#69: Why Messy Operations Aren’t the Real Problem

Why Most Agencies Try to Fix the Wrong Thing

Most agency owners come to me saying the same two things:

“My operations are messy.”
“We need better processes.”

And while both of those statements are usually true, they’re not the root problem. They’re not even the first real signal that something is broken.

Messy operations sit in the middle of the chain, not at the beginning.

If you want to scale an agency profitably without burning yourself out or constantly replacing churned clients, you have to understand this one truth:

Client churn is the lagging indicator of everything upstream.

When clients leave, it’s rarely because of one isolated mistake. It’s the result of small breakdowns compounding across culture, clarity, accountability, people systems, operations, and service delivery.

In this article, I’m going to walk you through the exact hierarchy I use with agency founders to diagnose why agencies stall, plateau, or feel impossible to scale and how to fix it from the top down.

Churn Is the Scoreboard for Your Entire Agency

Let’s start at the bottom of the chain: client churn.

Churn is not a retention tactic problem. There is no magic email, discount, or check in call that fixes it long term.

Churn is simply the scoreboard for:

• Your client experience

• Your service delivery

• Your leadership presence

• Your expectations setting

• Your internal systems
  

Clients don’t usually leave because of one missed task. They leave because trust erodes over time.

That erosion often starts before the contract is even signed:

• Poor first impressions

• Vague promises in sales

• Weak leadership presence

• Unclear onboarding

• Inconsistent communication cadence
  

If you want to fix churn, you don’t start at churn.
You work backwards.

Inconsistent Service Delivery Comes Before Churn

Right before churn shows up, the most common issue I see is inconsistent service delivery.

One client gets a great experience.
Another gets a mediocre one.
Another feels ignored.

The root cause here is almost always the same:

You Don’t Have a Clear, Objective Definition of Done

In most agencies, “done” means different things to different people.

That’s a problem.

To deliver consistent quality, you must objectively define what good looks like across your entire end to end service delivery process.

That means clearly documenting:

• Deliverables (what is produced)

• Milestones (how you get there)

• Roles (who is responsible for what)

• Quality standards (how you know it’s acceptable)

• Ownership (who ultimately ensures it’s right)
  

High quality service does not rely on heroics or founder involvement.
It relies on systems.

Messy Operations Make Consistency Impossible

Now let’s move one layer up the chain: operations.

If your operations are messy, consistent service delivery is impossible, no matter how talented your team is.

The three biggest operational killers I see in agencies are:

1. Siloed Knowledge

When knowledge lives in people’s heads instead of shared systems, every person becomes a single point of failure.

If someone is sick, on vacation, or having an off week, quality drops.

Your standards must be visible, shared, and accessible to everyone.

2. Ad Hoc Execution

Without clear SOPs, execution quality varies by person.

That’s why founders say:

“Some people just get it, others don’t.”

The reality is: you haven’t defined “it.”

3. Duct Taped Automation

Automation layered on top of broken processes doesn’t scale, it collapses.

You must visualize and standardize the process first, then automate second.

How to Actually Fix Operations (Without Overengineering)

Yes, you need SOPs but not generic ones pulled from templates.

Effective SOPs must be:

• Built by the people doing the work

• Version controlled (only the latest version exists)

• Aligned with your core values

• Visualized end to end before automation is added
  

But even perfect SOPs fail without the next layer in the chain: accountability.

Accountability Breaks When People Own Tasks, Not Outcomes

In struggling agencies, people “own” tasks but no one owns results.

That’s a massive problem.

Clients don’t buy tasks.
They buy outcomes.

If your team isn’t accountable to outcomes, you’ll constantly feel like you’re pushing a rope.

The Fix: Role Scorecards

Every role in your agency needs a role scorecard that defines:

• Mission (one sentence tied to the agency mission)

• Outcomes (3–5 measurable results)

• Metrics (how and how often performance is measured)

• Behaviors (what success looks like in action)
  

Accountability also requires a weekly feedback cadence in both directions.

Without explicit outcomes and ongoing coaching, accountability simply doesn’t exist.

You Can’t Have Accountability Without Clarity

If accountability feels impossible, clarity is usually missing.

You don’t have clarity if:

• Goals are ambiguous

• Ownership is unclear

• Standards aren’t documented

• Success isn’t tracked visibly
  

Ruthless clarity means:

• Clear ownership for every process

• Clear standards for success

• Visual roadmaps (especially for onboarding)

• Leadership led client communication
  

Clarity is how you stop reacting and start leading.

People Systems: Why “They Seemed Great” Isn’t a Strategy

Every bad hire story starts the same way:

“They seemed great at first.”

That’s not bad luck, that’s a missing system.

Whether someone is an employee or a contractor, they are a contributor to your business, not a disposable resource.

Strong people systems require:

• Structured onboarding

• Clear expectations from day one

• Role scorecards tied to values

• SOP based training

• Defined Day 1–7 onboarding plans

• Clear criteria for “fully onboarded”
  

Throwing people into client work and hoping it works out is one of the fastest ways to damage client experience.

Culture and Core Values Are the Real Foundation

Everything we’ve talked about so far collapses without explicit, enforced core values.

Without values:

• Your agency mutates

• Decisions become reactive

• Quality becomes subjective

• Client fit degrades

• Team alignment breaks
  

Your values must be:

• Observable (what they look like in action)

• Contrasted (what they don’t look like)

• Enforced (even when it’s uncomfortable)
  

If values aren’t enforced, they’re just wall art.

I’ve lived this personally. When I was growing my agency, we were stuck under $100k/month for years. When we finally broke through, revenue spiked and then immediately dropped again.

Why?

Because we hadn’t built the foundations. Clients churned. The system couldn’t support the growth.

Values are the blueprint.
Operations are the build.
Churn is the lagging indicator.

Three Actions You Can Take This Week

If you want to move toward a scalable, profitable agency, start here:

1. Define “Done” for Your Top 3 Deliverables

• One page each

• At least one QA checkpoint

• One clearly defined owner
  

2. Publish One Role Scorecard

• One sentence mission

• 3–5 measurable outcomes

• Measurement cadence

• Required behaviors
  Review it in your next one on one and start weekly feedback.
  

3. Codify 3 Core Values as Behaviors

• Define what they look like in action

• Pick one enforcement moment this month

• Make a real decision based on them
  

You don’t fix churn at the bottom.
You fix culture at the top.

That’s how you stop being the operator and start being the CEO and that’s how agencies actually scale.

If you’re ready to uncover your agency’s biggest bottleneck and start scaling intentionally, I offer a free Agency Mini Diagnostic. It takes 3-5 minutes and reveals exactly where to start to unlock growth.

Check it out here: agencyuplift.co/mini