Do you make it easy for clients to work with you? If not, you’re probably holding back your agency’s growth even more than you realize.
As I always say, no logo has ever hired another logo. So we need to remember that we’re selling to real people. And think about how you feel when another business is difficult to work with.
I recently had this experience myself with an organization that I have been affiliated with for decades. I needed to change my recurring billing to a different credit card, only to discover that even though it is 2026 they have no way to do this online and it requires a phone call. Talk about frustrating and far from easy to work with.
They lost my business.
I want to look at what it means to be easy to work with a little later in this week’s newsletter, but first let’s take a look at what Jen has rounded up for us this week.
— Chip Griffin, SAGA Founder
Latest from SAGA
DON’T BURN THE BRIDGE ON YOUR WAY OUT. Losing a client stings, even when you saw it coming. But don’t let your emotions get in the way of how you handle the exit. In the latest Agency Leadership Podcast episode, Chip and Gini walk through what to do when a client ends the relationship — from buying yourself a day or two before reacting, to making the transition clean and handing over everything they need without a fight.
PR’S MOMENT IS REAL, BUT YOU’LL HAVE TO WORK FOR IT. GEO is putting earned media back at the center of the strategic conversation — and the data is starting to back that up. But the agencies that are able to capitalize will be the ones doing the hard work of integrating AI into their practice, not the ones slapping “AI-powered” on their credentials deck. In the latest SAGA Signals briefing, I cover the PR opportunity, the performative AI trap, and what souring public sentiment toward AI means for how you position your agency.
Jen’s Weekly Roundup
Here’s what caught my eye this week:
DISTINCTIVE, NOT UNIQUE — Jody Sutter argues that hunting for a unique selling point usually produces something either too narrow to matter or too generic to help. A better goal is distinctiveness, with a recognizable profile built from the same raw materials everyone shares, arranged in a way that’s memorable.
FEAST OR FAMINE IS THE RESULT OF A CHOICE — Mark Sneider of RSW/US breaks down the feast-or-famine cycle that happens because outreach stops the moment client work gets busy. His fix is to have a dedicated resource on the hunt every day, a multi-channel approach, and a habit of giving away useful thinking before asking for anything. And from a leadership angle, Brad Farris at Anchor Advisors talk about how there’s a moment in a growing agency when the owner needs to operate at a higher level but keeps getting pulled back into the work.
DIGGING DEEPER INTO AI — David C. Baker’s argument in his latest blog post is that AI is not a positioning — everyone who survives the next few years will be AI-capable. What matters is whether you’re able to use that capability toward strategy, and not just execution. On the Agency Profit Podcast, Colin Hewitt of Float discusses the financial impact of AI. As the work agencies sell shifts, cash flow visibility matters more than ever. Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson on For Immediate Release tackle the governance crisis hiding inside the AI boom: employees at the Pentagon have spun up over 100,000 AI agents, and most organizations lack any governance to manage them.
FOUNDER-DEPENDENT SALES IS A CHOICE — Karl Sakas makes the important distinction between founder-led sales (intentional, high-value) and founder-dependent sales (where nothing moves without you). His framework breaks the sales role into ten sub-roles that can be chunked out over time, so the owner stops being the bottleneck without making one risky leap. Karen Swim and Michelle Kane on That Solo Life make the argument that the disruption hitting big agencies right now is an opening for solos, and independents who can offer senior access, consistency, and speed are exactly what clients are looking for.
PLATFORMS AND TRENDS — Gini Dietrich at Spin Sucks uses Liquid Death as a Stage 5 PESO Model case study and the diagnosis is instructive: the operating system IS the brand’s competitive moat, not its product. Earned media at that level covers the operation, not the product. Also from Spin Sucks, Shelly Verkamp makes the case that adult learners now prefer training in 90-second bites, not 40-minute modules, and the same logic applies to any content your audience is supposed to act on.
GROWTH DOESN’T HAVE TO MEAN ORGANIC — On the Innovative Agency podcast, Scott Brandon of The Evoq Group makes the case that acquisition can be a smarter path to scale than grinding for organic growth — especially for independent agencies looking to add capabilities without building them from scratch. On Agency Bytes, Mark Homer of Grandin Holdings goes further, saying most deals aren’t the headline-grabbing windfalls everyone trumpets. They’re quiet, creative structures with little cash down. If you’ve ever bought out a partner, you’ve already done one.
— Jen Griffin, SAGA Community Manager
Are you easy to work with?
It’s easy to say “be easy to work with,” but what does that really mean?
It starts by putting yourself in the shoes of your prospects and clients at all times. How would you feel if you had their experience?
I know that many of us who advise agencies preach the need to protect your own interests and those of your firm. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider the other party, too.
Successful agencies balance the urge to be a people-pleaser with the requirements of proper business management. If the pendulum swings too far in either direction, you have a problem.
Since I usually discuss skewing too heavily toward people-pleasing, I think it would be useful to examine the other side of the coin.
Start by keeping things simple at every step of the client’s engagement with you. There shouldn’t be a lot of difficulty in contacting you, booking an initial conversation, and getting the follow-up needed.
Offer scheduling tools to prospects and clients so you can avoid countless back-and-forth emails to find a good time to talk. Ensure that you have flexible meeting windows so you can accommodate the diverse needs of your prospects’ own calendars.
Be clear about next steps when you talk, and then follow through on what you say you will do.
When a prospect wants to become a client, promptly provide them with the statement of work. You should have contract and SOW templates that enable you to act swiftly. This not only shows you are easy to work with, but it also ensures you strike while the iron is hot for the prospect.
A well-structured onboarding process for new clients also helps to signal you’re easy to work with. Avoid fumbling around with disorganized initial calls and get straight to the point to set expectations, gather necessary information, and make a strong start on the engagement.
Throughout your time working with a client, ensure that you and your team respond in a timely fashion, maintain concise communications, and are honest and direct about what’s needed and what to expect.
When your client calls up with an idea or concern, listen. Think about not just what they’re saying but why they’re saying it. Provide your honest expert assessment and advise on how to move forward.
And when the engagement ends, make wrapping up as easy as possible, even if the decision to part ways wasn’t your own. (Gini and I discuss getting “fired” by clients in this week’s podcast episode, so click here to hear more on that topic.)
These are far from the only ways to make life easier on the people who hire you. You can simplify billing and payment so changing a card or settling an invoice doesn’t require a phone call. You can adapt to your client’s tools and systems rather than forcing them to learn yours. And you can offer clear, thoughtful recommendations instead of dumping a menu of options on their desk and asking them to choose.
A lot of the success that I have had in my career over the years has come from being generally easy to work with and showing up when asked. It all comes down to treating your prospects and clients the way you would want to be treated if the shoe was on the other foot.
So I ask again: are you and your agency easy to work with?
