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Cost of Sales benchmark: How much should your agency spend on selling?

Cost of Sales benchmark: How much should your agency spend on selling?

by Karl Sakas | Jul 22, 2020 | Benchmarking & Optimization, Optimize Your Sales Process, Scale Your Agency

An agency owner asked me: “What percentage of agency revenue should go directly to the selling process?” As a benchmark, I typically see agency Cost of Sales range from 5% to 20% of revenue. The 5% cost of sales would be for a smaller agency with part-time...
Prepare for employee turnover at your agency… because everyone will leave you eventually

Prepare for employee turnover at your agency… because everyone will leave you eventually

by Karl Sakas | Jul 15, 2020 | Benchmarking & Optimization, Build a Stronger Team

As an agency leader, you face an inevitable reality: 100% of your employees will eventually leave you, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. Agency benchmark: your annual employee turnover should be under 20%. The good news about preparing for [voluntary] employee...

Revenue plateaus, budgets, and USP: Agency Office Hours Q&A with Karl Sakas

by Karl Sakas | Jul 14, 2020 | Office Hours

In the July 2020 episode of Agency Office Hours, we discuss escaping revenue plateaus, getting budgets from squirrelly prospective clients, finding a USP to position your agency as unique, and more. BONUS: See the Zoom chat transcript and “jump” links to...
Referral fees: How much should agencies pay for sales referrals?

Referral fees: How much should agencies pay for sales referrals?

by Karl Sakas | Jul 8, 2020 | Attract Great Clients, Benchmarking & Optimization, Optimize Your Sales Process

Wondering what’s normal or typical to pay in agency referral fees? Seeking to grow his revenue, an agency owner asked me in Executive Coaching about benchmarks: “What have you typically seen when it comes to paying people who refer business to our agency?...
Cost of Marketing benchmarks: How much should agencies spend on their own self-marketing?

Cost of Marketing benchmarks: How much should agencies spend on their own self-marketing?

by Karl Sakas | Jul 1, 2020 | Benchmarking & Optimization, Attract Great Clients, Scale Your Agency

How much should agencies spend on their own self-marketing? It depends… You can calculate cost of marketing as a percentage of revenue—between 7% and 20% of revenue, including labor costs. Yet for many agencies, headcount is an easier initial metric—between 0.5...
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