Agency Profitability: 6 Steps to Protect Your Margins

Agency profitability: I walk through Eric Baum's 6 steps for pricing work, handling scope creep, and charging for ongoing support. I sat down with Eric Baum, CEO & Founder, Bluleadz. We went through his six-step playbook, from setting prices to checking in after a project ends. We also talked about how he's planning customer training for HubSpot's AI features and custom agents. What you can use: Build 3 service tiers so a client with $2,500 gets a smaller scope than a client with $5,000. Explain unknowns during sales. If you haven't seen the client's database, discuss how it could change the scope or timeline. Use daily or weekly updates to flag extra work. If 5,000 contacts becomes 50,000, offer a separate quote or put the extra work in the backlog. Review every agreement line item at wrap-up. Offer 3 or 6 months of paid support for questions and requests after delivery. Set follow-up checkpoints at 1, 2, or 3 months. Ask whether the team's using what you built and whether they need more training. Chapters 0:00 Eric Baum and Bluleadz's agency background 3:45 Agency pricing and three service tiers 6:03 Sales discovery and scope change expectations 8:22 Sales handoffs and client kickoff calls 11:35 Client progress updates and scope creep 15:00 Project wrap-up and paid ongoing support 18:43 Post-project follow-up and customer adoption 23:17 Staff changes and customer training needs 25:35 Planning customer training for AI tools 30:05 Learning and training for business growth Guest: Eric Baum, CEO & Founder, Bluleadz Host: Kris Uy Recorded May 2025. #agencyprofitability #scopecreep #agencypricing #hubspot #clientmanagement