How to Diversify Your Marketing Agency Pipeline

Is your agency too reliant on one client or industry? Wondering how to evaluate new market opportunities to determine if they're a good fit?  

In this article, you’ll discover how to diversify your pipeline for agency stability and growth.

Why Having a Diversified Pipeline Is Essential for the Health and Stability of Your Agency

Building and maintaining a healthy sales pipeline is critical for agencies to achieve sustainable growth and weather market changes. By working with clients across various sectors, such as tech, consumer, and health, an agency can protect itself from the unpredictable nature of any single market. This diversity allows the agency to meet its goals, whether related to hiring or finances, even if one sector experiences a downturn.

Predicting when a specific industry will thrive or struggle is difficult, so having a diverse client base makes an agency more resilient. Clients may come and go for various reasons, such as staff changes or new hires bringing in their relationships. While losing a major client is never easy, it's an inevitable part of running an agency. By maintaining a strong and varied pipeline, an agency can reduce the pressure and discomfort that come with client turnover and ensure a more stable future for the business.

Public Relations (PR) consultant Suzanne Block shares her insights on how agencies can diversify their pipelines, adapt to industry trends, and balance client acquisition with retention. As the co-founder of Shape & Scale, a consultancy focused on helping business-to-business (B2B) tech companies with brand elevation and media relations, Suzanne provides valuable knowledge from her experience as an agency leader.

How to Diversify Your Marketing Pipeline

#1: Identify Roles and Responsibilities 

Suzanne's first tip for agencies looking to diversify their pipelines is to identify who is responsible for business development. This is especially important for larger agencies, where roles may not be clearly delegated. However, those responsible must have clearly defined roles, whether bringing in new leads, generating ideas, or tracking industry trends. 

Having a structured and organized business development program will help your agency effectively work towards diversifying your client base and ultimately creating a more stable and resilient business.

#2: Know Where You're Most Comfortable Networking

The next step is identifying where you are most comfortable networking to build your pipeline. This could include general networking events like cocktail hours and panels, one-on-one coffee meetings, leveraging past clients and colleagues, or establishing a presence on social media. 

Once you've identified these networking streams, focus on the ones that align with your comfort level. For example, some people may feel more at ease in large networking events, while others prefer more intimate one-on-one meetings. By engaging in networking situations that you're comfortable with, you'll project more confidence and capability, which can lead to better outcomes and potentially new clients.

If you have a business partner or team members, consider dividing networking responsibilities based on each person's strengths and preferences. This way, you can cover more ground and maximize your chances of success in diversifying your agency's pipeline. 

#3: Assess New Market Opportunities Carefully 

When evaluating potential new clients, Suzanne considers two main factors beyond budget: the story and the culture fit. As a PR and communications professional, she must feel confident that the client has a compelling story and a differentiated product or service. If they struggle to articulate this, generating earned media coverage will be an uphill battle.

Equally important is the client's culture and whether they will integrate the agency team, provide access to information, and respect the role of marketing. A strong working relationship depends on the client providing you with the necessary information and time to support them effectively.

Red flags include a lack of clear marketing key performance indicators (KPIs), a perception that the C-suite does not value marketing, or an unwillingness to collaborate. Trust your instincts—if a prospect doesn't seem like a healthy long-term partner, it's better to pass on the opportunity.   

Having a Healthy Mix of Clients 

A healthy mix of small, medium, and large clients and a balance between retainer-based work and project work is crucial for a stable agency pipeline. Relying too heavily on one large retainer client can be nerve-wracking, as losing that client could cause significant trouble for the agency.

To maintain a diversified mix, consider the following:

• Aim for a balance of retainer and project work that suits your agency's expertise. For example, some fields, like communications, may naturally lead to more retainer work, while others, like revenue operations, may involve more project-based work.
• Keep track of your team's billable hours, including time allocated for business development and administrative tasks. Given your current workload, this will help you assess whether taking on a new opportunity is feasible.
• Be open to various types of work, including retainers, project work, and consultancy hours. This flexibility allows you to serve clients' needs better while maintaining a balanced pipeline.
• When considering a new opportunity, evaluate the financial incentive and the potential impact on your agency's brand and portfolio. If a project aligns with your goals and expertise, it may be worth taking on, even if it means temporarily working more hours. 

Consider incorporating a 30-day out clause in your contracts when managing your agency's pipeline. This clause allows either party, the agency or the client, to end the working relationship with 30 days' notice. While this may seem risky, it can actually be beneficial for your pipeline management.

Here's why:

• Flexibility: A 30-day out clause provides flexibility for the agency and the client. If the partnership isn't working out, either party can end the contract without being locked in for an extended period.
• Pipeline management: When a client decides to leave, the 30-day notice period gives you enough time to reactivate your pipeline. Use this time to reach out to previous contacts, warm up leads, and refresh proposals for potential new clients.
• Forecasting: While losing a client, especially a large one, can be challenging, the 30-day window allows you to adjust your sales efforts and pipeline accordingly to minimize the impact on your agency's forecast.

By embracing a month-to-month contract structure with a 30-day out clause, you can maintain a more agile and responsive pipeline, ensuring your agency is better prepared to handle client turnover and maintain a stable workload.

#4: Prioritize Client Retention, but Keep Prospecting

In Suzanne's view, retaining existing clients should always be the top priority. Keeping a client is much easier and more cost-effective than winning a new one. When sticky situations arise, like budget cuts or personnel changes on the client side, she recommends approaching it almost like a new business opportunity and doing everything possible to stay “sticky.”

This might involve going above and beyond the current scope of work in good faith that it will help maintain the relationship. Demonstrating your commitment and value to existing clients can help prevent client loss.

However, Suzanne is also careful not to let retention efforts completely derail new business development. If facing a heavy workload with existing clients, she sets expectations that a new business proposal may take a bit longer but keeps the conversation active. Setting realistic expectations from the start can help you manage your pipeline more effectively.  

Managing Your Time Effectively

When traveling for work or vacation, managing your pipeline can be challenging, especially if you're the only salesperson or a solopreneur. Here are some tips to help you balance your time away with your sales responsibilities:

• Set an out-of-office message: Inform clients that you're traveling and provide alternative ways to contact you, such as a link to your calendar for scheduling a sales consultation call or the contact information of a colleague who can assist in your absence.
• Strike while the iron is hot: If a client reaches out and wants to meet sooner than your available time slots, try to accommodate their request if possible. If you can't, apologize and provide the earliest date and time you can meet.
• Remind yourself that clients aren't paying for 24/7 access: As an external agency or consultant, your clients don't expect you to be available 40–50 hours a week. It's important to take time off and prioritize your well-being.
• Trust that your business won't fall apart: It's okay to take a vacation and completely disconnect from work. Your clients will understand, and your business will survive a short absence.

Remember, balancing work and personal time is crucial for maintaining your mental health and avoiding burnout, especially as a business owner or solopreneur.

#5: Leverage Technology to Save Time and Gain Insights

Technology is crucial in maintaining a diversified pipeline, even if you're a solo salesperson. Suzanne and her business partner use various tools to operate more efficiently and track results, starting with a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool (HubSpot) to monitor their pipeline. 

While the data is primarily used for self-motivation rather than measuring individual performance, having a central source of truth is invaluable. It allows you to document key details that might be forgotten years later, set reminders to check in with contacts, and understand why you lost an opportunity.

Technology is also critical for expanding your networking beyond in-person events. Suzanne has successfully connected with other communications professionals through industry Slack communities and social media groups. 

Regarding emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and their impact on your pipeline strategy, it's important to consider how these tools can enhance your processes and save you time and money without sacrificing the personal touch essential in sales.

While AI tools like ChatGPT are not a fit for core functions like writing proposals, as Suzanne believes her personality and expertise need to shine through, she does leverage them for research to quickly get up to speed on topics, companies, and potential clients, saving time and money. 

If your CRM offers automation features or integrations with AI tools, consider implementing them to streamline your workflow and save time. For example, HubSpot offers various automation options to help you manage your pipeline more efficiently.

#6: Know the Signs of a Healthy Pipeline

To gauge the health of your pipeline, Suzanne recommends tracking the number of active lead conversations you have at any given time. The exact number may vary depending on the size and nature of your business, but having a consistent flow of active leads is crucial.

For Suzanne’s two-person consultancy, the sweet spot is three—any more is fantastic, two is okay, but one is a sign that it's time to get more proactive. This might involve reaching out to a past client, reconnecting with a former colleague, or ramping up your LinkedIn presence.

However, it's important to remember that the number of active leads may fluctuate based on your current workload and client demands. Having three active lead conversations going at any given time is a more attainable goal than setting a fixed target of new leads per week. This can be discouraging in a challenging market when so much is outside your control. The key is having a consistent pulse on your pipeline and a plan for which avenue to tap into when you need to drum up more conversations.

While the number of closed deals is also an important metric, it's not always entirely within your control, especially in the short term. Focusing on the number of active, high-quality lead conversations can give you a more immediate sense of your pipeline's performance and help you make adjustments as needed.

#7: The Power of Sharing Knowledge  

As a final thought, Suzanne emphasizes how much agency leaders can learn from collaborating and sharing best practices, even if they're not direct competitors. The market is constantly shifting, and no one has all the answers. Tapping into a peer community for ideas and moral support can provide the boost of confidence and creativity you need to keep your pipeline full and your agency thriving.

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