Turn Client Relationships Into Revenue Growth  🔗 **Source:** [Turn Client Relationships Into Revenue Growth](https://share.snipd.com/episode/29322978-5191-4374-86a9-76dcba526f29) ## Highlights - **Client Management Often Limits Agency Growth** - Client relationship management can be the real growth constraint for agencies, not leads or fulfillment. - Taylor McMaster observed agency owners closing sales but lacking time or systems to keep clients, making retention a core profit driver. Transcript: John Jantsch What if the real growth constraint inside an agency is not lead generation or fulfillment, but the way client relationships are managed after the sale? Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast. My guest is Taylor McMaster, founder of Dot& Company, a business built around helping digital marketing agencies improve client retention through better client account management. Rather than focusing on campaigns or delivery, Taylor specializes in the client-facing side of agency growth, onboarding, communication, meetings, project flow, and account Management systems. She also hosts the Happy Clients podcast and her experience building Dot and Company is a specialized acquisition-ready business, gives her a unique perspective on retention specialization And creating an agency model that can grow beyond the founder. So welcome, Taylor. Taylor McMaster Thanks for having me, John. John Jantsch So, you know, as I read that, we are talking about agencies here, but quite frankly, account management, you know, there's a lot of types of businesses that have that function or should Have that function. Is there something that you saw really convinced you that that was really a core growth issue and not what most people focus on getting more clients? Taylor McMaster I would say in the beginning of starting Dot and Company, it was mainly a pain point for the agency owners that I knew. They were all working so hard on building their marketing funnels and getting leads on their calendar and closing those leads, but they didn't have the time or energy to think about Keeping those clients around. And they knew in their heart that they needed somebody to do this job, but they almost approached it as more of a butt in the seat. They were like, oh, I just need to hire an account manager. And then my days will be free and I won't have to talk to clients ever again. But they didn't realize that account management really is part of the whole picture. It's retaining your clients, keeping them around. And in turn, that really affects your bottom line. ([Time 0:00:00](https://share.snipd.com/snip/ae173ed0-161e-4957-8ad0-e150d3671498)) - **Make Account Managers Owners Of The Client Experience** - Do treat account managers as responsible for the entire client experience, including upselling and helping clients reach evolving business goals. - Taylor says account managers should proactively look for opportunities so clients grow with the agency instead of outgrowing it. Transcript: Taylor McMaster Yeah. Yeah. Upselling is a huge part of our role. And the way I always look at it is as an account manager, I am responsible for the whole client experience. And so that is not just onboarding a client and managing their project. It's making sure I'm doing the best that I can for that client, because at the end of the day, I'm responsible for that relationship and keeping them around. And keeping them around means giving them the best outcome and making sure that we're helping them hit their business goals. And oftentimes when we as agency owners are working with a client, those business needs evolve. And there's always something that is changing or we need to layer on top of something. And my job as the account manager is to be looking for those things or finding these opportunities that I can continue to help my client evolve. And we want to be a part of that. We don't want this client to outgrow us. We want to grow with that client. So that's a huge part of our role and responsibility. ([Time 0:02:47](https://share.snipd.com/snip/5bc999eb-ac8b-413b-9959-078553d2a060)) - **Overcommunicate Daily To Prevent Trust Gaps** - Do over-communicate proactively with clients and reset expectations frequently to prevent them from assuming nothing is happening. - Taylor notes clients often think the agency did 'absolutely nothing' after any communication gap, so daily updates help maintain trust. Transcript: John Jantsch You know, you mentioned the word expectations and I was going to bring that up. I feel like anytime we've lost a client over the years, it's really been a mismatch in expectations, right? Our clients, you know, we're, we've basically said, look, the next 90 days, we're going to be doing strategy or, you know, whatever it is. And the client's like two weeks in, they're like, how come the phone's not ringing? You know, how do you actually work on managing communication expectations, trust, you know, throughout the process. Taylor McMaster Yeah. You know, it's, I wish I had a SOP for this, but really it's, my methodology is over communication, proactive communication. And to me, proactive communication is not just, hey, we're doing strategy for the next 90 days and then hoping that the client understands that. It is every day over communicating and making sure that we are on the same page over and over and over again, because that client doesn't know anything generally about what in the world You're doing. And even though you have sold them on the story of, you know, the outcomes that you're going to get them, they don't understand how we go from here to actually hitting those goals for my Business. So we need to consistently reset expectations every day, whether we need, we feel like we need to or not. So my methodology has always been, we need to be proactively communicating with our clients. And the biggest thing I see, and I see this even when I'm working with other businesses, is every day that goes by that I'm not communicated with, I think they're doing absolutely nothing. ([Time 0:04:37](https://share.snipd.com/snip/577837f5-4c8f-4863-934c-b2043d533709)) - **First 30 Days Define Advisor Versus Vendor** - Onboarding shapes long-term retention and whether you act as advisor or vendor. - John Jantsch explains their structured 'strategy first' onboarding and having the team deliver parts of it gives clients a full early experience. Transcript: John Jantsch Absolutely. So I will tell you, we have a very formalized onboarding process. We have a very different process in that one of the first things, most of the people we work with are our owners, founders, and we dig into their business objectives before we ever start Talking about marketing. And one of the things we've discovered early on, I mean, to me, it just made sense. It was logical. But one of the things we discovered very early on is most people don't do that. And having a formalized, structured onboarding process is even a unique experience for a lot of folks. What I've discovered is that's one of the secrets to our long-term retention is how a client starts with you is certainly going to determine a ton about how long they stay with you, what The relationship looks like, whether you become an advisor or a vendor. Taylor McMaster Yeah, and I think that starts in the sales process too. It does, 100%. Sometimes we'll struggle when working with agencies when their sales team is not setting the right expectations and we're not getting the information that we need to pull that over The line. So what I love to do as an account manager is working directly with the sales team so that I understand what this client needs and wants right from the beginning. So that I then take them on under my wing and I'm managing this relationship, I know the backstory and I'm not trying to catch up or just take their word on it. I want to know everything. ([Time 0:06:31](https://share.snipd.com/snip/609b8867-3ed4-4877-9e4a-df3641c04b1b)) - **Bring Account Managers Into Sales Early** - Do involve account managers in the sales process so they know the client's backstory and can manage relationships without scrambling. - Taylor prefers working with sales early to capture client needs and avoid catch-up handoffs. Transcript: Taylor McMaster So what I love to do as an account manager is working directly with the sales team so that I understand what this client needs and wants right from the beginning. So that I then take them on under my wing and I'm managing this relationship, I know the backstory and I'm not trying to catch up or just take their word on it. I want to know everything. ([Time 0:07:34](https://share.snipd.com/snip/bfacdd2a-5bb7-4222-8000-55bac472a2f9)) - **Use Gradual Handoffs To Build Trust** - Do onboard account managers gradually and let trust build over months via shadowing and phased handoffs. - Taylor suggests a six-month runway where the new manager attends calls, shadows, then takes increasing ownership until clients default to them. Transcript: Taylor McMaster As an entrepreneur, a business owner, I get it. We've all gone through that where we have to pass over relationships because it's the only way that we can grow and scale a business, right? Is to not be on every Slack message and every Zoom call. But I think the biggest thing is obviously hiring the right people. That's just a no brainer. You have to have the right people, but trust comes over time. And it's not something that you have to rush into. And it's not something that has a 30-day expiry. You have to be at a client calls within 30 days. You can build that trust over time. Maybe it's a six-month runway. And the account manager comes in and they shadow. And then they take over a little bit and a little bit more until clients go to them first instead of you. And clients realize that, you know, Betty's getting back to them way faster. And even though you're still there and still in the background or maybe still on the strategy, Betty can still be there and do a great job. Then you get to a point where you're like, I shouldn't be here. I should not be in the account manager seat because Betty's doing a way better job. And then you can then go focus on more important things. But until you get to that pivot point where you're feeling really good about that account manager, for a lot of agency owners, you don't have to run away yet. You don't have to close your eyes ([Time 0:10:14](https://share.snipd.com/snip/c021cebf-27a0-4dd1-bec4-1a051a068d57)) - **Lack Of Process Keeps Founders Glued To Clients** - Founders often resist delegating because they haven't documented processes and enjoy hands-on work. - John Jantsch notes many agencies lack written processes, making it hard to replicate founder-level client experiences. Transcript: John Jantsch Well, and the other thing I would add to that, certainly, and why this is such a challenge for most of the agencies we work with is because they've actually never created a process. It's all here and it's all gut. And it's like, how can you expect somebody else to replicate that? You can't. And it's a ton of work to get from here to wherever you put it. But the payoff is huge. I don't do any sales calls. I don't do any client work in our business. And I spend an inordinate amount of time innovating our processes is what I do. Partly is because I like it, but it is the most valuable work I can do. But it's tough to magically snap your fingers and get there. But that should be the goal, I think, for most of them. Yeah. ([Time 0:12:00](https://share.snipd.com/snip/91095fbb-7d1c-4db1-ae61-73650b04b579)) - **AI Raises Client Expectations Not Replace Agencies** - AI will change expectations but not eliminate the need for agencies; clients will crave human consultative partnerships with efficiency. - Taylor predicts clients will demand high-touch strategy plus efficient delivery, not DIY ChatGPT solutions. Transcript: John Jantsch How do you create, especially in today's world, I was meeting with a group of agencies in our network today, and they were complaining a little bit about the fact that their work, clients Were actually taking their work and running it through ChatGPT and saying, you know, is this good? Is this valid? You know, where are the mistakes in this? And I think that we're increasingly going to face that, right? Because everybody's advertising, you know, replace your agency for free, you know, with all these AI tools. So how do we actually rise above that and not only create like this high touch experience, but really become this trusted advisor and really not be seen as that vendor? Yeah. Taylor McMaster I mean, it's, we're in it right now, right? We're in the blender trying to figure out how things are going to shake out. I think the biggest thing that I see, especially coming from the account management side of things, people are going to crave this human experience more and more, but they're going To expect efficiency. They're going to expect more for their money. They're going to expect better results. So I think even though we see all this noise about AI replacing my agency, I think that's not going to happen. I think it's just changing our expectations when we work with clients. And so I think the value is still there. I think we just need to shift to more really consultative, making sure that clients feel heard, they feel understood and that we're a partner versus just somebody running their ads. And I think the expectations of our clients are going to continue to evolve in the sense where they're going to demand us to take it all off their plate. Like what business owner wants to stay on ChatGPT all day trying to figure out marketing, even if it's through ChatGPT. They don't have the time or energy or expertise to do that. ([Time 0:13:32](https://share.snipd.com/snip/871a361b-7470-4aaa-bd61-aa647415f952)) - **Why Taylor Focused On Fractional Account Management** - Taylor chose to specialize in account management after finding it energizing and saw a blue ocean for fractional specialists. - She built Dot & Company as a fractional account management service and doubled down on processes and scope to scale. Transcript: Taylor McMaster Yeah, really kind of boring, but it was just what I loved. I loved account management and I didn't love what I thought running an agency previously because I started running my own small agency and then pivoted into just doing account management. I think as that started, I started to realize that there was this blue ocean. There was this huge need in our industry for great account managers and done differently because we are fractional account managers. What everyone else is doing in the industry is hiring full-time people. And so we were just doing things differently. And so as the business started to grow, I realized there was this, yeah, this huge opportunity to specialize and to create something really awesome and to be known for that. Being a general agency, I just couldn't, I couldn't get excited about it. So yeah, it just kind of took off. And once I saw some traction and we started to get the demand, we just really went all in on the processes. ([Time 0:15:53](https://share.snipd.com/snip/2249c67b-73a0-4099-bf68-2a19a3f005b5)) - **Make Fractional Managers Feel Full Time** - Do integrate fractional account managers into client teams by including them in Slack, calls, and events so they feel and act like full-time members. - Taylor made this expectation explicit so her fractional hires stayed engaged and aligned with agency culture. Transcript: Taylor McMaster I would say the, when I started the business, I was an, I was the account manager at Dot. So naturally I got to choose how I wanted it to look and feel. And for me, for me to be motivated working inside of these agencies, I needed to be a part of the team and a part of the culture. So early on, I was going to the team events. I was flying in for the weekend. I was doing the team calls and the cocktail hour. And that really made me feel like a part of the team. And it made me stick around for a really long time working in these agencies. And so as soon as we started to hire account managers and duplicate this model, we made sure that was the expectation. We want these account managers to feel like a full-time team member. We want them in your Slack, in everything as if you hired them full-time. We want them to feel like that, not just for you, but for our account managers as well. We want them to feel a part of the team. ([Time 0:18:04](https://share.snipd.com/snip/f7e348ad-bc65-4b1f-93ea-ae19657dbffe)) - **Removal From Ops And Specialization Attract Buyers** - To be acquisition-ready, remove founder dependency and specialize around a clear scope and process. - Taylor's sale was helped by being removed from day-to-day ops and having a specific, repeatable account management model. Transcript: John Jantsch Looking back, is there a part of your company that you think made it more attractive? I mean, revenue is always going to be a piece of it, but was there anything that you think made it more attractive to a buyer than the typical business? Taylor McMaster A big piece was that I was removed from the day-to operations. John Jantsch Yeah. Taylor McMaster That was definitely attractive from a risk perspective too. You know, they didn't have to worry. John Jantsch Any dummy can run this business now. Exactly. Taylor McMaster There you go. And then the second thing was specialized. So, you know, they were buying something that was very specific and had a very specific scope process. John Jantsch You're still involved in the business though? I am. Taylor McMaster I'm not involved. Yeah. I didn't have to stay on, to be honest. It wasn't a requirement. I'm not involved in any of the operations. ([Time 0:20:14](https://share.snipd.com/snip/10b348a6-d465-405e-adca-535385b43b02))