Luffing & Tacking - Agency Inner Circle #10

Table of Contents

• Luffing Is Sometimes Awesome

• CMO Concerns of 2H 2024

• It’s My Birthday on Wednesday

• Thanks to our Sponsor - Apollo.io

Luffing Is Sometimes Awesome

If you’ve ever been sailing and you get a little bit fooled by the wind, you might find yourself pointing windward (with the wind) and your sail goes slack.

When that happens, you are sort of dead in the water. Sails, often give you a terrific warning. When your sails are full, they are almost silent. But as you turn and there’s less wind, the sails start to ripple and snap as the air starts to move over the edge.

When you luff, there’s often a lot of noise…and then silence. When fully luffed, all you hear is the water on the hull. It’s not a great noise…

But sometimes, you luff intentionally. When you are tacking (changing direction) and you move the boat to catch the wind, there is always this moment where your sail slacks. It’s that slack that tells you that you’ve hit the right tack and you can catch the wind as the boat comes around. The sounds of the sails filling with air is exciting (and a relief…).

A lot of agencies seem to be luffing right now…and the question is “Are you luffed because you are pointing the wrong way, or are you luffed because you are mid-tack.”

Here is an old sailor’s trick…if you’ve ever turned your boat windward and you’ve gone dead in the water, you can tack - it might not get you towards your destination, but you’ll be moving.

If your agency is luffed and there’s not a clear path, maybe a small tack is in order:

• Try a new offer.

• Take on a smaller client than you normally do.

• Add in a front end offer to shake things up (a front end offer is where you offer some small part of your service as a discreet offer - so if you do competitive research or an audit as part of an engagement, sell it at a small price so the client understands what its like to work with you)

If you are dead in the water, and the wind is against you, the only way to get home is to tack to catch the wind, and then you zig zag (…sailors call it “beating to windward…”) your way back to port. It’s not fun…but it works.

CMO Concerns of 2H 2024

Via Opal, CMOs are worried about a lot of stuff for the 2nd half of 2024.

Many of the concerns a limited to very large companies (organizational alignment, etc.), but some basic blocking and tackling around the core elements of digital marketing are causing concern:

• Where should we be seen?

• What channels have the best ROI?

• What are we doing with regard to AI?

If big CMOs are worrying about this stuff, you can bet that you everyday VP/Director/Head of Marketing is worrying about this stuff. What are you doing to proactively address these concerns with your clients and prospects? Once the reality of the 4Q comes to the fore, there isn’t going to be time for thinking. Get in front of your market now not slinging your service, but rather alleviating their concerns. That would make for an awesome tack, IMHO

It’s My Birthday on Wednesday

If you are wondering what I want it’s a 1914 Buzzards Bay Day Sailer but if that’s too rich more you, a 1941 Chris Craft Deluxe Runabout would suit me well.

But, actually, I got you some gifts for my birthday. I’ve been really feeling a lot of luffing in the market & I want to help. There are some really great deals (6 Months of Agency Kickoff VIP is 75% off!). Find them here on my sale page:

Thanks to our Sponsor - Apollo.io