Google & Me: What is that all about?

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We get asked this question a lot:

What does Robert Craven do and how does he work with Google Partners?

As the start of another series of Google programs is imminent, we thought we’d get Robert to answer the question…

“Some five years ago I was involved in the creation of a business development program for digital agencies which has subsequently been rolled out across some 34 countries.

This was an extension or a revision of the various pieces of work I had been doing at Cranfield and Warwick Business Schools with their various Accelerated/Business Growth Programs.

The new program was specifically about the characteristics of high-performing digital marketing agencies. Google Partners rolls out these programs as Google Partners Elevator, Google Partners Business Coaching and Google Partners Rising Stars Programs. (At the last count we have been involved in delivering these programs to the top tier agencies in some 15 countries.)

 

Here’s what the agencies say:

These initiatives work with digital agencies that are part of the Google Partners program.

They focus on the non-technical aspects of growing an agency: strategy, marketing and teams as well as the core subjects of leadership, pricing, negotiation and so on.

The programs provide the missing link that many agencies were looking for: the knowledge and skills to grow the agency.

As with all my previous work, I have been focusing on identifying what the high-performers do differently from the ‘average’ firms, what the ‘average’ need to do and, most importantly, how to help and support them to move closer to the high-performers in terms of turnover and profits.

While I am no advocate of ‘silver bullets’ or ‘revolutionary secret steps to unlimited wealth’, we have witnessed that agencies that follow through on the programs’ ologies see remarkable uplift in performance, specifically in profitability.

The body of evidence grows as each cohort sees outstanding results in both hard and soft measures.

Alongside the business growth/coaching program, I have delivered a series of keynotes to the crème de la crème of agencies from Amsterdam to Athens, from Warsaw to Johannesburg to  New York, from San Diego to Singapore. Amazing conferences, amazing people and a remarkable commitment to growing the agencies and their clients.

 

The thread that runs through all this work is an obsession to help agency owners and directors to run the agency they want to run so that they can live the lives they really want to lead. It is as simple as that!”

 

A bit more background:

2015: ‘Grow Your Digital Agency’ book (known as GYDA) published.

2018: GYDA Initiative launched, featuring