Client Reporting and Why it Matters
Author: Ad Hacks November 7 | Blog
Ahhh, reporting….so fun right?
Most agency owners and freelancers get so excited at the thought of sending that weekly or monthly client report.
The thrill of pulling up the data, the ecstasy of compiling that data, and then anticipation of waiting to hear back from the client their lovely feedback.
Oh wait…..this happens, maybe like never?
Karen Sahetya, Co-Founder of Brand Central Marketing that specializes in driving leads through
Facebook Ads, funnels, and messenger bots for local businesses and coaches, knows the importance of reporting.
Typically, the thought of doing reporting fills freelancers and agency owners with the feeling of “bleehhhhh”.
Author’s note: this might not be a medically proven feeling.
Even when the results are fantastic and they’re excited to share the results, the sheer act of doing such a task drains them of creative energy.
So why do it at all?
Why not just send a weekly email saying, “All good on our end. How’re things with you?”
In Sahetya’s agency, reporting is one of 5 key components to client retention.
“If you have these 5 things, you will not lose a client.”
With agency fees ranging from $2,000-$10,000+ per month, agency owners and freelancers should be highly aware of what the key drivers are for retaining those clients.
The 5 R’s of Retention, according to Sahetya:
- Reporting
- Rapport
- Responsiveness
- Realistic Expectations
- Results
This article explores the value of reporting and some simple tricks and software stacks for maximum ease and efficiency. Plus, how proper reporting actually influences all the other Rs.
“The good news is that you don’t have to be a data wizard to make this work for you,” says Karen.
Plain and simple, proper reporting can make a business tens of thousands of dollars, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Consider how long a client typically stays with an agency.
For most industries, the average retention rate is 20% or less. Retention rate is calculated as follows:
Customer Retention Rate = ( (# Customers at End of Period – # Customers Acquired During Period) / # Customers at Start of Period) ) X 100
Source: Hubspot Customer Retention
Another way of looking at it is how long do clients stay with you on average? 1 month? 18
months? Somewhere in between?
That average length of time, multiplied by the average monthly retainer retainer, is the lifetime
value of a customer.
Average client sticks around for 4.5 months at $3,500 = $15,750.
If an agency can lengthen the average time a client is on retainer client for an additional 3
months at a monthly retainer of $3,500, now each new client is work worth $10,500 more, so
$26,250 is your average lifetime value.
No additional sales, onboarding, or set-up. Just straight management fees.
Reporting is crucial to keeping client around that extra time. More on that to follow.
Think of it in another way, taking a few extra hours a month to set up reporting properly with a
client could add tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue without
adding any additional clients.
Not a bad return on an investment of time.
But reporting also blends in with client rapport.
During the onboarding process, it’s like the honeymoon stage. Everyone is friendly and excited
for the new journey. The client has paid, contracts have been signed, and the team is excited for
the results they’re confident they can get for this client.
Then 3 weeks pass.
Client doesn’t know what’s going on. They see the following months invoice. Another few
thousand dollars to be paid.
And for what? What’s happening with the funnel?
The excitement fades.
Then the client feels like they’re being left in the dark.
Guessing about what’s happening. Hoping for some good news. And most importantly,
checking for a spike in revenue.
No word from the agency.
No reports. No updates. No bueno.
Now the client starts to create a story to understand why.
“This must not be working like they thought it would. I knew this would be too good to be true. I
should have known this wouldn’t work for me.”
Or worse, ”I feel like I may have gotten scammed. Did this agency just take my money and run?
I’m so lost, what is going on?!”
The stories people tell themselves are fantastically dramatic, causing fear, mistrust, and anger
within the client’s mind.
