The fact that sales people tend to talk too much is nothing new, but Blair has observed in recent client work just how profound of an effect this pervasive problem has on sales outcomes. Links “How and When to Talk About Your Firm” “Replacing

Working With a Maverick

23 days ago 23m 12s

When it comes to qualifications for ideal clients, David doesn’t hear anyone talking about how agencies can benefit when the person across the table is someone who presses boundaries and ethically skirts the rules within their own organization.

The Dichotomy of the Expert Salesperson

Mar 13th, 2024 23m 51s

As Blair is finishing his new book that drops later this year, he comes to the realization that pretty much everything he does comes down to the fundamental issue that experts think they need to show up as a different person during the sale: pi

Maximizing Pro Bono Opportunities

Feb 28th, 2024 19m 23s

While discussing eight ways creative firms can do pro bono work better based on an article David wrote recently, both he and Blair discover a couple new profound insights together. LINKS “Maximizing Your Pro-Bono Contributions” by David C. Ba

Attending the Way

Feb 14th, 2024 21m 51s

Blair recognizes how a Confucius quote is really bad business advice, but is still moved by how a highly principled creative firm in New Zealand continues to thrive by prioritizing their creative practices and client fit over new business strat

A 7-part Theory of Principal Compensation

Jan 31st, 2024 23m 13s

David frequently gets hired to help resolve issues at firms between multiple principles when it comes to who does what and how much each should get paid, so he’s come up with a 7-point framework he can use in each unique scenario.

The Time Value of Knowledge

Jan 17th, 2024 29m 20s

David interviews Blair about his recent article in which he takes a lesson from investing with compound interest to understand the increasing returns we can receive from our relentless pursuit of knowledge over time. Links “The Time Value of

Revisiting Remote Work

Jan 3rd, 2024 27m 55s

David looks at the current data and weighs all the pros and cons of continuing to have staff who work from home in our post-pandemic economy, which makes Blair wonder if he would even survive if he was starting out in his profession today. Li

Ditch the (Sales) Script

Dec 20th, 2023 24m 30s

Blair sees too many creative firms talking at prospective clients using sales scripts instead of having a series of wide ranging conversations on their unique issues and objectives that set the tone for the potential long-term engagement. Lin

Constrained by Artificial Boundaries

Dec 6th, 2023 24m 19s

Blair’s latest obsession is bounded rationality, in which he sees too many creative firms failing to make “rational” decisions because they choose to bind their businesses with outdated and overly-constraining ideals like the 80/20 principle.

A Theory of Leisure

Nov 22nd, 2023 26m 12s

David shares his thoughts on some bad advice he hears involving the focus on pursuing personal passions in business.

The Death Throes of the Pitch

Nov 8th, 2023 28m 16s

Blair weighs in on this year's Forrester report, which shows the ridiculous amount of money agencies have been wasting on pitches. LINKS "Are These the Last Days of the Pitch?" by Blair Enns for Win Without Pitching "A New Forrester Report U

How Much Should You Spend on Your Own Marketing?

Oct 25th, 2023 29m 44s

David addresses another frequently asked question, looking at what creative firms should budget in terms of both money and time for their website, SaaS/automation, PR, content creation, and social media.

The Conflicting Ethics of Selling and Negotiating

Oct 11th, 2023 22m 57s

Blair identifies the differences between the ethics of selling expertise and the three schools of bargaining ethics, and what happens when we don’t adapt our bargaining approach to match our opponents in the game of negotiation. Links “The Co

Doing Employee Orientation Right

Sep 27th, 2023 23m 2s

In an era of rapid turnover and remote working arrangements, developing a structured onboarding process for new staff is more important than ever. David has a checklist to help agencies get their new employees up to speed as quickly as possible

The War on Payment Terms

Sep 13th, 2023 32m 54s

Blair sees non-standard payment terms as a two-sided issue, where agencies should be creatively leveraging terms more to their own benefit as opposed to just defending themselves against procurement departments who impose onerous terms. LINKS

What Your Team Wants From You

Aug 30th, 2023 31m 51s

While analyzing data from his Total Business Reset surveys, David has noticed five significant trends which principals should be aware of to run their firms more effectively, as well as one thing your team wishes you’d stop doing.

How to Ask for Referrals

Aug 16th, 2023 27m 6s

As a follow-up to the discussion in the previous episode, Blair has some criteria for firms that would beneift from prioritizing and codifying an effective referral strategy as a way to gain new business. LINKS “The Best Referral Machine I Ha

How to Make Referrals

Aug 2nd, 2023 26m 43s

In part one of a two-part discussion about developing a business referral strategy, Blair is surprised to hear that David wants to cover how and why we can get better at giving away business, before talking about how to get more referrals.

Do You Even Need New Business People?

Jul 19th, 2023 23m 36s

Blair runs through one of his constraint driven exercises with David by having us imagine running our business with nobody dedicated to the various functions under the banner of new business.

Predictive Traits of Successful Owners

Jul 5th, 2023 24m 22s

David has observed six common characteristics of agency principals that can affect whether or not their business succeeds.

Six Barriers to New Business Success

Jun 21st, 2023 28m 2s

Even after understanding and trying to adopt the philosophies from Win Without Pitching, Blair sees many creative firms struggling to increase profit because of these six obstacles involving their people and processes. Links Mastering the Val

Ten Questions I Want to Ask You

Jun 7th, 2023 32m 4s

This is your intervention and David has some tough questions about the important decisions you should be making to manage and grow your creative firm. LINKS "The Four Types of Employees at Your Firm"

Qualities of the World’s Best Project Managers

May 24th, 2023 29m 14s

David feels like project managers get a bad rap and has tried to raise their profile within creative firms. So he’s gathered a list of traits from the best project managers he’s met in the hundreds of agencies he’s worked with over the years.

CRM and the Mistakes to Avoid

May 10th, 2023 27m 54s

A lot has changed since Blair wrote his article about seven mistakes he sees creative firms make with CRM years ago, and David wants to know why Excel isn’t a good tool for managing sales leads.