How We Built a Sales Process That Kept Working While the Agency Head Was on Vacation

A couple of weeks ago, the head of our agency went on vacation for a week. During that time, my colleague and I closed six deals, while the sales process continued to run as usual without his direct involvement.

A year ago, closing even one deal on my own felt like a major achievement. Those six sales helped me realize how much my role in the agency had changed.

Where I Started

My name is Olga, and I work as a business assistant at a marketing agency. I started my career in 2023 without any previous experience as an assistant.

At the time, I thought the main responsibilities of a business assistant would be managing the executive’s calendar, sending meeting reminders, checking emails, and handling personal tasks. In practice, the role turned out to be much broader.

At first, I handled small tasks that took up my manager’s time. I searched for information, created spreadsheets, and helped with day-to-day organizational issues.

Gradually, I became more involved in research. I collected and organized information that the agency head later used to prepare articles. These materials supported the agency’s external visibility.

Because I took over part of this routine work, the agency head had more time to focus on business development. He started speaking more often at conferences and webinars, working on external promotion, and bringing new inquiries to the agency.

How I Started Working With Clients

Over time, the agency head started passing incoming inquiries to me.

I contacted potential clients, conducted initial briefing calls, prepared proposals, and presented them during online meetings.

To be honest, communicating with clients was not easy for me. Before each meeting, I worried that I might get confused, answer a question incorrectly, or explain our service in a misleading way.

We practised a lot. I studied the agency’s services, conducted presentations on my own, and gradually became more confident. However, the fear of making a mistake stayed with me for quite a long time.

A New Service and a New Stage

A major change happened in 2025, when our agency launched a new service related to website and brand promotion in AI systems.

I participated in the research, helped collect information, and contributed to the preparation of articles. I had already been actively using AI tools in my work since 2022, so I was especially interested in understanding how they could be used from a marketing perspective.

This research helped me understand the new service in greater depth. I learned which companies it was suitable for, what stages the work included, and what results clients could expect.

At the same time, my colleague and I decided to divide the sales process according to our strengths.

I became responsible for communicating with clients, collecting information, analysing their brands and websites, and preparing detailed proposals. My colleague became responsible for leading the main online presentations and explaining our solution during meetings.

After each meeting, the communication with the client returned to me.

How Our Sales Process Works

Today, our process looks like this:

1. A new inquiry arrives at the agency.

2. I contact the potential client and conduct an initial briefing call.

3. I share the collected information with the team.

4. I analyse the client’s brand and website.

5. I prepare a tailored proposal.

6. I arrange the date and time of the presentation.

7. I provide my colleague with the client’s background and the context of the meeting.

8. My colleague conducts the presentation.

9. I continue the follow-up communication with the client.

10. After the proposal is approved, I request the contract and invoice, coordinate the document approval process, and hand the new project over to the delivery team.

This division of responsibilities allowed us to stop trying to perform every part of the process in the same way. Instead, each of us now focuses on the tasks that match our strengths.

I prepare the analysis and the proposal because I am deeply involved in the research and understand the details of the service. My colleague focuses on presentations, while I remain the main point of contact for the client before and after the meeting.

The Week Without the Agency Head

The agency head’s vacation became a real test of the process we had built.

During that week, my colleague and I closed six deals. Nothing unusual or urgent had to happen: inquiries arrived, briefing calls and meetings were conducted, proposals were prepared, documents were approved, and new projects were handed over to the team.

Everything continued to work as usual.

For me, the most important result was not only the number of deals. It was the fact that the process no longer depended on the agency head’s constant participation or supervision.

He could take time off knowing that new inquiries would not be lost, clients would receive answers, and approved projects would be transferred to the team.

What I Learned in Three Years

Today, the agency head can devote more time to conferences, webinars, articles, and external promotion. These activities generate new inquiries, while my colleague and I turn those inquiries into active client projects.

For me, professional growth as an assistant is not simply about receiving more tasks.

At first, a manager delegates individual assignments. Later, they begin trusting the assistant with more complex responsibilities. Eventually, the assistant can take ownership of an entire area and build a process that works without constant supervision.

That is how I moved from searching for information and creating spreadsheets to managing a significant part of our sales process.

This has probably been my most important professional result over the past three years.