The Smartest Growth Strategy You’re Probably Overlooking

We all know it costs more to win a new client than it does to grow an existing one. Yet so many agencies continue to pile pressure on their new business pipeline while leaving a significant chunk of potential revenue untouched.

Here’s the reality: there’s at least 20% untapped revenue sitting in your existing client base. But here’s the question — do your Account Team actually know how to find it?

Because the truth is, many don’t.

Promoted, but not prepared

Let’s be honest, a lot of people end up in Account Director roles by default. They’ve done a good job, they’ve stuck around and eventually, they get promoted. But promotion doesn’t magically give someone the tools to handle strategic conversations, uncover growth opportunities, or confidently challenge clients in the right way.

So what happens? The weight of those relationships stays on your shoulders.

·         You’re the one stepping into the bigger meetings.

·         You’re the one spotting opportunities and steering the client forward.

·         You’re the one trying to plug the gap that exists between what your team should be doing and what they can actually do.

The cost of not upskilling

If your team isn’t equipped to lead strategic client conversations, it means growth falls to either you or your overstretched new business function. And let’s not pretend that’s easy.

Campaign UK recently reported that the average price of pitching has risen by more than 25% year-on-year. Add to that the time, stress and energy it takes to win from cold and it’s easy to see why this is no longer a sustainable model.

Your existing clients are the warmest, most viable route to revenue. But they need to be nurtured by people who know what they’re doing, who understand how to build relationships that last, who can spot commercial opportunities, and who feel confident having those more strategic conversations.

That doesn’t happen by accident. It happens through training, development and proper support.

Your team is capable. They just need the tools.

This isn’t about blaming your team. Most Account Directors want to do a brilliant job. They want to step up, to lead, to grow accounts. But too often they’re expected to just know how — without being given any real guidance.

Imagine sending someone out to prospect without a pitch deck, a strategy or a goal. That’s effectively what’s happening in a lot of agencies.

If you want your team to identify that 20% of untapped revenue, they need to know:

   •       What to look for

   •       How to frame the conversation

   •       When to bring in the right specialists

   •       And how to build real partnerships, not just tick boxes

And when they do? That’s when things really change.

You stop being the bottleneck.

You start seeing accounts grow, without you having to step into every meeting.

You build a more confident, capable team that’s proactively driving the agency forward.

Final thought

So if you’re wondering why your client growth has plateaued, or why the pressure on new biz is feeling heavier than ever, take a look at your account team.

Because chances are, they’re not the problem.

They’re the opportunity.

You just need to invest in unlocking it.

Drop me a line to discuss training and development opportunities for your account management team.