How to Grow Your Agency Retainers by 10X!
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Drew Himel from PCR Agency has an entrepreneur’s story. It is a journey marked with pivots and transition. The decision points along the way have all pointed the agency toward where they find themselves today.
Things started out small. The work was divided up between Drew and just one employee. Together they worked to satisfy clients and grow the business. Then, just 6 years into the business, they hit a cross roads.
Nothing was going the way it should have been going. Clients weren’t happy, profits were low, and Drew hit a personal career crisis. At this moment, Drew thought about shutting down the business. Like so many other agencies, Drew felt like he was out of options. It was at this time that he discovered the HubSpot Partner Program.
The HubSpot Value-Added Reseller (VAR) program provided a fresh breath of life into the agency. The new model just made sense. Drew knew that it was just a matter of time before they started feeling the benefits of the transition.
It took a month to sign the first client, but things picked up from there. Over a period of months, they transitioned from about-to-shut-the-business-down to one of the fastest growing HubSpot platinum partners.
The result was a total transformation: 29 accounts in under 12 months.
They now find themselves 2 1/2 years into their HubSpot partnership. The agency focuses on large up-market accounts. This growth has helped them hire a higher level of talent.
The speed of their growth can be credited to Drew’s ability to up-sell current and past clients. Their average retainer went from $700/month to $6,000/month.
This growth has given PCR the resources needed to attract high level talent to the team. It has also provided breathing room to begin to cultivate an agency culture.
“We went from employees crying because they were over stressed to a place where people love to work.”
Investing in Your Agency Team
As the team grows, Drew is committed to building a place where people love to work. This means continuing to invest back into the team. One way that they work to accomplish this goal is through weekly mentorship meetings with leadership. In this time, the agency leadership team meets with team members.
It is important to have goals in place so you can measure against something. These goals help the leadership keep the team moving in the right direction.
They talk about what is going well, what can be improved, and where they see themselves going in the future. This opportunity for conversation creates trust on the team. It is an opportunity to step back from the hustle and bustle of client servicing and just connect as people again.
They also work to build the agency culture by getting people out of the office. Intentional outside activities have proven to be a great way to reinforce the team bonds.
How do you motivate a team member if they have the talent to do better?
Should You Pick an Agency Vertical?
Drew and the team do not target a specific industry with their services. Instead they target a specific fit. They look for companies that have both of these requirements:
- Do they have a large amount of data?
- Is there a long research process?
The combination of these two questions points to a company that could benefit from PCR’s services.
Building this best fit prospect profile helps them quickly screen out companies that won’t be a good fit.
The ability to screen and move forward keeps the sales process efficient. It is also an effective strategy for targeted agency outbound marketing tactics.
Clearly defining the criteria for your target market lowers the number of companies to target. This increases the chances of finding a prospect that needs your help and can afford your services.
Connect with Drew
- Twitter: @DrewHimel
