Across the Pond: How to grow your Insight Agency

In the second of our HOTSEAT 🔥episodes, it is Steve Henke's turn to be grilled by Paul Griffiths.
Steve talks about the advantages and disadvantages of the seller-doer model that many insight agencies employ. He goes on to give advice, tips and tricks that will mean you get your seller-doers to be as effective as possible in the way they approach sales and client engagement.
Key Takeaways:
There's a balance in managing seller-doers between activity and results.
A fully flushed out sales pipeline is crucial for effective management.
Understanding each stage of the sales process is key.
Knowing the next steps and probability of close is essential.
Sales goals can be tracked through a clear sales pipeline.

In this special HOTSEAT 🔥 episode, Steve Henke puts Paul Griffiths through his paces!
Paul is grilled about the often overlooked importance of internal feedback within agencies. He highlights the irony that while agencies focus heavily on client feedback, they neglect to apply the same principles to their own operations.
Paul emphasizes that feedback is a valuable and cost-effective tool for agency growth and development.
Key Takeaways
We're so busy thinking and talking about our clients, we just don't do it to ourselves.
Feedback is a really easy way of getting input - it is almost free!
Agencies need to harness feedback for growth.
Neglecting internal feedback can hinder agency development.
Understanding feedback can lead to better agency practices as well as growth.

Steve Henke and Paul Griffiths discuss the pros and cons of outsourcing sales and marketing functions for market research and insight agencies.
When is it beneficial to outsource, and when it is better to keep functions in-house?
They also discuss the importance of understanding the disadvantages of outsourcing, including costs and communication challenges, and the need for agencies to build their own capabilities over time.
Key Takeaways
Outsourcing can provide immediate access to expertise.
It's essential to evaluate the size and scale of your agency before outsourcing.
SEO is a good candidate for outsourcing.
Account management should not be outsourced to freelancers.
Building internal capabilities for lead generation is crucial.
Outsourcing can be expensive but may be efficient for specific tasks.
Communication challenges can arise with outsourced teams.
Outsourcing marketing can be beneficial if internal skills are lacking.
Hiring agencies with industry knowledge is vital for effective outsourcing.
Agencies should consider their long-term strategy when deciding to outsource.

In this episode, Steve Henke and Paul Griffiths discuss the critical aspects of key account management for insights agencies.
We explore the importance of building strong relationships with key clients, the challenges posed by relying on a few large clients, and the necessity of diversifying client bases.
Our conversation emphasizes the need for active account management strategies, accountability within agencies, and the significance of setting revenue targets for key accounts.
We also highlight effective strategies for maintaining client engagement and ensuring that agencies remain top of mind with their clients.

Takeaways
Big clients are crucial for agency survival.
Diversifying client bases is essential to mitigate risks.
Key account management should focus on building multiple relationships within a client organization.
Key account plans often end up unused; activation is key.
Accountability in account management is vital for success.
Revenue targets should be set for key accounts to drive growth.
Cross-selling and upselling are effective strategies for account growth.
Referral opportunities can significantly enhance client relationships.
Regular engagement with clients is necessary to maintain relationships.
CRM systems can help manage account activation processes effectively.

What do end-clients really want from their insight agencies?

As Across the Pond: How to Grow your Insight Agency launches Season 2, Steve Henke (Harpeth Marketing) and Paul Griffiths (Client Advocates) share their observations and advice for what insight agencies need to do, if they really want to deliver that their clients want. Crucially, based on real evidence, interviews and conversations they have had with end-clients.
20 minutes, if you are a leader, owner, commercially accountable person that you cannot afford not to listen to!