Have you ever doubted your ability to steer your agency toward greatness? Does your team follow your lead on the decisions you make to get there? Many agency owners face this internal battle, questioning if they truly have what it takes to lead their business to new heights. Today’s guest has conquered those self-doubts and forged an unwavering confidence in his leadership abilities. He has grown his successful business over the years, gaining confidence as he accumulated more experience. Although he doesn’t regret past decisions, he realizes he could have retained a majority stake in his company and made it on his own had he trusted himself as he does now. Listen to the full episode to learn about his experience growing his agency and how he built the confidence to succeed.

Torey Azure is the CEO of Brandcraft Agency, a full-service agency that deals in videography, creative, digital marketing, and branding. Tori shares insights into his journey and the importance of having the right message for the right audience to improve digital channel performance.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

Uncovering what clients need.
Building up leaders.
The confidence to not hesitate when making decisions.

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Sponsors and Resources

E2M Solutions: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by E2M Solutions, a web design, and development agency that has provided white-label services for the past 10 years to agencies all over the world. Check out e2msolutions.com/smartagency and get 10% off for the first three months of service.

3 Key Strategies for Authentic Client Interactions

Back in high school, Torey was able to blend in with different crowds, being the jock who was also voted as ‘most artistic’ in his class. Thinking back on that time, he realizes that the ability to relate to people from different backgrounds and industries has helped him succeed as an agency owner. It’s not about liking to be the center of attention but about having emotional intelligence and connecting with clients and colleagues on a personal level.

If you’re someone who finds it hard to network and especially starting a conversation with a stranger, Torey believes the most successful interactions will come from these 3 key strategies:

Don’t have an agenda. Speak confidently without thinking about what the other party may want to hear, and learn to quickly identify when someone should or shouldn’t be a client. This will come from practice and being in many different situations with different types of people.
Learn to really listen to people. Instead of pitching yourself, take a true interest in the other person. It will make for a much more enjoyable and memorable experience for them.
Genuinely curiosity about people. Find out why they started their business. With the pandemic and so much time spent on digital environments, it’s as if people have lost the ability to riff off in a conversation and be invested in what the other person is saying. However, it’s a very important skill to help prospective clients feel comfortable.

Make a Lasting Impact and Avoid the Order-Taker Trap

Torey believes his job as a marketer is to uncover what the client needs, which is not necessarily what they think they need. This approach is crucial for providing effective solutions and adding value to clients' businesses.

Too many agencies fall into the trap of being order takers, simply doing what the client asks without questioning or understanding the underlying problem. This mindset can lead to short-term gains but ultimately results in a race to the bottom competing to offer the lowest price. Instead, Torey advocates for taking the time to truly understand the client's needs and challenges, even if it means challenging their initial requests.

It’s a lesson Torey has learned through experience when in the past his agency created a good strategy to find the client’s audience but it turned out to be the wrong message and the wrong time.

Instead of looking at surface-level problems like lead generation issues and attracting clients through low prices, try asking probing questions and analyzing the client's past experiences with other agencies. You could identify patterns and the potential root causes of their struggles.

Empowering Leaders by Cultivating Independence

He felt proud the first time Torey realized the agency had signed a new client and delivered the results without his intervention. He is currently focused on elevating his team to foster the leadership necessary for this to continue. There is no definitive formula for achieving this goal, but he emphasizes the importance of creating enough momentum to allow team members the freedom to fail. They may struggle to gain essential experience and knowledge without the opportunity to make mistakes.

While it may not be ideal for the agency to endure losses that could have been prevented, granting team members the freedom to learn from their mistakes is crucial for developing resilience and problem-solving skills, which are vital for long-term success. This approach may be nerve-wracking at times, but it is essential for personal and professional growth.

In Torey's experience, there were fewer failures than expected. Instead, there were mainly different approaches to tasks, but no catastrophic failures that resulted in losing a client. This is fine as long as everyone agrees on what the deliverables are and what the client expects.

Furthermore, to start letting them solve issues on their own, you can use the 1-3-1 framework. If an employee comes to you with a problem, turn it into a learning opportunity by asking them to come up with three possible solutions for that problem and then you’ll ask them to choose one. Eventually, they’ll stop coming to you and just come up with the solution on their own. Ultimately, if you’re trusting them to handle the task it’s because you believe they’re ready.

Strategic Sacrifices and Lessons Learned

Staring the agency around the time of the collapse of the housing market meant a lot of struggles and no clients at first. Back then, Torey felt he needed people around him to help him scale so he decided to sell a majority stake in his business. In hindsight, he sees this as a move born out of desperation since he had a clear enough vision and he would have eventually gotten there on his own.

It also wasn’t about the money, as not a lot of money was exchanged. In the end, his biggest regret is giving up too much and not keeping a majority stake himself. However, he recognizes he just didn’t know back then, which is a must to have a clearer picture when it comes to negotiations.

Get Unstuck in Your Agency: Build the Confidence to Succeed

When it comes to decision-making, Torey believes leaders should have the ability to make prompt decisions, take decisive action, and not become mired in overanalyzing every detail. This may lead to making some decisions without fully calculating the risks, but for Torey, the growth you gain is worth it.

Being able to make quick decisions when needed says a lot about a leader’s confidence in themselves and their team. Torey trusts his instincts and prefers to move and implement instead of thinking too much about it and losing momentum. Whenever he feels the need to consult on a decision, he reaches out to other entrepreneurs he respects and who have been through similar situations. Most of the time they only reinforce what he was already thinking, but sometimes that’s what you need.

Learning from both successful and unsuccessful decisions is crucial for personal and professional development. Ultimately, the greatest regret would be failing to make a decision. Having the confidence to take action and live with the consequences not only yields valuable insights but also contributes to making more informed decisions in the future.

Cultivating Self-Trust by Embracing Uncertainty

For many, trusting yourself and your decisions will take practice, and the more you do it the more comfortable you’ll feel. Torey rarely second-guesses himself and once he makes up his mind to do something, he gets to work. For him, this is a crucial skill for any agency owner who wants to test things and move to the next level. In this sense, it helps him to think there’ll never be a point in his agency’s growth where he feels 100% sure of the next step. Each step of your growth will come with its challenges and, even though he’s learned a lot as an entrepreneur and continues to implement those lessons into how he operates the agency, more revenue doesn’t guarantee having everything figured out.

Looking back, challenges have taught Torey that all problems are solvable, and by planning, and knowing how to identify the real problem, he and his team will surely come up with a solution.

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