Most marketing agencies hit a revenue ceiling in the $20 million range. Perhaps “ceiling” is the wrong term as it’s a permeable barrier – an inflection milestone in the step function of agency growth. A such, it’s a sort of crossroads: do you invest in reaching the next level or sustain at $20 million-ish?
The latter is fully respectable, says Scorpion chief revenue officer, Jamie Adams. Growing beyond that point requires levels of commitment and investment that fundamentally change business operations, including all new headaches. Some agencies may decide to stay where they are, and that’s okay.
But Scorpion wanted bigger and better things. So it formulated a structured plan to bust beyond $20 million to the next step… then several steps after that. One foundational part of that plan was for CEO Rustin Kretz to hire Reach Local-trained Adams, who then transformed the sales culture and operations.
Fast forward to today, and Scorpion’s revenues clock in at $200 million with tight operations and healthy margins. How the company got to that point is a masterclass in refining sales operations – a free lesson that Adams and former Scorpion colleague Corey Quinn delivered in a fireside chat at Localogy’s L25.
L24: Scorpion and ServiceTitan Partnering for Vertical Success
Choppy Ride
So what are highlights and takeaways from Adams’ and Quinn’s masterclass? Picking up on one of the themes above, it first requires a certain commitment level to the growth plan. Companies ready to ramp up need to have the stomach for it, as it’s often a choppy ride compared to $20 million waters.
Once that commitment is in place, structures can start being built. For example, inside sales is a tough job in the local marketing agency world. It requires getting turned down a lot in morale-degrading ways. So the train only keeps moving with systems and infrastructure in place to keep the phones dialing.
Another thing Scorpion did was maintain an evolutionary path as a software-driven agency, rather than a software pure-play. This was antithetical to the SaaS dogma of the time, as agencies don’t scale as well as software does. But Scorpion saw value in the high-touch agency approach for time-starved SMBs.
With that, further focus was required. There are only some segments of SMBs that can afford higher-touch “do it for me” service levels. Beyond affordability, there’s the factor of how valuable a proprietor’s time is. On both those measures, Scorpion saw alignment in a few key verticals where it put all its focus.
Those verticals include law, healthcare, and home services. Not only do these check the economic boxes noted above, but they require specific and nuanced tactics. By building a repeatable marketing playbook in each of these verticals, Scorpion outperformed a sea of generally-defined agencies.
Creative & Audacious
Beyond formulating and assembling all of the above structural elements, the next step was to execute. And that’s where Scorpion has likewise been able to shine over the past decade. This required a combination of good people, instinct, and some sheer work ethic to run faster than everyone else.
Some of these factors materialized in creative and audacious sales tactics. For example, Quinn walked into Kretz’ office one day with the bold idea to do a Tesla giveaway to turn heads at major tradeshows. It paid off, as the cost of the car ended up returning outsized value in Scorpion’s market exposure.
This developed into a key tactic to warm up its target markets. Given the importance of its inside sales and inherently cold outreach, this warming-up mechanism was a critical component for subsequent sales performance. It was all about establishing brand recognition. So the car giveaways continued.
Similar tactics included sending whimsical gifts to sales targets (think: toilet-shaped cookies for plumbers). These are timed strategically for outreach, and bear significant fruit when done right. That last part is key. Some of the above can be replicated… the rest is all about people, timing, and some luck.
