In this episode, we sit down with Robert Patin — agency advisor and growth strategist who’s helped firms scale by 800%+ — to unpack where real agency growth actually comes from (and why chasing new logos is usually the slowest, riskiest path).

Robert has helped agencies fire up to $2M worth of misaligned clients, not because they weren’t big enough, but because they were quietly killing profitability, morale, and momentum.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• The early warning signs that a client is misaligned

• Why clients who nickel-and-dime upfront are the most expensive later

• How to calculate effective bill rate per client (and why it’s eye-opening)

• Why your lowest-paying clients often drain the most energy

• How one agency discovered they were losing $4 per hour on a “top” client

• When firing a client is the most profitable decision you can make

• How to set and communicate boundaries without damaging relationships

• Why retention — not acquisition — drives 70%+ of agency growth

• How a 5% increase in retention can unlock massive revenue upside

• The simple framework for quarterly business reviews that surface expansion

• How to turn one-off projects into 3–4 year retainers

• Why agencies already have the clients they need to hit their next revenue milestone

• How a single outreach email uncovered $1–2M in revenue in 90 days

• Why value articulation — not more work — keeps clients longer

If you’re an agency owner, founder, or operator who feels stuck on the growth treadmill — selling more just to stand still — this episode shows you how to stabilize revenue, increase profitability, and grow without burning out.

👉 Hit play to learn how the fastest way to grow your agency might be doing less — with the right clients.

CONNECT WITH ROBERT PATIN

💼 LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/creative-agency-success/

CONNECT WITH US

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vendasta/

X: https://x.com/vendasta

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vendasta/

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode 💜

💬 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast

🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/show/0KWXAOn

About Vendasta

Vendasta is an AI-powered customer acquisition and engagement platform that helps businesses get more customers—and keep them. Our platform unifies fragmented tools across marketing, sales, and operations, and uses AI assistants plus proprietary SMB data to automate busywork, streamline workflows, and amplify the humans on your team.

We help digital agencies, franchisors, and MSPs scale profitably, deliver better outcomes for local businesses, and grow long-term revenue with less manual effort.

👉 Transform Your Agency with Vendasta – Book a Demo

https://www.vendasta.com/request-demo/

In this episode, we sit down with Dajana Achelpohl — former Google and PayPal leader, founder of AI Changemaker, and one of the most trusted voices in human-first AI adoption — to unpack the real reasons AI initiatives stall inside organizations.

If your company has:

• Rolled out AI tools that barely get touched

• A small group of power users and a large group of skeptics

• Teams quietly using their own AI tools behind the scenes

• Leaders saying “we need to do AI” without a clear outcome

This conversation will fundamentally change how you think about AI adoption.

• Why most AI rollouts fail after launch — not before

• The hidden danger of “silent non-use” and fake adoption metrics

• Why fear of job loss leads teams to actively sabotage AI

• What “Shadow AI” is — and why it’s already inside your organization

• How to align non-technical teams around AI without overwhelming them

• Dajana’s AI Building Blocks Framework for practical adoption

• Why small, boring wins beat ambitious AI moonshots

• How to create guardrails that enable innovation instead of blocking it

• What an AI Team Charter is — and why it works better than policy docs

• Why AI adoption only succeeds when teams co-create the rules

• How agencies and service-based businesses are uniquely positioned to win with AI

AI adoption barriers

Silent non-use of AI tools

Shadow AI risks

Human-first AI strategy

AI change management

AI literacy for non-technical teams

AI guardrails and governance

AI ethics and data security

AI team charters

Bottom-up vs top-down AI adoption

AI in agencies and service businesses

Agentic AI and workflows

AI implementation frameworks

Practical AI use cases

AI culture and trust

From AI hype to real value

If you’re a CMO, agency leader, founder, or operator who’s frustrated by low AI adoption, unclear strategy, or teams that feel anxious instead of empowered — this episode gives you a practical, human-centered path forward.

👉 Hit play to learn how to turn AI from a mandate into momentum.

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dajana-achelpohl/

🌐 https://www.aichangemaker.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vendasta/

X: https://x.com/vendasta

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vendasta/

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode 💜

💬 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast

🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/show/0KWXAOn

ABOUT VENDASTA

Vendasta is an AI-powered customer acquisition and engagement platform that helps businesses get more customers—and keep them. Our platform unifies fragmented tools across marketing, sales, and operations, and uses AI assistants plus proprietary SMB data to automate busywork, streamline workflows, and amplify the humans on your team.

We help digital agencies, franchisors, and MSPs scale profitably, deliver better outcomes for local businesses, and grow long-term revenue with less manual effort.

👉 Transform Your Agency with Vendasta – Book a Demo

https://www.vendasta.com/request-demo/

Your Martech stack isn’t broken — your mental model is.

In this episode, we sit down with Scott Brinker, Godfather of Martech, editor of Chief Marketing Technologist and VP of Platform Ecosystem at HubSpot, to unpack a reality most marketers miss:

The Martech explosion isn’t chaos — it’s the early stage of an AI-orchestrated system that’s about to collapse thousands of tools into workflows.

If you’re feeling crushed by:

An exploding Martech landscape, AI tools launching daily, integration hell, unused software, and pressure to “simplify”… this episode flips the narrative and shows why the winners won’t have fewer tools, they’ll have better orchestration.

Why the Martech Landscape Keeps Growing (and Why That’s Not the Real Problem)

The Shift From Tool Accumulation to Stack Orchestration

How AI Is Changing the Role of Marketers — Not Replacing Them

Why Integration Matters More Than Ever in an AI-Driven World

The Hidden Cost of Unused Software and Fragmented Data

How Smart Teams Are Simplifying Without Losing Capability

Where Agencies Can Create Massive Value as AI Integrators

What “Composable Martech” Really Means (Without the Buzzwords)

Martech landscape explained

AI in marketing operations

Marketing automation vs. orchestration

Composable Martech stacks

Platform ecosystems and integrations

AI agents and copilots in marketing

Tool sprawl and software waste

Operational efficiency in marketing teams

Future of Martech and AI

Marketing technology strategy for agencies

Data fragmentation and system silos

Human-in-the-loop AI workflows

How agencies can monetize AI implementation

The evolving role of the CMO

From execution to orchestration in marketing

If you’re a CMO, agency leader, or marketing operator struggling with an overcomplicated stack, unclear AI strategy, and tools that promise everything but deliver little — this episode will help you rethink Martech as a system, not a shopping list.

👉 Hit play to learn how to simplify your stack, use AI intelligently, and turn Martech complexity into a competitive advantage.

💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjbrinker/

🌐 https://chiefmartec.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vendasta/

X: https://x.com/vendasta

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vendasta/

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast… 💜

💬 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast

...

🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/show/0KWXAOn

...

ABOUT VENDASTA

Vendasta is an AI-powered customer acquisition and engagement platform that helps businesses get more customers—and keep them. Our platform unifies fragmented tools across marketing, sales, and operations, and uses AI assistants plus proprietary SMB data to automate busywork, streamline workflows, and amplify the humans on your team.

We help digital agencies, franchisors, and MSPs scale profitably, deliver better outcomes for local businesses, and grow long-term revenue with less manual effort.

👉 Transform Your Agency with Vendasta – Book a Demo

https://www.vendasta.com/request-demo/