Agency Compensation 360: A Smarter Way to Benchmark Pay and Plan Ahead

Compensation decisions are getting harder, not easier.

Agencies are competing for talent in a market that has been tight for years. At the same time, revenue growth is moderating in many places, benefits costs keep climbing, and more agencies are trying to do more with the same headcount by improving workflows and technology.

That is exactly why Agency Compensation 360 exists.

Catalyit CEO Marit Peters walked agency leaders through Agency Compensation 360 and the bigger idea behind it: stop making emotional compensation decisions, and start making data-driven, philosophy-led decisions that protect your culture and your long-term financial health.

Below is a complete breakdown of what Agency Compensation 360 is, what it includes, and how to use it to build a clearer compensation strategy.

What is Agency Compensation 360?

Agency Compensation 360 is a member-benefit benchmarking experience for Big “I” agencies that turns compensation and workforce questions into interactive analytics.

Instead of a static report that becomes outdated quickly, Agency Comp 360 is designed as a live, filterable dashboard where you can drill into data by things like:

• State (including comparisons across states)

• Community type (urban, suburban, rural)

• Agency size and revenue bands

• Roles (account managers, producers, operations, HR, marketing, and more)

• Pay components (salary, commissions, bonuses)

• Benefits and PTO practices

• Flexible work practices

• Outsourcing trends and costs

Marit’s point was simple: the power is not in a flat PDF. The power is in interacting with the data.

Why Agency Comp 360 is different from traditional comp surveys

Most agencies are familiar with benchmarking sources like Reagan Consulting, Best Practices, and MarshBerry. Those can be useful, but Marit called out two practical issues agencies run into:

• Many reports are limited in depth, especially when you need role-level detail.

• Static reports go obsolete fast, especially in volatile hiring markets.

Agency Comp 360 was built to support how agencies actually make decisions today, with filters, scenarios, and real operational context.

Who can access Agency Comp 360?

Agency Comp 360 is intentionally locked down for privacy and data protection.

To access the analytics and enter data, you must be:

• A Big “I” member in a participating state

• A principal or manager, or an authorized person assigned by leadership

• Verified through a vetting process (so it is not open access just for fun)

This privacy-first approach matters because the dataset includes detailed compensation inputs, while still protecting anonymity through minimum respondent thresholds.

The big issue Marit sees in agencies right now: pay inequity created by panic hiring

One of Marit’s most important takeaways was about a pattern showing up across the industry:

Newer employees, often 1 to 3 years in the industry, can be out-earning more experienced peers.

Why it happens:

• Agencies felt pressure to fill seats quickly

• Hiring managers made emotional offers to land candidates

• Wage inflation happened faster than internal pay adjustments

Why it is risky:

• It creates internal inequity between teammates

• It strains long-term payroll costs

• It hurts trust and culture (even if you think people do not talk, they do)

Marit’s guidance:

Put your data in. Find the inequity. Plan to correct it gradually.

You do not need to overcorrect overnight, but you do need a strategy.

Agency Comp 360 starts with philosophy, not numbers

Before you touch the data, Marit recommends answering one core question:

Where do you want to sit in the market?

• Lead the market

• Match the market

• Lag the market

This step matters because leaders often say lead the market until they see what lead actually costs.

Marit’s coaching approach is to decide your stance first, then benchmark against data sources second, and then build a realistic plan.

The 4-part Agency Comp 360 framework: total compensation is more than salary

Marit framed compensation as four connected categories. Agencies that only focus on base pay miss the bigger picture.

1) Base pay

The dollars and cents. Salary and hourly pay.

2) Benefits

Health insurance, retirement plans, employer contributions, stipends, disability coverage, and more.

3) Culture and work-life harmony

PTO approach, flexibility, remote or hybrid practices, and how time off is handled in reality.

4) Career development and progression

Training, growth tracks, professional development budgets, and clear expectations for advancement.

This is how you build a compensation plan that is equitable, competitive, and aligned with your values.

Hiring and staffing trends: growth without headcount growth

Agency Comp 360 also asks forward-looking questions about staffing.

Marit highlighted a pattern that matches what many agencies are seeing in strategic planning:

• Many agencies expect modest staffing change even if revenue grows

• Technology, process improvements, and outsourcing are being used to drive higher revenue per employee

This is a big reason benchmarking matters. When staffing stays flatter, every compensation decision carries more weight.

A practical leadership tool Marit recommends: the nine-box model

Marit asked the room how many agencies formally evaluate talent using a nine-box model (performance vs potential). Only a few hands went up.

Her message was direct:

• Be intentional, not emotional

• Protect your top performers

• Do not let low performance drag culture down

A nine-box approach helps leaders:

• Identify who to develop and promote

• Identify who needs a role change or coaching plan

• Identify who should exit the organization

You can be compassionate and still make performance decisions. Your compassion should include protecting your high performers and the culture they sustain.

PTO: one of the most underrated competitive advantages

Marit strongly recommends agencies consider simplifying and modernizing PTO policies.

Consolidate vacation and sick into one PTO bucket

Separate sick and vacation policies often punish high performers who do not use sick time, while others game the system anyway. One PTO policy is clearer and easier to manage.

Consider day-one fairness for PTO

Marit challenged the traditional model where newer employees get the least time off, even though they may be balancing young families and major life demands.

One approach she recommends:

• Set a fair PTO standard

• Give it to employees on day one, regardless of tenure

Why it works:

• It is simple

• It is culturally meaningful

• It helps with recruiting

• It is often less expensive than increasing base pay

Open PTO can work, but only with the right culture and monitoring

Marit shared that when implemented correctly, open PTO often results in employees taking the same or even less time off, because trust and flexibility increase engagement.

Key rule: Monitor it. Track it. Manage it.

Benefits: you can use benchmarking to plan, not just compare

Agency Comp 360 shows what percentage of agencies offer common benefits and how they structure eligibility and employer contributions.

If you cannot afford a traditional group plan today, Marit mentioned options agencies use to move in that direction:

• Stipends

• HSA support

• Partial contributions

• Eligibility rules aligned to roles and hours worked

The point is not to copy another agency. The point is to make benefits decisions with context and a plan.

Producers and account managers: role-level pay insights you can filter

Agency Comp 360 includes pay breakdowns by role and tenure bands.

One of the most eye-opening views Marit highlighted was account manager pay by years of experience, where newer tenure bands can exceed mid-tenure bands.

That is the data signal agencies should not ignore:

• It can indicate compression

• It can indicate inequity

• It can indicate panic-offer inflation

Agency Comp 360 helps you spot it early, then build a correction plan over time.

Outsourcing: what agencies outsource and what they pay

Agency Comp 360 also includes outsourcing insights, including:

• Which functions are outsourced most often (IT support and MSPs commonly show up)

• Monthly cost ranges agencies report for outsourced services

This helps agencies benchmark outsourcing not only as a cost decision, but as a staffing strategy.

How to use Agency Comp 360 in your agency: a simple playbook

If you do nothing else, do this:

Define your philosophy

• Lead, match, or lag the market

• Be explicit about what you will lead in (pay, culture, flexibility, benefits, or growth paths)

Enter your data

• Use employee codes, not names

• If you have more than about 10 employees, use the CSV upload option

Use filters intentionally

• Compare agencies like mine (size, state, community type)

• Watch for hidden filters you forget you turned on

Find inequities

• Pay compression by tenure

• Differences across roles (producers vs service team)

• Outliers created by hiring pressure

Build a gradual correction plan

• Do not overcorrect overnight

• Track changes over time

• Use bonuses and incentives strategically once bases are stable

Repeat annually

• Agency Comp 360 is designed to be updated, not restarted

• Once your data is in, future updates are edits, not full re-entry

Where Catalyit fits in: tech and people are your two biggest investments

Marit connected Agency Comp 360 to a bigger strategic shift agencies are living through:

You are no longer deciding do I need more people?

You are deciding people, technology, or both, and how to blend them smartly.

That is why Catalyit pairs compensation insights with tools like the Catalyit Tech Assessment, which is also moving toward deeper analytics and benchmarking.

Next step: put your data in and start using the dashboards

Compensation is too big to run on gut feel.

Agency Compensation 360 gives agencies a new way to make decisions:

• With context

• With filters

• With philosophy

• With a plan

If you are a Big “I” member, take advantage of it. Enter your data, explore the analytics, and use the insights to protect your culture and your long-term financial health.

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