TL;DR We're live with a new agency pulse check survey. We just published our latest (free) Digital Agency Industry Report, which serves as our primer on the industry. The key takeaway is that the industry has matured, and this changes how leaders need to approach it. A new episode of Agency Mythbusters is out! Register for my session at AmpUp where I'll run through the top trends reshaping digital agencies. New Survey: How's everyone feeling? Will the second half of the year be better or...
15 days ago • 2 min read
TL;DR Referrals are one of the most powerful and cost-effective growth channels for digital agencies. There are four main sources: Current clients, Partners / adjacent businesses, Past clients, & Personal and professional contacts Ask for referrals at the point of peak happiness, when industry changes occur, or when tech changes. Different roles will be responsible for referrals at different-sized agencies, but make sure that SOMEONE is owning it. Use simple, confident language and tailor...
29 days ago • 8 min read
TL;DR I'm speaking at a few spots this month, and it'd be great to see some of you there! There are three core account growth frameworks: Cross-selling (sell adjacent services into current accounts) Upselling (sell a higher-tier version of the same service) Expansion selling (sell the same service with a greater scope) Cross-selling works great for full-service agencies with mid-market or enterprise clients who have broader needs and budgets. Expansion selling is critical when working with...
about 1 month ago • 7 min read
TL;DR We're live with this year's State of Digital Services Report! Agency growth stabilized in 2024; Studio and Small shops grew modestly, Medium and Large agencies contracted slightly. Agencies expanding or shifting service mixes achieved significantly stronger growth. Specialists (84% of agencies) continued to outperform generalists in revenue and margins. Increasing rates drove higher revenue growth and profitability; reducing fees led to a 6% revenue decline. Agencies serving larger...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
TL;DR Promethean’s Consulting Capacity: We’re booked for agency consulting clients through the second quarter. If you’d like help in 3Q, please book an intro call early. Effective account retention is a cheat code for agency growth. Four components to effective account retention include: Doing good (enough) work. Communicating the value you deliver. Being enjoyable to work with. Make your clients look good. Key activities that make those components easier include: Track account health....
2 months ago • 5 min read
TL;DR Last call: State of Digital Services closes Thursday, 2/20. If you want to participate, make sure your data is in by EOD Thursday. Uncertainty Is Back: Business leaders aren’t at 2020-level anxieties, but the overall outlook has grown shakier compared to a year ago. Reduced Growth Spend: When clients feel uncertain, they downsize investments in agency-led growth initiatives like marketing, web design, and dev projects. AI Concerns: AI is fueling uncertainty about service offerings...
3 months ago • 4 min read
TL;DR SoDS: We're live with this year's State of Digital Services Survey! Take the survey and get the full report + an invite to the private highlight review call. If you're missing internal data to do a first-pass benchmark assessment, start with revgen. The first part of triaging revgen is understanding the actual value you deliver to clients. Part two is developing a deep understanding of who you deliver value for (ICP and buying committee). Now, you have the groundwork necessary to...
3 months ago • 6 min read
TL;DR The first step to triaging an agency is assessment via benchmarking. First, focus on a high-level (not exhaustive) list of metrics you can benchmark against. For revgen, we look at: Revenue growth Hourly rates Rev/FTE New clients Client tenure Client concentration For Operations, we evaluate: Employee growth Utilization rates Project load Employee churn The financial metrics we cover are: Days sales outstanding (DSO) Cash on hand Operating expenses (OpEx) Revgen investment level Margins...
4 months ago • 3 min read
TL;DR Our subconscious is fantastic at working things out if we give it space. Asking a few questions can help leadership teams reframe and break out of ruts. What kind of value would you need to deliver to charge twice as much? What do you do that's valuable, and why do clients hire you? What should you focus on? Stepping away for a bit can work wonders for our businesses. What we trade-off in productivity, we tend to gain in better directionality. I'm refactoring our Revgen Review Service...
4 months ago • 5 min read
