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PODCAST

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast

Running a serviced based business, an agency or consultancy isn’t just about great client work. It’s about keeping everything behind the scenes running smoothly.That’s where The Handbook comes in. Our goal? To help you take your business to the next level of business maturity.This podcast is for operations and service-business leaders who are juggling it all – people, processes, finance, tech, and everything in between.Every other week, we dive deep into a specific challenge that businesses face as

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All Episodes

48:35

Are you helping or hindering your delivery team? With...

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2025/06/03

Ops Leaders, are you unintentionally making life harder for your delivery team?Galen Low, co-founder of The Digital Project Manager and host of The Digital Project Manager podcast, joins us to flip the lens, and spotlight the real impact of operational decisions from the delivery floor up.Galen has spent years helping digital PMs thrive in chaotic environments. In this episode, he shares the signs leaders might be missing when systems break down and how to create structures that support people doing

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51:29

Strategic Ops, Unlocked: Manish Kapur’s Workshop...

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2025/05/20

What does it really take to operate more strategically as an agency?Manish Kapur returns to The Handbook to help agency ops leaders shift from firefighting mode to future-focused thinking. If you’ve ever struggled to carve out time for the big picture while juggling the day-to-day, this episode is your playbook.Harv and Manish dig into how to run fast-paced, high-impact workshops that drive meaningful change – and how to keep momentum once priorities have been decided. They also explore how ops

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45:38

Growth Thresholds & Growing Pains with Marcel Petitpas

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2025/05/06

Growth is the goal for many agencies, but as your team hits certain size thresholds, your structure, systems, and workflows can start to break down.Marcel Petitpas, CEO of Parakeeto, has spent years helping agencies around the world clean up their operations, tighten up forecasting, and build financial systems that actually support scale.In this episode, Marcel shares what breaks as agencies grow, and how small optimizations can make the difference between momentum and mayhem. If your team’s growing

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48:23

Pricing, Profitability & Predictions with Karl Sakas

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2025/04/22

What if you could charge more, and keep your best clients happy?Karl Sakas has spent over 20 years in agency operations and consulting, helping more than 600 agencies shift from reactive to strategic. In this episode, he joins us to break down why pricing isn’t just about numbers – it’s an ops play, and one that can define your agency’s future.Here’s what we get into:• Why time & materials pricing is on the way out, and what to do instead• How to use “value anchoring” as a bridge to value-based

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37:16

Why your tools aren’t talking & what it’s costing you...

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2025/04/08

Your tech stack might be holding your agency back more than you think.Ryan Pearcy, founder of Digital Transformers and chartered accountant, has helped countless agencies untangle their systems and make smarter, faster decisions. He’s spent nearly 15 years helping service-based businesses clean up their systems, bringing finance, tech, and process together so leaders can make decisions based on reality.In this episode, he helps Harv troubleshoot three common (and all-too-familiar) agency tech stack

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38:01

BenchPress 2025: 4 Big Agency Opportunities You Need...

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2025/03/25

How do agencies stack up in 2025?The results are in for BenchPress 2025. The UK’s largest benchmarking survey for independent agencies has revealed some surprising (and shocking) trends about the state of the industry.To break it all down, Rory Spence, Head of Commercial at The Wow Company, joins us to unpack the data, trends, and opportunities that agency leaders need to know.In this episode, we cover:Why 2024 was a brutal year for many agencies (and how to bounce back)Profitability trends and how

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39:14

How to Get Clients to See You as a Strategic Partner...

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2025/03/11

Most agencies add value far beyond execution. They develop methodologies, frameworks, and strategic thinking that help clients make better decisions. But too often, they give that thinking away for free. Only to compete on price when it’s time for execution.Max Traylor has spent years helping agencies break this cycle. He’s an expert in packaging and selling strategy, helping agencies move from order takers to trusted advisors. In this episode, Max shares how to stop the race to the bottom and start

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39:53

Rethinking performance, pay reviews & career growth...

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2025/02/25

Are performance reviews a waste of time—or your agency’s secret weapon?Too often, agencies treat performance management as a checkbox exercise, bogged down with vague feedback and awkward salary conversations. But Zoe Elizabeth Blogg, Operations Director at Reboot Online, has built a system that actually works. From structured performance reviews to proactive (quarterly!) salary reviews, Zoe’s created a process that keeps teams engaged, managers confident, and top talent sticking around—all in a

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50:07

How to move from tactical to STRATEGIC ops with WPP's...

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2025/02/11

Your agency’s operations can either fuel creativity, or kill it.And you can focus on the big picture that drives real financial impact, or get stuck in the weeds.Preston Chandler, WPP’s Global Practice Lead of Strategic Operations has a point of view, and the experience to prove it. In fact, Preston’s role at WPP is all about advising agencies in the group on how they can operate in a better, smarter, and more strategic way.In this conversation, Preston shares how agencies can design their

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41:13

Mike Della Porta: How to elevate service delivery for...

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2025/01/28

We’ve all had those moments, we land that huge new client – first comes the elation for winning the mandate that will transform our fortunes, and then the mild panic at how we’re going to deliver.There’s also times when what we do is simply just not that well understood across the organization – there might only be one internal expert, which creates a significant amount of risk for the business if they were to leave.That’s where assessing – and improving – your business capability maturity becomes

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34:33

Managing Gen Z: Challenges, Myths, and the...

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2025/01/14

This year, Gen Z are due to make up over a quarter of the workforce – a huge proportion. But both the negative headlines and moaning around the watercooler have commenced. Claims of entitlement, laziness, and unreasonable expectations abound. But is any of it true? And is their approach to work really that detrimental to an efficient workplace? In this episode, Harv speaks with Isobel Camier, founder of Camier Communications and a training consultant with 15 years of experience in PR and

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68:07

Building a systemized, codified, scalable sales...

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2024/12/17

In a tight market, sales become a big concern. Relying on repeat business or referrals no longer cuts it, you have to put in more effort. Often in agencies, the know-how on how to get this done is missing; few people come from a formal sales background. So a haphazard approach is implemented and we hope for the best. Only that slapdash approach rarely gets the results we want. Is it time for the sales engine to be looked at as an ops challenge? We think so. In this episode of The Handbook: The

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38:19

Running your agency like clockwork with Jinny...

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2024/12/03

How do you create a highly efficient agency without losing flexibility or quality?In this episode, Harv Nagra sits down with Jinny Mitchell-Kent, Joint Managing Director at Great State. With nearly 20 years of experience at agencies big and small—including global powerhouse AKQA—Jinny shares how she’s applying lessons from her big-agency days to a 100-person team.Here’s what you’ll hear:How moving from COO to MD changed her focus from internal projects to building client relationships, while

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22:44

How to document and embed best practices that stick...

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2024/11/19

Are you battling with inconsistent processes, bad practice and poor staff training? In this episode, Harv Nagra explains the benefits of documenting and embedding best practices – to take your agency one big leap forward in operational maturity.Harv shares his best tips on:Creating an agency handbook – to create a single source of truth for your business, and help your team work consistentlyChoosing the right documentation tools – specific tools that are helpful in documenting and communicating

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47:39

Hire, train and retain like Sarah Brougham

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2024/11/05

Hiring and training new employees is a big commitment - and getting it right will have a lasting impact on your agency.Kicking off The Big Agency Club series, we chat with Sarah Brougham, VP of Operations at GenFlow. Sarah’s helped multiple agencies go from start-up to established, having a big hand to play in their growth and maturity journies. Sarah has spent the past six years at GenFlow, helping grow revenue there by 5x and headcount 16x.Sarah gives us her best tips on:Hiring the right people

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43:42

Amy Hopper: How to build more engaged,...

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2024/10/22

Individuals thrive when they’re equipped to handle challenges.Amy Hopper is a former agency owner and now founder of the business consultancy TOA. In this episode, Amy opens up about her journey through some serious challenges. She shares how those experiences helped her create a system that keeps teams (and individuals) focused, engaged, and productive.Amy dives into practical tips on:Planning your day in a way that energizes you instead of draining you.Letting go of perfectionism so you can

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43:27

Richard Brett: What is 'rev rec' & which metrics matter?

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2024/10/08

Which metrics should you track, to run your agency as efficiently as possible?In this episode we speak with Richard Brett. Rich is a seasoned FinOps professional with 15+ years of experience, including a decade in the agency world. Rich has played a key role in scaling agencies, setting up financial processes, and supporting sustainable growth. Rich will take us into a deeper dive of agency finances, starting with revenue recognition – recording revenue when it's earned, not when payment is

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21:38

BONUS EP: How can you boost your agency's productivity?

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2024/10/01

Do you ever get to the end of the working day and wonder, ‘What did I actually get done today?'You’re certainly not alone. We’re interrupted about every 8 minutes. And it can take up to 20 minutes to get back to what we’re doing. Imagine the impact of that on an 8 hour day.In a recent Agency Hackers webinar, Harv spoke about productivity – including the flow state, trends that have had a negative influence on our ability to focus, and strategies that have given him and his colleagues a big

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52:28

Trenton Moss: 3 high-impact strategies that redefined...

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2024/09/24

Curious about how an agency experimented with new approaches and found their recipe for success?In this episode, we talk with Trenton Moss, a former agency owner who ran his business for 15 years before it was sold. Trenton shares the key decisions that transformed his agency, along with some missteps along the way.Trenton covers three major changes he implemented and explains exactly how he did it:Setting up team pods with a highly effective reward systemDeveloping ongoing client services training

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42:52

Dan Timmiss: How to get your agency IT ready for scaling

The Handbook: The Operations Podcast ·

2024/09/10

As an Ops person, the role of IT expert is often part of the job. So how can you ensure your agency’s IT infrastructure is set up for scaling? That's the focus of our discussion with Dan Timmiss, Technical Director at Kaizen IT Solutions. With over two decades of experience, Dan has helped hundreds of creative agencies optimize and manage their IT setups, from audits to complete IT overhauls and supporting scaling teams.In this episode, Dan shares essential best practices:The importance of

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52 results

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