How I keep agency clients for more than a year

0:00 Recorded with no internet, the work kept going

I recorded this video with no signal at all. I had no internet, nothing. And the work just kept going. If you had asked me this half a year ago, I would have had a really big problem. Because the business would have stopped. Clients would have been waiting on me.

And some of them would have probably left, right? So, this video is all about how to retain agency clients, how to keep them, and why I think most people look at it completely wrong, right?

0:27 Why results are not why clients stay

Because when I started, I thought clients stay because of the results. Better edits, better thumbnails, better numbers, and results matter, matter, of course, like, don't get me wrong, but every client has a slow month. And what they remember is not specifically that month. It's how you handle it that specific month.

0:47 The videographer on the beach bed

So, I learned that from a story that still kind of shocks me, I would say. One of the people we work with now came to us from another agency. And I asked him, hey, why did you leave that last agency? It's a question I ask most of my clients who already have, like, a personal brand.

And he said, like, yo, the videographer the agency sent, I paid a lot of money for. And he was lying on a beach bed instead of filming. That's it. That's why he left. So it was not about the strategy. It was not about the numbers.

It was not about the videos. It was just about a guy they hired. Which was laying on a beach bed. So, he took no responsibility, basically. And that's when it clicked for me.

1:28 Why clients leave an agency

Clients don't leave because of one bad month. They leave because of how you make them feel, right? So, I was already doing it differently. Most agencies only see their clients on a call. Once a week, once a month, on a screen. And then you're just a number for them. Another retainer. There's no, there's no bond. There's no relationship, right?

1:50 We go to our clients, wherever they are

So, we travel to our clients. I've traveled for clients almost every single month. We once spent a whole week in a villa with a client, filming during the day, eating together at night, talking about their business, their family, everything. And that one week alone gave them months and months of content.

But the real thing is, after a week like that, you're not a supplier anymore. You're becoming friends. Friends with a relationship. And friends don't switch agencies because of one slow month. Because the communication and the bond is so good and established, right?

2:24 Reply in minutes, not days

And, it's the same with Slack or WhatsApp messages. Someone who pays you every month is trusting you with their face, with their name. So, when you don't reply for three days, it feels like you don't care. So, I reply fast. And with fast, I mean minutes, not days.

Even if it's just when I'm busy, for example, got it, I'm on it, you'll hear from me within a couple of hours, for example. And that goes for everyone. I get DMs, for example, from 16-year-olds asking me how to start with the business I'm running.

And I answer all of them because I was that guy once. Sending messages, hoping someone would answer.

3:03 Say your mistakes first

When we make a mistake, we say it first. We once put a client's result in a case study. They didn't like that. So we didn't argue with them. We just made it anonymous. That's it. We fixed it. A mistake you handle well builds way more trust than no mistake at all.

3:19 Set expectations on day one

And most problems I noticed start on day one. The client expected one thing and you meant another. So a communication issue, right? So now before everyone starts, I tell them exactly what's going to happen. The first content is live within two weeks of the shoot.

On an existing channel, you can expect to see something after about two months. On a new channel, more like half a year.

3:43 Why we never promise views

And I tell them what I will never promise. I never promise views. Because the moment you promise views, you're going to have a really awkward conversation in month three. You can't promise that. It takes a while to build a good YouTube channel. It takes a lot of dedication and consistency.

3:59 Report what clients pay for, not views

And then every month we report what they actually care about. Not about the views. Nobody pays you for views. It's all about inquiries, right? It's about booked calls, new members, also in the bad months, especially in the bad months, actually.

4:14 Call first when a month is weak

Because when a month is weak, I'm the one who says it first. I call them and say like, yo, this month was weak. This is why. This is what we're going to change. If they have to find it themselves in a report, you lose so much trust.

But if you tell them first, you actually win the trust. And that's where it's all about.

4:33 The team that keeps the work going

And then, the part that nobody sees. Remember the no signal thing I talked about at the beginning of this video. The reason the work keeps going is the team. I've worked with over a hundred editors in the last two years. And the ones who stay are not just good.

They want it. High will, high quality. So that makes them an A player, right? Everyone sends, like, a short update every day. What they did, what's going to be the next edit, where they are stuck. And that's not for control. It's so that clients get the same quality whether I'm online or not online.

5:09 Month to month contracts

And one last thing. We work month to month. No lock-in. Because people always ask me, isn't that risky, Menno? I say no. Because if a contract is the only reason a client stays, you've already lost them.

5:22 Why most clients stay more than a year

So, that's basically it. Most of my clients have been with me for more than a year. And that's not because of one great video, but because of a hundred small moments which build trust.

5:36 Do this today

Today, before you do anything else, answer every open client message. Every single one. And try to answer them within an hour. Because that's going to build so much trust and that's what makes clients stick with you for longer periods of time. So, if you want to see how we work with clients, the link is down below.

It's mennokater.nl/daily. And also tell me in the comments what made you stay with someone you hire. Please follow along. Tomorrow there's a new one. See you there.