I am thrilled to have today’s guest expert, Mandi Ellefson, joining this episode of Sell With Authority. Mandi is the creator of the Scale to Freedom Growth Model and helps agency owners refine their offers and attract premium clients willing to pay higher fees.

And she does it fast — within 90 days.

At Hands-Off CEO a large part of Mandi’s work is listening, gathering data, and filtering it through her deep experience to identify the trends that will reshape agency services in the coming years.

And that’s exactly what we’re diving into today.

We are peeling back the layers on trends Mandi and her team are tracking right now — and most importantly — how you can use these insights to position your agency as a must-have strategic partner in 2025.

This conversation explores the significant impact of AI on client expectations, the trend of companies in-housing their work, and the urgent need for agencies to become irreplaceable strategic partners.

2025 is the year for you to step up and own that strategic seat at the table — and sell more of what you do as a result.

• How to harness AI to boost your agency’s strategic expertise
• “Conditions for success” and how identifying them can lead to tenfold client results
• How you can position your agency as an irreplaceable strategic partner
• The impact of “the great in-housing wave” and how the smartest agencies are future-proofing their business models
• Understanding the “strategy execution flip”
• How your operations problems might actually stem from your sales processes and ways to fix that
• Why clients are so desperate for strategic direction now more than ever

Resources:

• Website: https://handsoffceo.com/
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandiellefson/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hands-off-ceo/
• Hands Off CEO: https://book.handsoffceo.com/book-org

I am super excited about the conversation with my special guest joining this episode of Sell with Authority, Brett Gilliland.

Co-Founder and CEO of Elite Entrepreneurs, Brett and his team teach “The Proven Leadership System” to help 7-figure businesses scale to $10 million and beyond.

Before founding Elite Entrepreneurs, Brett spent 10 years helping Keap grow from a 7-figure software company to over $100 million in annual revenue. He’s an expert in leadership, strategy, and organizational development — and he’s helped hundreds of agency owners push past obstacles to hit new levels of success. Brett brings a treasure trove of expertise from his vast experience in leadership, planning, and operational discipline.

Here’s the reality — change is inevitable in business, and the key to thriving lies in being ready and adaptable.

All your work — all your long nights — all your weekends — all the blood, sweat, and tears you and your team are investing toward the goal of growing your shop — may be for naught if you don’t have a leadership plan in place for how you will deal with the challenges that growth presents along the way.

Brett shares how aligning everyone with your core purpose and values provides solid stability — giving your team the resilience and mindset to pivot and grow — no matter what change comes your way.

If you take and apply the insights and wisdom that Brett shares during this episode — you’ll be in the right position to raise the bar of excellence — and sell more of what you do.

• How to create leadership stability amidst chaos and change
• The power of co-creating clarity with your team for collective success
• Strategies to keep your business nimble and effective during adversity
• Understanding the “What by When” mission to anchor your agency’s vision
• How strategic focus can transform resource allocation and impact
• The importance of onboarding in effective team integration

Resources:

• Website: https://growwithelite.com/
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/built2lastchamp/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/elite-entrepreneurs/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/growwithelite/

Before I introduce today’s guest expert, I have an exciting update to share about our upcoming 2-Day Intensive on Wednesday and Thursday, March 19th and 20th on Zoom.

During each Intensive, we bring our clients together for an exclusive event where we slice apart Predictive’s best strategies for helping agencies sell more of what they do.

We break every data set — every experiment we’ve tested through the Predictive Lab — down in full transparency so you can take and apply the key insights into your agency — and move further faster as a result.

Would you like to join us as our free guest on March 19th & 20th?

Here’s the magic — the Intensive is a private, client-only event: no selling, no pitching — just pure value. You’ll be one of us, learning and collaborating with other agency owners.

If that sounds helpful, just shoot me an email with the word “ONWARD,” and I’ll send you all the details, calendar invites, and private Zoom links you’ll need. My email is stephen@predictiveroi.com.

Our March Intensive is all about shaking the trees so you can sell more of what you do — so it’s only fitting that I invited Hannah Roth, our Director of Strategy and resident Mad Scientist here at Predictive, as today’s guest expert. Hannah works with agency owners and their teams daily to raise the bar of excellence.

If you apply the insights and action steps we share in this episode, you’ll get more at-bats with right-fit prospects — and sell more of what you do as a result.

A big dose of gratitude to our presenting sponsor for the podcast, Conduit Digital. By using their expertise in streamlining, upgrading & scaling your clients…they promise to reduce your risk so you can become the best digital agency in your market in 30-days. You can find Conduit and all their helpful insights and smarts here.

• Strategies for shaking the trees the right way
• How to avoid the common mistakes that lead to destructive cycle churn
• Confidence in your offerings prevents desperate selling tactics
• Why sending weekly emails and hosting Q&As can set you apart from the competition
• Keeping core values, goals, and intentions at the forefront can help your agency say yes to the right opportunities — and no to the wrong ones
• Tips on how to transition from a numbers game to a more intentional, strategy-driven approach

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

My Predictive team and I are here to help make 2025 the year you CRUSH your goals — and elevate your agency to new heights.

In this episode of Sell With Authority, we’re diving into a topic that’s essential for scaling your business development efforts. If you’re carrying the full weight of biz dev on your shoulders — it’s time to change that.

At Predictive, we’ve spent years experimenting in our lab, gathering data points, and refining our Sell with Authority methodology—a proven framework to help you sell more of what you do for a higher fee.

That’s where my very special guest expert, Jason Swenk, and I are focusing our time and attention in this encore episode.

Jason is the Founder of Agency Mastery 360, a unique consultancy designed to help marketing agency owners — just like you and me — grow their agencies faster.

You may remember Jason from episode 77 — we first tackled the topic of building a sales team.

Today, we pick up where we left off — digging deeper into designing the right offers, setting up pricing for success, and creating a team structure that works for your agency.

Whether it’s about enrolling more of your team into the business development fold or building out a dedicated sales team to take on some of the heaviest lifting — this episode is for you.

• Why drilling down into your Ideal Client Profile (ICP) is the key to scaling faster
• How to craft and sell a compelling “foot in the door” offer that hooks clients
• Proven strategies for training and empowering a high-performing sales team
• Understanding prospect pain points and how to deliver exceptional value
• Using inbound, outbound, and strategic partnerships to build a robust lead generation system
• Key steps to lighten the sales burden off agency owners for more focus on growth

Resources:

• Website: https://www.agencymastery360.com/
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonswenk/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/agency-mastery/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/jasonswenk
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jswenk/

I am beyond thrilled to welcome our special guest expert to this episode of Sell With Authority, Dia Bondi. If you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Dia yet — let me tell you — you’re in for a treat.

Dia works with senior leaders, founders, and ambitious professionals to help them find their voice — and lead with it. Her work has secured hundreds of millions of dollars in decisions and resources, paving the way for the future of their teams and businesses.

I first experienced Dia’s incredible power from the stage — and I do mean power — at the 2023 Build a Better Agency Summit. Dia didn’t just speak; she commanded. She took us on a journey, crafting every moment of her keynote with precision.

Her storytelling, her ability to connect, and the way she brought us all into her world was absolutely brilliant.

In today’s episode, Dia shares some of her most impactful frameworks for setting up the perfect ask with your right-fit clients and prospects.

Dia helps you take WHAT you say — and HOW you say it — to a whole new level of excellence.

• Why courageous communication leads to the most impactful outcomes
• How to prepare for — and excel in — high-stakes communication moments
• Why understanding your right-fit client’s needs should come before any pitch
• How to leverage storytelling for greater influence
• Why practicing what you preach is non-negotiable for authentic leadership
• How to use strategic asking as a success strategy

Resources:

• Website: https://www.diabondi.com/
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dia-bondi/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dia-bondi/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diabondia/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@diabondi
• Resources for Podcast Listeners: https://www.diabondi.com/swa
• Ask Like An Auctioneer: https://www.diabondi.com/book

Today we’re kicking off 2025 with a special solocast of Sell With Authority designed just for you — agency owners striving to elevate your business and maximize your revenue.

In this episode, I share an inspiring story that’s all about grit, perseverance, and relentless focus. It’s the incredible journey of Sylvester Stallone — yes, the legendary Rocky and Rambo — who overcame staggering setbacks and rejection to become one of Hollywood’s most iconic figures.

Stallone’s story is a masterclass in following one course until success, or “F.O.C.U.S.” — a philosophy championed by John Lee Dumas on the Entrepreneurs on Fire podcast.

From enduring over 1,500 rejections to navigating immense personal hardship, Stallone’s unwavering commitment to his vision is a powerful reminder of what’s possible when you refuse to give up.

Relentless F.O.C.U.S. and dogged determination can turn dreams into reality.

Whether 2024 has been triumphant or tough for your agency — this episode offers a dose of inspiration and practical insights to make 2025 your best year yet!

What you will learn in this episode:

• Follow one course until success — F.O.C.U.S.
• How one of Hollywood’s most successful actors of all time overcame over 1,500 rejections to become an icon
• You can transform rejection and adversity into fuel for your dreams
• Why changing your approach could be crucial to finding success
• How mindset and perseverance can set you apart from your competitors

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

I am super excited about this very special episode of Sell with Authority — because we’ve got something extra special for you.

We invited Susan Baier — the Founder and CEO of Audience Audit and our brilliant research partner here at Predictive ROI — back for a rock-solid encore interview.

When we go into the field to uncover the golden nuggets of insight that we turn around and share with you, it’s Susan and her incredible team — alongside our very own Hannah Roth, Predictive’s Director of Strategy and resident Mad Scientist — who are doing all of the digging and heavy lifting to make that happen.

Susan joins Hannah and I today to peel back the layers on a timely topic — the growing demand for agencies to provide specific metrics and results to their clients.

At Predictive, we firmly believe — just like Susan does — that everything is measurable. But — sometimes, you and your team need to think outside the box to uncover the story behind the data. And that’s exactly what we explore in today’s conversation.

Susan shares recommendations for some unique and creative ways agencies can measure the metrics that matter.

• How the increasing client demand for visible data over the last decade has affected agencies
• The challenges in providing the metrics that matter and how to overcome them
• Why strategic partners can offer the guidance you need in measuring the most meaningful data points
• Why asking the right questions is the Golden Ticket
• How to leverage AI in making data analysis more efficient and cost-effective

Resources:

• Website: https://audienceaudit.com/
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanbaieraz/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/audience-audit-inc./
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AudienceAudit/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/susanbaier

This episode of Sell With Authority just might make you rethink everything you know about pricing.

For today’s show, we invited Casey Brown to join us. She’s the Founder of Boost Pricing and proudly calls herself a “Pricing Geek.”

Casey was also one of the phenomenal keynote speakers at this year’s Build a Better Agency Summit. Hannah Roth and I were sitting front and center for her talk, and when Casey finished, we looked at each other and said, “Wow. Casey is brilliant—we have to get her on the podcast.”

And Holy Bananas — she said yes!

Our conversation today helps demystify pricing once and for all. Casey’s here to arm you with new strategies and tactics so you can confidently price your agency’s services and increase your profits.

• How fear can dictate your pricing decisions — and how you can avoid letting it
• The significance of the acronym W.A.I.T. (Why Am I Talking?) in pricing conversations
• Framing strategies when introducing charges to clients to ensure they grasp the value
• Identifying services/products as “gasoline” or “hot sauce” to find the hidden value-laden items in your offering
• The mindset shift needed for agency owners to command higher prices confidently

Resources:

• Website: https://boostpricing.com/
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseybrownboost/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boostpricing/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/pricingcasey
• Fearless Pricing: Ignite Your Team, Own Your Value, and Command What You Deserve