Written By Danielle Fauteaux
Ft. Mark Miller, Co-Founder and President of Historic
Culture has the potential to make or break your agency. Keeping leadership involved, modeling the behaviors you want, and keeping true to your core values is a must. Hear this turnaround story that demonstrates that it is never too late to make changes and transform your company’s culture and client delivery process to keep the doors open.
In this episode of RecalibrAgency, Mark and I discuss:
- How company culture affects an agency’s value to clients
- Reasons why culture can become toxic and symptoms to watch for
- The effects of modeling the behaviors that drive the company culture you want for your agency
In this episode
[01:09] For independently owned agencies, like Historic, the response to covid was a pivotal season.
[2:49] Historic was forced to make necessary changes and shift its culture to keep its branding agency doors open.
[03:54] They ended up rebranding and repositioning the agency in big ways. By October, they were back in a cash flow-positive situation.
[06:03] The different cultural problems, as attributed by Peter Drucker, were “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” and they noticed that “Culture was eating brands for lunch” and these had to be addressed by a change of leadership in every scenario.
[07:04] Your company culture can dictate your success because it bleeds into the day-to-day interactions of your team and clients. You have a culture whether you realize it or not, and if you ignore it, then it becomes something that takes on a life of its own.
[09:56] How you can look for “culture busters” in yourself just as much as you look for “culture busters” in your team.
[11:20] The changes that Mark helped make after realizing he needed to foster more structure.
[14:32] When you’re trying to create change, frequency is really important.
[15:01] What were the key results of all these changes? In short, people started performing above expectations.
[17:20] When it comes to changes in their hiring system, Historic made sure that the people who came onto the team are a good cultural fit.
[21:47] How challenging the norm and asking “What if we just _____” opened the door to a new set of possibilities for Historic.
[26:37] Historic is now using vulnerability to build trust not only in their employees but also with their clients.
[28:38] Leveraging the transformation in the company culture to propel the operational and sales implementation of Historic’s new branding service methodology.
[30:32] Historic shifted to an idea of collaborating, not only with each other but also with their client. Mark digs into the effects of that shift.
[34:31] Mark’s advice to agencies that are currently struggling.
Key Takeaway
When you develop a workplace that creates shared incentives among your team, your clients, and your agency’s vision, success follows. Not only are you able to deliver offerings that genuinely meet clients’ needs, but your team is able to exceed delivery expectations because of the clarity leadership has given. Be intentional to model the behaviors that reflect your agency’s core values and enforce upholding those core values. Work with your team to develop a shared company culture that everyone can take ownership of. These are the keys to a solid process toward transforming your company culture.
Building a successful marketing agency takes grit, a focus on your value, and sometimes a *loving* kick in the pants.
Needing an ally as you achieve your long-term goals?
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