#56: Strategy Over Tactics: Building Trust and Culture in Agencies
Most agency owners don’t fail because they lack tactics.
They fail because they execute tactics without trust, focus, and strategy.
I see this pattern constantly working with agency owners under $3M ARR. The team is busy. Clients are asking for things. Deliverables are shipping. But the business itself feels fragile. Profitability is inconsistent. Growth is reactive instead of intentional.
In a recent conversation with Andrei Stoica, founder of Stoica, we unpacked why this happens and what actually creates durable agency growth.
What stood out wasn’t a clever funnel or a shiny AI workflow. It was a mindset shift most agencies avoid until they’re forced into it.
The Hidden Advantage of Relationship-First Client Acquisition
Stoica didn’t grow through aggressive outbound or polished sales scripts. Early growth came almost entirely from relationships and referrals.
Andrei described giving value away freely editing a logo for a stranger in a HubSpot community, sharing templates, helping without expectation. Those small acts created trust at scale.
This matters because client acquisition isn’t just about leads. It’s about lowering the trust barrier.
For agencies operating outside North America or even just outside a prospect’s comfort zone, there’s an invisible trust debt. You pay it down by:
Demonstrating expertise before selling
Showing how you think, not just what you do
Letting others vouch for you through referrals
The result? Higher conversion rates, better clients, and longer relationships.
This is agency scaling through credibility, not pressure.
Why Focus Beats Being “Full-Service” Every Time
One of the most damaging beliefs in agency growth is:
“We need to offer more to grow.”
In reality, the opposite is true.
Most agencies struggle because they try to do too many things with too few people:
Paid ads
Websites
Branding
Social media
Strategy
All under one roof.
Andrei was blunt: unless you have hundreds of people, this doesn’t work.
Real agency scaling comes from:
Saying no to services you’re mediocre at
Doubling down on what you’re exceptional at
Building a clear positioning clients can understand
Focus doesn’t limit growth. It unlocks profitability.
Strategy Is a Business Decision, Not a Marketing Deliverable
One of the most important ideas from this conversation: marketing strategy and business strategy are inseparable.
Clients don’t come asking for strategy. They ask for tactics:
“We need a website.”
“We want lead gen.”
“Can you run ads?”
But tactics without context create frustrated clients.
Andrei reframes every engagement by starting with three questions:
Who is your real customer?
What problem are you actually solving?
What outcome does the business need not just marketing?
This often exposes misalignment between leadership, sales, and marketing.
And that’s where agencies add the most value: alignment.
Sometimes the right answer isn’t a $30K website, it’s a landing page, a deck, or a simple test.
Happy clients don’t come from giving people what they ask for. They come from guiding them to what they actually need.
The CEO Shift: From Doer to Builder
Every agency hits a ceiling where effort stops producing leverage.
For Andrei, the hardest part wasn’t operational, it was personal growth.
The shift from:
Freelancer → CEO
Service provider → Business builder
People pleaser → Decision maker
This is where many agencies stall.
Agency growth demands uncomfortable changes:
Firing or outgrowing clients
Raising prices
Creating boundaries
Accepting that not everyone will be happy
The moment you realize you can’t make everyone happy is the moment real leadership begins.
Profitability Is Psychological (Not Just Financial)
One counterintuitive insight: charging more often creates better clients.
When clients pay meaningful fees:
They trust your guidance
They’re less tactical and more strategic
They respect boundaries
Low-paying clients demand more, question more, and drain energy.
If a client isn’t paying enough to justify strategic involvement, you’re not solving real problems, you’re fulfilling requests.
That’s not agency scaling. That’s burnout.
The Power of Partners Over Hiring Everything In House
Another major evolution at Stoica was embracing partners over permanent headcount.
Instead of trying to do everything internally, they:
Bring in specialists when needed
Build flexible teams per project
Stay honest about what they don’t do well
Clients don’t see this as a weakness. They see it as professionalism.
Modern agencies win by orchestrating expertise, not pretending to own it all.
The Long Game: Networks, Not Shortcuts
Agency growth isn’t a hack.
It’s a long term relationship game.
Andrei summed it up perfectly: build friendships, not funnels.
When you focus on:
Trust
Focus
Strategy
Personal leadership growth
The network compounds. Referrals increase. The pie gets bigger.
And your agency becomes an asset, not just a stressful job.
Final Takeaway for Agency Owners
If you’re stuck under $3M ARR, ask yourself:
Am I selling tactics or solving business problems?
Am I focused or hiding behind being “full-service”?
Am I building a business or just delivering work?
Agency scaling starts when you stop trying to do everything and start doing the right things on purpose.
That’s where real profitability, alignment, and growth live.
Want Help Applying This Inside Your Agency?
If you’re running an agency under $3M ARR and feeling the tension between growth, delivery, and profitability, you don’t need more tactics.
You need clarity.
This is exactly what I work on with agency owners inside Agency Uplift helping you:
Shift from reactive delivery to intentional agency scaling
Clarify your positioning so clients trust you faster
Build operations that support growth instead of burning you out
Make better decisions as a CEO, not just a great operator
If you want to go deeper, you can run the full version at agencyuplift.co/mini.
Even if you never book a call, the clarity alone is worth it.
