“We’ve made a lot of quick hires, and they weren’t right. We’re still dealing with the fallout of that.”

As an agency leader, you’re often left to make a lot of executive decisions that could probably do with a second set of eyes.

One of the biggest is building and maintaining a good team, something that has been particularly difficult post-Covid. But rushing to recruit could lead to a number of problems, like red flags being missed, hiring criteria not being up to scratch, and – most importantly – hiring the wrong people.

What can you do to make sure this doesn’t happen? And if it’s happened already, how do you resolve the issue?

We’ll be discussing all this and more in this month’s CEO Summit. Bring along your pains and problems and get advice from others in your shoes.

Roland Gurney offers agency leaders a ‘teardown’ service.

He goes through their agency’s website page by page, and tries to understand what they’re about. He then tells them candidly exactly what it is they’re getting completely wrong when it comes to their positioning.

He takes things back to square one to help agency leaders see and understand exactly what they’re missing, and how they can get back on the right track – he even has a scoring system for this.

“It’s right back to the beginning. You can keep sticking plasters on everything, but if you’re badly positioned, it’s obvious,” he says.

Roland will be taking you through all the things he’s noticed as part of his ‘teardown’ service, and what you should be avoiding if you really want to nail your positioning.

Each month, the client services reps and account managers of our Agency Hackers audience come together to discuss what’s going on in their world.

This month, we’re talking about Google Analytics 4.

• Have you migrated to GA4 yet? How are you finding the update?
• What’s new and how does it all work?
• What issues (if any) have you experienced with GA4?

Come along to discuss all this and more – and get advice from others in your position. If you’re clued up on this already, please lend your expertise!

As budgets become squeezed on the client side of things, agency leaders can’t afford the risk of a full-time hire that could pack up for another job just a couple months down the line.

So why not use this time to better understand the staff you’ve already got?

Léon Milns, co-founder and director of digital recruitment agency We Are Adam, reckons right now is the time to focus on retaining your very best people, making sure they’re motivated and engaged with their work.

“What is important about your place of work? Is it vision? Is it purpose?” he says. “Obviously remuneration and benefits packages are important, but a really modern, flexible working culture is more important than being told where you have to work and when you have to work.”

Are you ready to embrace hybrid working with open arms? If not, you could be missing out on the perfect team member…

Come along to hear Léon dive into today’s recruitment must-haves, and learn how you can further nurture the talent you’ve already found.

In this month’s HR & People Mastermind, we’re talking team wellbeing.

We’re currently experiencing multiple once-in-a-lifetime scenarios all at once, and it’s beginning to take its toll. Lots of people are struggling, with no-one other to turn to than their ‘people’ person at work.

• How are you managing an influx of negative news?
• Do you have wellbeing processes in place for YOUR role as HR?
• Does your CEO really know what’s going on with their employees?

Make sure to join this month’s session to discuss all this and more, and help others in need of some advice.

This is also a great place to have a little vent in a room where everyone understands – we all need it once in a while.

Marketing for your own business isn’t always prioritised as highly as it should be – but could this lead to you missing out on opportunities that could otherwise grow your agency? 

One way to avoid falling into this trap is to treat your own agency as if it’s a client. Doing so allows you to fine-tune your purpose and brand identity, and presents your business as much stronger and well put together in the eyes of potential new clients.

We’ll be having a candid discussion about how you might be failing your brand, and what processes you can build into your agency to make sure internal work stops being neglected.

Each month, the ops folk of our Agency Hackers audience come together to discuss what’s going on in their world.

This month, we’re talking about team accountability.

• Does your team have an accountability problem?
• Do they own up to their mistakes? 
• Does everyone know what they (and everyone else) are responsible for?
• How can you create a culture that encourages this behaviour? What changes need to be made from the top?

Come along to discuss all this and more – and get advice from others in your position.

If you’ve got this nailed down already, please lend your expertise!

With an ever changing cabinet and multiple world crises happening all at once, it’s not totally naïve to think that there isn’t much government help out there when it comes to growing your business – but you just have to look in the right places.

“The money is there, they have the budget, and they are desperate to use it. Because if they don’t, they don’t keep it,” says Louise Towler, managing director of Indigo Tree.

In the past two years or so, Louise has been able to propel her agency into new pastures by taking advantage of local grants and enterprise schemes.

“In the last 12 months, we’ve had about £60k’s worth of business from clients, just from me passing on information about grants they could apply for.”

Come along to hear Louise dive deep into the grants she’s obtained for her agency, how she won them, and the impact it’s had on her business. As always, don’t forget to bring along some questions!

Our CFO surgery is for the finance folks of our community to ask questions, seek support, share insight into what’s going on in their agency.

This month, we’ll be discussing forecasting.

• How far ahead do you forecast? 
• What tools do you use to do this? 
• How do you balance resources with demand? 
• How do you factor KPI reports into your forecast?

We’ll be taking a ‘show and tell’ approach to this session, so come along to share your thoughts and experiences, and hear how others in your shoes are managing the same challenges.

Every month, the marketing minds of the Agency Hackers audience come together to discuss what’s going on in their world. 

This month, we’ll be discussing securing speaking opportunities.

• What can you do to get your name/agency considered as a speaker?
• How can you make the most out of a speaking opportunity?
• Can events like these lead to valuable new business leads?
• How do you show value without sounding too sales-y?

Come along to discuss all of this and more, and maybe even pick up some tips. If you’re clued up on this already, please lend your expertise!

“There are a few different ways agencies find their clients,” says Nate Burke, founder and CEO of Diginius. 

“One is through relationships, referrals, events and networking. The other type is vertical specialisation. If you specialise in a vertical, it’s easier to profile clients and produce clear marketing messages. If you’re just building your client list off of random referrals, it’s much more difficult to create messaging that works, and then to develop a sales effort to go with that.”

Being able to profile your market and identify the key decision makers within your chosen field is a much more pragmatic approach to new biz and ROI – and it can also help you develop a longer-term, more effective sales strategy too.

Nate will be talking you through how you can map out your market and identify the right people in the right seats, and how it can have an immediate impact on your results.

Sometimes a relationship reaches its natural end – whether that’s with a client, or an employee. If it’s no longer serving your agency, what’s the point in sticking around?

“We’ve been guilty in the past of keeping too many people on for too long. Trying to be nice, or thinking it was all going to turn around,” one agency leader told us. “But if you don’t protect the good ones, then everyone’s going to suffer.”

So what is the right etiquette when burning a bridge with a client (or an employee)?

In this CEO Summit, we’ll discuss:

• What are the red flags to be aware of?
• When is it time to make the call?
• Who handles the difficult conversations? Is it you?

Bring along your pains and problems and get advice from others in your shoes. This session won’t be recorded, so feel free to be as honest and frank as you like.

Please note, this session is strictly for agency leaders/founders ONLY.

Each month, the client services reps and account managers of our Agency Hackers audience come together to discuss what’s going on in their world.

This month, we’re talking about Google Analytics 4.

• Have you migrated to GA4 yet? How are you finding the update?
• What’s new and how does it all work?
• What issues (if any) have you experienced with GA4?

Come along to discuss all this and more – and get advice from others in your position. If you’re clued up on this already, please lend your expertise!

“It’s important to acknowledge and accept this: uncomfortable conversations simply are uncomfortable,” says Kirsty Hulse, founder and facilitator of Roar Training.

While agency leaders have probably lost count of the tricky tête-à-têtes they’ve had to have with clients and employees, are the rest of your team prepared and confident to take them on too? Or will they be stumbling over their words, struggling to get their point across?

Kirsty will be guiding you through:

• The steps you can take to prepare for an uncomfortable chat.
• How to ensure you remain present in these situations.
• Constructing powerful questions.
• Being comfortable with silence.
• And much, much more…

If you want to empower your team and equip them with the right tools to turn uncomfortable conversations into constructive ones, this is the perfect session.

Each month, the HR managers and ‘people’ people of our Agency Hackers audience come together to discuss what’s going on in their world.

This month, we’re talking about keeping staff engaged.

A new phenomenon called ‘quiet quitting’ was doing the rounds on LinkedIn earlier this year, and to some, it’s not a problem – you clock in, do your day’s work, and clock out. However, for agencies, it could mean your team isn’t engaged with, or invested in, the work they’re doing, which could further impact morale and your agency’s wider culture.

We’ll be discussing:

• How can you keep staff engaged in their work and your agency as a whole?
• What kinds of things lead to “quiet quitting”?
• How can you encourage camaraderie in a hybrid world?

Make sure to join this month’s session to discuss all this and more, and help others in need of some advice.