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Why do agency clients leave when the work is good?
Clients do not watch the work happen. They see the gaps around it: the onboarding form sent three times, the approval lost in an email thread, the report that lands a week late. When a client cannot see progress, they assume there is none.
That costs an agency twice. Clients leave sooner than the results deserve, and account managers lose hours every week building reports by hand. Three connected systems fix both. Our agencies page covers the sector more widely.
Which three solutions fit a marketing agency?
Client portals
One login per client, on your brand. Onboarding starts from a single link, approvals are recorded with a name and a date, files sit in one place and progress is visible without an email. The lever is more money per client: a client who can see the work stays longer. See client portals.
Workflow automation
This covers the handoff from sales to delivery. A signed deal creates the client record, the onboarding checklist, the delivery board and the first tasks, with nothing typed twice. The lever is time back, and money kept, because what was promised on the sales call reaches the delivery team. See workflow automation.
Dashboards and reporting
Client reports that build themselves from your ad accounts and CRM. The account manager adds the commentary, not the numbers. The lever is time back, and the sum below turns those hours into pounds. See dashboards and reporting.
What is it worth? Do the sum
The leak, in an owner's words: "Clients keep asking what we are doing, then they leave. And reporting eats a day a week." This is what the system does about it.
- The deal is signed. The client record, portal login and onboarding checklist are created from it.
- The client completes onboarding in the portal and sees what happens next.
- Work moves across a delivery board that the client can see. Approvals are requested and recorded there.
- Each reporting period, figures are pulled from the ad accounts and CRM into the client's report.
- The account manager checks it, adds a short commentary and publishes it to the portal.
Two levers apply, so there are two sums. More money per client is clients, multiplied by extra months they stay, multiplied by monthly value. Time back is hours a week, multiplied by hourly cost, multiplied by 52.
| Lever | The sum | Example answer |
|---|---|---|
| More money per client | 20 retainer clients × 1 extra month each × £1,500 a month | £30,000 a year |
| Time back on reporting | 6 hours a week × £25 an hour × 52 weeks | £7,800 a year |
| Together | £37,800 a year |
Example figures. Swap in your own. These are made-up round numbers that show the method. They are not a result, an average or what any agency got.
To get your own number, count four things: your active retainer clients, the average monthly retainer, how many months a client stays, and the hours your team spent on reports last week. Bring them to a call. The paid audit then prices each problem in its written report.
When off-the-shelf reporting software is enough
- You have a handful of clients on the same service. A shared folder and one report template will do.
- All your figures come from one ad platform. If clients accept that platform's own reports, send those.
- You only need reporting. A reporting subscription is cheaper than a build when onboarding and approvals already run well.
- Your delivery process changes with every client. Settle it first, then build around it.
A custom build earns its place when the portal, the handoff and the reports need to share one set of client data, or when you want it on your brand and in your accounts. Our guide to custom software vs SaaS covers the trade-off, and what a client portal should include helps you write the list.
What does it cost?
Every build starts with a paid audit at £3,000 plus VAT, with a written report within 10 working days. The fee is credited against the build when the build deposit is paid within 14 days of the report. Before the audit we give a range, never an exact price.
| Budget | What it covers |
|---|---|
| £4,500 to £10,000 | A portal for one client type: login, onboarding, files, messages and progress |
| £10,000 to £20,000 | Several roles, approvals, payments or integrations |
| £20,000 to £30,000+ | Multi-role or white-label platforms, complex workflows, AI and data migration |
Reports that pull from ad accounts and a CRM count as integrations, so plan for the middle band or above. The full breakdown is on our client portal pricing page. Hosting and software are paid directly to the providers from your accounts. Ongoing changes are optional under Run & Improve, from £1,000 a month.
What have we built for agencies?
The Agentryx platform is our own product, built for agencies. It is not a client result, so there are no client figures to quote for it. It shows the mechanism on this page working as one system:
- branded client onboarding from a single link;
- delivery boards shared between the agency and each client;
- ad reporting across the agency's ad accounts and CRM;
- a white-labelled client portal on each agency's brand;
- AI that turns a call summary into tasks and a draft follow-up email for a person to check.
Read how we built the Agentryx platform. Each stage of a client build is set out in our approach.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a client portal with reporting cost for a marketing agency?
Client portals start at £4,500 for one client type. Adding reporting integrations, approvals or several roles puts a build between £10,000 and £20,000. The £3,000 plus VAT audit comes first and sets the exact scope.
Can the portal carry our agency's brand?
Yes. It is built on your brand and in your accounts. Clients log in to your agency's portal, not ours.
Which data sources can the reports pull from?
The scope lists each one, such as your ad accounts and your CRM. Every source adds mapping and testing work, so naming them all at the start gives the most accurate price.
Can one client see another client's data?
No. Permissions are set per role and per client, and access rules are tested with real cases before any client is invited.
Can AI write the report commentary?
It can draft it from the figures. A person on your team checks and edits every draft before the client sees it, because the report goes out in your name.
How long does it take to build?
The timeline is agreed in the written scope. It depends on the number of roles, the data sources and how much client history needs moving across.
Do we have to move every client across at once?
No. We launch in stages. One route is new clients first, then existing clients once your team is trained and the reports have been checked against the old ones.