Right, let me tell you about the December that nearly killed my agency.
Early years, maybe 2011 or 2012. November had been mental – one of our best months ever. Then December hit. Design work just stopped. “No budget left.” “We’ll look at it in the new year.” “Let’s reconnect in January.”
Revenue dropped to about a quarter of what we needed. Still had to pay salaries, rent, everything else. I remember sitting in our office looking at the numbers, thinking this doesn’t look great.
The stupid thing is, I’d accepted it. “That’s just how December is,” I told myself. “Clients wind down. Budgets are spent. Nothing we can do.”
What a load of rubbish.
See, here’s what I didn’t understand then. Q4 doesn’t have to be 2.5 months of actual business. December doesn’t have to be dead. You just need different clients and a different approach.
Took us a few years to work this out, but when we did, the business was better for it. We went from December being our worst month to being relatively predictable. Sometimes even our most profitable month.
How? We got methodical about it.
Finding Q4 Work
First thing we did was look at who actually needs creative work in A4. Not everyone’s winding down. Some businesses are ramping up for Christmas. Others are planning massive Q1 campaigns. Corporate clients have annual reports due. Events companies are planning conferences.
We started targeting these specifically. Not in December – that’s too late. In September and October. By the time December came round, we had work booked in.
But that’s only half of it. The other half is your existing clients.
The Client Service Matrix
Every October, we’d pull out what we called our client service matrix. Sounds fancy, but it’s just a spreadsheet showing every client and every service we could offer them. Most agencies only sell about 30% of what they could to each client. That’s a bit silly when you think about it. And it’s slightly arrogant to think all our your clients know everything about your business. The month before I exited my agency a client showed me their new brand when buying print. They’d no idea we offered that service.
So we’d look at each client. What are they buying? What aren’t they buying? Why not? Then we’d use any spare capacity to pitch them properly. Not some desperate “please give us work” pitch. Proper strategic proposals for Q1 projects.
“Hi Sarah, been thinking about your conference in March. Last year’s design was solid but I reckon we could do something special this year. Here’s what I’m thinking…”
Your goal isn’t just to sell today’s work. It’s to position yourself for tomorrow’s.
January’s Pipeline Starts Now
And here’s the thing about January that most agency owners don’t get. January’s sales pipeline isn’t built in January. It’s built now. In December. While your competition is at Christmas parties, you should be having conversations about Q1 projects.
I learned to love December for this. Everyone’s guard is down. They’ve got time to actually think strategically instead of firefighting. You can have proper conversations about their business, not just their immediate needs.
One December, maybe 2015, I was at some drinks thing in Belfast. Got chatting to a marketing director who mentioned they were reviewing agencies in January. Their current agency was getting complacent. Overservicing some areas, underservicing others. Classic December problem – nobody’s paying attention.
We positioned ourselves as the agency that never switches off. Won a £200k annual contract in February. All because I showed up in December when others didn’t.
Retainers
But let’s talk about the elephant in the room – retained clients. If you’re not on a retainer model, December will always be feast or famine. When there’s a monthly bill to pay, clients find ways to use you. Your job is to make sure they see the value.
And December’s when you need to have the pricing conversation nobody wants to have. If your retainer hasn’t increased in a year, you’re effectively working for less money. Costs go up. Salaries go up. Everything goes up except your fees? That’s not sustainable.
My clients are building in automatic 3-4% annual increases. Not negotiable. Just part of the contract. “Fees increase annually in line with inflation and operational costs.” Most clients don’t even question it if you position it right.
But you need to be careful here. December’s also when nervous clients start looking at their costs for next year. If you’ve been coasting, if you’ve been overservicing without showing value, or worse, underservicing, you’re at risk.
Audit Everything
Audit every retainer client in December. Are you delivering what you promised? Are you doing too much? Too little? Is the scope still right? One client recently we discovered we were doing about £3,000 of free work annually for one client. Just scope creep that had built up over time. Free work? Not on my watch.
So they had a conversation. “Look, we love working with you, but we need to reset expectations. Here’s what’s in scope. Here’s what isn’t. Here’s what it costs if you want the extra stuff.”
They paid. They always do if you’re adding value.
Stop Being at the Client’s Mercy
The biggest shift for us was stopping thinking like we were at the client’s mercy. Most agency owners accept quiet Decembers as inevitable. It’s not. You just need to be smarter about it.
We focused on smoothing out the peaks and troughs. That meant finding clients who needed December work. Corporate clients with year-end requirements. Retailers ramping up. Events companies planning Q1. We built a portfolio that meant December was predictable, not painful.
And the cashflow side – this is crucial. We made sure our cashflow was robust enough not just to survive a quiet December, but to give us headroom for January. Because January can be slow to get going if you haven’t done the December groundwork.
Your Q4 Action Plan
Here’s what your Q4 actually needs to look like:
Right now: Audit every client relationship. Who’s at risk? Who could spend more? Who needs a price increase conversation?
Step two: Reach out to every prospect from the year. Not with Christmas wishes rubbish. With actual value. “Thinking about your Q1 plans. Here’s an idea that might help.”
Step 3: Get your finances properly sorted. Not roughly. Exactly. Know your numbers going into January.
Step 4: While everyone’s winding down, you’re having strategic conversations about next year.
The agencies that struggle in January are the ones that switched off in December. The agencies that thrive are the ones that used December to set up the next year.
I know you’re tired. I know you want to switch off. But your competition is hoping you do exactly that.
Don’t give them the satisfaction.
December isn’t the end of your business year. It’s the beginning of your next level. But only if you treat it that way.
Right?
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This Q4 discipline is exactly what I help my clients implement. If you’re serious about making 2026 different, we need to talk before January. Not in January. Before. I have 2 spaces already filled for my January launch, so speak to me soon. https://moveatpace.com/strategic-growth-programme