Presentation - Why is it so hard to grow an agency?
VIDEO: 17:05 mins
AUTHOR: Robert Craven
In this short presentation, Robert will talk through:
Why can’t we get better customers?
Why aren’t we more profitable?
Why won’t people do what we expect?
Why aren’t we hitting targets?
Why am I working harder?
Should I hand over control?
How do I get back my mojo?
What’s the secret sauce I am missing?
Transcription:
Robert Craven 00:00
Let talks about why is it so hard to grow an agency? Because if we know what to do, then why can't or why don't we do it? I mean, that's got to be, kind of be the issue, blinking programmes so far. So, my starting point would be a quote from Sun Tzu strategy without tactics is to slow through to victory tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. This presentation comes with a government health warning, it may damage your health, which I won't apologise, but it shouldn't, because you should already know this stuff. So the theme, the endpoint, no surprise will be stopped paying around, stop messing around, stop playing the game, playing any game, play the real game play a game, not just as we tried to do our best bit. So for a start, the question would be what's holding you back? What's holding you back from running the agency you really want to run? We've been through this 1000 times? And the answer is me. It's me. It's my attitude. It's my approach. It's my discipline. It's my lack of structure. It's my lack of processes. It's my lack of being able to see strategically beyond what's beyond me, it's my belief that there's a quick silver bullet out there. But we do have a choice, we have a choice between running a nice little safe agency word, pretty fun, let's be clear about it, and actually running the big agency where maybe it's not so much fun, because now we're employing loads of people, we need systems and processes.
Robert Craven 01:47
And maybe there's a point somewhere in the middle that we can actually do both. But very few, and this would be my point, very few agency owners actually do the fundamental basics you think you do. But I would argue you don't. You don't focus. You don't take ownership and you don't make the tough decisions. You kind of want to be the nice guy, the nice girl, and you don't take massive action. And you don't embrace accountability. In other words, very few actually, focus take ownership meant those tough decisions, take massive action, and embrace accountability. So the question to my mind is, why is it so hard to grow agency? And really shouldn't be talking about this. We have talked about this so much about what you need to do. I can't believe we're talking about it again, yet again. So the question is, why is it so hard to grow an agency? I asked you this? Is it high? Or is it low complexity? And to be honest, it's low complexity compared with a heart surgeon or a nuclear power station, you know, it's pretty basic. People have requests. We faff around and make stuff happen. We deliver it to them, we get paid by them. They do it again, because we like them. And then my second question would be, are the rules hard? Are they easy to follow? The rules of the game are pretty easy to follow. We know we need to do marketing, we know we need a sales machine, we need just need to close the sale and instantly product, we need to collect the money. I mean, the rules aren't that complicated. We know what other people are charging, we know what other people are delivering.
Robert Craven 03:34
So surely, it's possible we can be 3% better than that. So we end up with this glorious looking matrix, and we're in the bottom left hand corner. We're not in the top right hand corner, we're not in the top, we're not on the far right, we are in the bottom left hand corner, low complexity. It's pretty simple rules to follow. And yet we don't seem to be busting out of where we are, we seem to be stuck. You know what you need to do. You've been on enough quarters and a half programmes, you can Google it. You know why you need to do that stuff. You've been on that programme, they've been on enough courses, and he knows how to do it, you've got the stuff, you've got the tools to get access to it. And yet for some reason you failed to do it. My question has to be why are you not doing it? Why is it not happening? So these, for me is about understanding what the real challenge here is, what is the real challenge here for you.
Robert Craven 04:35
It's working with your top right? Your reptile brain just literally thinks flight or fight isn't going to hurt me. It's going to help me I need to do something about it. High levels of adrenaline, provide them wrong or go into it. Or if it's not that situation and fight or flight then I've become dull. You need to find a way of stimulating the reptile brain so you're putting in that amount have efforts. But you're not actually in that fight flight panic. So let's just hang on to onto that. Because the problem is if we're not in a fight or flight situation, it gets dull and boring. So you need to understand you're working with your reptile brain. So here are the top questions that we get here all the time. Why can't we get more better customers? Why are we more profitable? Why won't people do what we expect? And why are we not hitting our targets? And then there are the questions about I took customers about , why am I working hard? Should I hand over control? Because I didn't feel that I'm owning it at all? And how do I get my manager back? Because I became a miserable sound. So recently, and finally, what's the secret sauce I'm missing? Right? Let's ask the questions head on. Why can't we get more better customers? Because you haven't decided who they are? Because you haven't decided what you do? You haven't decided what your proposition is? You haven't decided what your proposition is to whom? You haven't decided who isn't suitable? You don't filter out the bad people. And you haven't got awesome, compelling, sexy, delightful, seductive marketing that makes those people think yeah, those are the people for me, you haven't created an exact solution for the exact problem that the exact people have. You just haven't put the effort into marketing. Like you're putting the effort into operation, you haven't put the effort into sales, but you put into operations. Why are we more profitable? Because you do not charge enough. Robert Craven says put up your prices. Do you put up your prices? Do you supply your suppliers feet to the ground? Do you fix your underperforming clients? Do you fix your underperforming staff? Do you fix your underperforming products and services? Do you fix your underperforming supplies? Do you go to all of them and say, yeah, it could be better otherwise, I'm going to sack you? No, you tolerate underperformance, and therefore you have inefficient financial model. And therefore, even if you do sell more stuff, you're not making more profit, you need to sort the profit piece, first and foremost, figure out how to create a financial model. So that when you do put the foot down on marketing yourself that you make decent money, you can't run an agency earning three or five p in the pound.
Robert Craven 07:45
You need to have a financial model that works. Why won't people do what we expect? Mainly, mainly the main reason they don't do what you expect. And this is staff and this is customers and this is a supplier, it's because you don't tell them, you get the customers you deserve, you get the staff you deserve. You need to understand that you need to be really clear about what your expectations of them are, and what your deliverables are. And then you need to over deliver. And the same goes for your staff, you need to be really clear with them. They are not mind reader's, you need to just be really clear with what you expect. And what's going to happen. The final question, why aren't we hitting our targets? Probably because your targets weren't reasonable, probably because they weren't thought out? Probably because you haven't put enough effort into marketing and sales. Probably because you put enough effort in the first place is creating a compelling marketing proposition, a value proposition, a quantifiable value proposition, a website and fails machine and a marketing machine which is so delightful that people actually want to buy from. And then there are those top questions. Why am I working harder? Because it's got so complex, and there aren't enough systems and processes. And you've forgotten that your job as CEO is not to work in the business to work on the business. Your job as a CEO, is to make difficult decisions. That's your job. It's the other people in the business that do the work. Your job as CEO or MD is to make difficult decisions, look at what's going on and make the decisions not working the business. Every hour you are getting the business you're not working on the business. Every hour you work in the business, you're making it harder for this business to become sustainable.
Robert Craven 09:28
And that's our own fault. We build a business around ourselves, we put ourselves in the middle of it, and then we can't get out of it because we're not business builders. We are agency owners, and you need to think more like a business builder. Are you the shareholder? Are you a board member? Are you a director for your manager or your supervisor? Are you just somebody who works in the business? Can ya thinking hat on like as if you are a shareholder? Far more than if you're just a manager? Should I hand over control because I'm not doing such a great job to hand over control because other people be better, well, maybe you should, maybe you should become the shareholder. And that's a really awesome manager already awesome director come into the business, or maybe you should work with them. Maybe you Peter Principle, you've got your own level of incompetence, and you can't do the next stage. Or maybe you don't understand what's needed from you at the next stage. Or maybe you've not just sat down and thought through it's called the grinder curve, thought through what the next challenge is for the business, and therefore, what does the business need me to do? And therefore, let me get ready and get prepared to do that thing. And how do I get back my mojo, I used to be such a happy soul. Now I'm miserable, because I'm working so hard. Your identity is not what you do at work, your identity is what you do elsewhere. We get bogged down because of the how hard we work as to who we are. And I used to be so much fun. And now I'm not now I'm just tired all the time. Why now see you doing? Figure out how to deal with stress. Keep going back to mindset deal with the mindset and enjoy it. This whole business thing is just a game understanding what the rules are pushing and pulling the levers and enjoying it and having pleasure doing. Winning or feeling like you're winning against those rules doesn't have to be like it is now. And the final question. What's the secret sauce I'm missing?
Robert Craven 11:29
There is no secret sauce, you're missing. It's pretty straightforward. What you need to do. 10 days to attend pick out profits nonsense. It's not about that. It's just about good old fashioned basic, just like swimming, you know? So talking strategy is fun. I had a strategy. Wait, it's so much fun increases rates faster. Thanks for years. Yeah, but actually, strategy is a commodity. Execution is the art, you know. And there's other quotes. Amateurs talk about strategy professionals talk about logistics, it's about that first 5%, It's about the strategic thinking, which is so crucial. So it's like slim as well. This is what I mean, you go to Slimming World, try and make it work. You plan. You succumb to chocolate. And then you give up. And that's what happened for strategy. Exactly the same. Yeah. It's not until if you think soon as well, you don't sort yourselves out as soon as wild until you're petrified. So you get that possible heart attack or possible stroke, then you're willing to lose weight when it's too late. All that good stuff that you knew you meant to do you never did before. But now you do it when the frites happened. So my challenge to you is that you have that right early, you had that fright - COVID. But maybe you haven't made your action you need that fright to instil the discipline? Or you need to have that discipline that obsession within you, in any case, one of the two things. So why don't we do? Well, the rewards are in the future. Why don't we do strategy properly and logistics and systems because they're also in the future? And first we have to experience disruption, just comfort in which kind of kind of goes against my grain. And then discussing what disciplines you prepared to accept. To get to the goal. It feels tough and awkward. It feels annoying, frightening, and to be honest, it feels completely unpleasant. So let's be clear. We need permanent change, just like this. We need to change the scorecards change what we're measuring, because what gets measured gets done and clearly we're not if we do not store cards, we're not measuring the right stuff. And we need to get serious or taking children and don't worry about it. I think we need to get serious about this. Step up again, step up the game. It is a game out and there are rules, but you need to be playing in a much higher level of intensity than you are at the moment. High performers they work on systems and processes or I call them machines but they work on creating systems and processes and the agency's hope is not a method. And those systems and process specifically are a marketing and sales machine and operations machine finance machine and a people machine. Most of us agency owners have great operations machines but we have relatively speaking lousy marketing and sales machines, is so wrong. You need to have an awesome marketing and sales machine which feeds your some operations machine. Also need to have an awesome finance machine. So you know what you're measuring and you know the results you're getting. And obviously an awesome people machine so that you are recruiting, training and retaining the best people you can. So in a nutshell, need a marketing sales machine.
Robert Craven 15:05
You need an operations machine. And just remember my friends execution is lost 95%, the strategy is the first 5% absolutely vital. Execution is the last 95%. So, the book grow digital agency, I'm so proud of it. I think maybe we should change the title. I think maybe the title should actually be in praise of the dull and boring stuff, because it's the people who nail the dull, boring stuff that do so very, very well. So is it hard to grow an agency? Well, the answer is yes, it is hard to grow an agency, obviously. There are set rules and set ways that people who are successful proceed and go about growing an agency know what they are. And if you know what they are, then Why don't we do it? I think we don't do it because of mindset and discipline because we were hoping for those silver bangli idea to appear. We're hoping something will happen. But it's not. It's about getting mindset, and that rigorous discipline in place. So my message to you is simple. One should just stop playing around. Just get on to it. It requires vast, relentless execution, asked relentless discipline systems and processes in place, or marketing, sales and operations. That's what all the great people have. And all the people who aren't great tend not to have a great marketing and sales system because they're obsessed with the operations. So my friends, my message is simple. It's just not playing around. You know what you need to do. Thank you very much for listening.