What does it take to build the UK’s most trusted benchmark for independent agencies?

We spoke to Rory Spence, Head of BenchPress at the Wow Company, about how the UK’s largest benchmarking survey for independent agencies came to life, how it’s evolved over the years, and why it’s become an essential resource for agency leaders across the country.

Sure! BenchPress is the UK’s largest benchmarking survey for independent agencies. It’s something we’ve been running at the Wow Company since 2012, and it’s grown into a big part of what we do. Each year, we ask thousands of agency owners to share insights into how they run their businesses—everything from financial performance and pricing to people, leadership, marketing, and even wellbeing.

The goal is to provide agency owners with the kind of data they typically don’t have access to. It’s so hard to know how you’re doing when you don’t have a frame of reference, and that’s what BenchPress provides. We package all the findings into a report and share them with the community completely free of charge.

Over time, it has become more than just a report—it has become a resource that agencies actively use to shape their strategy, set targets, and even justify decisions to their teams or boards. We’re always looking for ways to make it more useful, whether that’s through live events, deeper data segmentation, or specific themed reports throughout the year, which have evolved into more than just a report—it has become a valuable resource that agencies actively utilize to inform their strategy.

It all started from conversations with our clients. We kept hearing the same thing from agency owners: “I don’t know if what we’re doing is good or not. I don’t know what ‘normal’ looks like.” People were making decisions based on gut feeling or what they heard in the pub from another agency owner, but that’s not always reliable.

So we thought, what if we could collect that data in one place and make it easy to compare? We started small—just sending out a simple survey to our clients and sharing the results with them. But even from that first version, the response was positive. People loved having something tangible to benchmark against.

As more agencies got involved, we realized there was a real appetite for this kind of transparency and collaboration. And because we’re accountants by trade, we had access to the types of numbers that aren’t usually talked about publicly—things like profit margins, owner pay, and agency valuations. So, we leaned into that and made it our mission to share those insights with the broader community.

That’s something we put a lot of thought into. It’s not enough to throw a load of stats at people—we want them to do something with them. So we work hard to present the data in a way that’s easy to digest and, more importantly, actionable.

We break down the data by agency size, because what’s relevant to a 10-person agency may differ from what’s relevant to a team of 50 or 100. We also extract insights that reveal why certain metrics are important—for example, if we discover that agencies with higher profit margins also tend to invest more in their marketing, we highlight this correlation and explain its practical implications.

We support the report with a comprehensive ecosystem of content. We host webinars and in-person events where we discuss the key trends. We publish blogs and videos that focus on specific areas, such as pricing strategies and recruitment trends. And we’re always looking to keep things practical—so it’s not just “here’s what’s happening,” but also “here’s what you could do about it.”

It’s changed a lot! Initially, it was very manual—we’d send out a basic survey, collect the responses, and manually crunch the numbers in Excel. Now, we’ve got a whole team involved, and we use more advanced tools to analyze and visualize the data. That’s allowed us to go deeper and make the insights more interactive and engaging.

We’ve also expanded the scope of the survey. Early on, it was very finance-focused, with a focus on profit margins, turnover, and similar metrics. However, over time, we’ve begun exploring broader themes that matter to agency leaders. Things like employee wellbeing, diversity and inclusion, confidence in the economy, the impact of AI—you name it. We want the report to accurately reflect what’s happening in the industry, not just what’s on the balance sheet.

One of the most notable aspects is that we now have over a decade of data, allowing us to track the industry’s evolution. We can identify trends, such as changes in average salaries or fluctuations in agency confidence, that are influenced by the economic climate. That historical context is particularly valuable when planning for the future.

There’s a lot I love about it, but what stands out is the feedback we receive from agency owners. People tell us all the time that BenchPress helped them make a tough decision or gave them the confidence to try something new. Whether that’s increasing prices, hiring a new role, or even exiting their business, it’s amazing to hear that the report played a part in that.

I also love the sense of community it creates. Running an agency can be lonely, and sometimes it feels like you’re the only one dealing with certain challenges. BenchPress shows that’s not the case. There’s something really powerful about seeing your struggles reflected in the data and knowing that other people are going through the same thing.

And finally, I thoroughly enjoy delving into the numbers! I’m a bit of a data nerd, and there’s always something surprising in the results—something that makes you go, “Huh, that’s interesting.” It sparks great conversations and helps us all get better at what we do.

This year’s report highlights a sharp rise in new business challenges—46% of agencies named it their biggest hurdle, up from 27% just two years ago. Deals are stalling, decision cycles are dragging out, and “ghosting” is common. As a result, growth rates are down, and many agencies are doubling down on outbound, refining their positioning, and bringing more structure to sales and marketing.

At the same time, priorities are shifting: “building a valuable asset” is now the top goal for agency owners, overtaking purpose-driven ambitions. With more owners eyeing a future exit, we’re seeing growing interest in building something sellable, creating fresh opportunities in the M&A space.

Confidence among agency owners also took a hit. In 2025, our so-called confidence score dropped to 66, tying the all-time low. Notably, agencies that rated their confidence at 70 or above last year were far more likely to grow—70% of them did—while just 8% of low-confidence agencies (those that marked below 50) saw growth. This ties into the report’s main advice: focus on gross profit.

In 2024, average gross profit margins for £1M+ agencies fell to 39%, the lowest on record. The target? At least 50%. Agencies that hit this benchmark—by improving efficiency, raising prices, or trimming delivery costs—can thrive even without top-line growth. In short:

Ultimately, the path to prosperity this year isn’t about chasing growth at all costs—it’s about running a lean, profitable business that’s built to last, or ready to sell.

The way agencies generate leads and close deals has fundamentally changed. Traditional outbound tactics—cold emails, mass LinkedIn messages—are yielding diminishing returns, leaving many agencies struggling to fill their pipeline.

We spoke with Senad Šantić, Co-Founder of Zendev and Linkbound, who has spent years navigating the evolving sales landscape. With a background in software engineering and a track record of growing Zendev into a nearly 100-person agency, Senad has firsthand experience in adapting agency business models and sales strategies to changing market conditions.

In this session, Senad shares why the biggest sales opportunities aren’t in cold outreach but in the engagement agencies are already generating. He explains “The Missing 90%” of LinkedIn engagement, how Linkbound turns passive audiences into warm leads, and why founder-led branding is the future of sales.

My background is in software engineering, but I’ve been an entrepreneur my entire life. In 2016 I co-founded Zendev, a software development agency based in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with offices in Mostar, Sarajevo, and Gothenburg. Over the years, we’ve grown to nearly 100 people. Like many agencies, we’ve explored both service-based and product-based business models, reinvesting agency profits into building new products. Our latest venture, Linkbound, was born out of a need we experienced firsthand as an agency.

The sales landscape has changed dramatically in recent years, especially since COVID. Before 2022, the economy was strong, and many agencies, including ours, relied on inbound marketing and referrals, with LinkedIn playing a big role. I was active on LinkedIn, and potential clients often contacted me directly, saying, “Hey, Senad, I know you, but you don’t know me.”

However, in 2023, with rising interest rates and a more challenging sales environment, we had to rethink our approach. Traditional outbound tactics—mass emails, cold DMs—yielded almost no results for us. People have grown resistant to these impersonal, high-volume sales tactics. Instead, we found much better success when we started reaching out to people who had already engaged with my LinkedIn content. That’s when we realized that real sales opportunities were hiding in the engagement we were already generating—we just weren’t tapping into them effectively.

Linkbound was created out of necessity. When the market shifted in 2023, we tested traditional outbound strategies, but they didn’t work. That’s when one of our sales reps started manually contacting people who had liked or commented on my LinkedIn posts. The response was incredible—about 90% of people opened our messages, and 80% booked meetings.

That’s when I realized we were only seeing the tip of the iceberg—just the 10% of people who proactively messaged me. The other 90% engaged with my content but did not reach out. To turn this passive audience into real sales opportunities, we needed a tool that could track and organize engagement, highlight warm leads, and help us reach out in a personalized way. That’s exactly what Linkbound does.

“The Missing 90%” refers to everyone who engages with your content but never takes that next step to start a conversation. They like your posts, leave comments, or watch your videos but don’t message you directly.

Most people focus only on the 10% who reach out first, but there’s a much bigger opportunity in the silent majority. Linkbound helps identify and surface these warm leads, so you’re not just relying on the few who take the initiative—you can proactively reach out to those who are already interested in what you have to say.

Linkbound helps founders and sales professionals by making LinkedIn engagement actionable. Instead of just posting and hoping for inbound leads, you get a structured way to identify, track, and reach out to warm prospects.

The tool connects to your LinkedIn account, analyzes engagement on your posts, and organizes people based on how frequently they interact with your content. It also suggests personalized messages based on previous interactions, making outreach natural and context-driven. This means you’re not sending cold messages—you’re reaching out to people who already know who you are, which leads to much higher response rates and booked meetings.

What sets Linkbound apart from other LinkedIn automation or CRM tools is that it doesn’t just focus on cold outreach or semi-personalized DMs—it helps you engage with people who already know and trust you.

We built a lightweight CRM into Linkbound to track conversations and remind users when to follow up. However, the real differentiator is that Linkbound analyzes past interactions and suggests personalized opening messages based on what the person has previously commented on or engaged with. This ensures that every message feels relevant and warm, rather than another generic sales pitch.

We also have a “Top Network” feature that shows you the people who engage with you the most over time, and a “Posts” view that helps you work with recency—so you can immediately follow up with those who are engaging with your latest content. Soon, we’ll add playbooks that consider everything we know about a prospect—their interactions, company, and mutual connections—to help craft the perfect outreach strategy.

Founder-led branding is a massive advantage in sales. When a founder is active on LinkedIn, they build credibility and trust at scale. Over time, their presence compounds—what starts as a small following grows into an engaged audience, and every post builds on that momentum.

For agencies, this is especially important. Your brand can become a lead-generation machine if you’re an agency founder. Instead of relying solely on outbound tactics, you attract potential clients by sharing insights, experiences, and value.

I believe so strongly in this approach that we built Linkbound around it. When we launched, I knew my audience wasn’t ideal for selling a LinkedIn-focused sales tool, so I co-founded Linkbound with Jasmin Alic, who had the perfect audience—LinkedIn and sales coaches. This kind of audience-driven approach to company building is something I now see as the future.

Sales are shifting toward content-driven relationship management. Traditional outbound tactics are becoming less effective because people are overwhelmed by cold messages. Instead, companies need to build scaled relationships by being visible, engaging with their audience, and creating valuable content.

I realized this through experience, but later found that other founders were saying the same thing. Adam Robinson, for example, has been leading the “Inbound Led Outbound” movement, which focuses on using content to drive warm leads rather than relying on mass cold outreach.

With AI making software development easier and competition fiercer, relationships are becoming the key differentiator. People buy from people they trust, and trust is built through ongoing, authentic engagement—not just one-off cold messages.

To get started with Linkbound, visit our website, linkbound.io. You can see how it works there and book a demo with me.

Since different playbooks are dependent on your business model and sales strategy, I always recommend booking a call so I can help you implement Linkbound in a way that fits your specific needs. If you’re an agency, I can walk you through how we’ve used it successfully at Zendev and how you can do the same.

Shifting from a traditional service model to value-based pricing is one of the biggest transformations an agency can undergo.

Yet, many agencies struggle to break free from outdated pricing structures, over-servicing clients, and competing on cost rather than value.

We spoke with Caroline Johnson, Co-Founder of The Business Model Company, who has spent the last two decades helping agencies and professional service businesses rethink their revenue models. With a background in corporate advisory, she has worked across markets and disciplines to help agencies scale, improve profitability, and increase their valuation.

In this session, Caroline shares why the biggest blockers to change aren’t in the market but within the agency itself, the five key milestones for business model transformation, and how agencies can confidently transition to value-based pricing while minimizing client pushback.

My background is somewhat unusual. I’ve been working in business model change for about 20 years now, with a particular focus on professional and creative service businesses. I originally came from corporate advisory, where I was a partner, and one thing we realized was that if you repackage fundamentally great service businesses into a different business model—whether that’s advisory, platform, product, program, or license-based—they become significantly more valuable when it comes time to transact.

Typically, strong service businesses sell at a multiple of 6 to 6.5 times earnings. But when you shift to a scaled product, program, or advisory model, those multiples start at 12 and can go up to 18. So, in corporate advisory, it made sense to develop a practice around repackaging strong marketing services companies across various sectors to maximize their valuation.

Nine years ago, we established The Business Model Company with a singular focus: to run business model transformation programs specifically for the creative and professional services industry. That’s how it all started, and we’ve been helping businesses evolve ever since.

Many agencies believe that their biggest challenge comes from the marketplace—whether it’s clients exerting too much control, procurement making things difficult, or competitors undercutting them. But that’s the wrong assumption. The real barriers aren’t external; they’re internal. It’s the agency’s culture, behaviors, values, and belief systems that hold them back.

A common question I hear is, “Will procurement let us do this? Will clients accept it? What if we don’t win?” Those concerns come from a mindset rooted in fear and external dependency. But the reality is, clients respond to confidence, clarity, and value. If an agency doesn’t truly believe in its ability to control its own engagement and pricing model, it will always default to the lowest common denominator.

That’s why our work isn’t just about pricing models—it’s about cultural transformation. If you try to change your pricing structure without changing the underlying mindset and behaviors, it won’t work.

Absolutely. These five milestones form the foundation of successful transformation:

Success varies depending on the starting point and ambition of the business, but common themes include:

The key to success? A clear goal from the outset. Agencies that “dip a toe in the water” rarely see meaningful results. Those that commit fully, align leadership, and embrace the process experience the biggest wins.

The key is to demonstrate additional value. If an agency tries to sell the same services at a higher price, clients will push back—rightly so.

Instead, agencies need to publicly communicate their transformation journey, explaining how they are shifting their business to deliver greater impact. Agencies that have done this successfully don’t struggle with client buy-in because their clients can see the additional value being created.

New business is easier because the agency enters conversations with the right positioning from the outset. For existing clients, the transition is smoother when they recognize the benefits rather than simply being asked to pay more.

The biggest challenge is leadership commitment. If leadership isn’t fully aligned, the transformation will fail—not because the model doesn’t work, but because the agency didn’t follow through.

That’s why we start every engagement with a business case based on real data. We define the new revenue model, align leadership, and provide a structured methodology to ensure they stay on track.

Once an agency starts the process, we guide them through every step with tools, processes, case studies, and best practices. But the transformation itself depends on a leadership team that’s truly ready to commit.

We have an extensive library of content, including recordings of our talks, case studies, and conversations with clients who have gone through this transformation. I’ll send the full list over, and anyone who’s interested can reach out for access. There’s a wealth of information available, and I encourage anyone serious about transformation to dive.

Reaching operational excellence is a challenge for agencies and service businesses of all sizes.

From workload visibility and resource management to identifying the right metrics, many leaders struggle to balance efficiency and growth.

We spoke with Albert Banks from Apertus, a long-time agency founder and operational expert to explore how agencies can address these challenges. With over two decades of experience, Albert has led teams through acquisitions, integrations, and large-scale operational transformations.

In this session, Albert shares his approach to solving operational challenges, the must-watch metrics for workload management, and how agencies can identify the most valuable metrics to drive their success.

I started my first agency, Myjive, over twenty years ago, during the early days of the web. As the company scaled, I evolved from its first developer to technical director. Over the years, we expanded our services to include strategy, account service, social media, digital advertising, video production, and animation. In addition to our client work, I led operations and finance, overseeing HR, resourcing, IT, legal, and everything else that kept the business running.

In 2018, we sold Myjive to Union, a local competitor in the Charlotte market, where I led the post-merger integration and continued to oversee operations. During that time, we repositioned the business to focus on creative and performance marketing, developed a clear compensation strategy, and implemented a career path framework. After successfully navigating challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, we drove revenue growth and maintained strong margins, which made us attractive to buyers.

Ultimately, Union was acquired by Valtech, a global digital agency in 2022. I led the post-acquisition integration process, worked on reporting, and insulated the team from major changes while maintaining revenue growth. After helping integrate Union into Valtech, the next chapter of my career is focused on Apertus, an advisory practice that helps agencies improve operational and financial excellence, build strong employee engagement, and prepare for potential exits and acquisitions.

When agency leaders come to me, they usually bring a specific issue—such as a tool or process—that they believe needs fixing. For example, they might say, “We need to change our project management tool.” While it’s great that they’ve identified a problem, I often question whether that is a symptom of a deeper issue. I start with a thorough assessment to ensure we’re addressing the root cause.

This process involves talking to executive stakeholders because buy-in from the top is essential. I also conduct leadership surveys, meet with subject matter experts across the business, and examine areas beyond operations and finance, like employee satisfaction and long-term plans. I compare their data to industry benchmarks to identify opportunities and assess their progress.

At this stage, the real issues sometimes turn out to be different from the original problem. For example, leaders might not be aligned on what they want to measure within their project management system. I aim to collaborate with them, share findings, set clear objectives, and determine priorities. I always ask why they think an issue exists and what outcomes they expect once it’s resolved. From there, we might move into specific projects or sprints. In the example of a project management tool, we might first tackle their measurement process to align on metrics before considering a new system.

Workload management requires striking a balance between tracking enough metrics to get a clear picture and avoiding overwhelming decision makers. Many agencies either look at too few metrics or far too many. For example, you miss the bigger picture if you focus only on utilization but ignore your effective bill rate. On the other hand, tracking dozens of metrics leads to confusion.

I work with agencies to narrow their focus to the metrics that matter most for their business, and I emphasize understanding how changes in those metrics impact decisions. For workload management, there are a few foundational metrics I consider essential. First, on the sales and marketing side, you should track qualified leads, new clients, and account growth. If your model includes recurring revenue, renewal rates are critical as well.
Operationally, I always look at effective bill rate, cost rate, and billable utilization—comparing them to targets and industry benchmarks. These metrics give you insights into project gross margin and overall profitability. Time tracking is non-negotiable for accurate data.

I also encourage agencies to monitor cultural metrics like voluntary turnover rate and team satisfaction. Tools like weekly pulse checks, one-on-one feedback, or people management software can reveal how teams feel. Ultimately, workload visibility depends on a combination of clear financial metrics and an understanding of the team’s capacity and well-being.

The first step is ensuring the agency has the right number of metrics—enough to provide a complete picture without overwhelming the team. I often see agencies struggling in one of two ways: they either track too few metrics, which leads to flawed decision-making, or they track far too many, which causes confusion.

To identify the most valuable metrics, I collaborate with leadership to clarify what matters most for their specific business model. While some metrics are universal, like effective bill rate, cost rate, and utilization, the exact combination depends on how the agency works. For example, a project-based agency might prioritize short-term capacity planning, while a retainer-heavy agency would focus on recurring revenue and annual renewals.

Ultimately, the goal is to narrow the focus to metrics that provide actionable insights. Agencies should understand what it means when a metric moves up or down and how they can respond. This clarity allows leadership to focus on trends, identify opportunities, and make data-driven decisions that support sustainable growth.

Meet Mike Lander, a former procurement director with over 20 years of experience managing procurement on a global scale.

Mike has been on both sides of the table—overseeing deals worth more than £500 million.

Now, he leverages his expertise to empower agencies and service providers with the skills to negotiate better, more profitable agreements.

Recently, we had the chance to sit down with Mike to discuss his insights on mastering negotiation and trading value, instead of defaulting to discounts.

My career has been quite eclectic—nonlinear—and I think that’s becoming more typical for people today. I started as an engineer, but I soon realized I wanted to explore more than just engineering. That curiosity led me into banking, which I found both challenging and rewarding.

Later, I decided to pursue an MBA, which opened doors to mainstream consulting. I worked with firms like KPMG, McKinsey, and PwC, where I was immersed in high-pressure environments, long hours, and complex problem-solving. These roles taught me a tremendous amount—not just about consulting and procurement but also about understanding people, building relationships, and creating strategies that deliver long-term value.

Procurement became a key focus in my career, whether as a buyer, an advisor, or even running outsourced procurement services. Over time, I realized I had developed an aggregate understanding of how deals are made and how value is negotiated. This helped me execute over £500 million worth of goods and services transactions. After selling a procurement consultancy I co-founded, I felt ready for a new challenge.

It was my wife, a former CMO in the tech world, who suggested I use my buyer’s expertise to support sellers. That idea really resonated with me, and now I work closely with agencies, helping them qualify opportunities more effectively, convert proposals into actual business, and negotiate more balanced, profitable contracts. The core of my work is helping sellers see the deal from the buyer’s perspective so they’re better equipped to succeed.

Yes, it’s a significant challenge for many agencies. Often, agencies spend an enormous amount of time—sometimes 30 or more hours—developing creative proposals and preparing for pitches. They craft insights, conduct research, and rehearse their presentations to perfection. But when they’re shortlisted, and it’s time to negotiate the actual terms of the deal, they might spend less than an hour preparing. That’s a huge missed opportunity.

On the other side of the table, buyers are often highly trained negotiators. Big brands understand that skilled negotiation drives profitability and value for years to come. This creates an imbalance where creative, agile, and innovative agencies face off against negotiation-savvy, process-driven buyers. The result? Agencies often agree to terms that compromise profitability and lead to challenges like over-servicing or fear of losing a major client.

To address this, I apply a four-step framework:

Interestingly, over 70% of the value in any negotiation comes from the preparation phase—steps one through three—not from the actual discussions. When agencies invest time upfront, they significantly increase their chances of negotiating a profitable, balanced agreement.

The most important thing you can do to strengthen your strategy is to prepare thoroughly. Start by using the framework I described earlier to identify all the key variables and understand your counterparty’s perspective.

Building trust is another critical element. Research has shown that trust builders—negotiators who emphasize empathy, flexibility, and collaboration—consistently outperform others, especially in high-stakes, complex deals.

One of the biggest mistakes agencies make is falling into the trap of discounting. Instead, focus on trading value. For example, if the counterparty pushes for a lower price, ask for concessions, such as a reduced scope of work, longer contract terms, or lower SLAs. Always know your BATNA or Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement because a strong pipeline gives you leverage. When your pipeline is weak, desperation can lead to poor deals.

Another key advice is to ask open-ended questions to uncover the motivations behind your counterparty’s demands. Don’t just accept “we need a discount” at face value—dig deeper to understand why that demand is being made. This approach not only helps you address their concerns but also allows you to identify creative solutions that benefit both sides.

Finally, keep negotiations rational and respectful. Stay calm, stay focused, and aim for adult-to-adult conversations where facts and logic guide the discussion.

Shifting the conversation from discounting to trading value requires a strong understanding of your offering’s economic impact. Agencies, even creative ones, can quantify the value they bring. For example, research from Kantar shows that the most creative and effective ads generate more than four times as much profit. Use such data to tell a compelling story about how your work drives outcomes.

If a counterparty insists on a lower price, never agree without asking for something in return. For instance, you might offer a reduced rate in exchange for an extended contract duration, reduced scope, or introduction to another client. When you trade, you maintain the perceived value of your services while finding a mutually beneficial exchange of value.

If negotiations stall, take a step back and educate your counterparty on the consequences of failing to reach an agreement. This isn’t about issuing threats but helping them see collaboration’s mutual benefits. Always position your services as an investment with the potential for high returns rather than a cost to be minimized.

There are many excellent resources for agencies looking to improve their negotiation skills. I highly recommend William Ury’s The Five Steps to Breakthrough Negotiation, which offers practical strategies for overcoming deadlocks and reaching agreements. Blair Enns’ work on niching and differentiation is also invaluable for agencies seeking to position themselves as indispensable partners.

Additionally, many insightful blogs and podcasts cover negotiation and procurement strategies. I’ve included a curated list of resources in the presentation deck, which I’d happily share with anyone interested. These materials can help agencies refine their skills and adopt a more strategic approach to securing profitable deals.

Agency founders are vital to their businesses, driving culture, strategy, and growth. Yet, determining fair compensation is often a challenge.

Many agency owners wonder: Am I paying myself enough? Should I be earning less and reinvesting more? How do I compare with my peers?

In 2024, Productive, a leading agency management tool, surveyed 161 agency founders worldwide to shed light on these questions. The findings revealed both the complexities of compensation and the satisfaction many owners feel about their earnings.

The survey drew responses from a diverse group:

Compensation often correlates with revenue, number of owners, years on the market, and company size. The more stable an agency is, the owners start to increase their salaries over time. 

Despite concerns about fairness, the majority of owners earned at or above industry averages. Still, their perception of their own compensation in comparison with others is that they earn below the average (39%) or slightly below average (25%). Only 9% of agency owners think they make more than their peers.

There’s no universal formula for setting owner compensation. However, the following steps can help:

By addressing these issues, agency founders can align their financial goals with personal satisfaction—achieving the happiness they deserve.

Although compensation decisions can be complex, the key lies in finding a balance: ensuring personal income while supporting the agency’s growth. With informed strategies and clear benchmarks, agency owners can confidently value their contributions and enjoy the rewards of their hard work.

You can download the full report here.

Meet Kelly Molson, an agency advisor with over 20 years of agency management experience. Recently, we spoke with her about the importance of finding your agency’s niche.

Kelly established, grew, and then merged her successful web development agency, Rubber Cheese. Today, after 21 years of working at Rubber Cheese, she now helps owners and directors find their agency’s niche and develop a long-term growth strategy.

We bring you the complete recap of the Bold Session below.

I co-founded a web design agency called Rubber Cheese in 2003. Like most agencies at the time, we were full-service, so we did some branding, web work, advertising, and anything and everything we could take on.

Five or six years into the agency, we realized this approach wasn’t working, so we decided to narrow it down to just one service offering. Since then, we completely focused on web design and web development. At that time, our projects were mostly in the B2C sector, but in 2016, we got an opportunity to develop our first project in the visitor experience sector. The system we built showed great results for our client, and they also rolled it out to other parts of their business. We really liked the process of creating a visitor attraction experience, and we decided that it could be the path for our agency.

In 2019, we decided to pivot the agency into the visitor attraction sector, and since then, we’ve established ourselves as the leading web design agency for visitor attractions in the UK. We also launched a podcast, Skip the Queue, which has become the UK’s number-one podcast for the visitor attraction sector.

I really enjoyed everything we did at Rubber Cheese, but after 20 years, it was time for me to move on to something else. Now, I’m helping other agencies identify their niches.

The first thing I do is sit down with founders and understand why they’re thinking about niching. What are the drivers behind that decision?

Founders often have an idea of the service or sector niche they want to focus on. They might have a personal connection to it or have worked in that sector before. Most of the time, they already have something in mind, but sometimes, I might have to help them identify what that niche could be. We go through the projects they’ve really loved doing and what results they delivered to the clients. It’s also important to know if those projects were profitable.

Other things we look at are the team’s experience in that area, whether you need to scale your team up or down, how you are going to build a connection to that niche, and, lastly, what the opportunities are within that niche.

After we get an answer to those questions, I ask the owners to focus on three areas:

The process of actually developing the niche will last about 18 months. I suggest planning for the next 24 months, but you can divide it into 12 months and then split the second year into two 6-month stages.

Market research plays a really big part in it. You need to know your most profitable services, check your resources and capacity to deliver those services, and determine whether you need to change the team. Are you going to be bringing in freelance specialists for a short period of time, and how difficult will that be? You need data to support these decisions, so market research is key.

Other questions you’re looking to answer are:

Will the service you provide going to be the service for this sector? What’s the average spend on that service in the sector? Does that align with your revenue targets? Is there a glass ceiling on what the sector is ready to pay for the service you’ll be offering? How prone to turbulence is the sector that you’re working in?

One of the biggest issues is the quiet time. There are times when there isn’t much work and times when you’ll be working longer hours. During that quiet time, you’ll focus on bringing in new leads, which means bringing in more resources on the sales side, etc.

The key here is to correctly identify all of the above with market research.

I’d say that 90% of the time, agencies have a combination of a service and sector niche. So, it could be something like web design for B Corps or video content for STEM organizations. Some might offer multiple services to one sector, while others might offer a single service to multiple sectors. There are many ways you can go about niching down, but these are the most common ones I’ve seen.

Many people perceive a niche as narrow and non-flexible. But I think most niches are actually quite broad. For example, the visitor attraction niche includes a wide variety of venues like museums, theme parks, zoos, and stately homes. These, let’s call them sub-segments, differ significantly from each other, providing a buffer against sector-specific downturns. During the pandemic, outdoor venues like zoos and farm parks could open sooner than indoor venues, such as museums. This variability within the niche allowed businesses to adapt and find opportunities even in a constrained environment.

The key is recognizing and leveraging the inherent diversity within your chosen niche, which can provide insulation against economic fluctuations and ensure greater stability.

Specializing impacts existing customer relationships and market position in several ways.

Existing clients outside the new niche may feel neglected or disappointed as your agency shifts focus. They may perceive the change as a reduction in commitment to their projects. This dissatisfaction can lead to the loss of clients who feel that their needs are no longer a priority.

The transition can cause unrest among your team and executive board. If the pivot to a niche is not backed by a solid business case, it can lead to considerable internal conflict and uncertainty. Employees and executives may be resistant to change, especially if they do not see the immediate benefits or understand the long-term vision.

As you begin to focus on a specific sector, you will naturally start saying no to projects that fall outside of this niche. This can result in a thinning pipeline and reduced immediate revenue. Building a reputation within a new sector takes time, during which the agency needs to remain financially stable.

For established agencies, the shift to a niche can be more challenging due to their existing size and client base. They need to build a sustainable revenue stream within the new sector before fully transitioning. This might involve working within the new niche for some time without publicly announcing the shift to ensure a smoother transition.

On the other hand, newer or smaller agencies might find it easier to specialize. With fewer existing commitments, they can quickly pivot to focus on profitable and enjoyable projects. Identifying which clients they work best with, where the best results come from, and what they are passionate about can guide them in choosing the right niche and establishing themselves more swiftly in the market.

Agencies need to look inward first and consider their own practices and positioning before shifting toward new market strategies. This introspection helps ensure authenticity and credibility when making external claims or changes.

Specialization can be a good strategy, particularly in saturated markets. It allows agencies to stand out by offering tailored expertise and solutions. For instance, if an agency focuses on working with purpose-led organizations, it can differentiate itself by aligning its internal practices with its external promises. This could involve adopting green hosting, using carbon calculators, and even pursuing B Corp accreditation to reinforce the agency’s commitment to sustainability.

By narrowing focus, agencies can build deeper expertise and stronger reputations within specific niches, which can help attract clients looking for specialized services. The example of Wholegrain Digital, which focuses on sustainability and offers tools like the website carbon calculator, illustrates how specialization can create unique value propositions.

While specialization is not a one-size-fits-all solution and may not be suitable for every agency, it can be an effective strategy to combat market saturation. Agencies should carefully evaluate their strengths, market demands, and internal practices to determine if a specialized focus aligns with their goals and can offer a sustainable competitive advantage.

In a chat with Mark Colgan, we did a deep dive into the art of rebuilding agency pipelines.

Mark Colgan is a seasoned B2B sales consultant with over 12 years of experience helping B2B SaaS startups and agencies generate more pipelines with trigger-based prospecting campaigns.

Keep reading to learn the best practices when rebuilding your agency’s pipeline. Let’s start from the beginning – having a dedicated business development team in your agency.

It’s common to see that the agency’s founder or owner is still involved in the sales process. It comes down to the agency’s maturity, how long they’ve been operating, and the team size.

Initially, you don’t have the budget or the capacity to hire and onboard a salesperson. You might not even have a service market fit but an idea of an offering. This is the early stage, and bringing in a sales team is probably not a good idea until you’ve worked out some of those things. Once you start closing deals, it might be time to think about hiring a sales function.

The biggest issue I see when hiring a sales role is the lack of documentation or a playbook for that person to follow. They expect the person to close as many deals as they did without any groundwork, which won’t happen. You need to have processes documented if you want salespeople to do well. The agency owner is still heavily involved in this phase since they share knowledge and probably close the deals. The actual moment of removing the agency owner from the sales process comes when the agency hires a seasoned sales leader, but they are very hard to find.

The reality is that I haven’t met many agency owners who have a sales team that can close at a higher rate than they can. That’s because the founder resonates with people, especially if they sell to other agency founders or owners. The main thing when looking for a salesperson is to manage expectations. You won’t be able to find a carbon copy of yourself as the agency owner.

There’s no easy formula for answering that question. For starters, you should consider your agency’s price point and the sales cycle length. How much are you charging for the service? How long does it take to close a deal? Is it weeks, months, or years?

I work with agencies with between 10 and 50 people and between 50 and 100 people. I usually see that bigger agencies have a more sophisticated, mature sales model. The founder might be the Sales Lead or even the Head of Operations. In this phase, you could wait until your team grows and develops before hiring someone to take on that role.

This is unique to the agency’s service, the service cost, and the sales cycle length.

The biggest mistake I see is that many agencies don’t have a clear understanding of their ideal clients and who they should speak to. When you tell a potential prospect that you can work with anyone, it comes off as a bit of a red flag. If you can work with anyone, what makes you different from all the other agencies in the market? This shows that you don’t have an understanding of who your best clients could be.

Similar to that are also poor messaging and positioning. Sure, you’ve won awards, and you’re amazing, but that won’t get you prospects. They want to know how you can help them solve their problems. They need to know if they can trust you as a solution or a service provider who can help them overcome their challenges. Make your copy less about you and more about your prospects and the problems they might be facing. That will improve your reply and booking rates.

Yes, I’m a massive fan of referrals in general. I’d say whatever you’re doing for client referrals now, do it more often and consistently. There’s really no denying that referrals have a much higher closing rate than any other sort of sourced pipeline. My advice would be to completely exhaust the client referral channel before starting other pipeline generation activities.
Sometimes, asking clients for referrals might feel a bit pushy, so I encourage agency owners to connect their requests with key client milestones or achievements. It’s all about reciprocation. Agencies need to make their clients feel special, heard, and understood—they should feel like a respected business partner.

Every call you have, be it a discovery call or a qualification call, could be a referral source. You’ll have calls with prospects that won’t be a fit, but don’t waste that opportunity. Ask if they know someone who might be a better fit for your agency. This is great if you have a referral scheme in place. It could be a one-time bonus or a percentage of the sale. Referral schemes really make a great impact.

When client budgets are smaller than expected, agencies should adjust the scope of their services. This could mean anything from reducing the number of one-on-one meetings to finding ways to streamline processes to fit within the client’s budget. By tailoring the service delivery to be more efficient and focused, agencies can still provide value without overextending their resources.

Agencies should also explore ways to increase efficiency in their operations. This could involve investing in tools and technologies that automate routine tasks or improve workflow. Optimizing the delivery process reduces the time and cost associated with the agency’s service, making it easier to work with smaller budgets.

When faced with clients that don’t align with their ideal project size, agencies should consider building a network of referral partners. Instead of turning away clients outright, they can refer them to other service providers who can better meet their needs. This approach helps smaller clients find solutions and fosters positive relationships within the industry.

These gestures can lead to future opportunities and collaborations as people remember and appreciate helpful recommendations. Overall, agencies should also reassess their market positioning and messaging to attract the right type of clients that match their service offerings and budget expectations.

For agencies facing slow pipelines, there are several strategies to address and mitigate the issue. Agencies need to understand that fluctuations in sales can be due to external factors beyond their control, such as current events or political climates. However, proactive steps can be taken to minimize the impact of these fluctuations.

Start by focusing on your discovery calls. It’s key to dive deep into your prospect’s pain points and emphasize the cost of inaction. For example, if a prospect’s revenue from email marketing is stagnating, highlight how their revenue could decline without intervention. This approach helps prospects understand the urgency of their needs and the value your agency can provide.

During these initial interactions, ensure you understand the prospect’s buying process and who the key decision-makers are. Ask questions about their past purchasing experiences to get a clear picture of the approval process. This will help you navigate your organization’s internal dynamics more effectively.

Instead of rushing to send a proposal, save the detailed proposal for a second call. Initially, provide a rough pricing idea, but schedule a follow-up meeting to present the entire proposal. This lets you control the conversation, gauge the prospect’s reactions, and address any objections in real-time. This personal touch can prevent prospects from ghosting you, as it keeps them engaged and allows you to handle any concerns immediately.

Don’t hesitate to follow up with silent prospects. A direct phone call can often re-engage them, as many people avoid uncomfortable conversations by simply not responding. By being proactive and persistent, you can often get a clear yes or no, which is far better than no response at all, enabling you to focus your efforts on more promising leads.

A few weeks ago, part of our team headed over to London for The Agency Collective’s annual Future Proofing Your Agency conference. This year, the overall theme was agency resilience. 

The Agency Collective is a bustling community built up of hundreds of independent creative agencies based throughout the UK. A good portion of its members joined the event to candidly share experiences and learnings with peers.

Resilience was tackled through all different angles, from business development to implementing diversity and inclusion efforts at the workplace.

The one-day event was opened by speaker, mentor and coach Marcus Thomlinson, who reminded us all: “You are what you think the most”. This set the stage for a day filled with positivity, motivation, and ideas on how to move forward in the agency space.

Generally speaking, it’s clear that UK agencies have been struggling to swim and thrive—just as equally as in all other parts of the world.
A year and a half into the economic downturn and agency folk are still sleepless over stale pipelines, which makes events of this type paramount for gathering insights from the wider agency network.

Embracing change, however simple of a concept it seems—was one of the main takeaways from a number of Agency Collective peers. Challenge your marketing strategies, your sales processes, your pricing model, and how you nurture your relationships with existing clients.

Katie Street, MD and founder of Street Agency, doesn’t shy from her life story, which in itself displays extreme resilience. She emphasized how showing up every day (on LinkedIn), helping clients understand how to buy from you, and embracing the inbound, outbound, and nearbound opportunities within your network can fuel growth.

For UK agencies, EDI isn’t an optional extra. Kindness and empathy shown towards colleagues of different life paths is a must. As per Mo Kanjilal, Co-creator at Watch This Sp_ce, diversity and inclusion aren’t something agencies can learn (or adopt) in a one-hour training session. A simple example of being more inclusive towards neurodiverse peers is sending interview questions ahead of the meeting so that they have more time to formulate their answers.

In his own, very personable way, Barrington Reeves, Creative Director and Founder of Too Gallus, shared his way off the beaten path. His take on using authenticity to find your agency’s niche is to find the flame that lives within your business.

Not all hope is lost when it comes to growth. Constantly optimizing processes and selling intelligently productized services were what built and sold Jellyfish last year. Rob Pierre, former co-founder of the creative giant, now an investor and advisor, made and sold what was allegedly the biggest independent agency exit in the history of the UK.

His inspiring take on creating a team that was as scalable as a vector image included dozens of strategies that led him to building a global team of 2,200 employees. All that, in only 19 years.

It’s unclear just how long this economic plunge will rule, and UK agencies are not the only ones affected. This is a global challenge for the entire industry. Creative service businesses need to ride the wave of change, instead of waiting for better circumstances of the past to return.

To maintain stability, intentionally growth and increasing profit margins are the two main pillars. As a North Star, what’s paramount to have at your fingertips is real-time data on:

In a recent Bold Session we spoke about strategic planning for agencies with Vicky Lalwani, General Manager at Adrenalin.

Adrenalin is one of Australia’s leading independent digital product design and technology agencies. Vicky’s background spans from development to agency operations. His passion for fostering business expansion through strategic planning led him to his current role.

Below, a recap of the session.

If I think about it, what we did 5 or 10 years ago is still the same thing we’re doing today. We’re still building digital products and platforms, and we’re still finding ways to engage brands with their customers through digital channels.

What has changed is customer behavior. We’re supporting our client brands a lot more than we did a decade ago. Brands want new apps quickly, and their customers expect a great experience when using them. Good enough is no longer good enough. I feel like brands sometimes struggle to fully understand that and that they need to keep up with those demands.

As I mentioned before, the outcome is the same, but the creative process has rapidly changed in the last 5 years. You can collaborate with a lot of people at the same time, receive feedback, and implement changes in a much shorter time frame. That’s built a lot of efficiency and allowed us to leverage open-source platforms and get things done more quickly. The future ahead has a lot of AI stuff going on in the ways of working – be it how we are inspired or how we can leverage generative AI to be quicker in producing artefacts. Agencies really need to keep up so they can do what they’re doing, but better and faster.

Within Adrenalin, we tend to try and separate the concept of strategy and planning since they’re two different things.

A great example of planning would be a set of tasks or milestones. Once you’ve completed them, on to the next one you go. But completing tasks doesn’t really tell much in terms of future growth and competitiveness. This is where strategy comes in.

Strategy can seem daunting—especially if you’ve never done it before. All you need to get things rolling is a vision and a bit of ambition. When you’re forming a strategy, you’re actually explaining what it is you’re trying to achieve. Putting it simply, you’re defining the things that you will do, but more importantly, things that you won’t do. Maybe your agency is excellent at design and development but not that great at hosting. Put your focus on design and development and forgo the hosting. There are a lot of ways you can work around it.

Here’s a list of questions that can help you come up with a solid strategy:

Strategy constantly has to change and shift based on what you’re experiencing in the market. Having good systems and routines in place will allow your agency to react and adapt more quickly. You can’t really guarantee the outcome of a strategy, no matter how much logic or data you use, and that’s what’s so interesting about it.

We look at the model called “What is your core?”Essentially, what we want to know is what we’re very, very good at. Once you know your core, you can keep developing in that direction. For some, it might be design, user experience, or web development. Starting out this way really lets you perfect your game, and then later on, you can look into adjacent products and markets.

Your core product will let you acquire loyal clients, which, in turn, opens a sea of possibilities for adjacent products. You might’ve built a website for a client that’s now looking for an agency that can build an app. Since you already have their trust, they’ll probably be more open to your agency doing the work rather than looking for someone else to do it. Having the ability to develop and use those adjacent products and markets is a great way to know where to make investments for your agency to grow.

Another important concept is alignment. You have to have a vision, a set of ideas, and goals that you’re chasing. You’ve got to make sure that whatever you do within the agency is aligned with that vision. You want everyone in the agency to ensure that what they’re doing is aligned with that vision way above.

We found that the objective and key result model (OKR) works really well for us. It focuses on the alignment I spoke about. All of our objectives have to be relevant to certain objectives above until we get to the overall vision. It’s a bit of a struggle in the beginning. People don’t really realize it’s not a task list that you just cross off. You might hit your objectives without actually meeting your key results—this is where a few training sessions really made a world of difference. Now, we agree on our OKRs every quarter, and we make sure it’s no more than three to five things so we know everything is going to get done.

If you’re thinking about implementing OKRs, make sure to take some time to sit down and plan everything out. This isn’t something you can do in 10 minutes. Make sure you sit down with your team and think about what can be achieved realistically.

I’d say it’s got to be transparency and proactive engagement. By prioritizing clients with active investments in their platforms, account managers are able to nurture relationships beyond the initial project delivery. Your client conversations should be focused on future investments, potential improvements, and long-term planning.

Moreover, the implementation of a CRM system like HubSpot can provide transparency and automation, enabling better resource allocation and timely decision-making. Streamlining your agency’s processes is a game-changer. Your client communication is better, your project transition is smoother, and you can minimize last-minute hiring.

In addition to transparency and proactive client engagement, you really have to make sure your agency maintains a consistent pipeline of proposals. This allows for a buffer against potential losses and ensures a steady flow of new opportunities. Correctly identifying decision-makers early on in the sales process also helps avoid any miscommunication. You can kind of make out which ones are the transactional clients, and which are the strategic clients. Transactional clients don’t want alternatives, they want things done as specified—they’re on a timeline and on a budget. Strategic clients, on the other hand, want your help. They’re looking to build a relationship with an agency by leaning on your expertise to help solve their business problems.

Feedback plays a key role in the continuous development of both external services and internal operations within the agency. Client feedback is a great way to see if your vision is aligned with your customer’s needs. You’ve got to address and fix common issues of frustration among customers and be quick about it. You can also use NPS to see how satisfied your employees are and identify any areas you can improve on. However, NPS tells you what a client thinks, not why they think or feel that way. Make sure you follow up with a conversation when you get neutral or detracting scores.

External market feedback obtained through the likes of SoDA (Society of Digital Agencies) is also pretty valuable. You get a sense of the market, and you can validate what you’re doing. You have to be open to feedback and challenges from like-minded people. It’s a good growth opportunity.

Whatever you’re doing, make sure that you’re communicating it clearly to everyone in the business. Don’t be afraid of strategy, but try not to make it into a set of tasks. There’s a lot of great frameworks out there. Try a few and see what would work best for your agency.

Developing your talents is also crucial to the steady growth of your agency. In the creative industry, your staff are your best assets, so you should invest in them and nurture their talents. This way, you can offer more to your clients and ensure a steady stream of new business.