Client Service Things I Did Wrong in My Last Agency (and How I’d Do It Different Next Time)
Happy New Year! It’s the season to reflect on 2024 and plan for big things in 2025.
This past year, I sold my shares in an agency I co-founded. These months have given me time to recover from burnout, process the journey, and identify what I’d do differently next time.
Here are three key lessons I’m taking into the New Year:
1. Celebrate Milestone Wins Along the Way
Selling the vision of the “top of the mountain” is important, but what I learned is this: clients need to celebrate meaningful milestones along the way, or they’ll lose momentum.
While we were laying foundation stones for future success, some clients became frustrated. They couldn’t see the immediate value because it didn’t align with their expectations.
What I’d do differently:
- Focus on smaller, achievable value milestones.
- Balance the “need to do” with the “want to experience.”
- Train the client to expect these smaller milestones in the marketing and sales process.
- Utilize the 80/20 and only ask clients to do the most important things that will set them up to experience value.
- Prioritize early wins that keep projects on track while demonstrating tangible results.
By setting expectations, delivering visible progress early, you build trust and energy to sustain the journey to larger transformations.
2. Stay Close to Decision Makers with Insights They Care About
During intense implementations, it’s easy to assume you’re aligned because you’re talking to so many people. But if you don’t intentionally engage decision makers, you risk losing their focus and putting future engagements at risk.
Here’s how to keep them engaged:
- Build relationships beyond email updates: schedule strategic check-ins, be curious, and stay attuned to what drives them.
- Set clear expectations and consistently follow through.
- Share meaningful insights about their team and organization that only you can provide. You may need to do some digging to identify these and then add process steps to your implementation to make sure you have everything you need to deliver.
- For example: If you identify that converting existing website traffic is an early win you deliver in your process, you'll need to make sure you have the deliverables in place to capture the traffic (this requires a robust onboarding process) and the right reporting sequence configured to show the funnel. It isn't enough to just capture the traffic, need to tell that story to the decision makers and also tell them why this matters in the context of their "why" for working with you.
Decision makers need to feel the value of the project—not just see it on a report. Strong relationships keep them invested and enthusiastic.
3. Train Your Team to Lead with the “Why”
When delivering a technical transformation, it’s easy for client-facing teams to get stuck in the details and lose sight of the bigger picture.
This disconnect slows progress, creates friction, and demands more time from everyone involved.
What I’ve learned:
- Train your team to deeply understand the “why” behind the transformation for each client stakeholder (think personas.) This was easy for me as a co-founder, but harder to transfer across the organization.
- Develop clear documentation that outlines the impact of your work from every perspective.
- Leverage a framework. I like Storybrand, to ensure everyone can articulate a clear, concise message about your service and its value.
By equipping your team with this understanding, you ensure everyone is equipped to guide client's on the journey. It creates alignment, reduces friction, and creates smoother implementations.
Looking Ahead
2024 taught me to build better systems for client success by:
- Celebrating the journey, not just the ultimate destination.
- Keeping client leadership engaged with meaningful insights.
- Training teams to connect with every stakeholder’s “why.”
As you plan for 2025, I hope these lessons resonate with your own journey. Let’s build stronger, more aligned client experiences together.