews from people in your market area. And...when you get them, take the best ones and the best excerpts and make and drip Social Media posts with them. Its organic content that help build your brand. Tag the person who gave the review and let that post echo to their tribe (friends, family, neighbors, co-workers).

3. I know it sounds really obvious, but your website needs to be updated and under scrutiny. Again, compare to your competitors and make sure it's hitting on all cylinders. Does it have great SEO? Is it up to date? Is the copy compelling? Does it tell your story and/or tell your prospects what they need to know? 

Don't avoid this task/project. Websites should be updated every month to keep up. If you built a site 12 months ago or more, it's already in need of some updates. 

Is your brand strong throughout your entire digital footprint? Don't underestimate the branding topic when you are a small business. You have the advantage over other mid-sized and large competitors because people tend to believe that they will get more personal attention when a companies is local and smaller. So leverage a good brand and win out during a down economy.

This Episode of the Growth Engine is chalked full of tips, ideas and reminders of low-lying fruit for your business to survive the months and years to come. Please join us, comment and follow us!

Learn more about Healthy Brands Business Coaching & Brokering here: https://healthybrands.biz/

Are you ready for the storm a brewin'?  You're being told to cut back on business expenses and marketing is traditionally the first thing that goes! Maybe you should rethink that for a minute.

In Episode 11 of The Growth Engine Show we discuss how to weather the economic storm that's about to hit. Get tips and ideas from CMO Trice Alford and me, Ryan Parshall, Business Growth Coach.

When wrestlers match up against a bigger, stronger opponent, they have to use a strong counter strategy to win. They use the weight advantage against their opponent and then really get on top of the situation. 

Same with marketing in a down economy. You DON'T STOP MARKETING!!!

You may cut back budget and other expenses and get efficient with your labor, but we recommend altering your marketing strategy. 

By simply changing direction from the aggressive marketing plans that you had and creating a counter strategy to what you are seeing in the marketplace, you can win big.

Listen to relevant stories we tell about how we maintained revenues, gained new customers, and then grew like wildfire from the brand building that was created in the worst of times.

In some cases, you can put your foot on the pedal instead of cutting back and win big over more conservative competitors.

Learn more about our Business Growth Coaching and Brokering Services at www.healthybrands.biz/

Creating a Business Growth Plan and/or Marketing Plan can be challenging. Especially because there is no best practices….until now.

Join Trice Alford and me, Ryan Parshall as we review my exclusive “Sphere of Influence Part 2” that helps get your Marketing Growth Plan started in the right direction.

The Sphere of Influence is a journey through ALL the audiences that influence your top personas and buyers. Finally an all-inclusive process that leaves no stone unturned.

It’s so easy to miss your best opportunities to attract, convert, close and delight new customers. Plus the marketing options can be overwhelming. This is a path to clarity on what makes the most sense for your business, right now.

We consider Social Channels, Influencers, Partnerships, Raving Fans, Social Groups, Podcasts and so much more.

Please watch Episode 10 of The Growth Engine (see link below) and learn how to get start on your Marketing Plan today!

Learn more about Business Growth Coaching at https://healthybrands.biz/

Have you ever began the process of creating an Annual Marketing Plan and Corresponding Budget? 

The marketing choices and mediums can be overwhelming and you might find that it's difficult to know where to begin.

After 10 years of owning a digital agency and with over 30 years of marketing experience, I discovered something that made each and every marketing strategy unique and highly effective.

I created a method called "The Sphere of Influence"...

It's my exclusive Worksheet and Leadership Workshop where we take a journey through ALL the audiences that influence your top personas and buyers. 

Some people start their marketing strategies with data. Some with budget. Others with the customer. My clients start with the Leadership Team creating 1-3-10 Year Goals. 

From there the Sphere of Influence exercises can be done to uncover not just your direct targets, but secondary and third markets that may be easier to penetrate to hit your goals. 

Then we consider:

• Social Channels
• Social Influencers
• Industry Partnerships
• Industry Organizations
• Current Raving Fans
• Social Groups Available
• Podcasts & YouTube Channels
• and so much more

How do you know what activities your sales and marketing teams need to perform unless you have PROPERLY identified all the options and then stacked them from most important to least to hit your goals.

This method Fast-Tracks your results and keeps from missing low-lying fruit that is there for the taking.

Please join Trice Alford and Ryan Parshall in another loaded episode of The Growth Engine Show. 

Learn more about Business Growth Coaching on Healthy Brands website.

You’ve been telling your employees they don’t matter because you aren’t doing this right…The 1-on-1 Meeting.

Most business owners and managers are really botching it with their employees because they either don’t have a 1-on-1 Meeting with each team member or they don’t know how to conduct The 1-on-1 Meeting the right way.

Not knowing this is truly damaging to your working relationships, reflects poorly on you and usually causes turnover.

Welcome to Episode 8 of “The Growth Engine Show” with Trice and Ryan. Let’s get into this shall we?

Why have a 1-on-1 Meeting?

It’s dedicated time that you, as a leader, can give to your people with full attention. If you don’t put regular 1-on-1 Meetings on your calendar with each person on your team, you will not do them and give them your time and that has BAD RESULTS.

THE RESULTS:

• They don’t feel important to you
• They don’t think your work is important to the company
• They don’t feel heard
• They don’t feel valued
• They lose interest in their job
• They start to turn against you
• They eventually leave the company

What is a 1-on-1 Meeting?

It’s dedicated time (usually 45 minutes to 1 hour) where the employee comes with what they think is most important. They can share progress on their rocks and tasks, they can talk about work relationships, things they need, you can approve their projects/work, or maybe learn about something personal they have going on outside of work that may be affecting their quality of time at work.

The bottom line is that the 1-on-1 Meeting Time is for THEM…NOT YOU.

Listen to Episode 8 of the Podcast where we tackle all the details to make you a Top Shelf leader when it comes to making your team feel important! To learn more about Healthy Brands Business Coaching visit us at our website www.healthybrands.biz.

From Chaos to Organization….a Core Process can help you talk about your business with confidence and is the foundation for growing and improving. Here’s why….

What is a Core Process? A Core Process is a documentation and illustration of how you deliver your products and/or services to your customers. It’s high-level overview with 4-7 key steps that can quickly explain to your team, prospects and customers on what you do.

The Core Process IS YOUR GROWTH ENGINE. If you cannot define it…you cannot grow it. How can you grow something you can’t even see it. Illustrate your growth engine and use it as a basis for discussions on improvement in product, service, delivery, customer satisfaction and more.

If you find it hard to tell someone about your company and the steps you take in delivering to your customers, it probably means it’s a chaotic environment where all the people in charge of making your engine go everyday feel that chaos in a big way.

It can all be solved by taking the time with your team and building out this useful process documentation. It can take just 2-3 hours and is great team building when you include leadership or key teammates. Here’s what all it can do for you…

1. Clearly communicates what your company does.
2. Can help you discover how you do business different or better than competitors.
3. Helps you understand your company’s strengths and weaknesses.
4. Clearly shows what success looks like at each phase/step.
5. Can help achieve your company Mission or get you to your Vision.
6. Documents your secret formulas so you can repeat, scale & grow.
7. Maintain and improve quality of your products or service delivery.
8. Helps you understand what roles you need in your company.

Does the Growth Engine (Core Process) help drive you towards your company Mission and Vision? Is it built for speed, efficiency, quality, or ultimate customer satisfaction. You can build your Growth Engine differently according to the outcome you want.

And lastly, when you complete your Core Process, you assign owners to each phase/step of the process. Only then can you see that one person might have too much responsibility and you can properly shift and balance those responsibilities. You can better match skill and time so that all the work can get done with the best results for all.

If you would like to learn more about creating a Core Process for your company, please contact Healthy Brands Coaching about our Core Process Workshop for Leadership Teams.

What are the roles of a CMO? What are all the things that your Marketing Department should handle? Join us in discovering the world of options.

Get your popcorn ready for Episode 6 of The Growth Engine Show. Trice and Ryan explore the world of the tough decisions in selecting from the hundreds of marketing options to choose from today. 

If you are considering hiring a CMO, Marketing Director, VP of Marketing, then you want to listen to find out how to position this strategic hire for success.

CEO’s…if you have a CMO, then you may want to have a discussion with them after listening to how many decisions they have to make and how to use time, resources and budget to put together the “right” marketing activities to help the company achieve it’s goals.

Key takeaways from this podcast episode:

1. Have clarity on what roles marketing will have in your company
2. There are too many choices, you can't do everything
3. Have patience with your CMO and Marketing Strategies
4. Don't always follow the norms of your industry
5. Do your homework/research first before making any decisions
6. Test, Test, Test and Constantly Improve
7. Hire CMO's for the expertise you need today, not to do everything
8. Hire curious and courageous CEO's for best results

Thanks for listening and don't forget to download our Master List of CMO Roles Here

What other disciplines can you think of that the CMO's own in companies today?

Visit Healthy Brands Coaching & Business Brokering in Kansas City at www.healthybrands.biz

Don’t underestimate the power of Clarity…Episode 5 of “The Growth Engine” is live!  Most businesses make it hard to grow because their basic foundation was never established.  

What I mean is that they never got really good at one thing before they started performing a lot of other services. Or they never honed in their product offerings before they started selling all kinds of products.  

The problem is that you have no real “Clarity”, no focused sales and marketing strategy, no fine-tuned process and it appears to your team and customers that you are unorganized and trying to do everything.  

You must get really good at one thing first, proving you can obtain new customers, service them well and keep them as fans of your brand.  

So stop and gain clarity first on what products and services you offer, what your primary offerings are, and which you will market to establish a customer base.  

Next, define your market area where you will perform services. You would be shocked at how many companies I work with where products, services and market are scattered all over, yet they have slowly climbed to $10-$20-even as high as $50 million in revenue.  

The difference is how long it took them to do it the hard way, with pains and slow growth vs. what could have taken half the time with the same efforts by just being laser focused.  

And finally, understanding your online and offline competition and knowing how you compare in the market. This prepares you to better differentiate your products and services to fit your ideal audience.  

Getting clarity on the basics and then being able to clearly communicate what you do and where you do it sounds really obvious.  

Each time I perform my first Clarity Session with clients, what the CEO thought was clear, always proves to be very unclear with his Leadership Team when we ask questions and get into the details.  

Please join Trice Alford and me, Ryan Parshall as we go over what happens as I facilitate Clarity Workshops and prepare companies to scale and grow fast.  

Learn more about Healthy Brands Business Coaching in Kansas City and across the U.S. here: www.healthybrands.biz

Have you ever wondered who would buy your marketing agency? Wonder no more as Trice Alford and Ryan Parshall break down the 6 Buyer Types for Marketing Agencies on this episode of the Agency Growth Engine Show. Find out which ones are best equipped to take over and scale and grow it. Here's a sneak preview.... The Dreamer They dreamed of owning their own business, have plenty of money in savings and thought they would try their hand at running a marketing agency? For them, agency life seems glamorous and profitable. The Entrepreneur They have owned a business, have been very successful, sold it and decided they would try their hand at invest in and run an agency. They have money burning a hole in their pocket and they need to reinvest for tax purposes. The Investor They have a lot of money but are very frugal with it. They will invest but see things though an accountants/auditors eyes. They want to buy a cash cow and have not patience for small margins or non-repeatable processes. The Marketing Leader They have worked in an agency before and ready to run their own. They can literally walk into your business and keep running marketing teams and client services with very few problems. Private Equity Firms "Roll-Ups" Usually a group of people or partners buying many agencies to grow and scale using their business experience so that they can sell years later for a multiplying ROI. They like to buy low and sell high and have a proven process for scaling and growing. The Current Agency Owner The best buyers possible. They know what they are getting into and have a history of success in leading teams and an agency. If they have the money and your agency adds value, additional services and/or the right clients, they are all in! Their you have it! When you go to put your agency on the market, these are the people that show interest and are looking to buy. Watch the full episode to find out which ones are the best buyers for your agency! Learn more about Healthy Brands Agency Selling, Buying and Brokering services at www.healthybrands.biz.

This just in…just finished interviews for a client and have the TOP 3 things candidates asked for from the CEO and you won’t believe it…

Welcome to Episode 4 of The Growth Engine Show (Business Growth Podcast). This one is for CEO’s and Leaderships Teams!

Yes, I interviewed 23 candidates for a marketing role for one of my Growth Coaching Clients and recorded their questions they had for me about the company. The questions were VERY consistent and it shocked me.

Here’s what they asked…

1. What’s the company’s Vision? (different from Mission) 

Even before pay, vacation time, training, etc., This intelligent and talented group of people wanted to know where the company is going. Are they going to login and do the same things each day or are you taking them on a Journey?

2. Do you have SOP’s? (Standard Operating Procedures) 

They want to know do you have your act together. Are you running a legitimate, successful business or are you winging it? They also see SOP’s as an easier and defined path to success. It increases their odds of satisfying the needs of you, the company and customers.

3. One-On-One Meetings? 

Do you dedicate time to meet with employees individually? They want to know that you truly support them and will be there to answer questions, approve projects, and share ideas. They want to help you grow your business and want to be an important cog in the machine that you are building. They do not want to get left out in the cold and not be heard.

There are sooo many things that companies can do today to make their people happy. But messing up on these simple, Foundational pieces of scaling and growing a business will mean continued or even increased turnover problems moving forward.

This mini-study reinforced my 10GS Coaching Program for leadership teams because it addresses all 3 of these most-wanted traits these candidates wanted. I might mention that I did not bring up “Remote” work, because after Covid, that should be a no-brainer if the company type can provide that option, they must.

Tell me what you think about the results and documentation I learned from this experience. I’d love to hear your input!

Learn more about Business Coaching in Kansas City and online around the U.S. Online with Healthy Brands at www.healthybrands.biz

How do you get the CEO to understand marketing? You speak their language! Find out how in Episode 3 of The Growth Engine...

You speak marketing, they speak business, financial, organization and sometimes sales. But rarely does the CEO know the intricate details of today's digital marketing strategies. 

It's ok, don't get worked up over it. The CMO's role is to know that detail. Plus, if you have made it to Marketing Leadership role, their is something new you need to learn also...

It's how to communicate on the CEO's terms and in their language. Plus you need to know how to present your initiatives to the C-Suite as well. 

In this episode you will hear me, Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford discuss some of the reasons why communication between the CMO and CEO can be very difficult at times and even frustrating for both.

However, you must understand that your ideas seem perfectly reasonable to you, but the way you sometimes work in a silo and do not make your campaigns and goals align to support the rest of the companies goals, can be down right offensive to other leadership.

You get 15 minutes to an hour with the CEO and you spill out your guts with passion about some new idea. The CEO has about 20-30 other things on their mind that seems far more important to his role of satisfying people, customers, etc. So now they are tuning you out and saying No, Not Now or punting your idea down the road.

We highly recommend you get aligned with the CEO, the C-suite, the Sales Goals and then prove you are worth trusting to take on more aggressive, "big picture" projects.

Join the conversation and please post your comments on the topic. We love hearing from our listeners!

Learn more about our Sponsor, Healthy Brands Coaching located in Kansas City and working with Leadership teams across the U.S.

Visit our Business Coaching Website: www.healthybrands.biz

Join Ryan Parshall & Trice Alford on the Episode 2 of "The Growth Engine Show". We reveal one of the most important lessons in Scaling and Growing a business....Assigning "Ownership" to everything you want to be successful.  

First, we discuss assigning ownership to what most business owners avoid like the plague, "Processes". Processes are the key to creating a baseline to improve from.   Processes also become a training manual for the key functions a role may play within your organization. So then you can have a person train someone else easily and use that process as a step-by-step training document.   

It's also important for the CEO to get others in the company to help create processes so he does not have to create and manage them. It's a great step in letting go of the vine and assigning real responsibility to others while creating 2-way trust between the employee and him/her.   

In addition, we discuss HOW to get your team to help create processes and them understanding the importance of owning a process and improving it. Most people think they are being let go from their position when the boss asks them to write down everything they do. But asking them to do so for the opportunity to train others and move up in the company is a vital part of the success of "Delegate and Elevate".   

We also have a conversation discussing owning software you want to be successful as well. The research, choosing the right software, installing, implementing, onboarding and ongoing promotion of the usage of the software is important for the success of that initiative and end results of why you are using it to begin with.  And of course there is also owning projects and other important duties needed such as Employee Programs, Google Reviews and so much more.   

If you are a Business Owner, CEO, CMO or Marketing professional interested in scaling or growing your business the Healthy Way, you won't want to miss Episode 2 of The Growth Engine Show!  

Sponsored by Healthy Brands Coaching & Business Brokering 

Learn more about Healthy Brands on LinkedIn

About Ryan Parshall, Business "Growth" Coach & Business Broker

About Trice Alford, CEO, CMO, Board Member, Strategist, Mentor

Join Ryan Parshall & Trice Alford on the first ever episode of "The Growth Engine Show". In this episode we discuss the importance of a Marketing Strategy first based on the needs of the company, then hiring an agency that fits your needs vs. the reverse order.   

Also, we introduce the value of Fractional CMO Placement to help get your messaging and strategy organized without breaking the bank when you are a small and sometimes mid-sized business.    

And finally, we talk about the different Marketing Leader Roles needed as your business grows and scales upward. The proper use of Agencies, Fractional and Full-Time Marketing Roles, Internal creative teams and freelancers can all be options to be efficient and get results.    

If you are a Business Owner, CEO, CMO or Marketing professional interested in scaling or growing your business the Healthy Way, you won't want to miss our premiere episode of The Growth Engine Show!  

Sponsored by Healthy Brands Business Coach & Broker 

Learn more about Healthy Brands on LinkedIn

About Ryan Parshall, Business "Growth" Coach & Business Broker

About Trice Alford, CEO, CMO, Board Member, Strategist, Mentor.

Have you ever wondered if you could buy a digital marketing agency? In Episode 30 of the Agency Growth Engine Show, not only do you learn the 5 Ways to Buy a Marketing Agency, but how others create deal structures to acquire, grow and scale their agencies. You may have money burning a hole in your pocket and a strong desire to own your own marketing agency both. This podcast episode is for you. Or if you don’t think owning an agency is feasible, educate yourself on how deals get done. It often takes less money than you think! Let me break down the options for you…. 1. Cash Buys (doesn’t happen often): Some people or buyer groups have the capital to offer cash, can be creative on deal structure and can close quickly. 2. Cash/Seller Financing Combo: a popular acquisition deal structure between Seller/Buyer usually when the agency seller is desperate or already has the buyer decided. The Buyer presents enough cash down to make the deal happen while the remainder of the buyout is paid month/quarterly over a duration of years. 3. Traditional Loan (rarely happens): the Buyer has a bank relationship where they can bypass SBA Loan rules and be creative at structuring the deal. With higher interest rates than an SBA Loan, this is not a popular choice for most. 4. SBA Loan (full buyout): the large majority of agency deals are done using an SBA Loan. Interest rates are lower than traditional loans and the money is guaranteed/backed by a the bank lender and the government. It only takes 10% down in most cases. More details on the podcast! 5. SBA Loan (equity buyout): New on the scene Aug. 1, 2023 is the option to by a current owner out. With this option the current owner can retain up to 20% of the shares of the agency and the Buyer only has to buy or get a loan for the remaining shares. This exciting new options is also great for current employees to buy into the agency as long as they have the minimum down for the SBA loan. Whether you have the saving to acquire an agency now or you need to start saving up to make an acquisition, listen to me, Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford as we serve up the details! Have you acquired an agency or business? Which option did you use? What was your experience like? Learn more about Healthy Brands Coaching and Brokering services at www.healthybrands.biz

Companies who hire marketing agencies assume your agency can do it faster, better and make their lives easier….is it true?

Episode 20 of The Agency Growth Engine Show is live and if you own an agency, it’s time to check yourself before clients start jumping overboard as you fail to make their lives better.

Do you? Make their lives better that is? Trice Alford has spend much of his career on the client-side hiring and working with agencies and he clears up how agencies can deliver clear communication and top-shelf service with these tips…

1. Streamlined Communication…

- Every agency says “we’re really good at communication”. But very few times have I heard agency “clients” say the same. You need clear, clean and concise communication and reporting. Don’t overdo it. Don’t under do it.

- Make sure they can understand and quickly digest what you send them. They often don’t care about your pages of analytics and reporting. That’s what they are paying you for. Just give them the high level and don’t interrupt unless what you promised isn’t happening.

- Are you meeting weekly with your clients? That’s probably too often and is annoying to your clients. Only meeting/talking once a month, may not be enough? Learn what “meeting pulse” your clients want and figure out what touch points you need in between.

Want to know the right amount of communication is? Ask your clients.

2. Truly Understanding Clients, Their Industry and Goals…

- Start by having multiple contacts in a company and hear different viewpoints so you are satisfying the C-suite and leadership teams, not just your one, internal contact.

- Be involved in the client’s monthly, quarterly and annual goals. Know them, understand them and learn how you can help them reach those goals!

- Speak the industry language and sound like you are the Marketing Director or VP of Marketing in their company. Deep dive into their industry and your clients will love you!

3. Provide Strategic Insights & Proactive Solutions…

If auto-sending reports and then following up to have a meeting to read those reports in front of your client is your answer to client satisfaction, you are grossly failing.

Yes, use the analytics, reports, etc. But provide value that reports cannot give. Convert that data into usable info and show clients how you plan to leverage that data, beat competition and gain more leads, clients and revenue.

Be proactive and come up with creative ideas from those reports, make changes, communicate them and let the client know that someone is navigating their marketing with intent for the best ROI!

These are only 3 ideas on how you can make your client’s lives easier. What other ways can you think of to make them your biggest fans?

Join ⁠Ryan Parshall⁠ and ⁠Trice Alford⁠ for another "deep dive" agency topic.

Learn more about our Marketing Agency Coaching and Brokering Services.

Make them come to you…Do what Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) Do. Position your marketing agency or business to win every day. There is a clear and proven path to success using today’s digital channels and that it is to be a Subject Matter Expert. Don’t think that this is for individuals, coaches and speakers only. It’s for agency owners, business owners, sales and really everyone in business today trying to get customers and revenue. So I’ve broken it down into 3 simple steps that when done right, makes your ideal customers come to you. Your days of chasing leads and an empty sales pipeline could be coming to an end. 1. Lead with Knowledge Don’t lead with talking about you, your services or products. Find out all the things that keep your ideal customer up and night and do daily and weekly posts and videos talking about how to solve those problems.. Hell, I’m doing this right now and you are reading it. Everyone wants more leads or better quality leads and this is how it’s done. You just have to stay consistent. Prove your worth and position yourself as an SME by giving your best advice to the world. It does give back and people reach out to you to help solve the problems you’ve proven you can solve. 2. Prove Your Expertise Solving a problem for the general business world or too big of an audience is the hardest way to get people to reach out, DM, email or call you. Your future customers don’t want a generalist. Guess who “Generalist” lose their business to…oh yeah, “Specialists”. Because at the end of the day, they want to work with someone who has been in their exact shoes, in their industry who truly understands them without having to educate them on your industry. Clients aren’t stupid! They know a general methodology, process or workshop does not truly solve their problems. So when doing posts, videos or on the next zoom call, you have to PROVE YOUR EXPERTISE by using examples of how you have solved similar problems with customers like them, in their industry in the past. Be a damn good story teller! 3. Build a Tribe You should be growing your network of your target audience by connecting on social media, commenting on posts related to your expertise, and your profile and links should all lead them to information about who you are. They should see KNOWLEDGE and EXPERTISE both very dominant in your title, description, background, groups, and absolutely destroy it when it comes to giving them the best ideal that you are an authority in your space. No half-ass’ing it!!! You have to have a volume of connections that see your posts and you need to make an impression with that audience with your material. Without the volume and without a tribe, your message falls on def ears and you will never see the right people reaching out to you. So BUILD THAT TRIBE by consistently connecting and posting. This is not the marketing departments or sales teams job only. They can help, but YOU are the SME. So stop procrastinating, don’t be afraid to fail and get out there. Your agency and team are counting on you!!! What is your Subject Matter Expertise and how do you show it off? If you want to learn how to identify, expose and promote you and your agency's SME, please contact me through www.healthybrands.biz.

Please join Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford in Episode 28 of The Growth Engine Show and don't forget to Subscribe!

Do you know the answer? Can you answer what core problem your agency solves for your customers? Here's the problem with the first things that come out of your mouth?

When I ask this question, the typical agency owner will start blurting out a whole lot of things for a lot of different types of customers. This spells danger for the future of the agency and makes selling your agency's services, really, really difficult. Why?

Because the fastest growing, most profitable agencies can identify ONE core problem they solve for ONE type of customer. They become laser focused and begin a relentless pursuit to be the #1 agency to go to to solve that particular problem.

THEN...right after they discover what core problem they solve for their customers, then you need to be consistent and persistent on promoting, creating content and proving that you are the best at it. Your agency's goal should be to provide an incredible amount of evidence that you are a subject matter expert at solving that core problem.

The core problem you solve is NOT ABOUT YOU, the agency. It's ALL about your customer. Agencies love to talk about themselves their services, the results, all BEFORE they talk about their customer.

Lock in and listen to what problems your customer is having and then lean in to how you can best help them. Relate to them first. Understand them and get on the same page. THEN you can speak about your strategy, processes, and other ways you would go about solving the problem.

DO NOT start talking about you, your services, your results and how awesome you are. It's just too early to brag. If you truly understand what problem you solve, then you can be confident that you can do something that has more value, trust and respect than just "digital marketing services".

Want to know what core problem you solve? Try asking your customers and you will start to understand how THEY SEE YOU! After-all, this is the first thing that attracted you to them.

Watch Episode 27 of The Agency Growth Engine Show with Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford as we peel back the layers to uncover and discover the truths about the core problem your agency solves.

If your agency or business would like to discover what Core Problem you solve for your customers, contact me at (816) 718-8018 or visit our website https://healthybrands.biz/

Stop being so negative! We always talk about the challenges of growing an agency. There's a lot of reasons to start or buy a digital agency...Let's GO!!!!

Welcome to Episode 26 of The Agency Growth Engine Show where Trice Alford and me, Ryan Parshall decided to take a different spin on Agency Ownership!

We always spend time talking about the challenges of owning, growing and selling digital agencies, but we haven't really stopped and talked about all the crazy, fun and rewarding sides of leading an agency.

From fostering of a creative culture to snoring dogs, we got this topic covered. If you ever wanted to own an agency or currently do and want to kill 33 minutes, listen in!

AND.....if you haven't watched any of our past shows, then please, Subscribe to our YouTube Channel or listen to our podcast on Spotify or iTunes. We love #agencylife and are here to help you grow, buy or sell your digital agency!

Learn more about our agency coaching and brokering services on our website.

"I've had it with all the "Talk" about your agency losing clients and budget cuts. Yes, it's real, I know.

But what did you do about it BEFORE it got this way?  I have a lot of empathy for going through tough times and challenges, However....

As an agency owner, you can flip the narrative...FOREVER!!! By making some fundamental changes in the way you think about and operate your agency. 

Instead of trying to "sell" your services, you need to build an agency on some sort of deep industry expertise. By branding your agency to solve a specific problem for specific people, you can create "I WANT THAT" from your prospects and NEVER HAVE TO SELL AGAIN.

I happen to be in a unique position to see hundreds of agencies and what those that are crushing it are doing vs. those crying the blues about economy, lost clients, and budget cuts. 

The most successful agencies learn how to create "I Want That" and customers line up to get what they have to offer. The line goes outside and clear around the corner because they have something under high demand that they cannot get it anywhere else. 

This is why it's so important to...

1) develop a deep expertise that others don't have

2) create processes and secret formulas around solving specific problem with that expertise

3) learning how to brand, package and promote that expertise

I haven't sold in years, but I have found things that people WANT and NEED and I offer great solutions for them. Also, consider there is BIG difference between what people WANT and what they NEED. You must create something the WANT to weather the economic storm.

You offer, SEO, Social Media, Paid Search, Design and Website Services. They may NEED those services. But they rarely WANT to spend money on such things. You have to make it sexy by matching real pains your clients are having with something that is very appealing to them and helps them through the pain and takes their business to a place that sound soooo enticing!

By doing this, you create a bullish, growth mode for your agency through the hardest times instead of fighting for every dollar to make payroll. It's a fundamental change that Trice Alford and Ryan Parshall discuss in depth on Episode 25 of The Agency Growth Engine Show.

Learn more about Healthy Brands Agency Coaching on our website. Watch all of our episodes and other great agency growth tips on our Healthy Brands YouTube channel.