Do you find hiring top creative design talent an overwhelming process, especially when relying on polished portfolios that don’t always reveal a candidate’s true abilities?

In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I’m joined by Fletcher Wimbush to discuss actionable strategies for making smarter, more confident hiring decisions. Fletcher is the CEO and founder of Discovered Performance Hiring Software and has dedicated a decade to tackling hiring's hardest problems. As an ethical AI proponent, he's focused on pioneering AI-powered initiatives for talent selection.

Listen in to learn how to assess a candidate’s critical thinking and understand their creative processes during interviews. You will also learn about the hidden opportunity costs of making a bad hire and the power of always building and nurturing a talent bench.

Key Questions:

• [01:43] How can an agency owner dig deeper to truly understand a candidate’s thinking, process, and individual contributions?
• [05:56] How important is it for a candidate to present their design work?
• [13:40] What are the hidden things we don’t often think about in the cost of hiring the wrong person and not being thoughtful in the hiring process?
• [15:55] How do you balance the need to hire quickly when you're behind on projects with the risk of rushing and making a poor hiring decision?

What You’ll Discover:

• [02:00] A step-by-step process to help you assess a candidate's actual work on portfolio pieces and identify if their skills match the job requirements.
• [06:49] How to be patient and help introverted creatives become great communicators and eventually tell their stories.
• [10:23] How to turn trial projects into collaborative experiences where candidates get to meet your team and experience your work culture.
• [14:06] Why the true cost of a bad hire isn't just in money spent, but in lost opportunities, project delays, and unhappy clients.
• [16:52] Why building a talent bench and always recruiting is the key to being ready when opportunity strikes.
• [19:50] Why your hiring process deserves more attention than sales and how investing in your team directly impacts long-term success.
• [21:39] Fletcher’s Fact Driven Hiring course—an eight-hour, 40-module system to help you master hiring and level up your agency's recruitment process.

Get In Touch with Fletcher:

• Website
• LinkedIn

Client onboarding is more than just paperwork—it’s about setting the tone for a lasting partnership. How then do you streamline the process without losing the human touch that makes clients feel valued?

In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I discuss how automation can help streamline the client onboarding process while maintaining a personal touch. I explain the benefits of a positive onboarding experience and how bad onboarding can lead to micromanagement and dissatisfaction.

Don’t miss this episode to learn how consistency in the onboarding process helps identify potential problems and improves the overall client experience!

Key Questions:

• [00:34] Have you considered how automating parts of your client onboarding can save you time while keeping the process personalized?
• [07:18] Do you have a standardized onboarding process in place, or is it something you need to develop?
• [10:23] How could automating repetitive tasks in your client onboarding process help free up your time for more valuable activities?
• [13:49] Are you ensuring that your client onboarding experience is fast enough to reduce buyer’s remorse?
• [18:18] How could you personalize your automated emails to enhance the client experience without compromising efficiency?

What You’ll Discover:

• [01:18] The concept of buyer’s remorse and how a smooth onboarding process can calm client fears.
• [03:51] How a bad onboarding experience can lead to micromanagement and dissatisfaction, which can negatively impact the project.
• [04:52] The benefits of a positive onboarding experience, including reduced anxiety and stronger client trust.
• [07:18] The importance of standardizing the onboarding process before considering automation.
• [10:23] The benefits of automation, including saving time, increasing consistency, and allowing for more strategic focus.
• [12:02] How automation can allow you to manage more clients and boost profitability by streamlining your onboarding process.
• [13:00] How automated emails can set clear expectations for clients, including team introductions and next steps.
• [13:49] The importance of onboarding speed in reducing buyer’s remorse and setting the stage for success.
• [14:33] How even without full automation, templated emails can still provide consistency while adding slight personal customizations.
• [15:17] How sending out effective client questionnaires ensures you’re gathering the right information without overwhelming clients.
• [17:36] Why having standardized onboarding checklists in your project management software ensures a consistent client experience.
• [18:18] How you can inject personal touches into automated systems, like adding client names or specific goals.
• [20:18] The importance of balancing between automation and human connection in client onboarding to avoid an overly robotic experience.
• [21:25] How a balanced, well-automated onboarding experience can foster long-term client success while maintaining a personal connection.

Do you often feel overwhelmed by constant client demands, unpredictable schedules, and the pressure to always be available? Establishing clear boundaries can help you regain control of your time and improve your client relationships.

In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, we discuss how to regain freedom by setting professional boundaries in a respectful, structured way with clients. We explain the importance of clearly defining expectations around scope of work, communication tools, and response times to avoid burnout and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Don’t miss this episode to learn from a cautionary tale that highlights how personal involvement with clients can lead to burnout and strained relationships!

Key Questions:

• [00:40] Are you setting clear boundaries with your clients and how did that improve client relationships?
• [04:57] What specific items should you include and exclude in your scope of work to avoid clients demanding additional, unplanned tasks?
• [13:52] Have you ever found yourself in a situation where a client became entitled to your time, and how did you handle it?
• [20:52] How do you currently set and enforce boundaries with your clients, and what steps can you take today to improve those processes?

What You’ll Discover:

• [01:38] The negative impact of not setting clear boundaries and how clients will take advantage of your availability if boundaries aren't set.
• [03:38] How to define your scope of work and set clear deliverables in your proposal process to avoid overwork.
• [04:57] How to handle additional work requests and communicate additional costs effectively.
• [05:56] The importance of having a structured communication process and avoid the trap of always being available.
• [08:10] The importance of internal communication within your team to ensure consistency with clients and avoid confusion.
• [09:07] How to handle internal expectations of client response times and ensure clarity across all team members.
• [10:35] A success story of an agency that improved their client relationships by setting clear boundaries.
• [12:50] The lasting benefits of setting boundaries, including improved client retention, respect, and profitability.
• [13:52] An inside look at how a client demanded unreasonable time and how it led to the breakdown of the relationship.
• [16:53] How personal involvement with clients can cloud judgment, leading to negative consequences for both parties involved.
• [20:52] The importance of setting clear boundaries early in the relationship and consistently enforcing them.