Does your team feel disconnected from the agency’s success? Are incentive programs what’s going to keep your team engaged and invested in your agency’s long-term success?

In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I discuss how to create effective team incentive structures that foster collaboration, boost morale, and drive high performance. I explain how to structure incentives to balance personal achievement with teamwork, rewarding high performers without undermining collaboration.

Don’t miss this episode to learn more about practical examples of incentive programs that go beyond financial rewards!

Key Questions:

• [01:27] Have you considered whether your team truly shares in the rewards of your agency’s growth, or are they simply working to keep their jobs?
• [05:37] Are your current incentive structures encouraging teamwork, or are they creating competition that undermines collaboration?
• [10:54] Are you giving your team a clear understanding of how their daily work directly impacts your company’s bigger goals?
• [13:54] Is your incentive structure promoting healthy collaboration, or is it unintentionally creating competition that harms your culture?

What You Will Discover:

• [01:27] Why closing the motivation gap is key to building a team that drives meaningful business growth alongside you.
• [03:02] The multi-tiered incentive structure that keeps high performers motivated while promoting teamwork and collaboration.
• [04:09] How department-level incentives encourage teamwork, accountability, and peer collaboration to meet shared goals.
• [04:41] How company-wide incentives foster unity across departments and clarify everyone's role in achieving the bigger picture.
• [05:37] The downsides of individual incentives and how to balance them with collaborative structures that promote teamwork.
• [06:34] Examples of incentive programs, from bonuses and profit-sharing to peer recognition awards and growth opportunities.
• [08:19] How to structure incentives by aligning company objectives with departmental and individual KPIs for clarity.
• [10:54] How clarity and setting expectations can break down silos and prevent underperformance within your agency.
• [12:56] The impact of poorly structured incentives and how simplicity and consistency keep teams focused on goals.
• [13:54] The risks of unhealthy competition and how to build incentive structures that foster collaboration rather than rivalry.
• [15:20] Avoid setting unrealistic goals that can demotivate your team and instead create attainable and motivating targets.
• [16:29] The importance of aligning incentives with growth goals, motivating A-players and the entire team.

Do you find hiring top creative design talent an overwhelming process, especially when relying on polished portfolios that don’t always reveal a candidate’s true abilities?

In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I’m joined by Fletcher Wimbush to discuss actionable strategies for making smarter, more confident hiring decisions. Fletcher is the CEO and founder of Discovered Performance Hiring Software and has dedicated a decade to tackling hiring's hardest problems. As an ethical AI proponent, he's focused on pioneering AI-powered initiatives for talent selection.

Listen in to learn how to assess a candidate’s critical thinking and understand their creative processes during interviews. You will also learn about the hidden opportunity costs of making a bad hire and the power of always building and nurturing a talent bench.

Key Questions:

• [01:43] How can an agency owner dig deeper to truly understand a candidate’s thinking, process, and individual contributions?
• [05:56] How important is it for a candidate to present their design work?
• [13:40] What are the hidden things we don’t often think about in the cost of hiring the wrong person and not being thoughtful in the hiring process?
• [15:55] How do you balance the need to hire quickly when you're behind on projects with the risk of rushing and making a poor hiring decision?

What You’ll Discover:

• [02:00] A step-by-step process to help you assess a candidate's actual work on portfolio pieces and identify if their skills match the job requirements.
• [06:49] How to be patient and help introverted creatives become great communicators and eventually tell their stories.
• [10:23] How to turn trial projects into collaborative experiences where candidates get to meet your team and experience your work culture.
• [14:06] Why the true cost of a bad hire isn't just in money spent, but in lost opportunities, project delays, and unhappy clients.
• [16:52] Why building a talent bench and always recruiting is the key to being ready when opportunity strikes.
• [19:50] Why your hiring process deserves more attention than sales and how investing in your team directly impacts long-term success.
• [21:39] Fletcher’s Fact Driven Hiring course—an eight-hour, 40-module system to help you master hiring and level up your agency's recruitment process.

Get In Touch with Fletcher:

• Website
• LinkedIn

Client onboarding is more than just paperwork—it’s about setting the tone for a lasting partnership. How then do you streamline the process without losing the human touch that makes clients feel valued?

In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I discuss how automation can help streamline the client onboarding process while maintaining a personal touch. I explain the benefits of a positive onboarding experience and how bad onboarding can lead to micromanagement and dissatisfaction.

Don’t miss this episode to learn how consistency in the onboarding process helps identify potential problems and improves the overall client experience!

Key Questions:

• [00:34] Have you considered how automating parts of your client onboarding can save you time while keeping the process personalized?
• [07:18] Do you have a standardized onboarding process in place, or is it something you need to develop?
• [10:23] How could automating repetitive tasks in your client onboarding process help free up your time for more valuable activities?
• [13:49] Are you ensuring that your client onboarding experience is fast enough to reduce buyer’s remorse?
• [18:18] How could you personalize your automated emails to enhance the client experience without compromising efficiency?

What You’ll Discover:

• [01:18] The concept of buyer’s remorse and how a smooth onboarding process can calm client fears.
• [03:51] How a bad onboarding experience can lead to micromanagement and dissatisfaction, which can negatively impact the project.
• [04:52] The benefits of a positive onboarding experience, including reduced anxiety and stronger client trust.
• [07:18] The importance of standardizing the onboarding process before considering automation.
• [10:23] The benefits of automation, including saving time, increasing consistency, and allowing for more strategic focus.
• [12:02] How automation can allow you to manage more clients and boost profitability by streamlining your onboarding process.
• [13:00] How automated emails can set clear expectations for clients, including team introductions and next steps.
• [13:49] The importance of onboarding speed in reducing buyer’s remorse and setting the stage for success.
• [14:33] How even without full automation, templated emails can still provide consistency while adding slight personal customizations.
• [15:17] How sending out effective client questionnaires ensures you’re gathering the right information without overwhelming clients.
• [17:36] Why having standardized onboarding checklists in your project management software ensures a consistent client experience.
• [18:18] How you can inject personal touches into automated systems, like adding client names or specific goals.
• [20:18] The importance of balancing between automation and human connection in client onboarding to avoid an overly robotic experience.
• [21:25] How a balanced, well-automated onboarding experience can foster long-term client success while maintaining a personal connection.