Agency Pricing: How to Show Value When Clients Can't Make Sales

There's a big problem in the world of agency-client relationships; the client's sales team gets credit for good sales numbers, and the marketing agency gets blamed for bad sales numbers. Clients struggle to come to terms with agency pricing models when the client doesn't see any new revenue.

Of course, it's not the agency's fault the client can't close deals. When clients have a poor CRM/ lead intake process, they lose track of their leads or fail to close after the marketing team delivers leads. As a result, sales numbers go down, and clients complain that the marketing isn't working.

Agencies can use pricing to fix the issue. What do you charge your clients for? Most agencies charge for their time when agency pricing should be based on the number of leads delivered.

Wondering how to set prices that capture the actual value of your agency's services? Read on to learn:

• How to start thinking about lead-based agency pricing
• How to capture individual lead data
• How to show value when clients aren't making sales
• How to communicate with clients who can't close leads
• How to think of leads as your agency's deliverable
• Why you should report on leads instead of conversions
• How to provide rationale for your agency's decisions

Using lead-based agency pricing

Marketing agencies are valuable when they're delivering leads. As an agency, you should report on leads, track leads, and store leads where clients can see them. Leads are your deliverable; the metric your agency should be measured by.

You can only charge for leads if you're able to show leads. That's where lead tracking tools come into play.

First, let's talk about what individual lead data looks like in a leads dashboard.

In WhatConverts, lead data includes:

• Name
• Contact information
• Location
• Marketing Source
• Website page view history
• Call recording/transcript (phone leads)
• Chat transcript (chat leads)
• Form submission (form-fill leads)

All this lead data lets the agency and client see if leads are legitimate.

Sign up here for a free 14-day WhatConverts trial. You can also request a 30-minute live demo, where we’ll answer your questions and show you how to track ROAS.

Using individual lead data to show your agency's value

Both parties can look at call/chat transcripts and form submissions to make sure leads are quotable. The agency has proved that marketing is working if the lead is quotable. The client knows they are now responsible for turning these quotable leads into sales.

Through this process, the agency's work is validated. Both the agency and client can see that marketing campaigns deliver genuine leads. When clients know they have real leads, they know it's their company's responsibility to turn those leads into sales.

Pricing your services when clients aren't closing sales

Some clients have trouble turning leads into sales. That agency can do all the right things, but the client won't see increased revenue if its sales team fails to close leads. Clients aren't happy when they hire a marketing agency and don't see any additional revenue.

This thought process isn't fair to the agency. Marketing agencies are responsible for delivering quotable leads to the client; what happens afterward is up to the client's sales team. That's why agencies must value their marketing efforts based on leads delivered to clients. Agency success should never depend on the client's sales numbers.

How to communicate with clients that have poor lead-to-sales rates

If your agency wants to improve client communication, it might help if you know how clients interact with leads. Clients won't appreciate hearing it's their fault that leads aren't turning into sales, but they will appreciate an agency that can help them identify issues with their sales.

Agencies must be on the same page as clients regarding cost-per-lead and lead value. Agencies can only value their services correctly if they know what a lead is worth to a client.

Does your agency pricing account for the value of a lead?

The WhatConverts leads dashboard and accompanying call/chat transcripts let agencies see what clients are doing on the sales side.

Sign up here for a free 14-day WhatConverts trial. You can also request a 30-minute live demo, where we’ll answer your questions and show you how to track ROAS.

When agencies know how clients interact with leads, it's easier for the agency to estimate the target cost-per-lead for the client. For example, a client with a 10% lead to close rate can't target the same cost-per-lead as a client with a 50% lead to close rate.

WhatConverts captures every lead, ties it back to marketing, and displays all this information in one dashboard. The platform shows clients that the agency's marketing is working.

In this way, WhatConverts acts as a security blanket for agencies. Agencies can show the client that marketing efforts deliver quotable leads, even if the client isn't closing deals. As a result, agencies and clients can work off a common source of truth; the WhatConverts leads dashboard.

Problems arise when agencies and clients view success through different metrics. Agencies tend to report on SEO rankings, website traffic, and click-through rates. Clients tend to view success through the lens of sales and revenue. Leads are the connection between these.

Using an agency pricing model based on your deliverable

WhatConverts keeps agencies accountable for delivering qualified leads, but it also helps agencies hold clients responsible for turning those leads into sales.

WhatConverts captures and stores the most valuable things marketers can deliver to clients; leads. As an agency, you can't be held responsible for the client's sales process; you can only be responsible for the number of quality leads you get. What they do with those leads is up to them.

Reporting on leads instead of conversions

Unlike basic conversion tracking software, WhatConverts captures the entire lead, not just the conversion action. A conversion estimates a lead; it's an anonymous action that may or may not have come from a qualified lead. A lead is an actual person, complete with the contact information and details of their interaction with each marketing touchpoint. Tracking leads allows agencies to show the true value of every marketing campaign.

WhatConverts makes it easy for agencies and clients to see where leads come from. That's how the platform shows the impact of an agency's work.

Providing rationale for your agency's decisions

When clients have a poor CRM process or struggle with lead intake, the agency loses the value of its marketing efforts. Agencies work hard to deliver leads, and it's frustrating when clients drop the ball. It's even more frustrating when agencies get the blame for the client's lack of sales.

You want to increase marketing spend when you see good results as a marketer. If a Google Ad campaign delivers 100 leads at a low cost per lead, you want to double down on that campaign. However, it's hard to explain this to a client who isn't turning leads into sales. Clients don't want to spend more on marketing if the client isn't seeing any additional revenue.

Having a Leads Dashboard can show clients the rationale for your agency's decisions. You'll be able to see where every lead comes from and how many of those leads are qualified. Lead tracking is a far better system than relying on the client's sales numbers to steer your marketing decisions.

Since WhatConverts tracks every lead, agencies can show clients that MQLs are coming in. WhatConverts reveals when MQLs aren't turning into sales on the client's end. You can produce reports that show that the agency's marketing is working even if the client isn't closing sales.

Sign up here for a free 14-day WhatConverts trial. You can also request a 30-minute live demo, where we’ll answer your questions and show you how to track ROAS.