How to Retain Clients at Your Agency: Experts Weigh In
Retaining clients is crucial for the longevity of your agency. So many agency owners come to me and tell me that they don’t have time to spend on internal marketing because they have so much client work to do. That’s why I started The Campfire Circle, so agencies can grow without compromising the quality of work they offer their clients.
Client retention is firmly rooted in providing value and strong communication. At the end of the day, your clients want to feel a connection with your agency and if you make them feel a part of your community, they’ll be way more likely to keep hiring your agency.
There are two metrics to help you see how your agency is performing when it comes to client retention. 65% of your agency’s revenue should be from repeat clients as that is the industry standard. Also, research shows that retaining a client costs 5-6 times less than landing a new client.
Getting a Pulse on the Health of Your Clients
Start by perusing your client list. Note things like when their contract is ending. Segment your clients by industry and/or services so that you can nurture them in a personalized way.
While you’re at it, identify your unhappy clients and brainstorm how you can do better.
You may even want to consider surveying your clients to get honest feedback on how your agency is performing. You can quickly create a survey in Google Forms.
If you don’t have a CRM yet, it’s time to get one. You need a place to house your contact information for both clients and leads. Once you’ve implemented a CRM into your workflow, you will be able to gather data on your client retention efforts. You can read my CRM recommendations in this post.
Start By Underpromising and Overdelivering
Your clients want results. If you do the good work that built your agency in the first place, you will naturally retain your clients. I always recommend that agencies don’t promise their clients the moon and the stars, instead, be realistic, and if you are able to go above and beyond, great.
As long as your clients see a strong ROI from working with you, they’ll remain loyal. "Ensuring a return on investment is the top priority for our clients," Interdependence Public Relations Executive Vice President Sarah Schmidt said. “Our success lies in our ability to immerse ourselves in our clients' businesses, understand their buyer personas and determine where our communications expertise can add the most value to their brand and business.”
Lion Shirdan, CEO of Uprise Management has an interesting perspective. “Rather than taking on every lead that comes in, and every service that a potential client is requiring, focus on the select few services your agency provides better than anyone else, then create a unique market offering. This way, you can retain clients, ensure results, and keep your clients with you for a long time. Additionally – don’t lock clients for long term contracts; keep the contracts month to month and ensure your team delivers results consistently and the clients are happy.”
Create Value
Aside from a strong ROI, your agency needs to constantly create value to retain clients. The goal is to work with each client on an ongoing basis.
Agencies can create value by offering educational resources and programs. Think of exclusive guides and webinars for clients only.
Elaine LaPersonerie from Wink PR cultivates quite the community at her agency. “Clients look for value and loyalty. We offer complimentary media training services to clients. This saves them time and money aquatinting an outside expert with their brand, subject matter and interview style.”
“Bring them into your universe. I have a broad and deep network and if I see something that I think will work well for them, I bring the client in. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the program or not – if it works for them, I do it. They appreciate the extra effort and the opportunity to be in front of an audience that they normally would not be in front of,” shared Jennefer Witter, CEO of The Boreland Group.
Set Realistic Expectations
Part of retaining clients involves building a solid foundation. When you land a client, set realistic expectations so they’re not disappointed later. It’s tempting to make a bunch of promises when landing a new client but try to keep sight of your goals. As long as you set realistic expectations and adhere to them, clients will stay.
Founder of Jeneration PR, Jennifer Berson explains it perfectly. “The number one source of client dissatisfaction that leads them to leave an agency is when their expectations are out of alignment with what results they can realistically expect, and in what timeframe. No matter how great of a job you do, and how excellent the results are that you secure, if a client has unreasonable expectations, they will never be satisfied, and will hop to another agency as soon as they can. It is the job of the agency to ensure that client expectations are well-managed, even from the very first conversation where their goals & objectives are discussed. When your results match or exceed their expectations, clients will stick around for years!”
Lauren Vultee, VP at Fox Greenberg Public Relations put it succinctly, “The key to long term clients is being communicative, creative and flexible. Being transparent about what will help achieve their goals and setting expectations. When there is no news we have to help clients make news or switch up our focus to generate publicity.”
Be Proactive
Don’t just wait until a client’s contract is coming to an end when you communicate with clients. Keep the communication and good work flowing.
I love the advice from Jennifer Maguire, President of JMCPR: “Just like in a non-work life, it's great to know someone is thinking about you. Proactive contact is a simple, yet solid, best practice to constantly monitor client satisfaction. And it's easy: just talk to them. Yes, Gen Z, this means using the phone as a phone! My number one tip is to pick up the phone every once in a while and talk to the client one-on-one, outside regular PR meetings and Zoom updates. (It's surprising how often this doesn't happen.) This strengthens the personal relationship, provides a forum for open discussion and is an opportunity to check-in on client satisfaction. This has been a proven measure for my teams in large global agencies, mid-sized firms and my own boutique travel PR agency.”
Clients are understanding if you stay ahead of the game. Nancy Shenker, CEO of The On Switch recommends that agencies“Communicate regularly, and don't BS. If you're having a "dead week," simply own it. Explain why something isn't working and offer creative business-building solutions. Speaking of BS, don't take on projects in categories you don't understand.”
Jenny Bloom, EVP at Jive PR+Digital recommends “consistently coming up with new creative ideas builds trust and demonstrates your commitment to your clients and their evolving industry. Anticipate client needs, and the media on a regular basis, flagging issues where needed with strategic solutions ahead of time. Additionally, keep an eye on industry trends and offer dynamic recommendations to help your clients stay ahead of the curve, and their competitors. Take every opportunity to show your clients that you're invested in their success and are willing to go the extra mile to help achieve their goals.”
5 Ways to Impress Your Clients and Get Them to Renew
As you see with all of these pieces of advice and strategies, providing value and strong communication is key. So let’s quickly explore a few ways to up your game.
Send clients gifts for different milestones
Record a personalized video for your clients talking about strategies that would help power their brand
Offer a discount for loyal clients
Send weekly newsletters or emails with industry tips that can help enhance your clients’ marketing efforts
Apply for awards that showcase your agency and your client to make things a little more exciting
Final Thoughts: Improve Your Client Retention Efforts Today
Retaining a client is better on the budget than getting a new one. If you’re like many agencies, you may be focusing only on your client work and the internal marketing at your agency, including client retention, sometimes falls to the wayside.
If you want to be more strategic in how you retain your current clients, that is one of the services my agency offers so feel free to book a free call today.
Do you have any client retention tips? I would love to read your insights in the comments below!
