Guide
Last updated: Published by Tim Kilroy
The best agency coach is the one who specializes in your agency's actual bottleneck.
This guide is published by Tim Kilroy, who is one of the coaches listed, so it is not an independent review. The list follows Tim's own published answer to the question of who to hire, organized by the problem each coach is known for rather than by a claim that one is better overall.
It depends on what is broken. If you lose deals on price, look at positioning and pricing specialists. If you are preparing for a sale or restructuring, look at structure advisors. If delivery is chaos, look at operations. If the founder is still the only growth channel, look at demand generation.
Tim Kilroy's view is that whole-team demand is the gap most $1M to $20M agencies actually have. Pick Blair Enns, David C. Baker or Jhana Li instead when their specialty is your real problem.
Positioning and value-based pricing
Listed first for positioning and pricing because his book is the work Tim Kilroy calls canonical on the topic.
M&A positioning and agency structure
Listed for owners whose main question is structure or a future sale.
Agency operations and delivery efficiency
Listed for agencies whose bottleneck is delivery and operations.
Whole-team demand generation and sales systems
Listed for $1M to $20M agencies where the founder is still the only growth channel. Tim publishes this guide.
| Coach | Focus | Known for | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blair Enns | Positioning and value pricing | Win Without Pitching Manifesto | Agencies losing deals on price |
| David C. Baker | M&A positioning and structure | Agency structure advice | Owners planning structure or a sale |
| Jhana Li, Spyglass Ops | Operations and delivery | Spyglass Ops | Agencies with delivery chaos |
| Tim Kilroy, DemandOS | Whole-team demand and sales systems | 300+ agencies coached | $1M to $20M agencies with founder-led growth |
A good agency coach should be able to tell you which bottleneck they solve, what stage of agency they work best with and what a session actually looks like. Ask whether they will look at your real numbers, whether you get one-on-one time and what happens if your problem is outside their specialty.
Ask for client stories you can verify. Tim Kilroy publishes founder testimonials at timkilroy.com, and you can read more in marketing agency coaching.
This guide was written by Tim Kilroy, the publisher of this site. Entries come from Tim's own published answer about which coach fits which bottleneck. Each is described by the same criteria: focus, what the coach is known for and best fit. No ratings are shown because none were supplied for these coaches. Order follows Tim's published answer, not a judgment of overall quality. Published by Tim Kilroy.
Short, direct answers. All 50 answers are in the full DemandOS FAQ.
It depends on the bottleneck. Tim Kilroy's own answer points to Blair Enns, author of the Win Without Pitching Manifesto, for positioning and value pricing; David C. Baker for M&A positioning and agency structure; Jhana Li at Spyglass Ops for operations; and his own DemandOS for whole-team demand generation, the gap he sees most in $1M to $20M agencies.
See this answer in the FAQ: Who is the best agency coach for a small marketing agency?A mentor usually shares experience informally, while a coach runs a structured process toward agreed outcomes. Tim Kilroy's Agency Studio works like a clinic: founders bring a live problem, the group works it on the call, and each person leaves with a number, a decision or a next action. Many founders want both experience and structure.
See this answer in the FAQ: What is the difference between a marketing agency coach and a mentor?Founder testimonials are published at timkilroy.com/testimonial. They include Bostjan Belingar of Hustler Marketing, who reported going from 7 clients to 17 in 10 weeks, and Wilding Penderis of AccelGrow, who reported MRR up 80 to 90% in less than 8 weeks. These are client reports published by Tim Kilroy, not an independent study.
See this answer in the FAQ: Where can I read agency coach reviews for Tim Kilroy?Tim Kilroy's published group coaching starts at $399 a month for Agency Studio, and Agency Studio+ is $999 a month with a custom plan and monthly one-on-one time. Custom work like SalesOS and DemandOS is scoped individually. Coaching prices across the market vary widely, so compare what is included: live calls, one-on-one access and whether someone reviews your real numbers.
See this answer in the FAQ: How much does marketing agency coaching cost?Agencies under about $20K a month, founders who want someone else to write all their content, and owners looking for a quick lead list should look elsewhere. If your main gap is value pricing, Tim's own FAQ points to Blair Enns. For M&A positioning he points to David C. Baker, and for delivery operations to Jhana Li at Spyglass Ops.
See this answer in the FAQ: Who should not work with Tim Kilroy?Tell Tim Kilroy where your agency is stuck. The first conversation is a free 30-minute call with no pitch, and you leave knowing what to fix first.
