Increase Business: How One Digital Agency Doubled Business in 4 Months

If you're trying to grow an agency, you know you're going to need a foot in a door strategy to increase business and get you to the next level of success. The trouble is, you're selling the wrong service first.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• #1 strategy to increase business with new clients for your agency.
• Why you need a Foot in the Door offer.
• What makes a great Foot in the Door offer?

My guest on the show today is represents every reason why I love my work. Todd Earwood is the founder and CEO of MoneyPath Marketing. We first met when Todd attended one of my two-day workshops. A few months later he called me to share the success story on how his business doubled in just 4 months. Todd shares with us the #1 reason his agency was able to increase business so drastically and how he’s on track to do 3X business within 6 months of the workshop!

MoneyPath Marketing targets SaaS companies and like many agencies they have a hard time getting their foot in the door. Todd attended my workshop hoping to glean a little useful knowledge that he could implement right away. Ask and you shall receive...

#1 Strategy to Increase Agency New Business

Todd wanted more opportunities to get his foot in the door with prospects and that’s exactly what he got on Day #1 of the workshop. We discussed the principle behind the Foot in the Door offer and how one agency did $252K at a tradeshow using this strategy.

(A Foot in the Door offer is a slice off your core services. It is something a prospective will find informative and valuable, but does not solve a problem or involve a large investment.)

Todd found so much value in the Foot in the Door lesson that he implemented it right there during the workshop. That day, he jumped on a call with his salesman and a new business prospect. He offered the prospect a paid discovery (instead of going right away for a full scale project). They landed the paid discovery and nailed it, which lead to another project and eventually retainer business allowing him to increase business overall for his agency.

Why You Need a Foot in the Door Offer:

1- It offers a low cost point of entry. When you are pitching a prospect for a project that is $20K or $50K it’s a huge commitment. And although you are fully committed to being successful, the price tag can make it a tough sell. A Foot in the Door offer is just the bottom rung on your offer ladder. You’ll find you actually make more money when you start small and have your clients stairstep their way up.

2- It’s the courtship before the marriage. I get it - you want the bigger paid projects and retainers. But going for those higher price tags first is like proposing marriage on the first date. A Foot in the Door offer is a great way to get to know each other. You can build your authority and gain more trust, as well as get a glimpse of client’s work style.

3- It helps to determine what the client really wants. Let’s be honest. What the client thinks they need and what they actually need are often two completely different things. That’s why a blueprint or discovery is so valuable. It allows you to dig into the current situation to see what’s missing and provide insight as to how you can help.

4- It pre-qualifies your prospects. Think about it this way. If you have a prospect who balks at spending $2,500 for a paid discovery, how do you think a full scale project proposal will play out? Maybe something like this? By selling a Foot in the Door first, you’ll get the opportunity to qualify your prospects. You can find out if they have the budget to work with you. In addition you can determine in advance if you can help them.

5- It speeds up the sales cycle. When you have a lower price point of entry it’s much easier for your prospects to make the decision to work with you. After you fulfill delivery on the Foot in the Door and wow them with your expertise you’ll find subsequent sales decisions and are made much faster. Why is that? Because once a client buys from you they are 20X more likely to buy again in the future because they already know, like and trust you.

What Makes a Great Foot in the Door Offer?

First and foremost, it needs to be super simple. Make sure you are managing expectations as to what your prospect is getting from the Foot in the Door offer. Call it a discovery, blueprint, consultation or whatever you want... Just be sure it’s something you can explain pretty easily.

The process for proposing and delivering a Foot in the Door offer should be pretty turnkey. No fancy, lengthy proposal necessary. Todd says his agency sells theirs in a two page PDF that documents the timeline, process, deliverables and price.

Don’t over deliver. This was something Todd learned the hard way. He said he was used to doing free consultations, so the first time they did a paid discovery they felt the need to give an abundance of information so he could justify charging for it. He says the prospect actually told him it was too much information and needed a couple days to think about it. That’s not the goal. The goal of a Foot in the Door offer is to provide value and give just enough information that leaves the client wanting to do more.

Your goal is not to make a money on your Foot in the Door offer. Instead you’ll see exponential growth, revenue and profits by the increased business it brings in. Your goal is to build relationships, increase business and move prospects through your offering ladder.

How to Be Viewed as an Expert

Todd says another big takeaway from my workshop was the importance of standing out and not being a “Me Too” Agency. Another contributor to his agency's success is the declaration of a specialization. Although it's counter intuitive, marketing to a specific audience will make a real impact on your business.

When you have a specialization, you are able to create better content that speaks to a specific audience. When you niche down, you are able to use language specific to that particular industry. Focused marketing campaigns show prospects that you understand their problems, issues and challenges. And you will be viewed a subject matter expert.

Don’t be afraid to choose a niche and focus your energy there. This doesn’t mean turning away business. It just means targeting a specific group and saying: “I only help guys like you, I know what I’m doing and I know we can be successful.”

Give it a try... because the only thing worse than not trying is the regret you’ll feel if you don’t :)

Have You Hit a Plateau With Growing Your Agency?

Do you feel that you don't have what it takes to really scale and grow your agency? As you may have noticed, the agency world is definitely going through some changes. If you would like to attend the same workshop that Todd attended and talked about in this article, click here.

Analytics Software to Boost Your Business

Klipfolio is a tool that is helping agencies continuously monitor and report analytics. Define KPI’s based on your preferences and filters in this cloud-based software. With 50+ built-in marketing metrics, you can create a dashboard for yourself and your clients which can be viewed on desktop, mobile or old-fashioned PDF.

For a limited time, Klipfolio has a special deal for my listeners. Get a FREE TRIAL and an amazing offer just for The Smart Agency Master Class listeners at Klipfolio.com/SmartAgency.

Discover the best Digital Agency Strategies today. Get Online Training to help you setup the right systems and strategies to help you grow faster.

Next Level Digital Agency

Now that you have heard from Todd, are you ready to increase business for your agency and take it to the next level?

In order to build as an agency owner and grow your agency to the next level, especially when you are looking to increase business, you need to be able to recognise other issues within your agency that needs your attention.

Look for weak spots in your business and then think of how you can fix them. No matter what challenge your agency is facing, I can help you get through all of it.

There are many topics I can offer guidance from the different phases of growth you will experience to how you can build authority for your agency.

Growing your agency can be a major struggle for any agency owner and I can show from knowing when it’s time to hire a sales manager or expand your sales team, creating a process for performance based pricing which can be the best pricing strategy for your business and learning how to keep your big name clients happy.

Are you ready to create something cool and want more advice? Learn about my career and different experiences as well as tips, tricks and insights by checking out my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

Check out more from my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my Youtube channel. There you will find advice from myself and other agency experts.

What to Consider in Your Hiring Practices

What do you do when during a phase when you are hiring new team members, you discover they hope to eventually own their own agency?

In this week's episode, I cover some important questions about hiring practices. Should you hire someone who tells you in the interview that they hope to someday run their own agency? If they're otherwise qualified, should that be a deal breaker? Also, if you find a great new hire but they don't live close, should you pay for relocation?

{0:30} Jack asked:  "Say you're interviewing candidates for a sales position at your agency. When asked what they want to be doing in five years, the candidate says they want to run their own agency some day. Is this a deal breaker? We both know how hard running an agency is! Chances are, they won't be. But even if they did -- should that be an issue? I'm thinking it's kind of inevitable in our industry and I'm leaning towards being OK with it but I'm curious about your perspective."

{3:13} Aaron asked: "Would you suggest paying relocation costs for new hires? If so, under what circumstances would you offer it... Junior level or only Mid/Senior level? Would you stipulate they had to be a certain distance away in order to pay for a move? And would you reimburse certain kinds of moving expenses or just do it as a lump sum signing bonus?"

Growing Your Agency Brand

If you found this helpful but are searching for more advice especially looking to get your business to that next level, I can help.

You can find lots of tips, tricks and insights by checking out these helpful blogs that cover a wide variety of topics or if videos are more your thing, visit my videos on my Youtube channel!