MBA2484 7 Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring an Agency

0:08Heyo, welcome to the$100 MBA show, helping you with insights, experiences, and lessons to make your business journey a little bit easier. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher, Omar Zinhome. And in today's lesson, you will learn the seven mistakes to avoid when hiring an agency. Hiring an agency can really help fill a huge gap in your business. Sometimes taking care of a whole department like marketing or sales or recruitment or development or whatever it might be. But what I've found is that a lot of entrepreneurs rush into working with agencies without making sure they're a good fit. You have to understand when you make a bad hire, one hire, one person, if you brought them on your team, it has consequences.

0:51You're wasting time and money and energy, and they can really negatively affect your business. Now, imagine you're hiring an agency with a whole bunch of people that are going to be working on your business and affecting it. The effect is multiplied and the impact, whether it's negative or positive, has a huge effect on your business. So you want to make sure you get it right. I've hired and I've interviewed and worked with literally dozens of agencies over the course of my entrepreneurial career last 20 years. And I want to share with you the mistakes you want to avoid, the seven big mistakes you want to avoid.

1:22Some of the mistakes I just walked right into, and I want you to avoid those mistakes so that you can get the most out of your agreement, out of your relationship with this agency to help propel your business to the next level. Let's get into it. Let's get down to business. Before I get into the first mistake to avoid, I just want to say that in my experience, this is my experience of really speaking to many agencies. I'm talking about probably over 30 agencies I've spoken to and interviewed and worked with. And in my experience, the bar is so low. Okay. Most of them are not great. Most of them are doing the bare minimum, really.

1:59And they might impact your business because before you hired an agency, you probably were doing nothing in that area, whether it's marketing or sales or whatever you're hiring them for. So you feel like, okay, they actually helped me. And that's a good thing. But very few are actually going to do a better job than if you hired people yourself and built a team internally. I think agencies are a great way to really take your business and double, triple, quadruple, 5x your return on investment because they're so talented. You want to find an agency that actually has real world experience in what you're trying to get done and does it better than the other people out there and can do it better than you.

2:39That should be your goal. So let's start with the number one mistake people make when hiring an agency, and that's not understanding your own needs before you start engaging in discussions with agencies. Before you even get on a phone call, reach out with an email, fill out their contact form. It's crucial to have a clear picture of what you want to achieve. What are you trying to get out of this situation? What are you trying to do when hiring this agency? Are you looking for help with marketing, social media, content creation, maybe something specialized like SEO, maybe development? You probably know the general thing you need to help with, but what specifically do you want help with?

3:19Because when you hire an agency, you want to make sure you solve the whole problem that you're trying to solve. Let me give you an example. In the early days of me building our software company, Webinar Ninja, back in 2014, I hired a development agency to give me developers to help develop my software. I didn't do the exercise of trying to understand what exactly do I need. And I just rushed to find some developers that can help me. And they just gave me developers. The problem is that doesn't solve my whole problem. What I really need is somebody to manage these developers as well that has the technical knowledge, like a technical lead, but also a project manager that can liaise between the product department, which was me at the time because we're just starting out, and the developers so they know exactly what our goals are in terms of developing the product.

4:08This is like getting construction workers with no engineer or foreman to lead these construction workers to build what you want to build. So really understand what are you actually trying to accomplish? What people do you need to get this done? Can this agency provide these people or provide this talent? Get very clear. Knowing your needs will help you communicate better with that potential agency when you get on the phone, when you get on a call. And I find that it's a great filter because when I get on the call and I know what I need, I know exactly what I'm looking for and I speak to them about it.

4:42If they're not prepared for that, they're kind of like off guard and they're like, well, we're not really sure. Let me get back to you. I know right offhand that these people are not a good fit. They're not used to dealing with somebody that actually knows what they want and what they're looking for. They're actually used to people just saying, hey, I got this software I want to develop. Can you please develop it? So spend some time really examining what you need from this agency. Another quick example is a lot of people hire agencies to run their paid ads, whether it's on Facebook or Instagram or TikTok, whatever it might be.

5:11What do you actually need? Do you just need somebody to run your ads or do you need somebody to create the ads too. The actual creative, the images, the copy, the videos that you're going to be running. Are you going to be shooting these videos? Are you going to be editing these videos? Are you going to be updating the creatives and the copy every single week when they test a new copy? What exactly do you need? And it's okay if it's a long list, but know what you need. Mistake number two, failing to ask for examples of successes with similar businesses. When you're considering an agency to hire, it's not enough to know they have experience in doing the job.

5:47You need to know if they have relevant experience, experience working with your type of business. Ask for a case study, ask for testimonials, ask for examples of work that they've done for companies in your industry that have worked with the same target market. This is going to give you a sense of their expertise and how they might be able to handle the unique aspects of your business, unique nuances of your target market. Remember, past success is a strong indicator of future performance. Nicole and I, a few months ago, were interviewing a bunch of agencies to work with on the redesign of our new website, which by the way, will be released in the next coming weeks.

6:26But we chose that agency, the agency that we worked with, because they have relevant experience. They worked with other businesses in our market. They understand who we're trying to serve. And therefore, it makes it so much easier for them to meet our needs, to do what we actually expect them to do. Mistake number three, and this is a really small little thing to consider, but it makes a big difference. And that's overlooking time zone consideration. Depending on the work you need to get done, if it's project work, if it's something that's going to maybe be a long-term project, maybe like, let's say a month or two, like a website redesign, then maybe this is not something that is really that important because it's not going to be something that's happening ongoing day after day.

7:10It's a project that's going to finish in a couple of months. It's kind of deep work and they're going to work at it. They're going to send you some updates and then you're going to approve them. And even if you're on the opposite sides of the globe, you know, communication does have to be instant. But if you're hiring an agency that's going to be kind of an arm in your business, like a marketing agency or a development agency that's going to be working with you, you know, ongoing long term, having a lot of gap in time because of time zones is a huge hindrance. It's very hard for you to go back and forth and make quick changes and iterations when there is very little overlap in your time zone and their time zone.

7:48I've run remote teams for the last 20 years. I know how horrible it could be if people are in a very difficult time zone. I once hired a designer, a UX UI designer for our Webinar Ninja software product that was in a very difficult time zone in the UK. Basically, when I finish work, they start work. So it's very hard for us to collaborate together, like on a call to kind of like, hey, I need to make these changes, these fixes. How about we discuss what's best to do when it comes to making this UI? How about we discuss these fixes, these changes and really collaborate, especially when it comes to design in an ongoing product like a software product.

8:25you need to be on the same time zone or at least share the same time zone or working hours, I should say, for most of the day, like four or five hours of the day. But when the time zone is that difficult, what happens is, is that you give comments on the design. They then give you iterations 24 hours later when you're working again, or minimally, you know, 12 or 14 hours later. You then say, no, that's not what I meant. I need to change this or this is what I want. And Something that could have taken maybe a 20-minute phone call or video call, I should say, with sharing screen and solving a problem could take five, six days, which is too long when you're in a competitive market.

9:04Because you need to make these changes and you need to hand them over to whoever needs to implement, like a developer, and make those changes fast. So keep in mind the time zones and the overlap of working hours. Mistake number four, not ensuring the agency understands your audience. You talked a little bit about this, about showing work from the same industry, but I want to go a little deeper. The agency you're going to work with should be able to speak the language of your customers and know what resonates with them. Even if they're not working on front-facing things, like even if you're hiring somebody who's a developer, who's going to develop a piece of software, even if you're going to work with an accountant, right?

9:44I know that sounds strange, but the accountant has to understand, or the bookkeeper needs to understand, what is common practice? What are common expenses that you have in this industry? Who are the people that you're working with and who are your customers so they can understand, oh yeah, that makes total sense, you know, that you'd spend money on that. During those initial discussions with an agency, ask how they plan to approach your target market and what strategies they will use to engage your audience if they're front-facing. If they're not front-facing, like a developer or a bookkeeper, give them some examples of some challenges or things that are bothering you in the current setup of your business and how they would solve it.

10:21Remember, they're coming to solve a problem for you. Make sure they can do it knowing your audience. All right, let's jump right into mistake number five, making sure the budget and value are aligned. A common mistake is not understanding what you'll be paying for and how that fits into your budget. Agencies often offer various like packages or pricing models. Some charge by the hour, other by project. Some might have a retainer fee. Make sure you understand what's included in their pricing and how it aligns with your financial plans. Ask for a detailed breakdown of the costs or what you're paying for, like what's included in all the things that you're paying for.

11:04And in detail, where it's included, up to what point should I expect these types of work to be completed? Do I have unlimited revisions for designs? Do I have unlimited revisions of copywriting? The reason why this is important because a lot of people just think the cheapest option is the best one. No, look for value because you might find that, hey, this agency is providing three or four things I'm already paying for in my business that I can just cut out. I don't have to do that anymore or I don't have to have anybody do that for me. This agency is going to be doing those tasks. So now I'm actually saving money in one area, even though I'm paying this agency.

11:41Mistake number six, misaligned synergy and vibe. This one is a little bit of a feel thing, but it's often overlooked. Your agency that you're going to hire should feel like an extension of your team. You're going to be working closely with them. So it's important that you share the same values and work ethic. Have a conversation about how they work, their communication style, how they handle feedback. You want a great cultural fit. And sometimes you're not going to get this through the interview. You might have to do a small project or maybe just have a trial run of a few weeks to see if they work in your team.

12:16Remember that agency I talked about that we hired to design our new site? When we had our initial discussions, we're like, I love working with this person. This person is really helping us think creatively and push our creative boundaries and develop something great for our new website. After we've worked with them for some time, we're like, how do we work with you again and again and again for the long term, for all our design needs? That's the feeling you should have. And finally, mistake number seven, not maintaining control over your core product. This one is a big one. You want to make sure that if you're hiring out for an agency, that they don't have total control over whatever your core product is.

12:59You have to look at your business. What is your core product? For example, when I ran a software business, Webinar Ninja, the core product is the software itself. The thing that actually gives value to the customers is the actual code, right? The actual program that saves them time, money, energy, makes things easy. There's other things in the business like customer support and sales and marketing, but really the product that's being developed is what people are buying. This podcast is a content business and the core product is the content. I produce the content and I have total control over what is produced.

13:31Now, there's other people that are helping me make sure that this content gets produced, like editors and people that do the marketing for the show and social media and all that kind of stuff. But at the end of the day, the juice, the content is coming from me. So make sure you have full control over the core product if an agency is involved. One of the biggest mistakes I see in SaaS is that people hire agencies and they say, hey, you take care of everything and they have no idea what's happening in their code and their product and they lose control over their business. You need somebody in-house like a CTO or head of engineering that oversees things and can keep them honest.

14:06Same thing goes if you're outsourcing any other part of your core product. You want to retain strategic control and make informed decisions about your product's future without being entirely dependent on an external party like an agency. So to recap, the seven key mistakes to avoid when hiring an agency are number one, not understanding your own needs. Number two, failing to ask for examples of success with similar businesses. Number three, overlooking time zone considerations. Number four, not ensuring the agency understands your audience. Number five, making sure your budget and values align.

14:40Number six, misalign synergy and vibe. And number seven, not maintaining control over your core product. Thanks so much for listening to the 100 LNBA show. If you found today's episode helpful, if you found any of our episodes helpful, the best way to show your love is to follow the show. It's just a subscribe. So whatever podcast app you're using right now, whether it's Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any player, make sure you're following the show. Click that follow button, because by doing that, the algorithm knows that the show is follow worthy and gives us more reach so that we can grow the show with new audience members and reinvest in the show as it gets bigger.

15:17So the more you listen and follow the show, the bigger we grow, the better the show gets. Thanks so much for listening to The$100 MBA Show. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. I have over 20 years of entrepreneurial experience. I've built multiple seven-figure businesses. And one of the hardest lessons I learned along the way is you need to take your time in hiring because the ramifications of a bad hire can be very costly. Hire slow, fire quickly. I've had a hire that cost me over half a million dollars. It's pretty ridiculous. that's what a bad hire can cost you. And I got lucky. I was able to identify it quickly.

15:51It could have cost me a whole lot more. Thanks so much for listening. And I'll check you in the next episode. I'll see you then. Take care.

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