What actually drives agency growth when pipelines are noisy, buyers are skeptical, and everyone sounds the same?
In this episode, Dan Englander sits down with Alex Marshall, a longtime agency growth leader with two decades of experience across holding companies and independents, to unpack what really moves the needle. They explore why trust and relevance matter more than tactics, how storytelling shows up late in the sales cycle, and why relationships compound over time even when results aren’t immediate.
This is a grounded conversation about growth as a discipline, not a hack.
🧠What You’ll Learn
The real differences between growth at holding companies vs independents
Why agency specialization can both help and hurt sales
How storytelling works after the first sales call
Why “just checking in” emails fail
What actually reactivates dormant or boomerang clients
How to stay relevant to skeptical CMOs
Why relationship-building beats short-term metrics
How agencies should think about referrals and alliances
