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How to Break Free from the Referral Trap, with Hannah Roth and Erik Jensen

Sell With Authority

Release Date: 05/14/2025

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Welcome to Sell With Authority! I’m Hannah Roth, Director of Strategy and resident mad scientist here at Predictive ROI. And before you double-check your podcast app — yes, you are in the right place.

If you’ve been a longtime listener, you’re probably used to hearing Stephen kick things off. But today, I’ve hijacked the mic for a good reason. Stephen’s daughter is about to graduate; CONGRATS to the whole Woessner crew!

We’ve gently nudged him off the show for the next few weeks so he can enjoy that special time with his family.

In the meantime, I’ll be your host for the next four episodes, and I’m really excited about what we have planned. Each week, I’ll be joined by Erik Jensen, my strategic co-pilot, co-owner, and our Chief Strategy Officer here at Predictive. We are in the trenches every day working with agency owners, helping them navigate the big challenges that hold them back from scaling with confidence.

Erik and I are kicking off a four-part series about why agencies struggle with sales — and more importantly — what to do about it.

In today’s episode we focus on what we call “The Referral Trap.”

Referrals are great… until they’re not. Too many agencies rely on them as their primary source of new business — but that’s risky.

We discuss why the illusion of “plenty of referrals” is so dangerous, and what to do before they dry up without warning.

What you will learn in this episode:

  • Why so many agency owners fall into the “referral trap”
  • The not-so-obvious risks of relying on referrals
  • How passivity with prospects infects your sales culture — and leads to missed revenue from both new prospects AND existing clients
  • The candid truth about “not having time” for sales
  • A rock solid step-by-step way to take control of your biz dev
  • Why your list is one of the most important assets that your agency can have
  • How to assess if your list is actually filled with viable prospects

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