I understand that agencies want to keep servicing the clients that they worked so hard to win.
But clients should stay with you not because you found a way to trap them into the relationship, but because they still see value.
There are all sorts of tactics that agencies use to make it difficult for clients to leave, including contractual, technological, and procedural.
Later in this week’s newsletter, I’ll talk more about why this is a bad idea and what you should do instead.
But first, let’s look at what Jen has rounded up for us this week.
— Chip Griffin, SAGA Founder
Weekly Roundup
Below are some articles, blog posts, podcasts, and videos that we came across during the past week or so that provide useful perspective and information for PR and marketing agency owners. While we don’t necessarily endorse all of the views expressed in these links, we think they are worth your time.
— Jen Griffin, SAGA Community Manager
Latest from SAGA
- Pricing psychology for agency clients (Agency Leadership Podcast)
Articles & Blog Posts
- You Can’t Control the Market, But You Can Control Your Positioning (RSW/US)
- You’re So “Talent”ed! (Legal + Creative)
- Use a Client Advisory Board to improve agency lead-gen (Sakas and Company)
- Don’t Be Too Cautious…or Too Reckless (Punctuation)
- Bringing the PESO Model© to the Enterprise Stage (Spin Sucks)
- Should Project Managers Act As Salespeople? (Bureau of Digital)
Podcast Episodes
- Your Mid-Year Communications Plan Check (Spin Sucks)
- The Big Idea with Jess Sato (That Solo Life)
- The Living, Breathing Brand, with Justin Hoot (The Innovative Agency)
- Yael Morris, Decode Insights – Why Your Customers Buy, or Don’t (Agency Bytes)
- Profit First for Agencies, with Mike Michalowicz (The Agency Profit Podcast)
Videos
- How do we build a new business culture at our agency? (The Sutter Company)
- Overcome These 2 Common Agency Objections—And Open More Doors (RSW/US)
AI in focus
- YouTube Trends Toward Virtual Influencers and AI-Generated Videos (For Immediate Release)
Agencies shouldn’t try to trap their clients
I get it. I really do. You’ve been told that recurring revenue, organic growth, and client retention are among the keys to success with your agency business.
And they are. But that doesn’t mean that you should structure the work you do with clients to try to trap them into remaining with your firm.
Clients need to want to keep working with you and should not feel like they have no other choice.
Do you like it when you try to cancel a service and learn that you can’t do it online and need to go through a whole process of talking to a sales rep (often masquerading as “customer service”) on the phone who tries thirteen different ways to keep your business?
Many agencies try to make it just as difficult for their clients to end contracts. That means that a client who wants to move on from the engagement might be forced to continue paying the agency — and working with them day-to-day — far after the relationship has failed.
Do you really want a client that is unhappy to still be tied to you and your team?
It might be good for near-term revenue, but it can be a disaster for your team’s morale — not to mention the impact on your firm’s reputation when that client grouses about the situation to peers.
While legal agreements are the most direct way that agencies try to trap clients, there are other more subtle steps that some agencies take.
I have seen digital agencies that use centralized accounts to manage client ad campaigns, making it impossible for the client to ever take over management themselves or work with another agency without starting over from scratch.
I have seen web development firms lock down website backends making it impossible for the client to make any edits themselves. Others use proprietary coding that makes it economically infeasible to make future modifications without rebuilding.
I have seen public relations firms that withhold information from clients to make it harder for them to handle media relations on their own if they choose.
I have seen agencies of all kinds refuse to provide data that a client paid for in an easily portable format, not because it was technologically difficult but to intentionally make it difficult for the client to change agencies or take work in-house.
This is not OK.
Your goal should be to make it as painless as possible for a client to leave if they choose.
Agencies should be focused on producing great results and exceeding expectations so that clients don’t want to make that choice.
