How Increasing Retention Can Take Your Business to New Heights with Ben McLellan
Key Takeaways
- Train clients to implement your processes effectively rather than assuming they will figure it out on their own
- Select long-term clients based on initial results - early wins predict long-term retention
- Understand the three primary reasons agencies lose clients and build systems to address each one proactively
- Adapt your communication and delivery style to different client archetypes rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach
- Reassess client expectations regularly - what excited them at month one may feel routine by month six
- Build retention through authentic relationship-building and storytelling, not just performance metrics
- Benchmark your churn rate against industry standards and treat anything above healthy thresholds as a fixable problem
Gray MacKenzie is joined by Ben McLellan, founder of Ethical Scaling, a consultancy that helps businesses grow sustainably by retaining clients longer. Ben brings a unique perspective shaped by running a six-figure personal training company with decade-long client relationships, then serving as client success director at Traffic and Funnels where he managed over 1,000 customers. He shares the frameworks and mindset shifts that turn retention from an afterthought into a primary growth lever.
Retention as a Growth Strategy
Most agency owners think about growth in terms of acquisition - more leads, more proposals, more new clients. Ben challenges that framing by demonstrating how retention often has a larger impact on revenue than acquisition. When you retain clients longer, you increase lifetime value without increasing sales costs. The revenue compounds rather than restarting from zero each month.
Ben uses simple math to make the case. If an agency loses 10% of clients monthly, they need to replace a significant portion of their revenue base every quarter just to stay flat. If they reduce that churn to 5%, the same sales effort produces net growth instead of running in place. The difference in annual revenue between those two scenarios is dramatic - and the agency with better retention also has more stable cash flow, less pressure on the sales team, and more capacity to invest in service quality.
The mindset shift Ben advocates is treating retention as a strategic discipline rather than a byproduct of doing good work. Good work matters, but it is not sufficient on its own. Retention requires intentional systems, regular attention, and a deep understanding of why clients leave.
The Three Reasons Agencies Lose Clients
Ben identifies three primary reasons agencies lose clients, and he argues that understanding these reasons is the first step toward building effective retention systems.
The first reason is unmet expectations. Clients come in with specific hopes about what the engagement will achieve, and when reality falls short of those expectations - even if the agency is doing objectively good work - dissatisfaction follows. The fix is managing expectations aggressively from the beginning, setting realistic timelines, and creating regular checkpoints where expectations are recalibrated based on actual results.
The second reason is relationship breakdown. Even when results are strong, clients leave if they do not feel valued, heard, or understood by their account team. This is where soft skills matter as much as hard deliverables. Regular communication, genuine interest in the client’s broader business challenges, and proactive outreach all contribute to relationship strength.
The third reason is hedonic adaptation - the psychological phenomenon where something that felt exciting at first becomes the new baseline. A client who was thrilled by a 30% traffic increase in month two may feel underwhelmed by a 10% increase in month eight, even though the cumulative result is exceptional. Ben recommends regularly resurfacing cumulative results and reminding clients of where they started to counteract this natural tendency.
Adapting to Client Archetypes
Not all clients want the same experience. Ben describes several client archetypes and explains why agencies need to adapt their approach to match each one. Some clients are deeply analytical and want detailed reports with granular data. Others are relationship-driven and care more about feeling like a valued partner than seeing spreadsheets. Still others are results-only clients who want to see outcomes and do not want to be involved in the process.
The mistake most agencies make is treating all clients the same way. They develop a standard reporting template, a standard meeting cadence, and a standard communication style - then wonder why some clients love the experience while others churn. Ben recommends identifying each client’s archetype early in the relationship and adapting communication, reporting, and engagement frequency accordingly.
Training your team to recognize and respond to different archetypes is essential. Account managers need the emotional intelligence to read clients accurately and the flexibility to adjust their approach. Ben suggests building archetype identification into the onboarding process so the team knows how to serve each client from day one.
Training Clients to Use Your Processes
A counterintuitive retention strategy Ben shares is training clients to use your processes rather than simply delivering work to them. When clients understand how to provide feedback effectively, how to review deliverables efficiently, and how their input impacts the quality of output, the entire engagement runs more smoothly.
Untrained clients create friction. They provide vague feedback that requires multiple rounds of revision. They miss review deadlines that push projects off schedule. They escalate minor issues because they do not understand the process well enough to resolve them through normal channels. All of this friction erodes both client satisfaction and team morale.
By investing time upfront to train clients on how to work with your agency, you reduce friction, improve outcomes, and create a collaborative dynamic that strengthens the relationship. Clients who feel like competent partners in the process are far less likely to leave than clients who feel confused or disconnected from how the work gets done.
Relationship-Building Through Storytelling
Ben emphasizes that the strongest client relationships are built through authentic human connection, not just performance dashboards. He recommends using storytelling and genuine conversations to build rapport that goes deeper than the transactional layer of the agency-client relationship.
This does not mean forced personal questions or artificial relationship-building exercises. It means showing genuine curiosity about the client’s business, sharing relevant stories from your own experience, and creating space in conversations for the kind of authentic exchange that builds trust over time. When a client feels like they have a real relationship with their account team - not just a professional arrangement - switching to a competitor feels like losing a trusted advisor rather than swapping vendors.
Resources Mentioned
- Ben McLellan on LinkedIn - Founder of Ethical Scaling
- Ethical Scaling - Ben’s book on sustainable business growth