Welcome to episode 126. In this episode, I chat to Brian Jacobs (Founder, BJ&A) and Crispin Reed (Founder, Skyscraper Consulting) about what’s wrong with the advertising industry. And what specifically prompted the launch of their ‘Who Cares?’ initiative, aimed at tackling the pressing issues affecting the advertising industry today. We cover: · wh…

Welcome to episode 125. Have you ever considered contacting your old clients to see if they’d like to work with you again? If not this episode may change your mind. Dan Pfister is the master of running client winback campaigns and here’s what he shares with me: · The compelling reasons why WinBack campaigns could be the most successful and profitab…

Welcome to episode 124. This will be particularly interesting for you if you want to know how much the head of client services role can impact the agency's business. Listen in if you don’t currently have a client services team and you're perhaps thinking about having one, or your client services function isn't performing as you'd like it to and you…

Welcome to episode 123. This episode will be particularly interesting for you if you're responsible for your agency's internal operations. You might be the operations director, head of project management, or even a client services director, but if you think your internal agency operations could be more efficient and streamlined, then this episode i…

Welcome to episode 122. This episode will be particularly relevant for you if you're an ambitious agency owner looking to accelerate the growth of your agency. - Maybe you think you're not standing out enough from your competitors. - Perhaps you feel your positioning needs dialling in because maybe you've lost some pitches or you've had to drop you…

Welcome to episode 121. This is part two of a two-part interview with Simon Rhind-Tutt and Carey Evans, who are Co-Founders of Relationship Audits. If you missed part one, I would really recommend you go back and have a listen (it’s episode 120). Simon and Carey just packed it full of insights and tips for agencies when it comes to strengthening th…

Welcome to Episode 120, which is the first of two episodes covering my in-depth chat with Carey Evans and Simon Rhind-Tutt, Co-Founders of Relationship Audits®. I met Simon and Carey many years ago when I was working as client services director for Publicis life Brands. We were struggling with a client relationship, it was a very important client b…

Welcome to episode 119. Today's episode is for you if you're curious to understand how another agency works, particularly when it comes to how they manage their client relationships and how they sell their services. I’m joined by David Huckerby, the owner, and Natasha Jones, the Account Director of creative communications agency, Conteur. Conteur i…

Welcome to episode 118. On the last episode, I interviewed the brilliant Tim Williams from Ignition Consulting group about pricing strategies and why agencies need to sell outputs and value and not hours, particularly given the rise of generative AI. If you haven't listened to that, I'd recommend you go back and listen to episode 117 because Tim sh…

Welcome to episode 117. This episode is going to be very relevant for you if you're responsible for pricing your agency's services. I first saw Tim Williams, Founding Partner of Ignition Consulting Group, speak at an IPA conference in London in 2016. He was talking to agency owners about why they needed to ditch the billable hour if they wanted a p…

Welcome to episode 116. This episode is for you if you are responsible for managing projects in an agency. This one could be quite controversial, but equally very enlightening because my guest is going to be potentially challenging your belief about the role of project management. Jack's Skeel’s book is called ‘UNMANAGED’ and Jack makes a very comp…

Welcome to episode 115. If you're in agency new business or account management and responsible for contract renewals and account expansion, you're in for a huge treat because Tim Riesterer, author of ‘The Expansion Sale’ (Four Must-Win Conversations to Keep and Grow Your Customers), joins me. Tim is a powerhouse and working with huge enterprises in…

Welcome to Episode 114. If you're an agency owner who wants to stand out in a competitive market, then today's guest has written an entire book about it. Gareth Healey, author of "STAND OUT OR DIE" joins me to share: - what he learned from scaling and exiting his business - his seven step framework for standing out in a crowded marketplace - and hi…

Welcome to episode 113. This will be particularly inspirational for you if you are currently a small agency owner with aspirations for huge growth. Jared Lopiccolo, CEO & Co-Founder of Noble Studios, built his agency from a single laptop to a multi million dollar agency. He shares some insight into what it took to achieve that growth and also his a…

Welcome to episode 112. I’m joined by Shannyn Lee, Managing Director of Win Without Pitching ®, which is widely recognised by the creative industry as one of the best quality sales training programs because it's specifically tailored to agencies. This episode will be particularly valuable for you if your job at the agency is winning new business an…

Welcome to episode 111. This episode will be particularly relevant for you if you're heading up the agency or you're in charge of an agency team. Alison Coward is the founder of Bracket, a consultancy that partners with ambitious, forward-thinking companies to help them build high-performing and collaborative team cultures. She is a culture strateg…

Welcome to episode 110. This episode is for you if you're an agency owner either interested in buying agencies to grow, or selling your agency at some point. It's also enlightening if you work in an agency and you want to understand the process of mergers and acquisitions. Jonathan Baker, Practice Lead in M&A at Punctuation joins me and shares a lo…

Welcome to episode 109. My guest is Michael Farmer, a management consultant who has been looking at the agency business model for over 30 years. He's identified three burning issues for creative agencies. 1. Work is increasing in volume and yet agencies fees are declining. But because agencies aren't measuring scopes of work, they don't often reali…

Welcome to episode 108. Are you struggling to manage a remote agency team? If so, you're going to get a lot of value from my conversation with Gustavo Razzetti, CEO of Fearless Culture and author of ‘Remote, Not Distant’. He shared some very thought-provoking insights for agency leaders and agency teams, including · how remote working is only ampli…

Welcome to episode 107. If you’ve ever wondered if you’re pricing your services in the right way, this one is for you. Alfie Wenegieme, Managing Partner at Cactus, joins me and he shares: 1. Why agencies don’t lose pitches on price alone 2. How agencies price to ensure a healthy profit margin 3. Typical mistakes agencies make when pricing 4. And so…

Welcome to episode 106. If you’d like to know how one agency has been using AI since 2011 to predict the future for their clients, this chat will be interesting for you. It will also be insightful if you’re curious how the agency works with their global CPG and FMCG brands. ‌Nik Pearmine, Chief Strategy Officer at Black Swan Data, and I cover a ran…

Welcome to episode 105, I have invited two of my most popular podcast guests back for a second time, sales trainer legends; Marcus Cauchi and Benjamin Dennehey. ‌Both have been sales trainers for years and have worked with many agencies and tech companies. They shared some golden nuggets to help you with selling your agency’s services. ‌I had to th…

Welcome to episode 104. In this episode, I talk all things agency project management with Joanne Reid, Managing Partner for delivery at Cactus. We cover: - the challenges agencies face with project management - how Joanne assesses how well an agency's project management is working - how project management differs from account management and why she…

Welcome to episode 103. This episode will be particularly relevant to agency owners who want to become less hands-on in their agency and just step away from the day to day operations. I'm chatting to Karl Sakas, an agency growth consultant in the US and author of several books, the latest of which is called Work Less and Earn More a Practical Guide…

Welcome to the final episode in my mini series of five bonus podcast episodes created to show you how to build an entrepreneurial mindset in your agency account managers. In this episode, I share the key things you need to do to get your account managers adding value from day one and reduce churn. And this comes back to many of the things we've dis…

Welcome to number 4 in my mini series of five bonus podcast episodes created to show you how to build an entrepreneurial mindset in your agency account managers. Why do so many account managers miss out on new account growth opportunities in client meetings? Often it's because they haven't asked the right questions. Or maybe they've asked some of t…

Welcome to number 3 in my mini series of five bonus podcast episodes created to show you how to build an entrepreneurial mindset in your agency account managers. Agency owners often tell me they wish their account managers were more confident in client meetings, including being confident enough to suggest new ideas for new projects. But, as with ev…

Welcome to number 2 in my mini series of five bonus podcast episodes created to show you how to build an entrepreneurial mindset in your agency account managers. In this episode we're looking at how to raise the value of account managers by taking them from an 'order-taker' to a trusted advisor. You can't just expect clients to treat your account m…

Welcome to the first in a series of five bonus podcast episodes. I've created this podcast mini series to show you how you can develop an entrepreneurial mindset in your agency account managers, so they can: - help increase the lifetime value of clients - generate more referrals - help you maintain a healthy sales pipeline In this first short episo…

Welcome to episode 97. My first ever podcast was with Kate Whittaker, head of corporate communications at DUAL Group, so working on the client side. During that episode she was explaining the exceptional agency who worked with her, particularly about their excellent client service, but also how they really understand her and her business. So for th…

Welcome to Episode 96. My guest is David Meikle, the author of ‘Tuning Up’, a book about improving performance and reducing stress in advertising and marketing. This chat will be particularly interesting for you if you're finding the pressure and stress of working in an agency unmanageable, or you're responsible for creating positive agency environ…

Welcome to Episode 95. This episode is particularly relevant for you if you’re responsible for agency new business. I'm joined by Benjamin Dennehy, UK's Most Hated Sales Trainer, and I hope by the end of listening to our chat it might just change your thinking about how you currently qualify prospects and sell your agency’s services, , particularly…

This episode is for agency leaders who are supporting their account manager to grow the existing client business. I’m going to share tips for ensuring the agency leadership team are providing the right level of support to their account management team in three key areas; 1. Providing the commercial context 2. Internal processes 3. Relationship risk…

Welcome to episode 93. If you’re working in creative agency account management you know how essential it is to have a positive relationship with your creative director built on trust. I asked Creative Director, Joey Tackett, to join me and discuss what’s most important to him about working with account managers so we can see account management thro…

Welcome to episode 92. This episode is for you if you’re curious to know how an SEO strategy agency is using AI tools to reduce the amount of repetitive, tedious tasks and free up the team to work on more of the strategic thinking for their clients. Dale Bertrand, Founder and President of Fire&Spark shares with me: • How AI tools have reduced his t…

Welcome to Episode 91. This episode is for you if you're interested in how the AI landscape is changing for agencies and what you need to know from a legal perspective about your use of AI. I chatted with Sharon Toerek, Founder and Owner of Legal + Creative| Toerek Law. The topics that we covered include: - the ownership of the outputs - potential …

Welcome to episode 90, which is for you if you’d like to know what a non-billable CSD does in an agency. Luke Bowler from Therefore Interactive joined me and he shares: · How he went from studying to be a designer to moving to the account management role · Why his CSD role is non-billable and how he decides where best to spend his time · How he int…

Welcome to episode 89. This episode is for you if you're curious to understand what a senior account director does in a brand strategy agency. I chat to Andy Kaye, senior account directory at Mr B & Friends and we discuss: - the importance of being proactive with clients and staying informed about industry trends - share tips on staying up to date …

Welcome to Episode 88. My guest is Rob Da Costa, an agency growth consultant from Da Costa Coaching. We discuss a myriad of topics, including: - the process for hiring the right account manager at your agency - examples of how to set client expectations and boundaries - why having a written scope of work is key to successful project delivery - and …

Welcome to episode 87. In this episode, I chat to Mike Lander, CEO of Piscari, a former procurement director who now assists sales teams in negotiating with procurement departments. Mike and I discuss: - the common mistakes agencies make when negotiating with procurement - what procurement looks for when selecting an agency - and why they are inter…

Welcome to episode 86, where I'm joined by Konrad Sanders, CEO of The Creative Copywriter agency, to discuss the impact of generative AI on copywriting. In this episode, we covered: - How Konrad's team is adopting AI tools and the most useful tools they've found. - The limitations of AI-written copy and what clients are saying about AI. - Advice on…

Welcome to episode 85. This episode is for you if you're interested in understanding how a project management team and an account management team work together in an internal communications agency. Sara and Lindsay are heads of department at US-based Brilliant Ink. They joined me to talk through their years of experience running this model. This ep…

Welcome to Episode 84. If you're interested in the fast-changing world of generative AI, and how clients and agencies are using it, then you will love this conversation. Roy Murphy is the founder of Synthetic, an agency specialising in emerging technologies. Roy shares with me: - the main pain points that generative AI is solving for clients, and h…

Welcome to Episode 83. On this episode, we're talking about the split between the agency Account Manager and the agency Project Manager role, with Kate Vines and Kio Aghoghogbe from Hallam. This is going to be particularly interesting for you if you're working in an agency with a hybrid account management role, you're doing both sides of the role c…

Welcome to Episode 82. Emerging technologies like AI are taking the world by storm at the moment with the likes of Microsoft's Chat GPT, for example, and today's guest, Soumya Mohan, is the Co-founder of Poised, an AI-driven app that I've been using for a couple of months now. I believe it's pretty game changing for account managers to help them co…

Welcome to Episode 81. This episode is for you if you're looking for inspiration on how to enhance your clients' experience and lead them into the future. Katherine Strachan is the founder of Copy House, an award winning B2B content marketing agency for fast growing FinTech and Tech brands. In 2020, Kathryn was a freelance copywriter and just three…

Welcome to Episode 80. My guest is Mark Sainthill, an agency M&A expert. If you're an agency owner, you're thinking about selling either now or at some point in the future, Mark talked about the main things you need to consider if you want to sell and why market conditions and timing are really key. He also talked about what's most attractive to a …

Welcome to Episode 79. We're talking about personal branding, what it is, what it's not, and why my guest thinks many people are approaching it in the wrong way. Who better to talk about this topic than the founder of personal branding agency Great Influence, Ash Jones. Ash is the person who started working with Steven Bartlett on his personal bran…

Welcome to Episode 78. Today's episode is for you if you're an agency owner, busy running an agency, but also facing challenge or adversity in your private life. Rebecca McIntyre-Smith is director of digital agency Primate, and founder of the Lemur Foundation. She has a remarkably touching story of tragedy, adversity and resilience. She also shares…

Welcome to Episode 77. On this episode, I chat to Dan Archer, a marketing expert for agencies. This episode is packed full of practical tips to help you with your own agency's marketing. Dan shares with me: - the biggest challenges facing agencies when it comes to marketing their services - practical and actionable advice for how to approach it - w…