It was time to Flip The Script and 'Out-Pace The Rat Race!'
Believe me, I wasn't the only one feeling the pain. As it turns out, nearly every agency goes
through what I did, or a version of it. But it doesn't have to be that way!
Let me give you both sides of the coin.
The good.
The bad.
And how to always get 'heads' instead of 'tails.'
Truth Number One: There has never been a better time to start and grow an agency. Or to add FB ad campaigns to your list of services.
Truth Number Two: Without the right plan, and the right tools, 'success' can become your prison. Like it did for me.
And believe me, you don't want to go there!
It was a 'too much work, too little money' situation.
You know, the one where your friends think you're successful, but you'd call it anything thing BUT success. Where 'Busy' is your middle name.
The 'success' wasn't doing much good for Hip National Bank! Or my health. In the workshop are some graphic images. Viewer discretion is advised.
Like most others, I'd started out with the end in mind. "We need to make more money, and put food on the table for our growing family. And to travel more." I started with the goal of creating opportunity for my family.
Picking up a few clients SEEMED like the quickest path to generating cash. I hadn't really figured things out after leaving a cushy 6-figure job, but it seemed to me that getting clients was the obvious solution.
Easier said, than done!
I really wanted my agency to succeed, but the sad truth was that I didn't know how to actually get clients! I was going to random events, talking about random strategies and tactics. I was 'shoulding' all over my prospects! You know, telling them "you should do blah blah blah." And you know how that worked out, right?
My lack of clarity was killing my chances. Not knowing what to sell. What to charge. What documents to use. Or how to deliver the goods!
I was a hot mess. With nothing to show for it but embarrassment.
Until I met a guy who showed me a new model.
And this new model was awesome!
He had truly 'flipped the script' and had results to prove it.
Enter 'The Audit Method.'
This is an incredibly powerful method of client acquisition and proving your worth.
The best part was...I landed my first client! I presented all the data and said "We should do this, and this, and this." And he said, "Okay, let's do it!"
It was all about a strategy backed by numbers. They're all interested in the numbers! I showed them exactly how I could help, and apparently no other agency had done this for them before.
They saw that I was different. That I cared. And that I knew their business better than anyone that came before. They trusted me, and we scaled my retainer from $3,000 per month all the way up to $10,000 per month. All within a six month period of time.
When your client wins, you win!
Except for one humongous problem.
I thought "I'm going to scale this thing to the moon!" I signed contract after contract. I hired a campaign manager. I quickly scaled to $80,000 per month. I was building all kinds of funnels. Running all kinds of campaigns.
Everything looked like it was amazing...on the outside.
It wasn't.
On the inside, everything was a mess. Within three months, all the stress landed me in the hospital. With some rather gruesome physical side effects.
I had created a frenzied workload...and a recipe for disaster. And disaster struck. Hard.
I was, as they say, totally screwed.
I tried to 'power through.' But things continued to suck. Most of my team quit. And cash wasn't flowing. It was a struggle, even though a lot of money was coming in.
I had too many irons in the fire. I lacked clarity and focus. I had a way to get clients, but I needed more. Much more!
In the end, I was left alone. Again.
Being an entrepreneur all by yourself is incredibly lonely.
I desperately needed to get 'un-doomed!'
I went back to what had worked. I asked myself, "What has resulted in me getting the most profitable and highest value clients? And how do I go back to that original method?"
The answer was that data-driven sales process.
I'd actually gotten away from using it. I decided that I could do sales without this process because now we had a track record, we had clients, and I didn’t need it.
And the next thing you know, this attitude led me astray and I was paying for it.
I made two incredibly important and life-changing decisions:
1. I’m going to use this sales process exclusively this time around.
2. I'm going to focus exclusively on high-value clients.