Good morning, Search Marketer, do you think agencies try to grow before they're ready?
This is the "chicken and egg" question Kim Doughty posted on Twitter last week. The perspectives from agency employees and owners were thought-provoking and actionable.
Taylor Berg, SEO lead at Talkspace said that many agencies win business and worry about staffing later. She recommended better internal partnerships as the solution: "Sales and operations should work together so sales doesn't scope for new business that cannot be sufficiently serviced."
Jonathan Berthold, CRO specialist, emphasized the financials–sometimes you have to secure the dollars before you can grow your team: "Hiring solely with the expectation of growth is unsustainable. I've been at both ends of the spectrum in the agency world (over-capacity & under-capacity), and it's a gut-wrenching feeling to have to prune your staff when targets aren't met or a major client or two drop off."
When it comes to the struggle of juggling capacity and growth at an agency, Head of Strategy at Rocket Media Sean Butcher summed it up well: "It's a constant balancing act of having work that warrants growth and scaling with the right team." What are your thoughts and experiences regarding agency growth? Email me at clyden@thirddoormedia.com and let me know.
Carolyn Lyden
Director of Search Content
