Running a successful branding, design, creative agency, or freelance business isn’t easy. Beyond delivering amazing creative work, managing your team and keeping current clients happy, one of the most critical aspects of sustaining and growing your business is constantly bringing in new clients.
Now, some of you will be saying Connor, but we’re already busy, and I know that’s true.
Because if you want to scale your agency, you need to move beyond referrals, move beyond word of mouth and systemise your sales function.
And what happens when things inevitably contract in the market, because I promise that time will come. When it’s harder to win business, when budgets are tighter and when everyone is scrapping for the same work, you’re going to wish you put the processes in place now.
The good news is that in every challenge, there’s an opportunity, and the proactive planning we’re taking now will compound over months, years and decades to benefit your business.
So, make sure you stick with me to the end of this video because I’m going to share my top tips for getting new clients that you probably aren’t doing yet.
I also want to take a quick second to tell you why you might want to watch this video. I’m Connor from Move at Pace, and over 13 years, I built a multimillion-pound revenue creative and digital agency. In many of the years, I was the primary salesperson contributing upwards of £500,000 a year while building my business.
I’m also the creator of the Selling Creative Service sales training programme for creative founders, helping you create the systems and processes to systematically scale the sales function in your agency.
But I’ll talk a little bit more about this later.
The Challenge of Finding New Clients
How To Get More Clients For Your Agency
The process of finding new clients can be challenging. It’s the number one question I get asked by my business coaching clients and my course members. Firstly, if you’re not traditionally in a sales role, it can seem complex and time-consuming, but with the right strategies and tools, you can effectively manage your efforts and maintain a steady stream of clients.
In this video, I’ll show you my exact process today and the considerations you should have when trying to get more clients for your agency. We’ll start with identifying who your client is and how a customer relationship management tool, or a CRM, can play a critical role in building and optimising your sales processes, from tracking new prospects to developing actual leads and finally closing deals.
I’ll also share some of the sales and marketing activities that will give you the best return for your time.
Understanding Your Target Audience
One key method of getting new clients is understanding them. Before you can acquire new clients, you have to have a deep understanding of who your target audience is. Who are they? What are their needs? What are their pain points? What solutions can your agency provide to address their needs?
This may sound incredibly familiar to the branding or marketing agencies watching this. It’s something we tell our clients every day. But when was the last time you identified this yourself? When was the last time you reviewed it?
I can tell you that from my last 10 clients, not a single one has done this to the level they should. Much like the plumber who has work to do in their own home, we need to look at what we should be doing and…do it.
The Role of a CRM in Getting Clients
One of the most effective tools for managing client acquisition is a CRM system. And if you haven’t yet implemented one, pause the video right now and try Attio, Folk Hubspot and Pipedrive. Currently, I favour Attio for its ease of use, but the best CRM is the one you use.
A CRM helps you organise and manage your interactions with potential and existing clients, ensuring that no lead falls through the cracks. For branding, design, and creative agencies, a CRM can streamline the entire sales process, making it easier to track leads, nurture relationships, and ultimately close more deals.
Now, in the beginning, a simple Google spreadsheet can do the trick, but very soon you’re going to discover that managing the complexities of the sales process on a spreadsheet is a headache and just doesn’t have all the functionality you need to systemise your process.
When I started my agency, we had job sheets. Maybe I’m showing my age a little bit, but these “yellow sheets” were printed pages that followed the project from the sales person to the design team and back to the sales person before heading to accounts for processing. We were running 100s of jobs a month like this, and looking back, it’s mental that we did this. Today, everything is recorded, monitored, and processes ensure nothing is missed.
Outside of service delivery tools like Adobe Creative Cloud or Davinci Resolve, I spend more time in my CRM than in any other system.
Getting into the weeds with your CRM
Now I want to take a minute to share with you how I currently use my CRM. I would say I use the bare minimum of its functionality. I add my contacts, I add the companies they work for, and I add my deals within my sales pipeline. This means nothing is missed and no potential client is lost in the cracks of being busy.
But I want to pause here because I am an advanced CRM user. I use what I need because I know this intimately. If you aren’t recording all of your data in there, you’re losing out.
Some of you will want to use the automations or workflows to manage the increasing requirements of your sales function. And that’s the perfect use of technology. I create canned responses or templates for the majority of emails I send, and these are all loaded into the CRM as well.
To sell Creative services within agencies, CRMs are much of a muchness, same idea with slightly different functionalities, but the bottom line is that these tools help you sell more. If you use them.
Here are just two of the ways that your CRM can transform your agency’s sales process:
Sales pipeline: Every CRM provides a sales pipeline, and I can’t stress the importance of this enough.
This will help you manage your contact process, so you can track the status of every lead from initial contact to closing the deal, ensuring that you never miss a follow-up. You can even set alerts and reminders for yourself so you know exactly what to do and when to do it.
I work backwards from Closed Win / Closed loss and look at all the steps I or my team need to make to successfully win more of the business. If I can critically review this and provide the tools, the support and the processes to determine the company’s way of doing things, we are in a better position than leaving this to chance or for your team to decide.
If you think about this, we’re removing the arduous admin work. Allowing you to be effective with your time or to allow your team to spend more time actively managing clients.
The second system that many agencies find useful is Email Synchronisation: When you use Folk, you can sync your emails from Gmail and Outlook to keep your team’s interactions with contacts up to date. This ensures that everyone on your team is on the same page, so everyone knows where you are with each client prospect as they move through the stages of the sales process. You can even import contacts directly from LinkedIn, which is cool, and also from other social networks.
How many times have you wanted to check the status of a quote, but the person looking after it is away from home, or you want to check the brief from a project, but it’s stored in the email of the designer?
Having email sync helps to provide company-wide project-focused knowledge sharing.
But knowing who your customer is and using tools to maximise your output while minimising input is just one side of getting more business.
Doing the actual selling is the other. And in my Selling Creative Services course, I share with you 5 key modules that provide a start-to-finish process.
- 1 – Setting Targets
- 2 – Prospecting
- 3 – Sales Pitch
- 4 – Communication
- 5 – Getting Paid
Right now, it has a 50% discount for those who watch my YouTube Channel. Use code video50 at the checkout to get a thanks for watching discount.
Building a Strong Online Presence
Okay, now back to getting more clients. Let’s talk about building a strong online presence. Because in today’s business world, selling is just one part of the sales and marketing mix. You need to be relentless with your marketing, and for me, that starts with having a strong online presence focused acutely on attracting new clients.
You want to ensure that your website is professional, optimised for SEO, easy to navigate, and that it communicates the services that you offer. If you’re in the enviable position of having a showcase creative blog, that’s great. But for the majority of agencies, we need to educate and inform our customers, and this needs constant focus and attention as well as revision to meet changing needs.
So, when was the last time you reviewed your website and its intent from a sales perspective?
Leverage social media platforms to showcase your work, to demonstrate your experience engage with your audience.
Two of my favourite sayings when it comes to social marketing. “Remember it’s social media, be sociable. And the other: “Comments are content too.” Regularly posting high-quality content that demonstrates your expertise is going to help attract potential clients to you and your agency.
Recently, I did an experiment checking the reach of my content on LinkedIn. In the baseline week, I did not have a structured or committed focus on commenting. Yes, I commented normally on posts that were engaging, but it was ad hoc and reactive.
The following week, I actively commented for 20-30 minutes per day. The result was that my overall impressions for that week increased by over 50%. I was significantly more visible on the platform.
Networking and Building Relationships
So now, what about networking and building relationships in real life? For a few years, networking was put on the back burner, but with the advent of AI and fake content being presented online, there’s a resurgence in face-to-face networking.
It pains me, but for many, networking remains one of the most effective ways to get new clients. In any given month, my team would attend industry events, conferences, and trade shows to meet potential clients and build relationships. We’d sponsor events for industry bodies, and we’d run multiple internal events each year.
When it comes right down to it, there is no substitute for being in the room with the right type of prospective client and building an in-person rapport.
And it doesn’t have to be only client targets that you interact with. Building friendships and relationships with other peers and professionals in your industry can lead to client referrals and collaborations.
Content Marketing
Now let’s talk about one of my favourite subjects: content marketing. Content marketing is a powerful tool for attracting new clients. By creating and sharing valuable content, you can demonstrate your expertise and build trust with potential clients.
After I started my YouTube channel, within 9 months, 50% of my new clients were coming to me directly from YouTube. And importantly, all of the clients I’ve worked with have commented on how the videos resonate with their frame of mind or position in business.
Video is great, but if you’re camera shy, there’s also audio in the form of podcasting, or you can also consider writing articles or starting a blog where you can share your insights and tips and case studies related to your creative speciality. This is going to showcase your authority, your credibility, and it also positions your agency as a trustworthy partner.
Right now, my articles become scripts for the videos and podcasts. Then I take the highlights and record those a reels or use the content in my social posts. Every article produces about 15 pieces of content that work to increase the awareness and authority of my brand.
As a solo business, I put out more content than many of my clients do in a month with a team. Because I view marketing as a long-term compounding function versus something “we have to do”. Aside from the monetary social posts, the videos, written articles and podcasts all remain visible online for as long as I keep them there, working for me.
Email Marketing
Okay, now what about email marketing? Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to nurture leads and convert them to clients. In my business, we had a newsletter database of over 15,000 at its peak, and when we sent a newsletter, our phones rang off the hook, and business flew in.
Normally, it wasn’t because of the newsletter content, but rather we were top of mind for the client. Today, my newsletter list is in the hundreds, and yet when I send a newsletter, I get replies, I get business, and I get sales of my course.
The real magic happens when you segment your email list based on factors like industry and company size, and what stage they are in your sales funnel. This allows you to send more targeted and personalised emails that are going to resonate with your audience better, as opposed to more generic messages.
You can share valuable content in your emails or a newsletter, you can offer exclusive promotions, and you can keep your subscribers updated on your latest projects and services. Leveraging email is one of the very best ways to stay top-of-mind and to convert leads to clients.
One area I feel we can all improve on in B2B sales is to treat our email marketing much like an e-commerce store does.
When you create an order or sign up for an account on, say, ASOS.com, you get a welcome or onboarding email sequence. Explaining how to best use the site or better understand their offering. Yet, what happens when someone enquires about your business? Probably very little. At best, they’ll get an autoresponded “Thanks for your enquiry, we’ll get back to you in 24 hours”. And yet this is the perfect opportunity to educate and inform your clients of the service you offer and how you might benefit them.
Social Proof and Testimonials
Now, one thing that many people forget about is the power of social proof, case studies and testimonials. Social proof is a powerful influencer in the decision-making process. You want to be sure to showcase testimonials from satisfied clients on your website, but also on social media platforms. You want to share case studies that highlight your successful projects and, most importantly, the results that you’ve achieved for your clients, which can be highly persuasive.
You want to encourage your satisfied clients to leave reviews on platforms like Google and LinkedIn because positive feedback from existing clients builds credibility and trust, making potential clients more likely to choose you.
I do this regularly with a simple prompt: “If you’re happy with our service, would you please leave a review on Google?” I say something similar for referrals. If you’re happy to do so, please tell someone else who you think might benefit from our service. Nothing forced and 100% genuine. I can tell you that we had hundreds of Google reviews and weekly referrals for key clients who were happy to introduce us.
The Number 1 & Rarely Used Tip: Free Resources and Consultations
Okay, now here’s the new client number one power tip I mentioned at the beginning of this video: offer free resources and consultations. One way to attract potential clients is by offering free resources and consultations. Provide valuable resources like ebooks and templates, and toolkits that address common pain points in your industry. This is a great way to build your email list, too, with the power of lead magnets. I have a full section of advice for owners that answers the most common questions agency owners have at various stages of their business journey. I have free courses on social selling, and I have a channel dedicated to long-form content like this to go in-depth into the topics I know you’re looking for answers.
But today, I’d argue this passive approach is no longer enough.
And so, offering a free initial consultation is a super powerful way to demonstrate the value that your agency provides. It turns passive marketing into active sales opportunities.
During that consultation, discovery or strategy call, make sure to take time to ask a whole lot of questions and try to understand their needs, and don’t be shy about offering actionable insights and recommendations. Give more value than anyone would expect, as this gives potential clients a taste of what it’s like to work with you and your agency, and it’s one of the very best ways that I’ve found to convert prospects into paying clients.
The Importance of Persistence
Now I want you to remember that persistence is key in client acquisition. Not all leads can convert immediately, and that’s okay. It’s important to stay persistent and follow up with leads regularly, and this is where a tool like Attio or Hubspot can help by helping you with reminders for follow-ups and tracking your interactions with potential clients.
You want to personalise your follow-up messages to show that you’ve taken the time to understand them and are genuinely interested in helping them. A well-timed follow-up can make all the difference in converting a lead into a client.
Final Thoughts
Now, like I said at the beginning of this video, finding clients is a continuous process, and it requires a strategic approach and the right tools. You need to dedicate time every day to focus on your new business activities. It should happen when you’re busy and twice as much when you’re not.
So let’s review what you need to do: understand your target audience, build a strong online presence, network, leverage social media and content marketing, implemente email campaigns on a cadence that suits your business, use social proof, case studies and testimonials, offer free consultations or strategy calls, and staying persistent.
If you can do these things, you can grow your client base and take your agency to new revenue levels..
So that’s it! If you like this video, take a moment to hit that subscribe button and if you want to find out more about how I can help you scale your agency, head over to moveatpace.com
And with that, stay creative, and I’ll see you in the next video!