7 Signs Your Client Account is at Risk

In the annals of agency work, losing a client is one of the worst experiences to weather. We’ve all been there; we think we’re delivering a good service to our clients, communicating project status regularly and consistently, delivering results, and getting on with the work. 

Then suddenly, out of seemingly nowhere, the client cancels the account. 

Which is often catastrophic to a small agency. 

The Red Flags that Indicate an Account is at Risk

If you’re really honest with yourself, there were probably some red flags you failed to notice. 

Here’s what to watch for:

• Progress update meetings are cancelled with increasing frequency

• Emails asking for feedback are increasingly ignored

• Key client contacts are harder to reach and suddenly less forthcoming

• New ideas are given the brush off

• The client starts asking more questions about the results you’re delivering or suddenly demands better results

• There are changes in senior management at your client’s organization

• Your contact abruptly leaves

But we had a contract!, you’ll say. Sadly, we all know contracts aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. 

How can you avoid being blindsided by a client leaving out of the blue? 

How to Reduce Churn and Hang on to Your Client Accounts

1. Pay Attention

   If you’re feeling something is off, it probably is. Put on your big girl pants and insist on face to face time with your client ‘off the record’. 

2. Over Communicate

   Automate whatever you can and systemize client communications as much as possible. 

3. Connect

   You need to get to know your clients, as human beings, outside of project status updates.

4. Empower your Team

   Make it part of your agency culture to build relationships with clients that go beyond the day to day work. That should include a budget and the authority to send baby gifts for new client arrivals, flowers on birthdays, lunches out for no particular reason. Note: I’m not talking about the booze-soaked lunches of yesteryear!

5. Monitor your Client’s Business

   Pay attention to what’s happening at your client’s organization and in their industry, especially management changes or other major people shifts. Likewise mergers and acquisitions. 

Clients leave for all sorts of reasons, many of which are outside your control, and some level of churn is to be expected. If your client mix is mostly retained, you’ll want to aim for a churn rate of less than 10%. If you’re primarily project based, you’ll want to aim for a churn rate of around 30-40%. 

Your goal here is to make client relationships a priority, not an afterthought, so you can minimize churn. Reduce the likelihood that your client leaves prematurely, and if a change becomes necessary, it’s mutually agreed upon and planned for on both sides.

Remember those red flags? If client relationships are prioritized you should be able to identify any unsettling shifts in the relationship before your client gives you notice that they’re moving their business to another agency at the end of the month.