Thinking
Smarter growth strategies
Written by Jon Ross
16 May 2022
What we’ve learned during the last two years to help you manage and grow your agency.
The Silver Lining
The last two years has been extremely challenging for agency owners on many levels. However as painful as it has been we have learned some highly valuable lessons from the experience.
This period has shown us how to be better and stronger as agency leaders and the purpose of writing this is to share nine useful findings.
Lesson 1 – Where there’s a will
The anxiety and unpredictability created by economic instability and client uncertainty has often brought out the best in us as professionals and individuals. Self-confidence, tenacity and generating new solutions have kept businesses moving forward no matter what.
Lesson 2 – Culture Matters
Enforced change has reinforced how highly important it is that agency owners continually remind staff that their work and the agency itself stand for something larger than themselves. Their time and talents are being put to a worthy pursuit.
Lesson 3 – You Need a Strong Brand Proposition
Many agencies with clear, credible niches have continued to perform well. Knowledge-based positionings in healthcare, technology, financial services, public affairs, digital transformation and inbound marketing are among the areas currently in high demand.

Many agencies with clear, credible niches have been doing extremely well over the last two years
Lesson 4 – A Credible Senior Team
To be consistently considered as an important strategic partner by clients, it takes a deep layer of second-tier leaders with the experience to provide strategic thinking and compelling content.
Lesson 5 – Recruiting and Retaining the Best Talent
Agency culture must be the key weapon in the war for talent. The successful firms have continued to invest in competitive compensation, professional development and a flexible work environment – all managed by inspirational leadership.
Another key lesson is to always be recruiting. Maintain contact with professionals you’ll want to hire when the time is right.
Lesson 6 – The Business Development Process has Changed
Over the last two years business development has meant less in-person networking and speaking events and more use of sophisticated technologies to generate leads.
These technologies include content marketing, developing large-scale prospect databases (where it now takes relatively little effort to create a list of 10,000 prospects or more) as well as the specific identification and pursuit of prospects who visit the agency’s website.
Over the last two years business development has meant less in-person networking and speaking events and more use of sophisticated technologies to generate leads.
Lesson 7 – Organic Client Growth is Key
It’s much easier to grow an existing client than to develop and pursue new relationships. Take the time to understand your clients’ challenges and issues. Winning a specific scope of new work and crafting the solutions can be a very cost-effective generator of incremental revenue.
Lesson 8 – Sell Value not Price
Do NOT lower your pricing to get business. Rely instead on developing ever deeper knowledge in your niche and a more differentiated (and compelling) brand proposition. Your agency’s future depends on it.
Lesson 9 – Get People Together
Many firms which have given up their office spaces are now planning in-person meetings. This includes bringing teams to low-risk destinations for a few days of business meetings, team-building and just informal reconnecting.
We’re here to help you grow.
Fallow Associates exists to help the owners of independent agencies achieve their ambitions and maximise the value of their work.
Our team of former agency leaders and management focus their deep experience on implementing proven proprietary methodologies across agency performance, staff development and strategic planning to help drive success.