In this episode, I sat down with Innovative Agency, everybody. @Sharon Toerek , from Innovative Agency podcast, and talk about what’s really changed in agency business development—and what hasn’t. We get into why 2025 is the year agencies must get honest about their positioning, how trust—not information—is the currency that matters, and why specialization isn’t just smart—it’s survival.
⏱️ Timestamps
0:00 – Welcome & intro: why the agency landscape feels confusing in 2025
2:10 – The “trust recession” and why agencies are more anxious than ever
5:00 – Why information is cheap, but credibility is expensive
6:30 – Specialization as a foundational sales lever (not a niche gimmick)
9:45 – The fear that holds most agencies back from focus
12:00 – What blows up deals when you don’t specialize
13:30 – Why “show, don’t tell” beats overhyped ROI claims
15:00 – Thought leadership as a low-friction door opener
17:30 – How to start thought leadership based on your ICP (not your ego)
19:00 – Should the founder always be the face of the content?
21:30 – The balance between new client sales and organic growth
23:00 – Dan’s “Trust Matrix” for prioritizing outbound
24:30 – Systematizing referrals (without getting weird)
26:00 – The three “food groups” of agency sales
28:00 – Why most agencies over-engineer outbound—and under-deliver
29:30 – What surprised Dan about agency sales over the last few years
31:00 – What the smart agency owners are doing differently
32:00 – Where AI is helping, and where it’s just shiny object syndrome
34:00 – Why more agencies will look like consultancies in the near future
35:00 – Where to go to learn more about Dan’s model
🔑 What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- Why we’re in a “trust recession”—and how it’s silently killing cold outreach
- How to develop perspective and not just “thought leadership”
- Why specialization isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s how you earn belief
- The practical way to turn your network into a referral engine
- The three-part system Dan recommends for reliable agency growth
- Who should own sales and content when you’re a small agency (and what to do if it’s you)
- Why agencies that skip perspective end up sounding like everyone else
- The difference between old-school hustle and smart outbound today
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