Agency client retention: how to keep an account

To keep an agency account, build the same habits into every account, whatever service you sell. Have your answers ready before the client asks. Watch each account for early signs that something has changed. Keep a short set of routines that one person can run.

Which questions should you be ready to answer before a client asks?

Be ready for four things Google tells businesses to ask an SEO: how you'll be in touch, what you changed and why, what to expect and by when, and what anything unclear means. They're written about SEO, and you can prepare for the same ones on any service you sell.

1. How you'll be in touch. One question asks how the business can expect to hear from its SEO. Have ready: the channel you'll use, how often you'll write or call, and the name of the person who answers.
2. What you changed, and why. Another asks whether the SEO will share every change made to the site, along with the reasoning behind each recommendation. Have ready: a running log of your changes in plain words, with the reason beside each one.
3. What to expect, and by when. A third asks: "What kind of results do you expect to see, and in what timeframe?". It goes on to ask how the SEO measures success. Have ready: the numbers you'll report, and the date you'll first go over them together.
4. What a word means. Google's advice to businesses also includes asking for an explanation when something isn't clear. Have ready: a plain version of each term that shows up on your reports and invoices.

For a service other than SEO, swap the words. "Changes to the site" becomes changes to the ads, the designs or the emails.

Write your answers down once. Give them to each new client in the first week, so they have them before they think to ask.

The list is written for a business that's choosing an SEO, and it doesn't say what a client does with the answers.

The first answer on the list, how you'll be in touch, is worth a plan of its own. For a rhythm for contact between reports, see agency client communication.

Which early signs should you watch for in an agency account?

Watch for a change from what's normal for that account: in how the client talks with you, in who you deal with, and in how work and money move. No single sign tells you what a client will do. Each one is a reason to ask.

Common places to look include:

• Contact. Replies that come slower than they used to, or calls that get moved or dropped.
• People. A new contact on the client's side, or a new boss above your contact.
• Work. Approvals that sit, or fewer requests than the account used to send.
• Money. An invoice paid later than is normal for that client, or new questions about the bill.
• The report. A report that gets no reply, or questions that move from the work to the fee.

When you spot one, take these steps:

1. Write it in the account's notes, with the date.
2. Check it against what's normal for that account. A client who has always been slow to reply hasn't changed.
3. Call the client. Ask how things are going on their side, and listen before you offer anything.
4. Agree on one thing you'll change, and a date to check on it.
5. Send a short note after the call that says what you both agreed.

A monthly check keeps you from relying on memory. For each account, ask yourself:

• When did we last talk with the client outside of a report?
• Did the last report go out on its date?
• Is anything waiting on the client, or on us?
• Has anyone new joined on their side?
• Do we know what the client would call a win this quarter?

An SEO account adds one more thing to watch, which is the wait for results. For the slow first months of an SEO account, see how to retain SEO clients.

Which marketing agency client retention strategies fit a small shop?

The ones that fit a small shop are habits one person can keep with no new staff and no new tools. Here are six to start with.

1. Give each account one owner. One named person on your side knows the account and answers for it.
2. Fix the report date. Pick a day each month, and send the report on that day.
3. Keep a work log. List what you did in plain words, and share the list with the client.
4. Check in between reports. Send a short note when work goes live, or when you're waiting on something.
5. Ask what's changed. Every few months, ask about the client's business: new products, new staff or new goals.
6. Write down what you agree. After each call, send the decisions in a short note.

The report goes out under your agency's name each month. For why a report with your name on it matters, see Why is white label SEO reporting important?.

The report also gives you a reason to talk each month. For the monthly report and its call, see how reporting helps you keep a client.

When the habits won't fit in your week

If the habits won't fit in your week, one choice is to hand some of the work to someone else. Four reasons come up for using white label SEO or branded reports: steady output, lower fixed costs, more services to sell, and clients who stay. We found no official or neutral source that gives a fact for any of the four, and every page we read that makes the case sells the service or a report tool. Weigh them as reasons, with no number behind them.

Doing every task yourself has a fair case too. You stay in charge of the work, and client data stays inside your agency. What can go wrong is a date that slips or a margin that runs thin. If your dates start to slip, sort your tasks into the ones only you can do and the ones a tool or a team could take.

Duct Tape Marketing is one agency that brought its website builds, page updates for monthly clients, logos and slide decks to our team at DeskTeam360. It's a marketing agency for small firms, and about 150 consultants and agency owners belong to its network. Before the move, it had spent two years with another firm on a similar model. It reports better quality work, and it says it's more profitable. In Duct Tape Marketing's words: "Absolutely Get Off The Fence And Do It!"