ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Stephen and Shawn have built two very different agencies with very different approaches to generating business. Shawn has developed a strong paid lead strategy, particularly through Meta ads, while Stephen's agency relies heavily on community involvement, relationships, and inbound referrals.
Both strategies work—but both can also create a potential bottleneck when too much of the agency's growth depends on one source.
Shawn discusses why he believes an agency may eventually benefit from having both a warm and cold lead generation strategy. Instead of abandoning what's already working, the goal could be to keep the primary engine running while gradually developing another measurable source of opportunities.
Stephen shares the other side of the equation. His community-driven strategy works, but much of that lead generation currently depends on him personally. That raises a similar question: how do you build a repeatable playbook that another producer can eventually execute?
They also explore the leverage that can come from referral relationships. One strong relationship with a lender, realtor, banker, attorney, or other referral partner can potentially expand into introductions from an entire office or network.
Stephen shares a real example from T5 Insurance where a relationship with one mortgage officer expanded after she moved companies. Within weeks, her new mortgage company began generating multiple warm introductions per day for the agency.
The episode doesn't pretend there is one perfect answer. Instead, Stephen and Shawn explore when it makes sense to stay focused on your primary growth engine—and when it might be time to start building another one.
🔍 If most of your agency's new business comes from one source, this episode will get you thinking about concentration risk, warm versus cold strategies, referral leverage, and how to build a more diversified lead-generation system without spreading yourself too thin.
🕒 Timestamps:
00:00 – Welcome to the Scratch Agency Podcast
01:28 – Two Agencies, Two Lead Generation Strategies
02:25 – When Should You Diversify Lead Generation?
03:04 – Start With One Strong Growth Engine
04:31 – Diversifying Your Leads vs. Your Book
04:55 – What Happens If Your Main Lead Source Disappears?
05:38 – When the Agency Owner Becomes the Bottleneck
06:28 – Warm vs. Cold Lead Generation
07:33 – Building a Measurable Cold Strategy
08:52 – Don't Spread Yourself Too Thin
09:19 – When a Scratch Agency Becomes “Scratch Plus”
10:15 – Your Strategy Can Change as You Grow
11:01 – Why Warm & Cold Strategies Can Work Together
12:28 – The Leverage of Referral Partners
12:54 – How One Relationship Created More Leads
14:47 – Are You Diversifying Your Lead Generation?
15:55 – Creating More Leverage in Your Agency
16:22 – Closing Thoughts
💼 Sponsored by HawkSoft
https://www.hawksoft.com
A family-owned and operated agency management system serving independent agencies with teams from one to 300+ employees. In this episode, an agency owner from Alabama highlights HawkSoft's user-friendly platform and describes its supportive service as top-notch.
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