Stop Leaving Referrals to Chance: Build this System Instead

Small But Mighty Agency: Win clients and build better networks for marketing and consulting agencies

Most agency owners say their business grows through referrals.
But when you ask what their referral system looks like things go quiet.

If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
Referrals feel earned, but if they’re happening by chance, you’re leaving your growth to luck.

In this episode of Small But Mighty Agency, we’re talking about how to stop waiting for referrals to “just happen” and start designing them through something I call your Strategic Partnership Squad.

Here’s what we get into:

• The difference between passive referrals and proactive partnerships — and how to build the latter.
  
• Why trust, not visibility, is driving growth for agencies heading into 2026.
  
• The four power players that make up your Strategic Partnership Squad:
  
• How these roles turn word-of-mouth momentum into a repeatable system.

If you’ve ever said, “Our business runs on referrals,” this episode will help you turn that from something you wait for into something you engineer.

These are the same kinds of conversations we had at the recent Agency Together Strategic Partnership Mixer where agency owners came together to share what’s working, swap insights, and see collaboration in action.

If you missed it, you can still explore how Agency Together helps you build referral-ready relationships and grow through collaboration — learn more here: https://agencytogether.com/

Show Notes:

Agency Together Connection/Discovery Call

Map Your Strategic Partnership Squad

Hey thanks for hanging out with me at the Small But Mighty Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode it would mean the world to me if you hit the follow or subscribe button in your podcast app and share it with a friend. And I’ll see you on the next one.

Get the full show notes and more information here: https://audreyjoykwan.com/podcast/ep140
Podcast Edits by Lindsay Curtis