<div class="gn-article"><div class="gn-hero gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-hero__image"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/687a235da6861294eec73166/69089a9f26e4a435f5e64bfe_651d7ec8b1457942e441aa2d_61c06f765e9daf027b7e0c7e_Blog%252520covers%252520(35).png" alt=""></div> <div class="gn-hero__head"> <span class="gn-kicker"><span class="dot"></span>Event · Expression</span> <h1 class="gn-title">Agency Workshop: Driving profit from your portfolio</h1> <div class="gn-meta"> <strong>The GO Network</strong> <span class="pip"></span> <span>31 August 2022</span> <span class="pip"></span> <span>1 min read</span> </div> </div> </div> <div class="gn-event-meta gn-reveal"><div class="gn-event-meta__block"> <span class="gn-event-meta__label">When</span> <span class="gn-event-meta__value gn-date">Wed, 31 Aug 2022 · 09:00</span> </div><div class="gn-event-meta__block"> <span class="gn-event-meta__label">Where</span> <span class="gn-event-meta__value">Online</span> </div><div class="gn-event-meta__block"> <span class="gn-event-meta__label">Status</span> <span class="gn-event-status gn-event-status--recording">Past · Recording</span> </div></div> <div class="gn-body"> <p>New business is relentless. For most agencies, it consumes a disproportionate share of leadership time, creative energy, and budget, often for returns that take months to materialise. Yet the fastest route to sustainable profit growth is frequently sitting inside the agency's existing client base, underutilised and under-billed. A workshop hosted by The GO Network in partnership with <strong>The Wow Company</strong> brought agency leaders together to examine exactly how to change that, with practical frameworks for pricing, revenue generation, and account development.</p> <p>The session was built around a straightforward premise: growing profit from your current portfolio is lower risk, faster to activate, and often more predictable than chasing net new logos. The challenge for most agencies is not recognising this in theory. It is executing it without damaging client relationships or appearing opportunistic. The following takeaways reflect the core themes covered.</p> <h2>Rethink your pricing structures, and do it transparently</h2> <p>One of the most common missed opportunities in agency portfolios is outdated or misaligned pricing. Retainers agreed two or three years ago rarely reflect the scope that is actually being delivered today. Scope creep accumulates quietly, and agencies absorb it rather than address it, either out of fear of losing the client or simply because no one has reviewed the contract recently.</p> <p>The Wow Company's position is that transparency in pricing conversations is a commercial strength, not a vulnerability. Clients who have been with an agency for years generally understand that costs change. What damages relationships is not a pricing conversation, it is a pricing conversation that feels like a surprise ambush. The remedy is to build regular commercial reviews into the client relationship as a standard practice, framed around mutual value rather than agency margin.</p> <p>Practical steps to consider:</p> <ul> <li>Conduct a scope audit across all active retainers at least twice a year, comparing contracted deliverables against what is actually being produced.</li> <li>Document value delivered, not just hours logged. Clients are far more receptive to pricing adjustments when they can see outcomes rather than inputs.</li> <li>Introduce pricing tiers or service packages that give clients an active choice, rather than presenting a single revised number. Choice reduces resistance.</li> </ul> <h2>Generate additional revenue without waiting for a brief</h2> <p>Most agencies operate in a reactive posture with existing clients: a brief arrives, the agency responds. This approach leaves a significant amount of potential revenue invisible, because clients rarely brief you on problems they have not yet clearly defined, or on services they do not know you offer.</p> <p>Proactive account management, where the agency brings ideas and solutions rather than waiting to be asked, is the practical mechanism for changing this dynamic. The Wow Company highlighted that many agencies underestimate how much adjacent work is available within current client relationships. This might be a client who uses the agency for campaign work but has never been introduced to the agency's data or content capabilities. It might be a client entering a new market who would value strategic support the agency is well placed to provide.</p> <p>Practical steps to consider:</p> <ul> <li>Map each client account against your full service offering and identify genuine gaps where you could add value. Be honest about whether the gap is a real client need or just a capability you want to sell.</li> <li>Brief your account teams to hold at least one proactive conversation per quarter with each key client, separate from day-to-day delivery discussions.</li> <li>Use case studies from other clients (with appropriate permissions) to demonstrate what you have helped comparable organisations achieve. Evidence travels better than a sales pitch.</li> </ul> <h2>Spot and maximise account development opportunities before they close</h2> <p>Account development is not only about growth. It is also about protection. Agencies that are not deepening their relationships with existing clients are creating space for a competitor to do so. Identifying development opportunities early is as much a retention strategy as it is a revenue strategy.</p> <p>The signals are often there before they become obvious. A client contact changes role. A business announces a new strategic priority. A sector faces disruption. Each of these moments represents an opening for an agency that is paying close attention. The workshop emphasised that spotting these moments requires a structured approach to account intelligence, not simply good instincts.</p> <p>Practical steps to consider:</p> <ul> <li>Assign clear ownership of account development to a named individual for each major client. When responsibility is shared by the whole team, it belongs to no one.</li> <li>Set up lightweight monitoring for key clients: news alerts, LinkedIn updates from senior contacts, and sector publications. Make this a standing agenda item in account team meetings.</li> <li>Track client health across a small number of consistent signals, such as response times, scope changes, and NPS or satisfaction data, so you can identify accounts that need attention before they become at-risk.</li> </ul> <h2>The commercial case for portfolio focus</h2> <p>Selling to an existing client costs a fraction of what it costs to win a new one. Retention rates compound over time, and deep client relationships are significantly harder for competitors to disrupt than shallow ones. For agency leaders under pressure to hit growth targets without expanding headcount, the existing portfolio is the most efficient lever available.</p> <p>The discipline required is not complicated, but it does need to be intentional. Pricing reviews, proactive conversations, and account intelligence do not happen by default. They happen because agency leadership decides they are a commercial priority and builds the habits and processes to support them.</p> <p>If you want to explore how The GO Network can connect you with the resources, peer communities, and commercial partnerships to support your agency's growth, <a href="#">find out more about membership here</a>.</p> </div></div> <aside class="gn-related gn-reveal" data-auto="related-reading"> <div class="gn-related__label">Related reading</div> <ul class="gn-related__list"> <li class="gn-related__item"> <a href="/articles/agency-workshop-pricing-for-profit" class="gn-related__link"> <span class="gn-related__category">Expression</span> <span class="gn-related__title">Agency Workshop: Pricing for Profit</span> <span class="gn-related__excerpt">Wow Company&#39;s Benchpress data reveals how top-performing agencies set hourly rates and fees, so you can benchmark your pricing and close mor</span> </a> </li> <li class="gn-related__item"> <a href="/articles/making-ppc-work-harder-for-your-marketing-strategy" class="gn-related__link"> <span class="gn-related__category">Expression</span> <span class="gn-related__title">Making PPC Work Harder for your Marketing Strategy</span> <span class="gn-related__excerpt">Stop leaving value on the table. 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