Agency Blueprint Robert Patin

Where is your agency’s focus on, efficiency or effectiveness? Is your focus creating the outcome you’re looking for? Maybe it’s time you open up to changing your mindset from efficiency to effectiveness.  
In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, we discuss the key differences between efficiency and effectiveness in a creative agency. We also explain why, as a businessowner, you should focus on developing an effectiveness mindset to create a larger impact on client deliverables and agency processes. 
Don’t miss this episode to learn more about how to refocus the idea of efficiency vs. effectiveness, plus measure effectiveness in your agency.  
Key Questions:   
[01:56] What are the main differences between what would be considered efficiency and effectiveness? [08:31] How do you measure your agency's effectiveness?  
What You’ll Discover: 
[02:14] The main differences between efficiency and effectiveness and why the idea of efficiency is a short-sighted mindset.  [04:36] Understanding that effectiveness is about the larger impact on client deliverables and agency processes.  [08:31] How having an effective team allows you to produce client results in less amount of time.  [10:48] Effectiveness indicators – on-time completion, frequent SOP updates, and the number of revisions. [14:43] The importance of managing your business by the numbers to measure how you’re making profits and providing impact.  [15:38] How to refocus the idea of efficiency vs. effectiveness because agency effectiveness leads to efficiency.

How can you create operational excellence in your agency? The truth is, if you don’t have operational efficiency, you’re going nowhere. Creating operational efficiency is possible; it’s partly about recognizing primary problems, letting go and letting your team, and having a way of measuring where success lies and adjusting to it.  
In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I’m joined by Rob Sayles to discuss what it takes to create the ideal operational efficiency in an agency. Rob has more than 25 years of experience in the digital marketing industry. He’s taken agencies from startup to exit, built operational divisions within corporates, established working units in various countries, and created global centers of excellence, all focused on creativity, productivity, and profitability.  
Don’t miss this episode to learn the importance of leveraging your team's power to find solutions and avoid creating risks to the business's future.    
Key Questions:   
[01:22] What is ideal operational efficiency in the concept of an agency?  [06:33] What do you think is at the core of many agencies' avoiding systemizing their business and implementing processes?  [08:40] What are the common places within an agency where you see the most inefficiency?  [20:27] What is one of the best ways to leverage the team to create continuous improvement within your systems and processes?  
What You’ll Discover:  
[01:36] Ideal operational efficiency – having as high a margin as possible and producing high-quality service on time and budget.  [03:40] The massive outcomes of the benefits of operational efficiency for the leader, team, and clients.  [07:11] How ego and fear become a barrier to putting in an operating system and process of people working together.  [08:48] Understanding what causes fundamental inefficiencies of an agency and how to solve them.  [12:02] How to be proactive and find solutions to the existing problems and avoid creating risk to the future of the business.   [20:36] How to leverage the power of your team to create continuous improvement within your systems and processes.  [23:11] The importance of constantly taking steps into the unknown and having a way of measuring where success lies and adjusting to it.  [26:19] How to empower your team to make decisions and learn for themselves by removing yourself from every situation.  
Connect with Rob: 
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Are you in a place where your revenue has declined in the last 12-24 months, and you’re looking to have a recovery? Or maybe you want to recognize potential risk areas and how you can mitigate that risk.  
In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I share the journey of a particular agency, how they handled a crisis, and how they recovered from their situation. I explain the systems and processes I helped them put together to manage the crisis, avoid going out of business, and get back to agency growth mode.  
Listen in to learn how to build strategies focusing on an agency’s short-term revenue needs and long-term revenue opportunities.   
Key Question:   
[00:58] Are you going through a crisis and would like to know how you can approach recovery?  
What You’ll Discover: 
[01:14] An example of an agency that went into full crisis mode, how they found themselves there, how they managed the situation. [02:21] How to create space to avoid going out of business, get to a breakeven or profitable place, and be able to manage the situation.  [03:34] Have an audit to review where there’s room for adjustments to eliminate the easily eliminated expenses. [04:45] How to adjust the agency’s focus by getting clear on the objectives and how exactly you’ll get there. [06:35] Ways to market to your existing relationships to increase your chances of bringing in revenue when you have a longer sales cycle.  [08:38] The best strategy to build new relationships with brands you want to work with to position yourself and sell campaigns.  [12:17] The importance of investing enough into refining processes to eliminate wasting your team’s time. [14:35] The actions to take to be able to manage growth, like recruiting to grow the team back. [16:08] The importance of continuous improvement of processes through constant communication with the team.

How do you approach creating a plan to serve content to your leads in a nurturing way? When marketing, it’s against your prospect’s attention, so you need to understand the value they get by committing to your content.  
In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I discuss how to strategically structure consumable content in the marketing and sales funnels. I explain the importance of always considering the level of commitment your content will take and where in the funnel each type of content belongs.  
Listen in to learn about questions to ask yourself to understand how your content will turn a prospect into a customer. 
Key Questions:   
[01:40] How do you create content in a structured way that helps your prospects know you better? [11:05] What do you serve content? What is the mechanism that you’re delivering it in? What is the time commitment it takes for someone to consume that type of content? 
What You’ll Discover: 
[02:30] The importance of understanding the level of commitment it takes to consume the content you produce.  [03:58] The importance of delivering consumable content to increase your lead’s level of commitment.  [06:06] List the type of content you’re currently producing, think of the time commitment needed to consume, and the time needed to implement.  [07:35] Think about the stages of your marketing funnel and the types of content you’ll be serving.  [09:04] How to strategically serve different types of content from when a lead learns about your agency to when they sign the contract. [11:05] Questions to ask yourself to understand how your content will turn a prospect into a customer.  [12:35] Always consider the level of commitment your content will take and then map that in your marketing and sales funnels.

Do you have a due diligence process in your agency to deal with rebrands and building new brands? As your agency grows, mistakes will happen eventually, and having a due diligence process in place will protect you from legal problems arising from trademark and intellectual property.  
In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I’m joined by Fernando Dutra to discuss brand trademark considerations for creative agencies. Fernando is a strategic trademark attorney who combines his experience, management skills, and go-getter mentality to help ecstatic entrepreneurs and growing agencies learn what it means to develop and own a piece of intellectual property. 
Don’t miss this episode to learn how to use due diligence as a differentiator, the right time to hire a third party to do your due diligence, and more.  
Key Questions:   
[01:26] Can you share a story about an agency you worked with where things did not turn out as planned?  [09:47] What kind of due diligence things should agencies be thinking about when it comes to rebrands and building new brands? [13:24] Where in the process does an agency have to inject a system that allows them not to redo work? 
What You’ll Discover:  
[01:36] Fernando shares a story about how things turned out badly for an agency due to lack of a proper process and timing. [09:54] Things you need to do in your due diligence process when dealing with rebrands and building new brands.  [13:35] The importance of documenting your process in the conception phase and avoiding common staples in your creation.  [17:43] How to use due diligence as a differentiator so the client can incur the cost of the work.  [22:24] The reasons why hiring a third party to do due diligence for you is a good thing and part of growth.  [24:56] Fernando’s complimentary sample due diligence process for Agency Blueprint podcast listeners.  
Connect with Fernando: 
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Is your process easily accessible, and does it cater to everyone’s learning style? When is it too much process, and when have you overprocessed?  
In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, we discuss the qualities of a well-framed process and whether a process can be over-processed. We explain the importance of having a process that focuses on individuals’ preferred way of learning.  
Listen in to learn how to make process augmentation much faster and easier and give your team a reference point.  
Key Questions:   
[01:19] What does a well-framed process look like?  [12:56] When is it too much process, and when have you overprocessed?  
What You’ll Discover: 
[01:25] The qualities of a well-framed process and the importance of focusing on individuals’ preferred way of learning. [06:40] Things you need to give your team access to a reference point so they don’t have to keep asking.  [10:06] How a step-by-step, well-documented SOP makes process augmentation much faster and easier.  [12:56] Why it’s difficult to overprocess due to people’s different learning styles and it also being an ever-evolving thing.