Building Trust at Scale in the Age of AI - Agency Profit Podcast

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About this Episode

In this episode of the Agency Profit Podcast, Marcel sits down with Stephen, CEO & Founder of Predictive ROI and author/podcaster with 30 years in the industry, to unpack how agencies can win in a low-trust, AI-noisy market by selling with authority. Stephen shares why trust now starts below zero and how to rebuild it by narrowing your niche, diagnosing real business problems, and codifying a named methodology that’s easy to teach and prove. He walks through Predictive ROI’s “trust architecture” sales process—Help Me Understand → Align & Prescribe → Meet & Greet → Conceptual Agreement—and shows how to turn that same methodology into a clear content blueprint (Grow, Nurture, Sell) that fuels consistent, long-form, repurposable content. Listeners will leave with a pragmatic playbook to attract right-fit clients, shorten sales cycles, and scale credibility through systems, data, and visible expertise.

Points of Interest

00:00–01:02 – Introduction: Marcel welcomes Stephen, a veteran agency operator, author, and CEO of Predictive ROI focused on helping agencies sell more by adding value.
01:02–03:09 – Who Predictive ROI Serves: Stephen explains their exclusive focus on agencies and their expertise in business development through authority positioning and structured nurture.
03:09–05:18 – Systems Mindset Origin Story: From Air Force missile silos to agency life, Stephen shares how life-or-death procedures taught him the power of process in selling.
06:21–07:30 – Why Go-to-Market Matters Now: With AI as a new disruption, positioning and trust creation become mission-critical as channels get noisier.
07:30–11:30 – Trust Starts Below Zero: Referencing market skepticism, Stephen argues prospects begin in “distrust,” so sellers must over-prove capability through repeated value.
11:30–15:43 – Expertise vs. Empty Positioning: Marcel critiques “lipstick positioning” and argues public demonstrations of expertise are required to restore credibility.
17:06–20:30 – Power of Long-Form Content: Both highlight unscripted, long-form conversations as a stress test that builds trust better than polished sound bites.
20:49–23:55 – Step 1: Choose a Narrow Who: The framework begins by declaring a niche, rejecting generic messaging, and embracing focus as the path to demand.
23:55–28:27 – Step 2: Name the Methodology: Codify problems, pillars, and levers; document common mistakes and strategic moves so teaching and delivery match.
30:18–33:51 – Trust Architecture: Help Me Understand: First sales meeting is a five-question diagnostic about the prospect’s priorities, obstacles, and market—no pitching.
34:08–39:53 – Align & Prescribe → Meet & Greet: Use a self-scoring “Focus Finder,” then have strategists teach the system, add proof and ROI, and gain conceptual agreement.
40:24–48:00 – Content Blueprint & Consistency: Turn the methodology into pillars (Grow, Nurture, Sell), create cornerstone content, repurpose across channels, and show up weekly.

Show Notes

Edelman Trust Barometer report https://www.edelman.com/trust/trust-b...
Predictiveroi.com/resources https://predictiveroi.com/resources/
Stephen’s LinkedIn   / stephenwoessner