Account growth, hourly vs. fixed pricing, and speeding the sales process: Agency Q&A with Karl Sakas

Office Hours Recording from December 10, 2024

Get insights on creating more predictable account growth, how to shift away from hourly pricing, and how to get clients to buy faster (with guest Jenny Plant—in the December 2024 episode of Agency Office Hours with Karl Sakas. To “jump” to a specific Q&A segment, click the timecode links below.

First, I interviewed Jenny Plant from Account Management Skills, on how to create predictable account growth.

  • Guest Expert: Meet our guest, account management expert Jenny Plant. [starting at 1:54]
  • Building the Foundation: “What sets the foundation for predictable account growth?” [starting at 3:30]
  • Common Challenges: “How can agencies overcome common account-growth challenges?” [starting at 9:22]
  • Team Collaboration: “How can AMs enlist other teams to help them grow accounts?” [starting at 12:00]
  • Proactive AM: “How can agencies be more proactive in finding growth opportunities?” [starting at 13:57]
  • Client Retention vs. Growth: “How do you balance client retention with growth?” [starting at 20:27]
  • Red Flags: “What are some early warning signs of client churn?” [starting at 21:57]
  • Stakeholder Management: “How do you grow clients where the AM can’t reach senior decisionmakers?” [starting at 23:13]
  • Recession Planning: “How can we protect our agency during tough economic times?” [starting at 28:06]

Wondering how your agency compares… but don’t want to ask your direct competitors how they’re doing? We’ve partnered again with Databox, for The State of Client-Agency Collaboration survey.

  • Free Instant Benchmarking: Take the 15-minute survey today, and get instant access to aggregated benchmark performance—free of charge—plus the full results in 2025.

Then, I shared advice on pricing models (including how to move away from hourly pricing), and how to get sales prospects to move faster.

  • Pricing Models: “Should we switch from hourly pricing to fixed pricing? And if so, how?” [starting at 35:31]
  • AI & Pricing: “How can we capture the client value when we use AI tools?” [starting at 42:06]
  • Customer Development: “How can we get feedback as we consider a new service?” [starting at 44:23]
  • New Business Development: “How can we get sales prospects to buy faster?” [starting at 48:43]
  • Prospect Budget: “How can we check a non-profit’s finances before we work together?” [starting at 53:07]
  • Ideal Prospect: “What are signs that a potential client is a good match?” [starting at 55:11]

Top Resources from the live event:

  1. Raise Prices at Your Agency with this Step-by-Step Approach
  2. Not doing that thing? You need Desire, Competence, and Capacity.
  3. New client CEO or CMO? We can predict what’ll happen next.
  4. Is your agency prepared for the next recession?
  5. Want to get paid to create a proposal? Time for Paid Discovery!
  6. Step-by-step advice to create a “Fast-Failure” Sales Process

Join us for our next LIVE Agency Office Hours

Want free advice to grow your agency? Ask a question when you RSVP and I’ll choose 3-4 agency leaders to receive 10-15 minutes of free consulting advice. 

Don’t have a specific question? That’s OK; most people join in “listen only” mode—you don’t have to be on video.  

We offer Agency Office Hours the second Tuesday of every month!