Agency Uncovered


Most agencies are built on referrals - and most agencies stall there. In this episode of Agency Uncovered, management coach Mads Singers breaks down why referral-led growth is high-trust but low-ceiling, and what to do instead. He explains the two things that have to be right before any marketing works: a tight niche and a single chosen channel. He shares the counterintuitive best moment to ask for a referral (the moment a client pays you), why most agencies mistake a closing problem for a lead problem, and the two mistakes that quietly cap growth - failing to scale what already works, and switching off a profitable channel because the grass looks greener.

Key Takeaways

Referrals are the best leads and the worst growth engine. They arrive pre-trusted, but they are inconsistent and do not scale.
  • Fix the niche before the marketing. Broad targeting makes every channel harder and more expensive.
  • Pick one channel and stay with it until it works. Most channels work for most agencies — people quit before the channel fails.
  • Ask for referrals at payment, not at proof. The client is at peak excitement the moment they sign and pay, not three months later.
  • Systemise the ask. Trigger a referral request on every payment, plus a CRM reminder every three to six months.
  • More leads is often the wrong fix. Many agencies have a conversion problem — a documented pitch, mock sales calls and a sales coach can lift close rates and prices faster than more traffic.
  • Compelling offers are built on proof and risk reversal. Three case studies from the same niche plus a guarantee beats clever copy.
  • Big clients are won in person. Enterprise buyers need relationships and introductions; smaller clients will find you through search.
  • Scale what works before you diversify. Going from 10k to 100k on a proven channel is easier than going zero to 10k on a new one.
  • Never switch off a profitable channel. Keep it running and test the new one alongside it.

How do agencies get more clients?
Agencies get more clients by narrowing their niche, choosing one lead generation channel and working it until it produces consistently, then systemising referrals so every client payment triggers a referral request. Most agencies fail here not because a channel does not work, but because they spread across too many channels and abandon each one too early.

Should agencies focus on inbound marketing, outbound sales or referrals?
Referrals should always be part of the mix because they are the highest-trust leads. Beyond that, pick one channel — ideally one you already have experience in — and commit to it rather than running inbound, outbound and referrals at low quality simultaneously.

When is the best time to ask a client for a referral?
Immediately after they sign and pay. That is the moment of peak excitement and belief. Waiting three months to prove yourself usually means the ask never happens.

What makes an agency offer compelling?
Two things: relevant case studies showing three businesses like the prospect that you have already helped, and a guarantee that reduces the buyer’s risk — money-back, or continued work until the result lands.

Does an agency need more leads to grow?
Often not. Many agencies have enough leads and a weak sales process. Documenting the pitch, running mock sales calls and working with a sales coach frequently improves conversion rate and pricing faster than generating more traffic.

How do you build a predictable client acquisition system for an agency?
Find one channel that produces profitable leads, scale it to its limit before adding another, and never switch off a channel that is generating positive ROI. Test new channels alongside the proven one, never instead of it.

Connect with Aristo Sourcing
Learn more about Aristo Sourcing and connect with the team:
Aristo Sourcing helps businesses scale by sourcing and placing skilled virtual assistants and remote professionals, with talent primarily recruited from South Africa and the Philippines.

#AgencyNiche #NicheDown #AgencyGrowth #ScalableBusiness #ProfitMargin #CustomerLifetimeValue #MarketingAgency #AgencyUncovered #MadsSingers #AgencyOwner


Creators and Guests

Host
Sasha Damon
Podcast Host for the Agency Uncovered Podcast Presented By Aristo
Guest
Mads Singers
Mads Singers is a management coach, consultant, and speaker who helps business owners and entrepreneurs scale their teams and optimize performance.

What is Agency Uncovered?

Agency Uncovered is THE podcast for agency owners who are looking to grow.

Agency Uncovered is a podcast for agency owners, founders, and leaders who want to build, scale, and grow a more profitable agency.

Each episode explores the biggest challenges facing modern agencies - from choosing the right agency niche and building a scalable team to winning bigger clients, improving client retention, pricing services, using AI, and creating sustainable agency growth.

Featuring experienced agency leaders, entrepreneurs, and industry experts, Agency Uncovered goes beyond surface-level advice to uncover the strategies, mistakes, and lessons that actually shape successful agencies.

Whether you're starting an agency, trying to scale an established business, or looking for better ways to win and retain clients, you'll find practical insights you can apply to your agency.

Topics include: agency growth, agency scaling, agency strategy, client acquisition, client retention, agency pricing, AI for agencies, agency sales, team building, profitability, and business development.

Subscribe to Agency Uncovered for honest conversations and practical strategies for building a better agency.

Sasha Damon (00:00)
We’re here with Mads Singers. Let’s get started. So Mads, how do agencies get more clients these days?
Mads Singers (00:06)
How does an agency get more clients? Well, there are many ways. Generally, the majority of agencies I’ve worked with tend to get a large portion of their clients through referrals. What tends to happen is they take on a few clients, and those clients refer other people. The problem with referrals is that they’re not necessarily consistent, and they don’t necessarily allow you to grow a lot. But they’re obviously some of the best…
Mads Singers (00:27)
…leads you can get, because they come from people who trust you, who vouch for you, who send you their friends or people they know. They’re generally great leads, but they’re not necessarily scalable. Most of the agencies I work with really struggle to get more clients above that level. So what I generally tell all agencies is: pick one thing and stick with it. But before that, there’s actually another point…
Mads Singers (00:52)
…which is: make sure your process is right. I see way too many agencies being very broad in terms of their targeting and the niche they go after. That often makes marketing way, way harder. We actually have a different video on that — if you look in the link below, you can see how to niche down the right way. I really recommend looking at that and understanding it first.
Mads Singers (01:20)
Once you’ve niched down, it’s really a question of picking a method. We also have a very in-depth video on that in the link below. But really, pick a method. Many people try to be everywhere all the time, and it’s really hard to do that at any decent quality. In my experience you’re way better off picking one thing you’re reasonably good at and doing that really well.
Mads Singers (01:46)
For some people it’s SEO, for some it’s social media, for some it’s paid ads. But it’s really about picking one thing and just chipping away at it until it works. If you sit down and say, “I want to figure out cold email marketing,” and you just keep going until it works, you will eventually succeed. The reality is that most people try something for a little while, it doesn’t succeed, and therefore they assume it doesn’t work.
Mads Singers (02:13)
But most marketing channels work for most things, if you keep doing it long enough and learn enough about it.
Sasha Damon (02:20)
Should agencies focus on inbound marketing, outbound sales or referrals — or should they focus on a combination when they’re trying to get more clients?
Mads Singers (02:30)
Obviously referrals should always be part of it. One of the things I learned a long time ago is that the best time to ask for a referral is when someone has just paid you money. It might sound counterintuitive to many, but the minute someone signs up with your agency and pays you money, they’re very excited. If they weren’t excited, they wouldn’t have signed up. They actually believe you’re going to help them do whatever it is your agency does.
Mads Singers (02:56)
At that point in time, that’s a great time to ask for referrals. “Do you know anyone else who also needs this kind of service?” Most people make the assumption that they should wait three months to prove they can deliver. But actually, the best time to ask is typically right when a customer has paid you. If you establish a process around that, it can effectively help many agencies…
Mads Singers (03:22)
…really grow the quantity of referrals they’re getting. Many times they either forget to ask, or three months go by and they haven’t asked. It’s so easy to forget. But if you just establish a process that says “whenever a client pays you, ask them for referrals,” and then in your systems — your CRM, whatever you have — set a reminder every three or six months to reach out to the client and say, “You’re happy…”
Mads Singers (03:48)
“…would you happen to know anyone else who needs this kind of service?”
Sasha Damon (03:51)
When an agency starts out there’s obviously limited manpower — the founder might be doing quite a bit of the work, so capacity for both client acquisition and the actual delivery is limited. So how do you generate leads consistently rather than relying on referrals?
Mads Singers (04:15)
For me, that’s why I say pick one thing. And I generally say pick one thing you’re either somewhat comfortable with, have done before, or have some knowledge in. If you’ve never done paid ads, getting from zero to success takes a bit of time. If you’ve never done SEO, getting from zero to success takes a bit of time. So if you have no experience with any marketing whatsoever…
Mads Singers (04:38)
…I’d say my favourite method is actually going out into the world and meeting real humans. Very often in a new agency it can be very hard to get your first ten clients signed up. But actually going out, meeting people, showing them you’re a trustworthy human being — that’s often the easiest way to get people paying you money in the early days. That method isn’t necessarily as scalable for all companies, but…
Mads Singers (05:02)
…the reality is that most of the successful agencies I work with are going out there, sponsoring events, showing up in physical places where they can build real relationships with people. You can always get clients in different ways. But particularly for landing really big clients — I used to work in the corporate world, for companies like Xerox [verify] and IBM. To land clients like that you very often need to build relationships and meet people in person…
Mads Singers (05:30)
…and get introductions to reach that level of company. Some smaller companies will just search around the web, find your website and sign up. But many larger companies don’t function the same way.
Sasha Damon (05:45)
So what makes an agency’s offer compelling enough for a prospect to book a call?
Mads Singers (05:51)
What we generally try to do with the agencies I work with is figure out what kind of guarantee you can give people, and what case studies you can show. If you can say, “Here are three companies just like yours that we’ve helped do what you want to do” — so if you’re talking with a dentist and you can say, “Here are three other dentists in similar situations we helped go from a million a year to five million a year”…
Mads Singers (06:17)
…and that’s where your prospect is, and you can show specific case studies — fantastic. And any kind of guarantee, whether that’s a money-back guarantee or a “we’ll keep working until you succeed” guarantee, can always help. They build trust, but they also make the customer feel like, “Okay, I’m less likely to lose money here.” Because the biggest fear most companies have is paying a bunch of money and getting nothing in return…
Mads Singers (06:44)
…or very little outcome in return. So any level of guarantee that helps mitigate that risk for the customer is a great way of doing it. Those are generally the two best ways for me. And obviously: showing up, showing up on time, being somewhat knowledgeable. You don’t have to be the best of the best — often your customers aren’t either — but you do have to be somewhat knowledgeable about the topic you’re selling.
Sasha Damon (07:10)
You’ve touched on picking one form of outreach to clients, whether that’s referrals or a combination of methods. So the devil’s advocate question for this podcast is: is chasing more leads the best way to grow an agency?
Mads Singers (07:29)
There are definitely many angles. In the early days, if you have no leads, you need leads. But I see a lot of agencies I work with where leads aren’t actually their problem. They think more leads is the problem, but the real problem is closing.
Mads Singers (07:45)
I know a couple of really good sales coaches who help a lot of agencies significantly improve their whole sales process, and really improve the entire agency setup around how they do sales.
Mads Singers (07:54)
Most agencies basically do the best they know how to do. So in most agencies it’s the owner trying to sell — explaining their expertise, explaining their offer, trying to sell. But very often, even just getting a sales coach to go through what your offer is, how you’re presenting it, doing a mock sales call — those things alone…
Mads Singers (08:22)
…can often help you significantly improve your conversion rate, and sometimes even the amount you charge. One of my good friends, Alan, works with a lot of clients, and one of the things he says to most of them is: increase your prices. Because if you can increase your prices and make similar sales, you make a lot more money.
Sasha Damon (08:43)
What would you recommend an agency does today to build a predictable client acquisition system?
Mads Singers (08:49)
For an agency, you really want to — as I said — focus on one thing. Find a method that works for you, build it out, and scale it. The two mistakes I see people make: the first is they do something, it works, but they don’t do more of it. So if you’re doing cold email and you’re sending ten thousand emails a week or a month and it works — scale it. If something works, do more of it.
Mads Singers (09:13)
That’s the starting point. Most people try to do other things instead. If something works, push it to the limit. The most successful agencies are the ones that find something that works and just keep pushing. There are obviously limitations to most methods — if you run paid ads, there’s only so much money you can spend, only so many people in your ideal target audience. But generally, the more you work with the same method, it’s way easier to…
Mads Singers (09:40)
…double the output of something that’s already working than to find a new method that works. A lot of people say, “Yeah, but we should diversify.” That’s great — but if it takes the same amount of money and effort to scale from, say, ten thousand a month to a hundred thousand as it does to go from zero to ten thousand, you’d rather go from ten to a hundred. Rather than doing zero to ten a bunch of times.
Mads Singers (10:04)
So generally, once you’ve already spent the time and effort learning something, it makes a lot of sense to really niche down on that. The second error I see people make is this: they’re doing a method — say, posting on LinkedIn — and it’s bringing in a few clients, but they’re convinced this other method will work way better. So they stop. When you have a lead generation method that works and is profitable…
Mads Singers (10:32)
…do not stop. It’s so easy to think the grass is greener everywhere else. The number of times I’ve seen clients who had made something work, and then stopped it to focus on something else they thought might work — that so often doesn’t work out well. So whenever you have something that works, never, ever stop it if it’s generating you a good ROI.
Mads Singers (10:55)
Instead, make sure it keeps running, and then you can look at something else on the side. But honestly, in most cases you want to just double down and triple down on the thing that’s working.
Sasha Damon (11:06)
Thank you very much for those insights, and thanks for your time.
Mads Singers (11:11)
Okay.