Based on interviews and performance data from 1000s of agencies, I’ve discovered how, what and when the most profitable agencies sell.

1. The 5 Sells Every
Profitable Agency
Masters
Based on interviews and performance data from
1000s of agencies, I’ve discovered how, what
and when the most profitable agencies sell.
Peter Caputa IV (@pc4media) - CEO, Databox

2. #TCS2018 | @pc4media
The 5 Sells Every Profitable Agency Masters
1. Dodge
2. Dip
3. Duck
4. Dive
5. Dodge
2

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• On an 18 year quest to figure out
the profitable marketing agency
formula.
Hi, I’m Pete Caputa…
Peter Caputa IV
CEO, Databox

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“76 percent of marketers think marketing has
changed more in the past 2 years than the past 50.”
- Adobe Digital Distress Survey, 2013

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“The agency world has changed more in the last
20 years than it has in the preceding 50.”
-Me

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Client
Expectations
Martech &
Adtech
Competitor
Explosion

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How Martech/Adtech Treats Agencies
When you are with them vs When you’re not watching.

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Agency Competition

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“When I grow up, I want to run a low-margin,
low-growth business with lots of competition.”
- No one

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What are the most profitable agencies doing differently?

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The 5 Sells...
Initial Sale
Low-cost, low-risk, low-effort, quick time to value
Retainer Sale
Recurring monthly retainer, patience for mid-term results
Upsell
Sell more of the same services
Cross-Sell
Sell services to other functions
Resell
Resell other company’s products for a commission

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The 5 Sells
Initial Sale
Low-cost, low-commitment, quick time to value
Upsell
Sell more of the same services
Cross-Sell
Sell services to other functions
Retainer Sale
Recurring monthly revenue, patience for mid-term benefit
Resell
Resell other company’s products for a commission

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“To build a cash flow-positive and profitable agency, you need retainer
clients. Retainers are best for your clients too because you can't deliver
growth overnight without really understanding their business, product,
customers, etc.”
- Paul Roetzer, Founder PR 20/20

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Do NOT do Fixed-Scope Retainers
STOP

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Do Have Packages

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Do Sell Value

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The 5 Sells
Initial Sale
Low-cost, low-effort, quick time to value
Cross-Sell
Sell services to other functions
Retainer Sale
Recurring monthly revenue, patience for mid-term benefit
Upsell
Sell more of the same services
Resell
Resell other company’s products for a commission

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“20% of our revenue in ‘17 came from retainer clients buying more from us.
There are 3 things we had to do get that right: the right people following
well-defined processes & hitting performance the targets we said we would
hit.”
- Ryan Malone, Founder Smart Bug Media

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Train and Enable Your People
Naturally:
“Our account strategists are responsible for upselling. They are the ones
interpreting the data, seeing what can be improved further or issues that can be
addressed. They are fully empowered to write SOWs.”
Not automatically:
“We have agency goals and every individual has a plan on how they will contribute
to that goal. One goal is our monthly revenue and upselling is one way they can
help the company get there. So, our account strategists try to spot opportunities
and progress them.”

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Have a Process for Upselling Too
“Every two weeks, we will review progress to your goals and discuss what we
should start, stop and continue.”
“The retainer does not automatically get you to your goals. But, we’ll deliver a
positive ROI and we will quickly hone in on how much you will need to invest
(internal resources, us, technology, your salespeople) to get you there.”
“Part of our value is that we will bring you new ideas and new perspective that
will help you improve your marketing, sales and financial performance. Each
month, we’ll take your ideas and ours and make suggestions for additional
work.”

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“Deliver the Performance You Said You Would”
In a survey of Databox agency partners, the majority set quarterly goals with clients, but only check progress
once per month. The agencies who grew the fastest, though, check goals weekly or twice-monthly to adapt their
plan. 100% agreed that their ability to hit goals positively impacts the financial success of their agency.

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Communicate Performance in Real-Time Too

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The 5 Sells
Initial Sell
Low-cost, low-effort, quick time to value
Retainer Sale
Recurring monthly revenue, patience for mid-term benefit
Upsell
Sell more of the same services
Cross-sell
Sell services to other functions
Resell
Resell other company’s products for a commission

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“Cross-selling has allowed us to double our average retainer size and
improve our client retention by making us valuable to a larger part of our
clients’ organizations.”
- Eric Pratt, Founder, Revenue River

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“In all of our larger clients, we are working directly with at least two teams:
marketing, sales, human resources, operations and/or finance. We usually
start with sales or marketing, then we often expand to help HR with talent
recruitment, then to operations because of our technology and data
expertise and finally to finance with financial planning and goal setting.”
- Eric Pratt, Founder, Revenue River

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The 5 Sells
Initial Sell
Low-cost, low-effort, quick time to value
Retainer Sale
Recurring monthly revenue, patience for mid-term benefit
Upsell
How to set and visualize goals
Cross-sell
Sell services to other functions
Resell
Resell other company’s products for a commission

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2011: ~150 2017: 5,000
How many of those did you implement for each client?
Average marketer is using 12+ Tools

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“Reseling tools like Databox, SeventhSense & Wistia [on top of HubSpot],
have really helped to fuel our [40% YOY] Growth.“
- Elyse Flynn Meyer, Co-founder, PRISM Global Marketing

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Build and Market your Martech Expertise

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How to Be Your Client’s Tech Guide
1. Start with a platform (HubSpot, Shopify, Salesforce) that has a thriving
3rd-party software ecosystem.
2. Always be scouting out new applications that compliment your and
your clients’ platforms.
3. Test them out on yourself. Many martech software startups are
desperate for your help and will cut you great deals, especially if you
are early.
4. Market and sell your new capabilities.

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“When we made the decision to narrow our focus to providing marketing
services to a few niche engineering markets, our profit margins grew more
than 2x and our clients received an even better ROI. Our sales cycle has
decreased by half, and there is little to no pricing pressure. ”
- Wendy Covey, Co-founder, Trew Marketing

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“Gross profit margins more than doubled by focusing 100% on the one
thing we do best: building sites on the HubSpot CMS.”
- Joseph Jerome, Founder, Brand Builder Solutions

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Overwhelmed?

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Join the Databox Partner Program for Free

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Free Software

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80-90% Margin for Partners

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“We've saved so much time
centralizing and automating our
multi-platform reporting, allowing
us to spend more time analyzing
results instead of pulling them.”
Marc Herschberger
Director of Marketing Revenue River

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Free Training

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Build Your Own Stack

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Free Co-Marketing

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Early Access to Other Agency-Friendly Partner Programs

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A Truly Free Partnership
Sign up here: https://databox.com/signup?plan=agency

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