The strategy-led playbook NVISION uses to land and keep high-value clients

In the early ‘90s, George Arabian was a teenager sitting in his Markham, Ontario basement with a CRT monitor humming along to the screech and bloops of dial-up internet. He had a natural curiosity for technology and spent hours teaching himself to code, one keystroke at a time. 

That curiosity became an opportunity when a local hockey shop told him they “needed an internet.”

“I’ll do it. I’ll build you a website,” 15-year-old George told his first client. He charged $500 and spent more than 400 hours on the project. “It taught me the intricacies of what it took to build something complex, marrying design and code together.”

That first project gave him valuable technical skills and completely rewired how George saw the web. “This wasn’t just about coding for me. I was building something that had business presence, that had impact.”

That moment launched his career and a clear mindset: Treat marketing as a lever for business growth. His award-winning, full-service agency, NVISION, now leads growth strategy for clients with annual revenue ranging from $10 million to over $1 billion.

However, turning that mindset into a scalable model would mean a complete rethinking of how agencies deliver value.

Leading NVISION from fragmentation to focus

NVISION originally focused on building websites at a time when a brand’s digital presence was essentially just a digital brochure. But George saw a deeper potential: the internet’s ability to convey why a business mattered.

As digital channels exploded in the early 2000s, NVISION added SEO, paid media, and social to its portfolio.

I saw that websites could communicate effectively what that organization did, what it sold, what services it had to offer, why they were the best of the best for whatever reason, and make sure that they were coming up logically on the first page of Google.

George Arabian, CEO, NVISION

However, that evolution came with a tradeoff. As tools multiplied, so did confusion.

“I saw a huge amount of fragmentation where people were just like, 'What do we do?'” George says. “There's just so many options and so many things that are in the market. So where do we take our marketing and what makes us unique?”

George noticed agencies picking one of two lanes: Be the strategist or be the executor. But NVISION saw a third path.

We coined ourselves as a hybrid agency where we not only did the strategy, but we also did the execution.

George Arabian, CEO, NVISION

George never bought into the idea that agencies had to niche down to succeed. He didn’t want NVISION to become “the SEO shop” or “the automotive agency.” That felt limiting—and worse, uninspiring.

“I know there's lots of great agencies out there that do niche down and they do wonderful work,” George says. To me, it's never been appealing. It's always been something that I've stayed far away from because I'll get bored.”

Instead, George anchored the agency around outcomes rather than specific verticals. The focus wasn’t on what the client did. It was on what they wanted to achieve and how NVISION could build the right strategy to get them there.

How strategy-first execution became NVISION’s north star

As NVISION took on more (and bigger) clients, George saw the need for a defined starting point that aligned with its hybrid model: a structured, paid engagement that clarified the client’s goal and set the direction for execution.

Our product really is what we call an SMR—Strategic Marketing Roadmap. If you’re serious about really leveraging marketing to have a lasting impact, we always start with a strategy.

George Arabian, CEO, NVISION

That strategy phase takes four to six weeks and includes research, client workshops, interviews, and data analysis. George’s team uses it to clarify one thing: What’s the client’s actual goal?

Only when the client can provide a clear answer does NVISION build a retainer model and get ready to execute. There are no long-term contracts, but there is a mindset requirement.

We tell our clients that you gotta be ready. You gotta be in this for 12 months. This is a ride you’re going on and it doesn’t just end.

George Arabian, CEO, NVISION

The SMR shift required three key changes:

• Productize the strategy: NVISION treats the roadmap as a standalone engagement with defined value and output. This filters out low-commitment leads.

• Quantify the goal: Whether it’s AOV, churn rate, or revenue growth, it becomes the foundation for the plan.

• Deprioritize speed in favor of alignment: “The floodgates don’t open tomorrow morning,” George tells clients. The SMR gives both sides clarity before execution begins.

Positioning the agency to think, not just execute

If someone calls me and says, ‘We want to do SEO,’ my answer is, ‘Tell me why.’

George Arabian, CEO, NVISION

George expects his team to challenge assumptions, clarify objectives, and guide decision-making, especially when the stakes are high and millions are on the line. The team isn’t trained to nod their head and agree with every suggestion the client throws their way. 

Instead, they’re encouraged to explore multiple options and bring new ideas to the table, focused on what the client actually needs rather than what they think they want.

To operate this way, NVISION changed how it hires and scopes:

• The discovery process slows down intentionally: The team spends time understanding internal dynamics, cross-functional blockers, and executive-level pressures.

• Strategists are hired for their thinking, not just execution: George looks for people who can reframe problems and push back with rationale rather than just take orders.

• Operational systems support strategic follow-through: Internal standard operating procedures, roadmap tools, and structured reporting help turn strategy into accountable delivery.

Earning the big clients: Credibility first, inbound later

Big clients look for clarity, confidence, and alignment with their strategic goals. They want an agency that can think at their level, understand their risk tolerance, and bring focus to complexity.

George Arabian, CEO, NVISION

According to George, it took about 13 years for NVISION to mature. As time passed, George became more selective about who the agency worked with. Fit mattered more than volume. 

Although NVISION doesn’t operate in a specific niche, George has made client fit a strategic filter. Every prospect goes through a qualification process built around three traits: patience, clarity, and trust. 

The agency has learned that its ideal clients tend to be larger accounts. While they won’t necessarily turn away those with revenue below $10 million, NVISION recognizes that bigger organizations are a better fit for their offering.

Big clients have risk tolerance—they're patient, they've got the financials to make the investment, and they understand fundamentally that if done right, marketing can literally change the trajectory of their business.

George Arabian, CEO, NVISION

Here’s how the agency qualifies client fit:

• Clear business goals: NVISION looks for clients who know what they want to achieve and are ready to say it out loud. Whether it’s increasing conversion rates, improving retention, or growing total revenue, the goal has to be clear before the work begins.

• Risk tolerance: Results don’t happen in the first month. NVISION sets benchmarks at 90 days and builds momentum from there. Clients need the patience to let the strategy work and the trust to stay out of the weeds.

• Long-term commitment: The full roadmap takes a year. That’s how long it takes to test, refine, and scale what works. If a client isn’t ready to invest that time, NVISION isn’t the right fit.

These filters allow NVISION to work with clients who trust the process and stay aligned through delivery.

Large accounts rarely come from cold calls. Trust, transparency, reputation, and proving you can handle complexity allowed us to scale.

George Arabian, CEO, NVISION

George also credits the agency’s evolution to its internal mindset. Early in the company's growth, he introduced the idea of Kaizen, which, while not a formal system, became a core influence.

Kaizen is a Japanese business philosophy that focuses on continuous improvement—small, consistent changes that lead to better outcomes over time. Originally used in manufacturing, it’s since been adopted across industries as a way to refine systems without disruption.

We’re focusing on continuous improvement in every area, no matter how small. That mindset has kept us evolving without becoming rigid. 

George Arabian, CEO, NVISION

Kaizen helped the team build, break, and rebuild stronger processes. It shaped how they hired by focusing on people who could grow with the agency and letting go of those who couldn’t. It shaped client relationships by creating space to walk away from misaligned accounts. And it shaped change management by turning every stage of growth into a re-evaluation of what worked, what didn’t, and what needed to evolve.

“We hired great people, kept the right ones, and learned painful lessons with the wrong ones,” George admits. “We also outgrew clients, and clients outgrew us.”

How standard operating procedures help deliver at scale

As NVISION grew, George saw a potential breaking point coming. The team had strong talent and clear goals, but no consistent way to execute. Work was getting done, but knowledge lived in people's heads.

“The biggest unlock was documentation. That really helped us scale. It helped us delegate, helped us improve quality, helped us onboard,” George explains.

George led the charge by building standard operating procedures (SOPs) around the agency’s core tools and processes. The team documented how work moved through platforms like Slack and Asana. They mapped campaign workflows, delivery timelines, and review cycles.

Aligning your team starts with clear documentation, workflows, and timelines. (Credit: NVISION/Instagram)

Even their reporting system has evolved.

NVISION had previously built its own internal platform, Dragonfly, for reporting and client communication. But as their systems matured, they realized maintaining a proprietary tool slowed them down. 

“It wasn’t our business to be building this stuff,” George says.

They quickly shifted to AgencyAnalytics to streamline and standardize reports and dashboards across clients.

With AgencyAnalytics, we don’t have to figure out how to connect to IG, HubSpot, Facebook, and other tools. 

Then there's the storytelling of that data and what it actually means for that client. When we're not having to spend an exorbitant amount of time developing custom reports—because it's templated now and we can spin up a report really quickly—we can focus our energy on the explanation.

George Arabian, CEO, NVISION

Here’s how SOPs and tooling support the agency’s operations today:

• Each major platform has an owner (or champion) who maintains standards and documentation.

• New hires get trained through guided walkthroughs and internal playbooks.

• SOPs define how deliverables move from strategy to execution.

• Dashboards are templated across client accounts.

This allows NVISION to operate at scale without relying on memory. Every team member knows how the work flows and why it’s structured that way.

As a marketer, you want the flexibility to not necessarily fall into some standards and norms. You want to be exploratory, curious, and creative, but you have to do things a certain way.

George Arabian, CEO, NVISION

Onboard your high-value clients with dashboards built to scale. With AgencyAnalytics, just plug in the data, set the goals, and get to work. Try it free for 14 days.

Agency maturity means building on purpose

George Arabian built NVISION by tightening its focus, strengthening its systems, and investing in the right people.

At first, you’re hustling to prove yourself. Later, you’re focused on scaling systems, not just output. Eventually, you realize that real work is in culture because, without that, nothing else sticks.

George Arabian, CEO, NVISION

Leading a mature agency doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with your team. (Credit: NVISION/Instagram)

George knows the future of marketing is already here. It’s just fragmented, noisy, and flooded with sameness.

As AI reshapes the industry and overflows the space with recycled content, NVISION is leaning harder than ever toward original thinking. The agency's model encourages deeper research, sharper insights, and creative ideas that reflect the client rather than a formula. 

AI is going to have a huge impact. But I also think that humans are going to start to appreciate that they want to be original, different, and not cookie-cutter.

George Arabian, CEO, NVISION

So where does NVISION go next?

“We're moving away from the one-off projects. We're leaning heavily into bigger ongoing partnerships,” George says. “It's not just deliverables for us. We're here to change the trajectory of your business.”

That means doubling down on strategic marketing roadmaps, focusing on long-term, full-channel engagements with clients ready to commit, and staying grounded in storytelling and data-backed decisions.

That’s how agencies like NVISION will continue to deliver work that earns attention and drives real results.