Summary

In this conversation, Melissa Morris discusses the concept of 'up leveling' and how it applies to agencies. She shares her insights on pricing strategies, including the importance of aligning pricing with deliverables and the value provided to clients. Melissa also emphasizes the need for agencies to clarify their target audience and create frameworks for their services. She discusses the benefits of productizing services and implementing a hybrid retainer and hourly billing model. Additionally, Melissa highlights the significance of streamlining operations, automating tasks, and leveraging AI to improve efficiency and profitability. In this conversation, Melissa Morris and Tony Wilson discuss pricing strategies and the importance of time tracking in agency management. They highlight common pitfalls in pricing strategies, such as neglecting to account for internal work and administration, and provide advice on how to avoid them. They emphasize the need for a successful onboarding process, including reestablishing deliverables and setting clear communication standards. The conversation also explores the benefits of time tracking, such as identifying profitable and unprofitable clients, improving team efficiency, and uncovering opportunities for training and development. Melissa recommends using Toggl as a time tracking tool and offers a templated client onboarding SOP for listeners to use. They conclude by emphasizing the importance of untethering value from time and using time tracking as valuable data for decision-making.

Keywords

up leveling, pricing strategies, aligning pricing with deliverables, target audience, frameworks, productizing services, hybrid retainer and hourly billing, streamlining operations, automating tasks, AI, efficiency, profitability, pricing strategies, pitfalls, agency management, time tracking, onboarding process, deliverables, communication standards, profitable clients, unprofitable clients, team efficiency, training and development

Takeaways

• Up leveling involves continuously improving and growing an agency to reach new levels of success.
• Aligning pricing with deliverables and the value provided to clients is crucial for profitability.
• Creating frameworks and productizing services can lead to more efficient operations and scalability.
• Implementing a hybrid retainer and hourly billing model can provide stability and flexibility for both the agency and clients.
• Streamlining operations, automating tasks, and leveraging AI can improve efficiency and profitability. Neglecting to account for internal work and administration is a common pitfall in pricing strategies. It is important to consider the time spent on project management, internal meetings, and communication with clients.
• A successful onboarding process involves reestablishing deliverables and setting clear communication standards. Confirming deliverables with clients and establishing communication boundaries can prevent scope creep and improve client relationships.
• Time tracking is a valuable tool for agencies. It can help identify profitable and unprofitable clients, improve team efficiency, and uncover opportunities for training and development.
• When implementing time tracking, start with high-level categories and gradually add more granularity. It is important to communicate the purpose of time tracking to the team and emphasize that it is not about micromanagement, but about improving agency profitability.
• Untethering value from time is crucial for agency growth. Time tracking provides valuable data for decision-making and helps agencies make better pricing and resource allocation decisions.