Letting Go of Control Without Losing Quality in Your Agency

Aug 29

Dear overworked, overbooked social media manager,

If the one thing that's primarily holding you back from hiring for your agency is giving up control, we've been there!

Your business is your baby, and it's hard to hand the reins over to someone new. "They don't care about it as much as I do," "they are going to mess it up," "they don't know it like I do." I know those thoughts are popping into your head because again, I've been there.

Let me tell you a little story about the first time I hired someone for my business...I was a MONSTER. Kidding, not kidding. I had such a hard time with every new suggestion, idea, and conversation in general. It felt like it was a personal attack against my business baby, and it felt like someone was coming in to change everything I built.

I'll tell you what I should've told myself then: it wasn't a personal attack. Opposition in your business is GREAT! Finding someone who is that little devil and angel on your shoulder is exactly what you need. It's a blessing to get new ideas and to have someone else who cares for your business and wants it to succeed. I know it's hard to let people in, and you might like the way things are going, but a growing and adapting business is a successful one. Be open to ideas and make them feel valued for their opinions and suggestions, because that's the only way you are going to foster more of that in your business.

But let's talk about the other side of that! Does letting people in lessen the quality of your work? How do you ensure that the quality of your work doesn't slip as you grow? It can get challenging to oversee it all as you add new clients, work, and team members. So, how do you keep up the quality? Here's our top three tips:

Letting Go of Control Without Losing Quality in Your Agency

Include yourself in client touchpoints

At our agency, our Founder Jess is included in all major client communication touchpoints from discovery to monthly meetings. This way (1) our potential clients know that the girl on our feed is the girl you actually get (2) the client doesn't feel like they are being "passed off" from one team member to another (3) she gets to know the client through and through and knows every piece of the project.

Find your complementary team

Don't hire your mini-me, we mean it. If you are hiring the right dream team, they will complement the strengths you bring to the table. And this is how you create a well-rounded team that wouldn't let the quality slip. Why? Because we are humans who need to be challenged! That's how we better ourselves, our work, and our companies!

Lean on your tools + processes

Your project management tools and CRM are your gateway to not sleeping on client tasks and making sure your team has ALL the information they need to complete their tasks effectively, plus making client communication seamless. We create a space per client with all parties involved in the project, inside our project management tool, Asana. This way, we are able to have one space where we put client feedback, meeting notes, branding docs, and any other helpful information. Plus, anyone in the project can see comments made, so we all stay informed. As for the processes piece, if you have an SOP of how things are ran in your business, then it's easier for your team to follow! Make sure you are creating structure in your business, not only for you, but for your future team.

So, the next time you're in your head about hiring, consider this our formal letter to you — let go of the reins a bit and amazing things will come.

There's more support where this came from! Join our mentorship for social media managers and find all your answers to each of these points...