For this episode of Sell With Authority we’re zeroing in on something every agency needs — trust at scale.

Not vanity metrics. Not louder messaging in an already crowded feed.

Real credibility — earned in public — where your right-fit clients are watching, judging, and deciding whether you’re the expert worth hiring.

The noise isn’t going away. And if you’ve been putting in the work — creating content, showing up on the right channels, following all the authority-building advice — but your pipeline still feels sluggish or unpredictable, you might be stuck in what we call “yelling in a crowded arena.”

And that’s exactly why today’s conversation matters.

According to Edelman’s 2025 Trust Barometer, nearly 70% of buyers say they’ve made a purchasing decision based on what they saw in public forums — reviews, comments, even how companies respond.

Your agency’s reputation, and your clients’ reputations, are being shaped long before any discovery call gets booked. Your authority position isn’t just your content — it’s how you show up in conversations that are already happening online.

What if you could help your agency — and your right-fit clients — show up more consistently, more authentically, and with more trust, without burning out your team?

That’s why I’m excited to introduce today’s guest George Swetlitz, co-founder of RightResponse AI.

George isn’t just another SaaS founder chasing trends. He knows how to lead teams, implement systems, and grow by solving real problems — repeatably.

His mission now is giving agencies a way to scale review response, build trust across platforms, and mine authentic insight — all without sacrificing the human touch.

If you’re looking for a smarter way to earn authority…

If you want to build trust before that first meeting is even on the calendar…

And if you’re curious how AI can actually help you do more with less — this conversation with George is one you don’t want to miss.

• Why your authority position is decided before you ever get a meeting
• The moment when reviews and responses become the “make or break” for customer conversion
• A behind-the-scenes look at big AI vs. little AI
• How reviews, competitor analysis, and the “recency effect” can future-proof your authority in pitches and client retention
• Quantitative strategies to use reviews as data
• Why your website isn’t the center of your reputation universe
• How to step into a sales pitch armed with hard data about a prospective client’s competitive landscape

• Website: https://www.rightresponseai.com/
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-swetlitz-7b43812/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rightresponse-inc/

Have you and your team started putting in the work to go narrow — made the commitment to niche down because that’s where the gold is?

You’ve updated your positioning. Your message is feeling more dialed in than ever. And maybe you’ve even started saying “no” to wrong-fit clients. Awesome!

But — your sales pipeline still feels a little unpredictable. Or, you’re doing all the right things but your content isn’t converting — and your ICP, or Ideal Client Profile, feels just out of reach.

If that hits too close to home — this episode of Sell With Authority is going to be super helpful.

My guest expert is Ana Laskey, data-driven Founder and President of Ground Control Research. Ana’s mission is to help agencies build better, more accurate ICPs by grounding them in real buyer intelligence.

When your ICP is off — even just a little — everything downstream in your biz dev process suffers.

That’s what Ana and I slice apart — her smarts on how to fix your ICP so you can raise the bar of excellence.

Whether you’re just starting to niche down or you’ve been in your lane for years — this episode challenges and inspires you to revisit your ICP — and walk away with fresh ideas for how to make it sharper, more grounded — and sell more of what you.

• Why most agencies’ ICPs are built on hope instead of data
• The “defined and validated” ICP approach
• The real math to prove why niching down is never too narrow
• A simple framework to validate your agency’s ICP through client conversations
• How to use AI tools to analyze client calls, extract real language, and sharpen your targeting
• Why ongoing customer listening can become your most reliable biz dev engine

• Website: www.groundcontrolresearch.com
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastassialaskey/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/groundcontrolresearch/
• Ana’s Bio Page: https://ana.bio/

Before I introduce our guest experts for today’s episode, I want to zero in on a problem that’s been coming up more and more in conversations with agency leaders. It’s a pain that sounds like this:

“We used to have a strategic seat at our client’s table. They trusted our advice. They valued our expertise. Pricing wasn’t an issue. We felt like a true partner. But somewhere along the way, that shifted — and now we’re stuck reacting instead of leading.”

If that feels a little too familiar, you’re not alone. But — there’s good news.

That strategic seat can be earned back. Going forward, you can build every client relationship around your smarts, not just the deliverables.

In today’s episode, we unpack exactly how to do that.

We start with the numbers, with proving the impact of your work. Lean into — not away from — the metrics that matter most to your clients. When you can clearly show how your work is moving the needle on the KPIs they care about, you make your agency an easy yes.

That’s why I’m so excited to introduce our guests for this episode of Sell With Authority, Mark Godfrey and Steve Evans from Parker Madison.

Mark and Steve didn’t just want to stop being seen as only a branding agency — they built an entire methodology to change that perception. And they didn’t stop at strategy. They built metrics around it.

Their framework is designed to quantify impact in a way that clients can see, feel, and trust — which earns back that coveted strategic seat.

Also joining this conversation is our very own Director of Strategy and resident Mad Scientist, Hannah Roth. As many of you know, Hannah is in the trenches every day helping our clients sell more of what they do and future-proof their agencies.

Get ready — in this episode, Mark, Steve, and Hannah are handing you the playbook. If you apply what you hear in this episode, you’ll have what you need to build a stronger methodology, tie it to measurable outcomes, and clearly communicate your value — earning that strategic seat at the table.

• Why treating “brand” as just a logo or color palette will leave money on the table, and what it takes to change that mindset for good
• How to lean into the chronic pain point chipping away at agency-client relationships
• What makes a true, measurable agency methodology
• How Parker Madison built Lucidify, a system for dissecting and quantifying brand with 108 data points
• The Moneyball approach to agency work
• How to connect perception to performance and translate data into actionable intelligence that right-fit clients want

• Website: https://www.parkermadison.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/parker-madison-marketing-stdo/
• Steve’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/partneratparkermadison/
• Mark’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parkermadison/