As the CEO and Founder of his 14-year old agency Irish Titan, Darin Lynch’s schedule and responsibilities change daily. Some days it looks like marketing and sales, other days it is financial administration, employee one-on-ones, and speaking gigs.
Over the years, he shares how his agency has gone through three phases, from being a business for everyone, to being a business for someone, to truly knowing their customer. During their second phase, he coined their tagline, “business first, online second,” but it wasn’t until after he heard Simon Sinek speak that he realized it was their “why.”
Who Is Your Somebody?
When you are discerning who your audience is and your target market is, it can be challenging to take the leap and niche down or change direction. Darin says you have to take inventory of your tendency and then push yourself out of your comfort zone.
“Whichever one you tend to be inclined towards, you can challenge yourself to push a little bit the other way, because that would probably be better for you… there’s some element of knowing yourself and being true to yourself in that answer.”
As you find your target market, it can be easy to get caught up in who your competitors are. When he met Simon Sinek, his message that “if you know your why and your how, you care less about your competitors,” really resonated. From there, Darin was able to find his somebody by narrowing in on who resonates with his agency’s why, rather than a specific field or industry.
Company Culture:
Irish Titan’s website details their company culture, which poses the question: do prospects and clients care about your culture?
Darin says that whether their culture content on their website matters to clients, it has been instrumental in hiring and finding good talent, which ultimately serves their clients.
Building Trust:
Trust is earned over time. Darin shares that “business first, online second” isn’t just a tag line. It is baked into their processes.
“Another thing that we really try to do is talk honestly with clients, even if it’s bad news… Clients don’t expect perfection, they expect honesty, and if we can have those kinds of conversations, that establishes trust.”
The Diamond Model:
“If you picture a bow tie, a bow tie comes together in the middle. And that’s typically how a lot of agencies interact and engage with their customers…we turned that inside out and instead have a diamond model… You open up the communication by having all of the parties at the table.”
Everyone engages with the client so that nothing gets lost in translation and everything is conveyed quicker and more concisely.
- It helps shortens the cycle.
- It reduces the risk of your engagements and organization.
They use Basecamp and Slack to keep things really clean and responsibilities clear.
Important Principles:
Darin shares how Simon Sinek’s model has helped make consistent messaging a strong point in their agency.
- E-commerce has stayed central to their business model.
- He has cultivated a self-awareness of what he needs to focus on and the value of building a team around that.
He also emphasizes the importance of being patient, and aware that three years often is the amount of time to see whether something is working or see real progress.
Challenge:
Delegate. What are you doing that you are struggling to let go of, but actually should let go of?
Contact:
Website: www.IrishTitan.com
Facebook: Irish Titan
LinkedIn: Irish Titan
Instagram: @irish.titan
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