As you evolve and grow your creative agency, you’ll gradually take on new clients and expand your client list. Some clients will be big; some will be small. Some will be demanding; some will be a joy to work with.
But one thing’s undeniable: these clients are your true source of income. Without your clients, you have no project work, no fees, no revenue and – crucially – no profit.
So it’s surprising that more agencies don’t take the time to review their client list and make sure they’re working with the right clients – and by ‘right’ we mean both nice to work with AND profitable… the holy grail of clients!
Getting into a relationship
Getting to know your clients is like getting to know anyone else. And clients are a lot like dates – the best ones are worth getting into a relationship with. But there will always be some that appear to be amazing, at surface level, but are best left as a one-time thing in the long run.
And that’s why focusing on the right clients is so important. Your time is money, when running a creative agency, so don’t waste that time on the wrong clients.
The best clients are the ones that pay you on time, are happy with the price you’re charging and have a genuine appreciation of the value you bring to their business. They’re the ones you want coming back for more – so focusing your energies on the nice guys really does pay off in the end.
Nurturing the right clients
If you nurture the right kind of clients, you can’t go far wrong. It’s a recipe for a fruitful and enjoyable relationship for both of you in the long term.
The important thing is being absolutely clear on the perfect client profile for you. Experience will have taught you the type of client that works well for your agency. So, with this knowledge in mind, you can create a very detailed outline of ‘your kind of client’.
The next step is to decide which kinds of clients are top banana and which are just not your cup of tea. With those two profiles in mind, you can go through your client list and do a bit of tactical ‘weeding out’ of the clients who just don’t fit the bill.
Finding your perfect client
In our experience, it’s handy to actually sit down and create a persona for that mythical ‘perfect client’. They may not be a unicorn riding a rainbow across the universe (one for the developers there), but these perfect clients DO exist, trust us.
Having that persona in mind helps you to make the right decision when considering a new client. And it’s very handy when you’re thinking about giving an existing client the old Spanish archer (elbow… geddit?)
So how do you create that persona? Look at your favourite clients and think about what makes them a ‘good client’:
- Do they have personality traits that you like?
- Do they use phrases and slang that resonate with you?
- Are there interests you both share that give you some common ground?
- Do they laugh at your (bad) jokes and do they make you laugh in meetings?
- Are they responsive and proactive and a joy to work with?
- Do you feel happy when working with them, rather than having to force a smile (we’ve all been there, haven’t we!)
- In short, imagine the kind of client you’d LOVE to work with. If you’d be happy to be locked in a lift with them, they’re probably the right kind of client!With this perfect client persona in the back of your mind, you can screen each new prospect to make sure they’re your kind of client. And it also helps you to review your client list every few months to hunt down the rotten apples in the barrel – and turf them out before they cause any trouble.
Client relationships matter
So, armed with your perfect client persona, you’re ready to get out there and start finding the right clients for your creative agency.
By making more informed decisions on new prospects and sorting the wheat from the chaff with your existing client list, you’re setting the groundwork for some much more productive – and potentially profitable – relationships with your clients. Not to mention having a lot more fun.
You can find out more about client relationships and boosting your agency’s profitability in our free eBook ‘Unlocking Hidden Profits’ – visit our My Profits page and fill in your details to get a free download of the book.
