3 Prompts Friday: Questions to Transform Your Agency

Inspired by one of my mentors, Dr. Benjamin Hardy, I'm launching a new theme for our Friday emails: "3 Prompts Friday."

Each week, I'll share three thought-provoking questions designed to help agency owners like you think differently about your business.

Here are this week's prompts to chew on over the weekend:

1. What percentage of your current clients would you enthusiastically clone if you could? If it's less than 80%, what's holding you back from focusing exclusively on your best-fit clients?

2. When prospects ask what makes your agency different, do you rely on generic claims like "we care more" and "we're results-driven" - or do you have a truly distinctive point of view about solving problems in your market?

3. Look at your last 90 days of new business: How many deals came from your personal network versus your agency's marketing and sales efforts? What would happen to your growth if you stepped away for 3 months?

Take some time to reflect on these. The answers might surprise you.

CQ

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I figure out what percentage of my clients I'd actually clone?

Think honestly about how many current clients feel like an ideal fit versus ones that are just tolerated. If that number is below 80%, it's worth naming what's holding back a shift toward focusing exclusively on best-fit clients.

Why do generic claims like "we care more" or "we're results-driven" fail to differentiate an agency?

Because nearly every agency says the same thing, which means it doesn't actually distinguish anyone. A truly distinctive point of view about solving problems in the market carries more weight than a generic claim.

How do I check how dependent my growth is on my personal network?

Look at the last 90 days of new business and separate deals that came from personal relationships versus the agency's actual marketing and sales efforts. That split reveals how much growth would survive without personal involvement.

What would happen to growth if a founder stepped away for 3 months?

That's exactly the question worth sitting with honestly. If growth relies heavily on personal network deals, stepping away would likely slow things down significantly, revealing how much of the pipeline isn't yet systematized.

What's the purpose of "3 Prompts Friday" as a recurring theme?

To offer three thought-provoking questions each week designed to help agency owners think differently about client fit, positioning, and where growth is actually coming from.