What strategies were implemented by 2020’s most successful UK agencies? How does the UK agency landscape compare to the rest of the world? How do agencies improve their profitability?
Learn all this and more on this awesome season three premiere of the “Word on the Street” podcast where Katie Street is joined by Peter Czapp, The Wow Company Co-Founder.
He provides exclusive insights into the upcoming release of 2020’s BenchPress report which this year partnered with Mailchimp & The Agency Collective to extend the survey worldwide so we can see how the UK landscape measures up on a global scale.
In this episode Peter gives away his ultimate three tips for agencies to guarantee success in 2021 based on unseen data, discusses the importance of charging your worth and the power of negotiation. This is an episode you don’t want to miss.
This episode covers
- Using BenchPress’ reports as a springboard for transformation
- Top tips to improve your profitability
- Making the most of your existing clients
- Charging your worth
- The importance of time tracking and project management
- Negotiating favourable payment terms
Word on the Street is sponsored by Kulea.ma, the default Business Development and Marketing Automation platform for agencies and their clients. To learn more about Kulea’s Business development and marketing services and technology, visit www.kulea.ma
Links & references
Katie Street: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiestreet/
Peter Czapp: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterczapp/
The Wow Company: https://www.thewowcompany.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-wow-company/
BenchPress 2021 Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/YZ876WB
Wow Company Profitability Resources: wowco.uk/profit
Get in touch: [email protected]
Episode highlights
“Our philosophy is around making a difference. We want to help agencies build beautiful businesses, businesses that are profitable and sustainable, and so we decided we wanted to do more for them. So we set up a community focused on agencies, and that has exceeded all of our expectations.” – 6:45 – Peter Czapp
“As well as going global, we want to take this down to the local level as well. Because at the end of the day, it’s fun and interesting to compare yourself to an agency in New York or elsewhere in Europe, but I think what agency owners really want is to know how they compare to someone down the road.” – 10:25 – Peter Czapp
“15% of agencies said their revenue stayed the same from 2019 to 2020. Now, this next bit will surprise you, because it surprised me for sure. 55% of agencies said their revenue actually increased.” – 13:30 – Peter Czapp
“Necessity is the mother of invention – that has absolutely come true in 2020. We were forced to innovate and my goodness, how we have innovated! I think the ones that have done better have been the ones who have innovated in the biggest possible way.” – 18:30 – Peter Czapp
“I want to explore discounting, and find out how many agencies actually do it, and by how much, because that’s one surefire way to eat into your profitability.” – 22:00 – Peter Czapp
“If we all raise our game, then there’s an opportunity for us all to be stronger.” – 23:10 – Peter Czapp
“Profit is the fuel in your tank. No matter what journey you want to go on, you won’t get very far without it.” – 26:50 – Peter Czapp
“I want everyone listening to this to think about what their really high value offering is that clients disproportionately value over the cost of you actually delivering it.” – 28:48 – Peter Czapp
“Have a think about the resource and the expertise that you have, and think about where your business is heading. Ask yourself, have you got the right experience to guide you along the path that’s coming ahead?” – 36:20 – Peter Czapp
“At every level, the top 25% of agencies would ask for at least 50% of the project fee up front. And then crucially, they would invoice at regular intervals throughout the project, not just deliver all the work and then send the final invoice and keep their fingers crossed. Because that rarely ends well. ” – 42:09 – Peter Czapp
“What I’d say on sales and marketing; I see that the common mistake agency owners make is they just don’t spend enough time on it. It’s the thing that happens last.” – 50:30 – Peter Czapp