How well do you connect with your clients? Do you know what your clients really need? Do you have a system in place to solve clients' problems? Sometimes we automate things to be more efficient, but we lose connections in the process. Personalization can bring back the human element, make your clients feel valued, and help you get to the heart of what your clients need. In today's episode, we'll cover: Why agency automation needs more personalization. 2 reasons to treat your agency like a client. How systemization can help your agency grow.   Today I sat down for a chat with Anthony Baxter, owner of Firefly, a performance digital marketing agency based out of New Zealand. Anthony started his career in telemarketing sales and has implemented a lot of what he's learned from his past position into how he runs his agency now. He's here to discuss how agencies can benefit from getting back to the human connection. Why Agency Automation Needs More Personalization In an age that's highly digital, it's easy to automate everything. Chatbots can answer questions, email systems can send out automated replies, and CRM's can make it simple to manage clients. So it's easy to ignore the human element. While these tools do make things easier, they often don't take into account what matters the most — your client. Anthony says he's a big fan of picking up the phone and having a conversation. When you have that one-on-one connection, it's easier to understand what your client truly needs. Don't just go all-in with one way to reach out to your clients. It's important to have multiple touchpoints. I suggest using automation to make routine tasks easier but not to replace personal interaction. Have automation but also have personalization. Do your own marketing, but don't be afraid to pick up the phone. By testing and trying out various strategies, you can figure out what approach works best for your clients and your agency. 2 Reasons to Treat Your Agency Like a Client When Anthony first started Firefly, his team spent 50% of their time working on internal projects and creating strategies to help the agency grow. Anthony says, if you're a digital agency, you're good at digital. So why not use your own resources to grow your agency? Firefly has seen two major benefits from this approach: Strong culture: We talk about the importance of agency culture all the time. When you spend time focusing on your internal processes and ways to grow your agency, it shows your team your business is just as important as the ones you are working with. Better leads: Anthony says pain points are one of the fastest motivators for sales. If a prospect has a problem and you can solve it, they're more likely to become a client. When you work on your agency, you'll find it easier to understand your vision, recognize these pain points, and be the fix. How Systemization Can Help Your Agency Grow Anthony says systemization has been the key to growth. In the beginning, he held all the agency knowledge himself which created a bottleneck. But over time he has learned the importance of systemizing processes in everything from operations to fulfillment and even sales. In fact, Firefly's systemized sales process has created efficiencies and sped up their sales cycle. This helps them deliver a predictable result every time. This results in happy clients and an efficient agency team. Change is inevitable. And as agencies, we are competing against talent. So Anthony says we must take our systems and bottle them in order to adapt easier and grow faster. To be a successful agency, you have to figure out what works. A lot of that comes from looking within. When you focus on your process and building those key relationships, you'll find it easier to have the freedom to focus on what you want to do. Looking for a Payroll and HR Solution for your Agency? Payroll and benefits are hard. Especially when you're a small business. Gusto is making payroll, benefits, and HR easy for small busin