December is always an interesting time of year in agency life. Clients are having budget conversations, team members are taking holiday vacations, and we’re all trying to wrap up various projects and deliverables before the end of the year. While the same can’t be said for our PPC counterparts, in the SEO realm, this can also be the slowest time of year. Clients are also taking vacations, or focused on delivering their own projects before the end of the year, so they might not be giving their vendors the normal amount of attention (which is completely understandable). I always like to take some of this time to reflect on the past year and think about what we can tweak and/or implement to make the business even better next year. Think of it as a New Year’s resolution of sorts – here are some ways we’re setting up UpBuild for success in 2019. [Read more…] about New Year’s Resolutions: Setting Up Your Agency for Success in 2019
Operations
Client Discovery at UpBuild
What Does Client Discovery Mean?
Client Discovery (more affectionately known as The Client Disco) is how we refer to Sales at UpBuild. We choose to call it a ‘discovery’ because our goal in communicating with prospects is to find out whether we’re going to have a mutual fit, rather than one-sidedly pushing our services no matter the situation, needs, or joint capabilities.
The Discovery
During our initial 30-minute discovery call, we ask a number of questions that allow us to better gauge whether an engagement will be successful and identify any roadblocks to see if there’s a way around them or if they could be potential deal breakers.
We also like to use this time to learn more about the organization itself, so that we can take that information and distill it for the rest of the UpBuild team for our client vote.
How We Make A 4-Day Work Week Work
There’s been a lot of conversation over the past few years about the four-day work week, and it’s not lacking controversy. A recent survey by The Workforce Institute revealed that while 72% of employees are in favor of a four-day work week, 37% also said they can’t finish their tasks even when they have a five-day work week. Treehouse, a technical education platform, received a ton of coverage in 2015 when they implemented a 32-hour work week; however, they rolled the program back one year later, citing a sharp decline in work ethic.
This begs the question: is a four-day work week realistic, especially in an industry where client needs often require tight turnaround times and undelayed communication?
We say yes…with a few caveats. [Read more…] about How We Make A 4-Day Work Week Work
Hiring at UpBuild: Making the First Try Count
According to Zenefits, the cost of hiring the wrong person can be anywhere from $6,000 – $15,000. Other sources peg it at a whopping $240,000. Not only is their salary a sunk cost, but you have to include the time spent by other team members hiring and training that person and their replacement. You also have to consider intangible costs like lower morale and overworked team members. It’s important to get hiring right the first time, and with that comes an intensive hiring process. Let me take you through ours. [Read more…] about Hiring at UpBuild: Making the First Try Count
Why We Don’t Do Performance-Based Compensation
Since most of our engagements are pretty heavily tailored to our clients’ needs, we don’t really have a “standard engagement” at UpBuild; while there may be similarities, each of our proposals is unique. There are a ton of things we can do for our clients; there are also a few things we absolutely won’t do.
Of the items on our “Non-Negotiables” page, the one I’ve heard the most prospective clients push back or express surprise about is our policy against entering into pay-per-performance contracts for any reason. In the spirit of Transparency (one of our dearly-held company values), let’s talk a little bit about why we don’t do that. [Read more…] about Why We Don’t Do Performance-Based Compensation
