Welcome to the Sell With Authority podcast. If you’ve been with us for a while, you’re probably expecting to hear Stephen’s voice kicking things off. But we’ve temporarily booted him off the mic — for a very good reason. His daughter is about to graduate, and we wanted to make sure he could soak up every moment with his family.

I’m Hannah Roth, Director of Strategy and mad scientist here at Predictive ROI and I’m stepping in as your host for the next few weeks. For this special four-part series, I’m sitting down with Erik Jensen — co-owner, Chief Strategy Officer, and my strategic co-pilot here at Predictive. Erik and I are in the trenches every day, helping agency owners like you solve the messy, complex challenges that keep your business stuck in place.

And one of those major sticking points?

Sales.

Today’s episode is part two, and we’re diving into what we call the Focus Fog.

Erik unpacks the risks of being the “everything agency” — and how your good intentions to do more might actually be clouding your sales process, confusing your prospects, and holding your agency back.

• Why the “focus fog” is quietly sabotaging agency growth and how to recognize it before it’s too late
• The psychological drivers that keep agencies stuck as generalists
• What happens when sales and ops don’t see eye to eye
• How stacking 3-5 “lenses” helps your agency niche down without killing off creativity
• Real research and stats proving highly specialized agencies land more right-fit clients
• The hidden cost of one-and-done projects versus repeatable, scalable work
• How clarity in your focus transforms sales, onboarding, marketing, AND lets you eventually escape founder-led sales

• Website: www.predictiveroi.com
• Visit our newly expanded Resource Library
• Join us in our free How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline Facebook Group
• Erik’s LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-jensen-b9946068/
• Hannah’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-roth-387a6b223/
• Order your free paperback or Kindle copy of our Book: Sell with Authority

Welcome to Sell With Authority! I’m Hannah Roth, Director of Strategy and resident mad scientist here at Predictive ROI. And before you double-check your podcast app — yes, you are in the right place.

If you’ve been a longtime listener, you’re probably used to hearing Stephen kick things off. But today, I’ve hijacked the mic for a good reason. Stephen’s daughter is about to graduate; CONGRATS to the whole Woessner crew!

We’ve gently nudged him off the show for the next few weeks so he can enjoy that special time with his family.

In the meantime, I’ll be your host for the next four episodes, and I’m really excited about what we have planned. Each week, I’ll be joined by Erik Jensen, my strategic co-pilot, co-owner, and our Chief Strategy Officer here at Predictive. We are in the trenches every day working with agency owners, helping them navigate the big challenges that hold them back from scaling with confidence.

Erik and I are kicking off a four-part series about why agencies struggle with sales — and more importantly — what to do about it.

In today’s episode we focus on what we call “The Referral Trap.”

Referrals are great… until they’re not. Too many agencies rely on them as their primary source of new business — but that’s risky.

We discuss why the illusion of “plenty of referrals” is so dangerous, and what to do before they dry up without warning.

• Why so many agency owners fall into the “referral trap”
• The not-so-obvious risks of relying on referrals
• How passivity with prospects infects your sales culture — and leads to missed revenue from both new prospects AND existing clients
• The candid truth about “not having time” for sales
• A rock solid step-by-step way to take control of your biz dev
• Why your list is one of the most important assets that your agency can have
• How to assess if your list is actually filled with viable prospects

• Website: www.predictiveroi.com
• Visit our newly expanded Resource Library
• Join us in our free How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline Facebook Group
• Erik’s LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-jensen-b9946068/
• Hannah’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-roth-387a6b223/
• Order your free paperback or Kindle copy of our Book: Sell with Authority

I’m super excited to welcome our guest expert today, Natalie Henley. If this is your first introduction to Natalie — she’s the CEO and Owner of Volume 9 Digital. She’s also a sharp speaker, trainer, and consultant.

But more importantly — Natalie is right in the thick of it.

She’s not just running the agency — she’s leading ops and sitting in the strategic seat with clients. She’s hands-on, gathering insights, solving real business problems, and applying that knowledge every single day.

That’s one of the biggest reasons I wanted to invite her onto the show.

The perspective she brings — from actually doing the work — is powerful.

Natalie shares the story of a custom dashboard they built at Volume 9. Not just some templated reporting tool — but a fully custom platform, designed from the ground up to help clients log in, check results, and truly understand what’s working. We also unpack all the lessons they learned along the way.

We also dig into a pivotal moment back in 2022 — when Natalie and her team made the bold decision to stop being all things to all clients. They simplified, refocused, and doubled down on the problems they solve best.

That clarity helped them build authority in the right niche — and made them a much easier yes for their right-fit prospects.

There’s so much in this episode that you can take and immediately apply — especially if you’ve been feeling stretched too thin.

Natalie’s insights will help you get clear, get focused — and sell more of what you do best.

• How Natalie developed an agency owner’s mindset by “learning how to sell — and how to be valuable” from the beginning
• Why agencies must focus on the shortest path to client results instead of just racking up deliverables
• The candid story behind Volume 9’s $500K dashboard investment
• Why retention isn’t about fancy tech
• The turning point when Volume 9 stopped being everything for everyone — and how they set boundaries for YES and NO

• Website: https://www.v9digital.com/
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/optimization/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/volume-9-inc/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/volume_nine/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/volume9inc
• Volume Nine Resources: https://www.v9digital.com/resources/templates/

I am beyond over the moon excited to have our very special guest expert on this episode of Sell With Authority, Laurie Mikes.

Laurie is the Chief Operating Officer of the Second Wind Agency Network, where she oversees daily operations and works closely with Second Wind’s member agencies. That gives her an incredible pulse on the industry — she truly has her finger on the trends, the challenges, and the opportunities agency owners are navigating right now.

I invited Laurie to the show because of her deep expertise around agency finance, growth, and operations. I was especially eager to have this conversation after reading a blog post Laurie wrote entitled, “Transparency Builds Trust with Clients.”

My Predictive team and I feel the same way.

We recommend that our clients build transparency right into their biz dev processes — teaching and sharing generously right from the onset of a new relationship.

When you do that, you remove friction from the sales process — and make it so much easier for your right-fit prospects to say “yes.”

That’s exactly where Laurie and I focus our time and attention in this episode — how you can build deeper trust with your right-fit prospects and clients.

If you take and apply the insights Laurie shares, you and your team will be better equipped to build trust faster — and that, in turn, will help you sell more of what you do.

• Why transparency is the foundation for building authority and winning trust with right-fit clients
• How to openly share your agency’s process so prospects feel less like targets and more like valued partners
• The #1 mistake agencies make trying to protect their “secret sauce” — and what to do instead
• Why difficult, honest conversations actually get you a seat at the table as a strategic partner — not just a vendor
• Real-world examples of onboarding practices that set the stage for long-term client retention and bigger budgets

• Website: https://www.secondwindonline.com/
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurie-mikes/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/second-wind/
• AGENCY WORKFLOW AND EFFICIENCY

I’m excited to welcome our guest expert to the podcast today, Tim Kilroy.

If this is your first time being introduced to Tim — he’s the Founder of Build Your Agency Better, where he helps agencies fix what’s broken and grow the right way. He’s been in the trenches, he’s led from the front — and he knows his stuff when it comes to agency growth.

I invited Tim to join me today because I wanted to dig into his perspectives around agency biz dev — specifically, I recently read one of Tim’s LinkedIn posts and thought, “Yep — this is right on the money.”

The headline of that post? “5 things to fix that will boost your close rate.”

And that’s exactly what we unpack in this episode. Tim and I break down each of the five — piece by piece — so you can take his insights and apply them directly into your sales process.

I’d like you to keep two questions in mind as we go through Tim’s 5 fixes:

First — are you actually doing all five?

If not — you’ve now got a clear set of action steps to put into practice.

Second — if you are doing them — could you be doing them with deeper excellence, more consistency, and greater impact?

If you take the insights and wisdom Tim shares in this episode and actually apply them — you’ll remove friction from your sales process, you’ll create more momentum with prospects — and you’ll make your agency an easier “yes.”

• Why knowing what problem you’re solving, and for who, makes biz dev so much easier
• Why premature pitching shuts down momentum — and how to keep your sales conversations on track
• The “return on understanding” metric that could transform your discovery process
• How to use your right-fit prospect’s language, pain points, and context to position your agency as an easy yes
• Why clarity around next-steps is essential
• The truth about many agency case studies
• Simple but overlooked shifts that can turn your biz dev into a repeatable, reliable system — no matter what the market is doing

• Website: https://timkilroy.com/
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timkilroy/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/agencygrowthcoach/
• Agency Assessment

Now — more than ever — it’s time to double down on nurturing your leads with excellence, so you can sell more of what you do.

Back in Episode 131 of the podcast my business partner and Predictive’s Chief Strategy Officer, Erik Jensen, dropped some serious wisdom about how uncertainty kills sales.

He laid out how showing up consistently — for your audience, for your right-fit prospects, for your clients — with helpful, relevant content that leans into their biggest business issues — that’s how you remove friction from your sales process.

And when you do that — something pretty amazing happens.

You create hope.

You create certainty.

But maybe you’re thinking — well, that’s great in theory — and we think we know the challenges our prospects are facing — but we’re not 100% sure which ones they actually care about most.

That’s exactly what we dive into today with Erik — to help us go deeper.

Erik walks us through a quick refresher on what we call the Transformation Triangle — it’s one of the best tools we use when helping agencies and B2B businesses get clear on the real value they deliver and the real problems their prospects want solved.

But that’s not all.

We introduce you to a new strategy we call the 7:1 Cadence — a process Erik and Hannah built for collecting the right data, analyzing what’s working, and making smart adjustments to your content and distribution strategy.

The result?

Your prospects gain more certainty. You reduce friction. Your biz dev strategy wins more often.

If you apply the insights and action steps Erik shares, you and your team will remove uncertainty, collect better insights, and create content that actually lands with your right-fit prospects.

• How the Transformational Triangle can sharpen your agency’s focus
• Why specificity creates certainty in your sales process and enhances client trust
• Understanding your clients’ business issues versus tactical ones
• Why the 7:1 Cadence is a game-changer for nurturing leads — and what it can reveal about your audience
• How to refine your strategy using meaningful data and insights for faster, more lucrative decision-making

• Website: www.predictiveroi.com
• Transformational Triangle: www.predictiveroi.com/triangle/
• Visit our newly expanded Resource Library
• Join us in our free How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline Facebook Group
• Erik’s LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-jensen-b9946068/
• Order your free paperback or Kindle copy of our Book: Sell with Authority

Before I introduce you to our special guest expert today, I want to take a moment to share some context I think will tee up today’s topic — and why we wanted to have this conversation.

Right now, 70% of business leaders rank “showing care” as a top priority — but many of them struggle with how to express “care” effectively.

If you’re looking for strategies to make your agency an easy yes for your right-fit prospects — or how to get onto their radar in the first place — crafting a plan to build strategic engagement should be a key part of your mix.

That’s why we’re excited to have Jamie Shibley, CEO of The Expressory, back for this encore interview. We unpack the research findings, explore key insights — and most importantly map out some action steps you can take and apply right away.

I also invited Hannah Roth, our Director of Strategy and resident mad scientist here at Predictive, to join in the conversation. Hannah works in the trenches every day alongside our clients, helping them sell more of what they do.

If you take and apply the insights Jamie shares with us, you will absolutely help your right-fit prospects feel the care you want them to feel, deepen relationships — and sell more of what you do in the process.

• Why only 34% of companies craft a documented engagement strategy — and how you can easily outshine the competition
• The key elements of a successful engagement strategy
• How to implement a documented engagement strategy
• Steps to shift from a transactional mindset to a relational one
• The synergy between personal storytelling and intentional gifting
• Real-world examples of how businesses use strategic engagement to fuel growth

• Website: https://www.theexpressory.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-shibley-76a3402/

Before I introduce you to today’s guest, I want to take a quick moment to share a recap from our recent 2-day Intensive that we hosted for Predictive clients and guests on March 19th and 20th.

If you’re not familiar with our Intensives, three times a year — March, July, and November — we bring our Predictive clients together on Zoom for what we call the “2-day Intensive.” It’s where we pull back the curtain on Predictive’s best strategies and tactics, breaking everything down in full transparency so our clients can take the key insights and install them into their agencies.

This past March, we focused on one critical goal — helping agencies sell more of what they do.

Drew McLellan, CEO of Agency Management Institute, kicked things off on Day 1 with a deep dive into how to build and nurture a thriving community.

On Day 2, Hannah Roth — our Director of Strategy and resident Mad Scientist here at Predictive — absolutely crushed it. She walked us through key components of the sales process — including a technique she calls Align and Prescribe.

That’s exactly why I invited Hannah to join me on today’s episode. We break down Align and Prescribe step by step, so you can see how it works — and most importantly, how you can put it into action inside your agency.

If you take what Hannah shares today and apply it, you and your team will be Aligning and Prescribing like pros and closing more sales in a way that feels natural, confident, and right-fit.

• How to set the stage with confidence and own the conversation
• Recapping your prospective client’s concerns turns potential pitfalls into trust-building moments
• Hannah’s high impact questions that will shorten the sales cycle
• How to leverage storytelling instead of relying solely on facts
• The subtle transitions from help me understand calls to aligning on solutions that resonate deeply with right-fit prospects
• How you can get Hannah’s new eBook on Align and Prescribe

Resources:

• Website: www.predictiveroi.com
• Visit our newly expanded Resource Library
• Join us in our free How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline Facebook Group
• Hannah’s LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-roth-387a6b223/
• Order your free paperback or Kindle copy of our Book: Sell with Authority