Agency growth consultant
A marketing agency growth consultant for agencies past $1M
Tim Kilroy works as a marketing agency growth consultant for established agencies between $1M and $20M a year, building custom sales and demand systems so growth stops depending on the founder.
Last updated · Published by Tim Kilroy
What does an agency growth consultant actually do?
An agency growth consultant diagnoses why an agency's growth has stalled and builds the systems that fix it. Tim Kilroy starts with positioning, then installs a sales process or a whole-team demand engine scoped to your agency. It is done with you, not handed over as a template, because at this size no two agencies share the same bottleneck.
Definition
Agency growth consulting, defined
Agency growth consulting is custom, hands-on work that redesigns how an agency wins and keeps clients. With Tim Kilroy it comes in two engagements. SalesOS builds a sales process your team can run so good-fit deals close whether or not you are on the call. DemandOSgives every role on the team a way to talk about the agency's position from their own seat, aimed at the layer of the buyer's organization they naturally speak to.
If you searched for an “agency growth consultant LLC”, note that Tim Kilroy publishes his work under his own name at timkilroy.com. This page describes his consulting, not a firm with that name.
Numbers
What changes at each stage
- The Wall: generic tactics stop working, sales depend on the founder, and profit stays thin. Best fit: SalesOS.
- $1M to $5M
- The Layer: getting out of the sales seat and building a team that leads.
- $5M to $10M
- DemandOS: the whole team covers the target organization floor by floor.
- Up to $20M
- Share of digital agencies with fewer than 50 employees, per the 2026 Promethean Research report.
- 87%
By the time the senior decision maker takes the meeting, half their company already recognizes the agency's name.
Comparison
SalesOS or DemandOS: which engagement fits?
| Engagement | Problem it solves | Typical stage | Starts with |
|---|---|---|---|
| SalesOS | Nothing closes unless the founder is on the call | About $1M to $5M a year | Positioning, then a sales engine built around your agency |
| DemandOS | The founder is the only real growth channel | $1M to $20M a year | Positioning, then role-by-role content for each buyer level |
Procedure
How a growth consulting engagement begins
Free WTF call
Thirty minutes on revenue, team, pipeline and operations.Custom diagnosis
Tim Kilroy names the real constraint. No templates.Scoping
The engagement is scoped to your agency, so price and length are set here rather than published.Build with you
Positioning first, then the sales or demand system installed with your team.
Context
Why growth consulting, and why now
Promethean Research reports that average agency growth slowed every year from 2021 to a low of 5% in 2024 before rebounding to 7.5% in 2025 (Promethean Research). Haus Advisors cites SparkToro's finding that only 14% of agencies describe their pipeline as very healthy (Haus Advisors).
Under $1M a year? Start with marketing agency coaching in Agency Studio instead.
Common questions
- What is SalesOS?
- SalesOS is Tim Kilroy’s custom engagement for building an agency sales process that works without the founder on every call. It is aimed at agencies roughly between $1M and $5M a year, where sales still depend on the owner. It starts with positioning, then builds a sales engine around your agency, and it is scoped after a WTF call.
- What is DemandOS?
- DemandOS is Tim Kilroy’s system for turning the whole agency team, not just the founder, into a demand engine. The founder, strategists, project managers and analysts each publish from their own seat to the layer of the buyer’s organization they naturally speak to, so the agency’s positioning shows up everywhere instead of only on the founder’s LinkedIn.
- What about agencies above $5M a year?
- Custom work extends to $20M. Tim Kilroy describes the $5M to $10M stage as getting out of the sales seat and building a team that leads, and DemandOS serves agencies up to $20M by turning the whole team into a demand engine. These engagements are scoped individually after a WTF call.
- Do I have to sign a long contract?
- Agency Studio and Agency Studio+ are listed as monthly prices. Terms for custom SalesOS and DemandOS engagements are set during scoping, so ask for the length, deliverables and cancellation terms before you start. Confirm current terms through the contact page on timkilroy.com, because published details can change.
- How do I know if I can afford a new hire?
- Use the math Tim Kilroy runs in Agency Studio: divide the cost of the person by your real profit margin to find the new revenue you need to land first. He also uses three hiring triggers: the constraint has lasted 60 days or more, it blocks revenue, margin or focus, and removing it generates enough margin to fund the role within six months.
- Should I hire a salesperson instead of a sales coach?
- Not before the process exists. Tim Kilroy has written that a first agency sales hire needs specific things in place before day one, and that you should prove the agency can sell without you before stepping away. His sales playbook frames the usual issue as a missing process, not a missing closer, so a hire without structure tends to stall.
Ready for growth that does not run through you?
Contact Tim Kilroy to book a free WTF call and scope the right engagement.