076: Ryan Meo on winning clients with hot sauce
In this episode of Working Without Pants, we talk to Ryan Meo of scalesquad.com about hot sauce, outsourcing and how being focused on operations has brought them the success they have today.
Yeah, that’s right, I said hot sauce.
Getting New Clients
Early on, Scale Squad ran a campaign where they sent a bottle of hot sauce to over 1,000 agencies across the U.S. Imagine receiving a big red tube in the mail, opening it up and finding a jar of hot sauce inside.
As you can imagine, this approach peaked the interest of many agencies, and they were willing to give Scale Squad the time of day when they followed up with phone calls letting them know they were behind the hot sauce.
You know I love creative, out-of-the-box approaches to winning new clients, and I got a huge kick out of this story and the results they got from the campaign.
Developing Partnerships
Another avenue Scale Squad has used to get new clients is that of partnerships. As a white-label agency that helps web development agencies scale, they found that teaming up with bigger companies who ended their services right before the web development stage began brought them huge success.
In this episode, Ryan talks about the key things to look for when finding partners.
Do they have a sales force?
Do they have a big market that needs our services?
Are they reaching out to that market in a way that is comparative to what we are doing?
Scaling Operationally
Ryan also attributes a big part of their success to their focus on operations. This has allowed them to increase profit margin and be effective in outsourcing. They made sure to focus on three things as they began.
Figure out what you are going to offer
Figure out what you are not going to offer
Get comfortable saying “no”
By having a very clear picture of what you provide and sticking to it, you can provide a good service at a good price. Margins stay high, because process is systematized. And, teams can work more effectively, because they are clear of expectations.
Ryan is also launching an 8-week course this month helping agencies who are hoping to scale operationally. You can find out more about that at www.scalemyagency.com
I really enjoyed my time talking with Ryan, and I hope you got as much value out of it as I did. And, as always, I hope you are working without pants.
Resources
This episode is sponsored by Outbound Creative & Win Your Dream Clients
Outbound Creative helps agencies and consultancies win their dream clients through eye-catching outreach campaigns. Learn more at OutboundCreative.com
I am currently writing a new book all about winning new clients for your agency. Learn more and sign up to receive a free copy when it launches at WinYourDreamClients.com