Customer Loyalty for Creative Agencies: Reduce Churn Now [2025]

If you're a creative agency owner, a project manager, or even a freelancer who takes customer loyalty seriously, this article is for you. You see, clients are to you, what geese are to farmers. They lay your own “eggs” , some of which are golden.

You lose them, you lose your “farm”. So if you're serious about reducing client churn, read this article to the end, because I'll be giving you tried and tested client retention strategies to keep your clients around for much longer than your competitors do.

Before you can use these strategies effectively, you must understand the underlying cause—why clients leave. You should also know how to identify those churn signals early so you can address them immediately before it's too late. Prevention is always better than cure. 

So let's quickly address those two before getting to the meat of this piece. 

Why Clients Leave

We've all been there. First, a once chatty, lively client known to ask a ton of questions in meetings suddenly reduces their engagement to just a few unconvincing nods. 

Then comes the barrage of complaints and nitpicking on the smallest of details, and blatant displeasure even when things are moving along nicely.

Then work approvals and invoice payments start taking ages to arrive. And suddenly, it's all crickets as the client goes incommunicado. When you try to reach out, you get nothing more than a shifty babble. Another client churns. You're left bemoaning your loss and asking why. Hurts, right? 

Well, let's address that “why”…

Common Reasons Why Clients Leave Creative Agencies

Slow Onboarding or Confusing Systems

First impressions matter. If clients lose their way during onboarding, struggling to access files, timelines or project updates, they'll likely lose confidence early.

Lack of Communication

When clients don’t hear from you regularly, they begin to wonder what’s going on. Missed updates, long response times, or vague project timelines all add up. Clients want to know that their project is moving forward and that you’re on top of things.

A Lack of Attention

Clients want to feel important. The lack of personal attention is a common reason why clients don’t stick around. If they feel neglected, the thought of exiting might hit them. 

Unclear Results or Progress

If a client can’t clearly see the problem you're solving or the value you’re providing, they’ll question the partnership. Even when you're doing great work, it'll mean little or nothing if they don’t see or understand it.

Misaligned Expectations

Sometimes churn happens not because of poor work, but because expectations weren’t set well from the start. If clients expect one thing and receive something else, they may leave even if the final product is good.

Now that you know why clients leave (customer churn), let me show you how to spot the signals early enough in the journey so you can do something about them. The truth is client churn doesn’t happen overnight. The cracks start appearing long before a client takes a walk. We'll discuss prevention strategies afterwards. 

How to Spot and Respond to Churn Signals Early

Check in Regularly

Reach out before the client cries out—and bows out. Check in with them with weekly (or biweekly) updates even when there’s nothing major to report. This builds trust.

Ask for Honest Feedback

Encourage clients to share how they feel about the project and its outcomes. A quick survey or open-ended question would do.

Review Client Activity

Are they logging into the portal? Opening project updates? Responding to requests? If not, reach out.

Document Expectations Clearly

From the start, outline what you’ll deliver, when and how. Misunderstandings early on could lead to churn later.

Maintain Transparency

Clients feel safe when they can see what’s going on. Using a platform such as ManyRequests which offers clear dashboards, task lists and messaging systems helps clients to follow easily.

So far, we’ve discussed why clients leave(churn). Also, we now know how to identify those red flags (churn signals) early when they first appear.

Now, let’s get to the crux of this article, looking at how to keep customer churn to a minimum, making clients stick around much longer? Let's talk about strategies. 

Strategies to Reduce Customer Churn and Increase Client Retention

Do these to keep your clients around for much longer…

Start Strong with Streamlined Onboarding

You know what they say about first impressions. It said that customer churn can be reduced by 67 percent if businesses succeed in addressing customer issues during the first time interaction. 

A smooth, clear and professional client onboarding builds trust. A slow, confusing or even messy one introduces doubts. That's how the cracks I talked about above appear. 

Get this right, you show the client you know what you’re doing. Get it wrong? Well, you already know the likely outcome. 

I know one burning question will likely pop up in your mind. So let me quickly get it out of the way. 

What does a good onboarding experience look like? These are the components of a well-thought out onboarding experience.

A Warm Welcome

Begin with a personalized welcome message. Thank the client for choosing your agency (you aren’t the only one around, mate), let them in on what you have in store for them, and reassure them that they’re in good hands.

A few short, simple and reassuring lines will go a long way… 

“Hi James, we’re excited to work with you. Here’s what we’ll be doing over the next few days to get started. If you have any questions, just reach out. We’re here to help.”

A Clear Checklist

Tell the client exactly what’s going to happen next. What should they do? What will you do? When will things be ready?

Break it into simple steps such as these… 

• Fill out the onboarding form
• Book your kickoff call
• Upload your brand files
• Review the project timeline

A Project Timeline and Scope Summary

What’s included in the project, when will each part happen, and what will you need from them along the way? Show, tell and ask. 

I know you may have already discussed this in sales calls. It wouldn't hurt repeating it here. Repetition is how it sticks.

Introduce the Team

Who will your client be working with? Ghosts? I hope not. A short intro to each team member adds a personal touch and makes your agency feel more human.

“You’ll be working with Irina (our designer) and Shawn (project manager). They’ll be in touch with updates and will handle your questions along the way.”

Make It Easy to Share Files and Info

Clients don’t want to dig through a pile of emails, using five different tools. Do you both a favor and give them one place to upload files, fill out forms and send details. 

ManyRequests’ client portal takes care of this.

Custom onboarding forms

Ask all the right questions in one place. No need for emails.

Branded client portal

Each client gets their own portal where they get to see timelines, upload files and track tasks. Again ManyRequests makes this easy.

Pre-built onboarding templates

Save time with templates for design briefs, kick-off tasks, or welcome checklists. ManyRequests provides a library of free templates to ease client onboarding.

For example, a client onboarding checklist template lives here.

Automated welcome messages

Set up friendly auto-messages to guide clients through the first few steps.

Team assignment

Assign specific team members to each client so responsibilities are clear and communication is direct.

Personalize Client Experience

You have nothing to lose, making your clients feel special and understood. There's no excuse for not doing this. 

Make them feel as though they're the only client you've got. As though your service is built just for them. 

Here's what to do…

Remember their goals

Every client has a different reason for hiring your agency. Some want to increase sales. Others want a fresh brand. Then there are those who just need work done fast and well.

Know each client’s main goal and tie every project update, report or result back to that goal. If you don't know, simply ask.

Use their preferred style and tone

Some clients like quick, direct and detailed written updates. Others prefer visuals. Some want to be very involved, others just want results.

Match your style of communication and reporting to what they’re used to.

Use Tech to Make Personalization Easier

You don’t need to remember every detail by heart. A good system helps you track and apply what you know about each client.

A tool such as ManyRequests helps with custom dashboards and templates that can be tweaked for the client. 

Also there are simple but powerful gestures that can help strengthen that provider-client bond. Gestures such as calling out client wins and celebrating their milestones. 

“Happy one year with us! Here's a run down of what we’ve achieved together.”

The human brain hardly forgets such. 

Communicate Proactively, Transparently and Effectively

Some clients won’t leave because of poor work, they'll leave because of poor communication.

If clients don’t know what’s happening with their project. When they feel ignored. they get nervous and start looking for another agency. All you need to do to retain this category of clients is to communicate clearly, regularly and honestly.

Communicating proactively means reaching out to the client before they ask questions or raise concerns. Most times, when they get to doing that, it’s already too late.

Reaching out proactively shows you're thinking about them. 

Also, be clear and honest when you communicate, giving them the right updates, at the right time and in the right form. 

• Share project updates even when there’s no big news. That way, they'll know things are moving. 
• Set clear timelines and stick to them. No surprises. 
• Explain clearly in the event of unavoidable delays and proffer a solution. 
• Explain your work in simple terms. Not every client understands design, development, or marketing terms. Reserve those jargons for the right audience. 
• You'll make mistakes. Every agency does. Just be honest about them.

Remember to keep communication in one place. Scattered emails, chat threads and voice notes lead to chaos. A recipe for disaster. 

ManyRequests makes this possible, keeping communication simple and consistent for both you and your clients.

Shared dashboards and timelines

Clients can log in anytime to see what’s done, what’s next and what’s pending without asking.

Built-in messaging

All client conversations stay inside the platform. No use digging through emails or DMs.

Automatic project updates

You can set up updates that go out when a task is done or when something changes

Client requests, comments and task notes

Clients can request tasks, reply directly on tasks or deliverables. 

Deliver Value Beyond the Project

Delivering value long after the project is completed shows the client that you care about their success, not just the money. This mindset is what turns a one-off project into a long-term partnership.

Here are a few things you can do…

Share useful insights along with deliverables

Don’t just send in files or reports. Attach a quick explanation too. Did you design a new logo for your client? Attach a note explaining your choice of typeface.

Suggest improvements or solutions

Did you notice something wrong on their website or branding, point it out—respectfully. You get the point? 

Offer tools and resources

Templates, checklists, reports. Anything which helps clients perform better. A brand kit, content calendar or a guide are a good start. 

Educate your clients

Share quick tips during meetings. Explain how a design works in a Loom video. Send monthly emails with tips for better marketing, branding or content. Something your client can apply immediately is best. 

Genuinely care about your client

Don’t take the money and disappear once the project is over. Stay in touch. Follow up.

Make Feedback Easy and Actionable

It pays to listen to your client. Make it a habit to ask for feedback. Also make it easy for clients to share. Then actually do something with what they say.

Many agencies miss this. They either wait until the end of a project to ask for feedback, or even worse, don’t follow up after receiving it. Opportunity gone begging. 

Feedback tells you what’s working and what’s not, before it becomes a bigger problem. Consider it your chance to fix small issues early, improve your service, and show clients that you care. 

Ask at the right time

Don’t wait until the end of a long grueling project. Ask for feedback in the middle of  the project, especially after key milestones. 

After onboarding: “How was your experience getting started with us?”

After the first delivery: “Does this meet what you were hoping for?”

Mid-project check-in: “Is there anything you’d like us to do differently so far?”

Keep it simple

Not every client wants to fill out a survey or type out a long email. So don’t forget to KISS (keep it simple, stupid).

Track and act on what you hear

Fine, you asked and your clients answered. It’s in your hands now. Don't mess it up. You owe it to them to act on that feedback. So take action, then go ahead and inform your clients.

“Last time you mentioned delays in getting designs. We’ve now added earlier previews so you can see progress sooner.” Ouch!

I'll wait—tell me a better way to make your clients feel important and heard. 

Look for patterns

If several clients complain about the same thing, it’s a signal that something needs to change in your process.

Is your onboarding too slow, or your updates unclear? What sticks out like a sore thumb?

You have no excuse not to collect feedback. 

Why? Tools such as ManyRequests make it very easy. 

In ManyRequests, for example, you have built-in forms, task and file comments, and feedback requests features, all in a central place where you can easily track all feedback. 

I repeat. You're inexcusable, mate. 

Create Recurring Value Through Retainers

Why chase new business every month when you can have those income alerts on repeat? 

That’s the power of retainers.

They help you keep clients longer by giving them ongoing value.

A retainer is when a client pays you a set fee every month for continued work, support, or access to your team. A smart way to reduce churn. Also, due to these long-term relationships, you won't be starting from scratch every month.

Don't fret about getting payments every month. ManyRequests supports recurring invoicing and billing.

One agency which is succeeding with retainers is DesignJoy. DesignJoy offers unlimited design tasks for a flat monthly fee.

Brett Williams has been in business since 2017 and with clients such as Nectar and Beehiiv, he isn't slowing down any time soon. 

Reward Loyalty

A client who has been with your agency for months or even years has shown you loyalty. Going by the reciprocity principle, you “owe” them—a reward. 

Yes, I know you need more clients but be thankful for the ones you currently have, especially those who have been around for long and haven't jumped ship. 

That's a fantastic way to reduce churn and build stronger, longer relationships.

So what should you do?

Why not start with a simple “thank you*? Yes, go ahead. Do it now. Okay after this article. There are a few other things you can do. 

Loyalty rewards

For clients who’ve worked with you for a while, consider adding a small bonus or extra service.

• One free revision round per month
• A free strategy call
• A discount for referring another client
• Early access to new services or offers

Something unexpected

A handwritten note, a little gift or even a personal video message can stand out. .

What about public shout-outs (with permission)?

If the client is open to it, give them a shout in your newsletter or on social media or somewhere else.

“We’ve been working with [Client Name] for 2 years now. It’s been an honor helping them grow their brand. We’re proud of everything they’ve achieved!”

Use Data to Continuously Improve Client Retention

You can’t improve what you don’t measure. 

The right data helps you see what’s working, what’s not, and where you need to make changes.

Don't wait until a client leaves, to figure out what went wrong. That'd be reactive. You've got to be proactive. Use data to catch those warning signs early and nip them in the bud. 

Again, this is easy in ManyRequests.

Client activity tracking

See how often clients log in, open updates and submit requests. Low activity may signal risk.

Delivery and turnaround reports

Track how long tasks take, from request to delivery, so you can find delays and fix them.

Built-in feedback forms

Collect quick reviews after each project or request. Spot unhappy clients early.

Client history and request trends

See how engaged each client is over time and how often they use your service.

Client reviews

What are they saying about their experience working with your agency?

Custom reports

Export or view data that helps you track performance, client satisfaction and team workload.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I tell if a client is about to leave?

Look for signs such as fewer requests, delayed replies, skipped meetings or even a sudden change in tone. These are often early signals of churn.

What’s the best way to keep clients engaged long-term?

Start with strong onboarding, communicate clearly and often, and deliver real results. Then ask for feedback and reward loyalty. The more you treat clients like partners (not just projects), the more likely they’ll stay.

Is it worth setting up a retainer?

Yes. Retainers help you keep revenue steady and relationships strong. They make it easier for clients to stay connected to your services, and for your agency to grow without chasing new sales every month.

Conclusion

Thank you so much for reading to the end. You're the hero. I want to go one step further and put to work what you've learned. That's the only way they'll work for you. 

Reading is good but implementation is better. 

Use ManyRequests to streamline and automate your workflows. You can get started here. 

Thank you and see you on the next one. Bye.

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Originally Published: January 18, 2022