Beyond Margins

My guest is Greg Hickman, the founder and CEO of System.ly. Greg and his team have over the last 4 years, transformed System.ly from a marketing automation consultancy into one of the top coaching and training companies for service providers.

Greg realized that the systems he developed behind-the-scenes to streamline and productize his own service were actually much more valuable if he transformed them into a system that he could actually train his clients on.

Instead of doing the work for his clients, he moved into a model where he teaches them how to do the service for themselves–a done WITH you kind of service. Basically, he realized that it's better for his clients if he teaches them to fish instead of doing them the fishing for them.

The key takeaways:

- Greg’s unique approach to managing or minimizing client meetings with what he calls the “hybrid agency”
- How to package and simplify your process so that the system is working in your favor, building a client journey with less energy, costs, and headaches
- How he sets clear expectations and guidelines and believes that you need to train your clients to be good clients–equipping them to be successful
- And what the challenges were transitioning from being a typical agency with the typical client meeting structure and project structure to this new, more guided experience

Show Notes

Sometimes, when you get really specific about the one thing you do, client meetings become unnecessary

Even one-to-one services become unneeded when you've streamlined and productized your service.

But how can you keep that high-touch, high-value feeling and still be ruthlessly streamlined behind the scenes?

Today, we're talking about an evolution that moves almost completely away from client meetings altogether.

My guest is Greg Hickman, the founder and CEO of System.ly. Greg and his team have over the last 4 years, transformed System.ly from a marketing automation consultancy into one of the top coaching and training companies for service providers.

He realized that the systems he developed behind-the-scenes to streamline and productize his own service were actually much more valuable if he transformed them into a system that he could actually train his clients on.

Instead of doing the work for his clients, he moved into a model where he teaches them how to do the service for themselves–a done WITH you kind of service. Basically, he realized that it's better for his clients if he teaches them to fish instead of doing them the fishing for them.

Greg really demonstrates the power of turning your client delivery process into a product in itself.

This is similar to what Parker Stevenson talked about in our last episode. Both of these approaches evolved based on providing the same service over and over to the same kinds of clients -- and taking the data from that to develop a service that is designed specifically for their clients, without those pesky meetings.

After having examined so many different approaches to client communication, it seems like meetings aren’t inevitable, they aren’t required and, in fact, skipping meetings altogether might just make your service even better.

Listen to the full episode to hear:
  • Greg’s unique approach to managing or minimizing client meetings with what he calls the “hybrid agency”
  • How to package and simplify your process so that the system is working in your favor, building a client journey with less energy, costs, and headaches
  • How he sets clear expectations and guidelines and believes that you need to train your clients to be good clients–equipping them to be successful
  • And what the challenges were transitioning from being a typical agency with the typical client meeting structure and project structure to this new, more guided experience
Links:

Creators & Guests

Host
Susan Boles
Speaker, Podcaster & Consultant at Beyond Margins | 15+ years of experience as both a CFO and COO

What is Beyond Margins?

Can you build a business based on… “calm?” On Beyond Margins, host Susan Boles looks beyond the usual metrics of success to help you build a business where calm is the new KPI. With over 15 years of experience as an entrepreneur, CFO, and COO, Susan shares the business strategies that lead to a business with comfortable margins—financial, emotional, energetic, and scheduling margins. Join her and her guests as they counter the prevailing “wisdom” about business growth, productivity, and success to provide a framework for making choices that align with your values and true goals. Episode by episode, you’ll get a look at the team management, operations, financials, product development, and marketing of a calmer business.