Today's episode of Sell With Authority marks an exciting milestone in our special series on trust and distrust in the agency sales process.

Over the last several episodes, you've heard from agency leaders who've generously shared how they work to build trust — through their content, through the relationships they nurture, and through the way they lead their teams.

For today's conversation, we're moving into the next evolution of the series. We're shifting from practice to proof.

Predictive ROI and our friends at Audience Audit are partnering on a five-year longitudinal research study on trust — more specifically — how agencies can build trust faster and more efficiently with a cold audience.

What makes this research unique is that we're not surveying agency professionals. Instead, we're going straight to the decision-makers — the CEOs, CMOs, and senior marketing leaders responsible for hiring, firing, and retaining agencies. We're digging into what actually drives or destroys trust inside their decision-making process.

This is the kind of research that helps every agency leader understand what builds confidence with the people who ultimately control whether you get hired — and how to shorten the time it takes to get to trust.

If you've been part of our community for a while, you know research has always been one of the cornerstones of how we build trust at scale — long before a first meeting ever happens.

That brings us to today's special guest expert: Susan Baier, CEO and Founder of Audience Audit. Susan has helped organizations and agencies uncover the motivations, beliefs, and behaviors that drive audience decisions for more than 30 years.

Her team specializes in attitudinal segmentation — the kind of research that reveals why people think the way they do, not just what they do. Her insights have helped countless agencies sharpen their positioning, elevate their thought leadership, and build deeper trust.

Hannah Roth — Predictive's Director of Strategy and our resident Mad Scientist — is joining me as co-host today. She works with our clients to build systems that earn trust at scale, and she leads the experiments and research inside our Predictive Lab. This five-year study is a collaboration between Hannah, Susan, and our teams.

• Why trust is the missing link in most biz dev strategies — and where it actually leaks out of your sales pipeline
• How attitudinal segmentation flips the script on research and moves you from "just data" to true thought leadership
• Why the majority of decision makers assume businesses are lying to them from the get-go
• Why a five-year longitudinal study gives you an unfair advantage — and what trends you should be watching
• How behavioral science plus data creates moments of "you just get me" with cold prospects
• What you can START doing today to build trust at scale and shorten the sales cycle with well-prepared, ready-to-buy clients

• Website: audienceaudit.com
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanbaieraz/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/audience-audit-inc./

This episode of Sell With Authority is another part of our very special series on trust — and distrust — in the agency sales process.

You've been hearing from agency leaders who are leaning into this issue head-on. These conversations are not only timely — they're also forming the research foundation for my next book, The Trust Architecture, and a new series of Field Guides we'll soon be sharing with our community.

As we've seen time and again from our work alongside agency owners and their teams — trust, or the lack of it, is one of the biggest obstacles to having a sales pipeline that flows with right-fit prospects.

When trust is present — your pipeline flows.

When trust is absent — there's friction and momentum stalls

Our guest expert today is Chris Gauron, Founder of Voro, a Minneapolis-based digital media agency that has grown from a solo consultancy into a 26-person powerhouse generating more than $5 million in agency gross income.

Candidly, it's not just the numbers that matter. It's the reputation.

In their clients' own words…Voro is "a digital agency you can trust."

And that's exactly why Chris belongs in this special series on trust and distrust within the agency sales process. He knows what it takes to build rock solid awesome trust, earn clients' confidence — and scale a business that's future-proof in a sea of shifting digital sands.

• How showing vulnerability up front accelerates trust more effectively than any flashy sales technique
• Why Chris's early career in car dealership sales became an unexpected blueprint for agency growth, client service, and long-term relationships
• How operational discipline and honest expectation-setting remove friction and strengthen every client engagement
• Why top-performing sellers succeed by listening first — that skill outperforms even the strongest pitch
• What to say immediately when you know you're not the right fit — and how that honesty actually increases your authority and influence
• Focusing on progress over perfection should anchor your agency's culture and guide every client conversation
• Why asking "why" can be your secret trust-building superpower

• Website: https://voromedia.com/
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgauron/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/voro-media/

This episode of Sell With Authority is another part of our very special series on trust — and distrust — in the agency sales process.

You've been hearing from agency leaders who are leaning into this issue head-on. These conversations are not only timely — they're also forming the research foundation for my next book, The Trust Architecture, and a new series of Field Guides we'll soon be sharing with our community.

As we've seen time and again from our work alongside agency owners and their teams — trust, or the lack of it — is one of the biggest obstacles to having a sales pipeline that flows with right-fit prospects.

When trust is present — awesome — the pipeline flows.

When trust is absent — not awesome — friction sets in, uncertainty creeps up, and momentum stalls.

Which makes today's conversation another rock solid awesome fit for this series.

Our special guest expert is Maddy Osman, Founder of The Blogsmith, a content marketing agency trusted by top B2B technology brands. Maddy's perspective is such a valuable addition to this series because agencies know that the quality of content can either build or break credibility.

A missed deadline, an inconsistent voice, or a sloppy process erodes trust instantly.

But content that's consistent, well-structured, and scalable doesn't just demonstrate credibility — it earns it.

You'll hear how Maddy defines trust in agency-client relationships, how content and thought leadership can build trust at scale, how her team ensures quality and credibility through strong operations, and how to balance efficiency — maybe even AI — with human creativity to keep trust at the center of it all.

Content can transform your agency's credibility into trust — THEN turn that trust into growth.

Maddy shares her proven processes, mistakes to avoid, and her hard-won lessons on turning trust into lasting growth.

• Why trust — or lack of it — is the single biggest friction in your agency's sales pipeline
• Maddy's playbook for building trust from the very first client touchpoint
• The secret behind "the trust cookie"
• How to leverage operational discipline so your clients see you as the safest pair of hands they've used — ever
• Candid examples of when it's time to say "no" for the sake of integrity — and how that builds referral gold
• A balanced approach to leveraging AI, building human connections, and never losing your voice in the noise

• Website: https://www.theblogsmith.com/
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madelineosman/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theblogsmith/
• X: https://x.com/maddyosman
• Writing for Humans and Robots: The New Rules of Content Style: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09X4NJ9H8