Sins of an Agency: Parting Ways With Our Biggest Client

Customer attraction originates from financial and business guidance contexts. Simply put, it’s nan grade to which a institution relies connected a mini number of clients for a important information of its revenue. For instance, if a azygous customer accounts for 10% of a company’s gross aliases a group of 5 clients brings successful 25%, nan institution has precocious customer concentration.

At Vixen Digital, we had this problem. We were alert of nan risks of over-reliance connected a azygous client, but it wasn’t a deliberate strategy. It evolved people arsenic 1 lead expanded into aggregate retainers and upsells. A azygous lead grew into a retainer, followed by respective upsells, yet making them a immense customer and creating a precocious customer attraction problem.

The narration was fantabulous for years, and nan results were outstanding crossed each services. Here are immoderate customer highlights from 2023:

• 48% summation successful full customers YoY

• 20% alteration successful Google Ads costs per click YoY

• 26% summation YoY connected paid social

• 522% summation successful integrated hunt sessions and 714% summation successful inquiries

More importantly, our values seemed aligned, and nan narration felt for illustration a true partnership.

Until it wasn’t.

In an perfect world, delivering connected KPIs would dangle connected nan awesome activity done by integer marketers. But campaigns don't unrecorded successful a vacuum—they’re influenced by galore outer factors beyond nan agency aliases client's control.

After years of successful collaboration, our narration pinch our biggest customer began to change. Despite consistently hitting and exceeding nan agreed-upon KPIs, nan customer was nary longer satisfied pinch nan results.

Mid-year, they altered really KPIs were measured. They asked america to optimize campaigns based connected information we didn’t person and couldn’t accurately measure. Additionally, nan caller KPIs relied heavy connected outer factors, making it difficult to execute goals that now felt misaligned pinch our capabilities.

Adding to nan cleanable storm, nan customer suffered a cyber attack, and nan economical downturn caused immoderate promising leads to propulsion retired astatine nan past minute.

As pressures mounted, we observed nan customer nary longer heeding our advice. The customer changed campaigns without our input and altered strategies that were moving against our recommendations.

We had a choice: instrumentality to our values aliases prosecute nan agency’s commercialized goals.

Here are six things we did to hole nan customer relationship:

1. Revisit halfway values

At Vixen Digital, we turned to our halfway values—honesty, transparency, and respect— to effort to mend nan relationship. We reflected connected wherever to set and turn to realign pinch nan client.

2. Manage customer expectations

Managing expectations is critical, and it starts during nan discovery call. We strive to group realistic goals and pass openly astir what’s achievable. Unfortunately, managing expectations is difficult if nan customer doesn’t perceive to your advice.

3. Collaborate pinch partner agency

We deepened our collaboration pinch nan client’s CRM agency to find communal ground. By aligning our efforts, we enhanced first-party information integration into advertizing platforms and developed respective caller recommendations for information accuracy and campaign optimization.

4. Implement precocious information strategies

We introduced caller data-driven tactics, including:

• Setting up a cross-channel custom dashboard

• Integrating much information into Looker Studio

• Enhancing search crossed Ad platforms

• Developed a caller testing model for paid services

These steps aimed to amended run capacity contempt nan challenges of reduced information accuracy owed to privateness regulations.

5. Maintain proactive communication

We remained proactive and motivated passim nan process, ensuring unfastened connection pinch nan client. Also, we implemented rigorous transmission alignment, pinch play client meetings and regular soul check-ins to support everyone connected nan aforesaid page.

6. Reassess customer relationships

Despite our efforts, communications pinch nan customer did not improve. After months of trying to hole nan relationship, we faced a pivotal infinitesimal wherever we had to inquire ourselves: Do we continue, aliases is it clip to portion ways?

Reflecting connected nan determination to portion ways, I’m still unsure if it was right. The aftermath has been challenging—recovery is slow, and we’re still filling nan gross spread done caller business and upselling. However, our customer attraction is now healthier, pinch little than 17% of gross tied to a azygous client, which is progress.

This acquisition forced america to innovate and refine our customer acquisition and retention strategies. Finally, we’ve implemented measures to diversify our customer guidelines and reassessed nan value of our halfway values.