Melissa Morris is the Founder of Agency Authority, an operations consultancy specializing in helping agency owners improve efficiency, streamline processes, and increase profitability. With over a decade of agency experience, Melissa has worked with high-profile clients and honed her expertise in scaling businesses, client management, and operational strategies. She is passionate about helping agency owners grow their firms while maintaining a balanced lifestyle, leveraging her deep understanding of workflow optimization. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Melissa’s unique approach to enhancing agency operations and fostering client relationships makes her a sought-after expert in the industry.
Here’s a Glimpse of What You’ll Hear:
- [02:27] Melissa Morris’ childhood dream of being a server and how it influenced her career perspective
- [05:00] Lessons Melissa learned from her early sales career at Yellow Pages
- [08:07] How persistence and follow-up helped Melissa break into the agency world
- [10:15] Why understanding human behavior is crucial in advertising and client management
- [11:47] Transitioning from quick sales to long-term client relationships
- [14:35] The importance of asking clients for feedback regularly
- [17:01] Automated surveys or emails vs. one-on-one interviews: Which is better?
- [20:30] Handling client feedback: When to implement changes and when to stick to your process
- [24:39] Melissa’s transition from agency employee to business owner after becoming a mother
- [27:31] Streamlining processes and increasing profitability in agencies
- [30:07] How agency owners can leverage AI for efficiency while maintaining human connection
In this episode…
Many agency owners struggle to balance efficiency and growth while maintaining a sustainable work-life balance. They often find themselves overwhelmed by client demands, inefficient processes, and the constant pressure to secure new business. How can you successfully manage agency operations while ensuring profitability and client satisfaction?
Melissa Morris, a seasoned expert in the agency world, offers practical solutions to these challenges. Leveraging over a decade of experience, Melissa transformed her understanding of the agency world into actionable strategies that any agency owner can implement. She emphasizes the importance of building long-term client relationships, regularly checking in with clients for feedback, and creating processes that streamline operations. Melissa also encourages agency owners to focus on expanding existing client accounts instead of only chasing new ones, and she highlights the value of using tools like automated surveys and workflows to improve communication and service delivery.
Tune in to this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast as John Corcoran interviews Melissa Morris, Founder of Agency Authority, about refining agency operations and fostering client connections. They discuss how persistence helped Melissa break into the agency world, actionable strategies to maintain strong client relationships, the role of automation in agency operations, and the importance of regularly seeking client feedback.
Resources Mentioned In This Episode
Related episode(s):
- “Carl Smith | Pivoting from Digital Agency to Building a Community of Digital Leaders”
- “Mastering Agency Growth in an Age of AI and Disruption With Jason Swenk”
- “David C. Baker | The Business of Expertise: How Entrepreneurial Firms & Agencies Can Grow Today”
Quotable Moments:
- “It felt like these people had some degree of control over their income.”
- “Persistence and follow-up are still great sales advice to this day.”
- “It is easier to keep and grow your current clients than find new ones.”
- “We don’t have to fix everything, and you need to use your judgment.”
- “Lean into AI where it makes sense, but also see where you shine as a human.”
Action Steps:
- Prioritize open and honest communication with clients: Encourages trust and allows for early identification and resolution of potential issues.
- Assess client satisfaction regularly through surveys and direct inquiries: Helps improve services by understanding client perspectives and adjusting accordingly.
- Explore opportunities to expand services for existing clients: Increases revenue potential without the cost of new customer acquisition.
- Embrace technological advancements, including AI, without losing the personal touch in customer service: Balances efficiency with the need for human interaction, which can be critical in problem-solving.
- Reflect on your business’s scalability and flexibility to accommodate life changes: Helps establish a business model that aligns with personal goals and life circumstances.
Sponsor: Rise25
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We’ll distribute each episode across more than 11 unique channels, including iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We’ll also create a copy for each episode and promote your show across social media.
Cofounders Dr. Jeremy Weisz and John Corcoran credit podcasting as being the best thing they have ever done for their businesses. Podcasting connected them with the founders/CEOs of P90x, Atari, Einstein Bagels, Mattel, Rx Bars, YPO, EO, Lending Tree, Freshdesk, and many more.
The relationships you form through podcasting run deep. Jeremy and John became business partners through podcasting. They have even gone on family vacations and attended weddings of guests who have been on the podcast.
Podcast production has a lot of moving parts and is a big commitment on our end; we only want to work with people who are committed to their business and to cultivating amazing relationships.
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Rise25 Cofounders, Dr. Jeremy Weisz and John Corcoran, have been podcasting and advising about podcasting since 2008.
Episode Transcript
John Corcoran: 00:00
All right. Today we’re talking about how agency owners can operate more efficiently while maintaining a lifestyle balance and have that kind of freedom and flexibility that we all crave. My guest today is Melissa Morris. She is from a company called Agency Authority, and I’ll tell you more about her in a moment. So stay tuned.
Intro: 00:19
Welcome to the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, where we feature top entrepreneurs, business leaders, and thought leaders and ask them how they built key relationships to get where they are today. Now let’s get started with the show.
John Corcoran: 00:36
All right. Welcome, everyone. John Corcoran here. I’m the host of the show. And you know, if you’ve listened to this episode before, listen to this podcast.
Before that. Each week I feature smart CEOs, founders and entrepreneurs of all kinds of companies and agencies. We’ve had let’s see, Netflix, Grubhub, Redfin, gusto, Kinko’s, IPO, EO, Activision Blizzard. Go check out the archives. You can see some of those episodes there.
We’ve also had lots of different digital agency experts on the show Carl Smith, Jason Swenk, David C Baker, Roger Hurney. You can check out those in the archives as well. And that’s why I’m really excited to talk with our guest here today. But before we get to that, of course, this episode is brought to you by Rise25, which is our company where we help B2B businesses to get clients referrals and strategic partnerships with done for you podcast and content marketing. And you can learn more about what we do in our new tool called podcast Copilot at our website, which is rise25.com.
All right. Excited to have you here today, Melissa Morris. You are the founder of Agency Authority. It’s an operations consultancy for agency owners. You have over a decade of experience in the agency world, you know, worked in a bunch of different roles in different agencies and ended up going out on your own and helping agency owners.
So we’re going to talk about that. You’re based out of Jacksonville, Florida. And Melissa, I love starting off by getting to know our guests a little bit more on a personal level and you, like many little girls aspired, dreamed that one day you could achieve a point where you could be waiting on tables. I’m joking a little bit because you actually said that. And I waited tables.
Not the most glamorous thing that you can do. Lots of barbecue stains, I think. Still on my forearms from that many years ago. But why was that? Why were you like that?
Your aspiration is to wait tables.
Melissa Morris: 02:27
I know, right? Give me all the dirty dishes, the messy apron. I’m here for all of it. Yeah. No, it was funny.
What was really appealing to me is it felt like these people had some degree of control over their income. And I know that’s not 100% true. And I know the servers out there will tell you. Well, people stiff you and this and that. But, you know, as young spirited Melissa, I’m looking and thinking, gosh, if I work hard and I do a good job and I serve extra tables and I give a smile and I do the orders and fill the drinks.
I’ll get more money. And there was something really powerful about that idea that I could really be in charge quite directly of my income, which I didn’t feel like was so much the case where you go and, you know, you make X number of dollars to fold t-shirts at the gap or whatever the alternative may be. So it was very appealing to me at a very young age. Problem was no one would hire me, no one would let me wait tables and I don’t know. It is.
John Corcoran: 03:28
It is one of the hardest things to break into. The only reason I broke into it is first I was a delivery driver at this barbecue ribs restaurant. Then I worked my way up to cashier in the delivery driver area, and then only after I’d been there for like a year. Then they were willing to train me to be a server, but it’s hard to get in there.
Melissa Morris: 03:46
Yeah it is, and I was living in the panhandle of Florida near Destin and Fort Walton Beach. So tourism was very, very important. And there were these peak seasons. So some kid who’s got no experience, they were not interested. They’re like, I need somebody who’s invested.
I’m like, no, you don’t understand. I will do a great job. I will serve some chicken wings. I can do this. And they were like, no.
John Corcoran: 04:11
Yeah, yeah. It’s funny you mentioned folding t shirts at the gap because one of my first jobs after college was folding t shirts at Abercrombie and Fitch. And you’re right that you. There’s not. It’s not like you can work your butt off and you’re going to make more money on that particular shift.
You might get promoted, I guess, but you’re not making more money on that shift, which can happen if you, you know, deliver service with a smile as a server.
Melissa Morris: 04:34
Yeah, exactly.
John Corcoran: 04:34
And so you eventually became a server.
Melissa Morris: 04:38
No no no.
John Corcoran: 04:39
Never never.
Melissa Morris: 04:40
Never break.
Melissa Morris: 04:41
In. Well, it’s not too late.
John Corcoran: 04:42
It’s not too.
Melissa Morris: 04:43
Late. It’s a dare to dream, right? Dare to dream. Yeah.
John Corcoran: 04:45
I’m sorry you never achieved your dream. But you did achieve the dream of working at the Yellow Pages. Which for all the young people watching this on TikTok or whatever. What were the Yellow Pages? Explain what that is.
Melissa Morris: 04:59
Yeah, the Yellow Pages. It was this big book, and it had all the businesses in the area listed, even residents, and it had their phone numbers and their addresses. And so when you needed to call up an auto repair shop or a salon, you whipped through that book and you looked up their number and you gave them a call.
John Corcoran: 05:19
It’s funny, like, I literally explained this to my kids recently and they’re like, why? Why did they do a book? It’s like, because we didn’t have the internet back then.
Melissa Morris: 05:25
There was no internet. Yeah, I know, I know. Just baffled.
Melissa Morris: 05:29
And so it was my job to literally walk down the street and walk into every business I found and ask them to buy an ad to put into this phone book. What did you do?
John Corcoran: 05:42
Learn? I love to talk to people that had to do some form of door to door. What did you learn from that experience of having to go cold into these businesses?
Melissa Morris: 05:51
It was brutal. It was really brutal. So you definitely had to learn to not take it personal, which is very, very hard, but learn not to take it personal. Persistence. There were times where I’d walk in and they’d say no, and I’d walk in a couple weeks later and they’d say, let’s talk.
And I was like, wait, what? Last week you were kicking me out the door. Yeah. Today you’re ready to talk. Follow up, which I know is still great sales advice to this day.
Follow up. Follow up. Follow up. So lots, lots of good lessons learned. But it was hard.
I’m definitely old enough where I could be out selling yellow pages. But I’m young enough where people were like, why are you selling me still?
Melissa Morris: 06:38
Like, you.
John Corcoran: 06:39
Should have been doing something else or like at the time you were doing it. Like, why is this?
Melissa Morris: 06:43
At the time? It’s when that was really starting to decline. It was.
John Corcoran: 06:47
How long did you do it for?
Melissa Morris: 06:49
Gosh, I think I made it in a year and a half.
John Corcoran: 06:51
Wow. And were you door to door that whole time?
Melissa Morris: 06:54
The whole. And I was 100% commission.
John Corcoran: 06:57
Wow. Wow.
Melissa Morris: 06:58
I had no salary. It was just a commission.
John Corcoran: 07:00
So how did you like that? Because you said that’s what attracted you to the idea of waiting tables. How did you like being 100% commission?
Melissa Morris: 07:08
I can tell you, despite being a brand new sales rep, new into the area I landed, I ended fourth in new sales. My first like, wow, fourth in new sales. Because what’s interesting is I’m not even necessarily super motivated by money. I know lots of people. You dangle a bonus or and this is why I wouldn’t have been successful long term in a situation like that.
But I liked knowing if I work hard and I show up and I do a good job, my bank account will reflect that. Yeah. And if I cut out and I, you know, mess around for a few days and I get lazy. My bank account reflects that. Yeah.
And it’s up to me to decide.
John Corcoran: 07:52
Yeah. So what did you bring you? You end up going into the world of agencies. And he worked at a number of different boutique agencies. What did you bring from that experience to the world of agencies?
Melissa Morris: 08:06
Yeah, the Yellow Pages was actually how I got my foot in the door at agencies, because when I would go into these businesses and they had an agency or a firm representing them, they would pass me to the agency. So I actually started building rapport with one of these boutique agencies in town. And with just persistence and follow up, I’d ask them, hey, because I wanted to be an agency like that was my goal. But they were really hard to get into. Especially since I was in a smaller market, brand new, right, fresh out of college.
And so I would meet with them every time. Hey, are you guys hiring? No.
Melissa Morris: 08:44
Okay. And then a.
Melissa Morris: 08:45
Few months later, guys hired anybody. Anything coming up? No. And that persistence that I learned in one day, I asked, are you guys hiring? He goes, actually we are.
I think they’re wrapping up interviews in the next day or two, though. Like, can you get over here? If you can come over here, I’ll let them know. Throw your name in the hat. And I did like I think I drove virtually straight there.
Well, swung by the apartment, picked up my resume. Drove there. Turned it in. Had an interview, I think the next day. And within a week I was hired by the agency.
John Corcoran: 09:21
And what attracted you to the world of agencies other than. I don’t want to go door to door and all my shoes are wearing out, you know, anymore. Was that what it was? It was or was it something, you know, similar to what attracted you to the idea of, you know, unlimited upside potential? Is that what attracted you to it or.
no?
Melissa Morris: 09:43
That’s a really interesting question. So I did get my degree from UF in advertising and I really liked it. It’s really strange. I’ve always really liked commercials. I, I’m sounding very weird on this podcast.
Like she wanted to be a server. She only watched TV for the commercials.
Melissa Morris: 10:01
So people do.
John Corcoran: 10:02
When I was growing up, my brother was crazy about infomercials. He would watch these long form infomercials and it was, you know, he didn’t even though he doesn’t work in advertising now, but he, you know, it was funny. He just really liked it.
Melissa Morris: 10:15
I would too, I remember this one. It would come on when I was quite young as a kid and it was for Motown. Motown is my guilty pleasure. Oh, and it was one of these.
John Corcoran: 10:24
Like a CD set.
Melissa Morris: 10:25
Yeah, like one of these pledge a thon type of things where if you like pledge so much, you’ll get this whole box set of all of these, like Motown. Yeah, I guess it was CDs or whatever. And I remember trying to convince my mom, I’m like, mom, I need these CDs.
Melissa Morris: 10:37
$70 or whatever. Yeah.
Melissa Morris: 10:39
She’s like, we.
Melissa Morris: 10:39
Cannot.
Melissa Morris: 10:40
No.
Melissa Morris: 10:40
Like, turn this off.