Client Acquisition & Retention Tips from a £1.6M eCommerce agency owner


By Catherine Howell | Jan 18, 2021 | Blog

Client acquisition & retention tips by Amanda Perry, the owner of a £1.6M agency, CEO of 24-25 staff, and engager of 16K insta followers.

As the world faced global lockdowns and credit cards saw a rise in online usage, one fact remains to be true; there’s never been a better time to run an eCommerce business.

But, if you’ve been around the block of eCommerce, you’ll know that having a website and running ads to promote your agency doesn’t automatically mean that you’ll be flowing in good quality leads.

Placing that much more importance on client acquisition and retention as two key fundamentals for success.

Speaking of success, we decided to turn to Amanda Perry on an Academy Platinum Mastermind call – the owner of £1.6M agency, CEO of 24-25 staff, and engager of 16K insta followers – and ask her for her top client acquisition & retention tips.

How She Dropped Client Acquisition Costs from $170 to $33! 

Initially, when Amanda grew her business, she was enrolled in The Academy (our twelve-week agency growth program) in which she learned how to build and launch an online, automated lead generation funnel to grow her business; SOUP. Agency.

Fyi, an automated funnel is a series of online landing pages that attract and drives good quality leads to book in a free strategy call with an agency.

Then, as she grew her team (from 6 – 25 during lockdown), she was able to shift more of her focus to growing the company’s Instagram audience, her own profile, and an online training program as a client acquisition tool for the agency. 

Through resonating content, hashtag research, and consistency, Amanda was able to grow her Instagram profile (@amandaperry) from 6,000 followers to over 16,000.  

And as the audience builds, so too does the traffic to her agency entry point; The e-Com Growth Hub which is an online training, coaching & community program aimed to help eCom store owners build and grow their business and lay foundations for scale. Essentially grooming them in order to be ready to become eligible clients for the agency.

Amanda’s lead generation flow now looks something like this: 

Eyeballs on Instagram > Become Follower > Resonates & Engages with Content > Visits eCom Growth Hub Website > Retargeting > Becomes a Student > Becomes an Agency Client or Agency Advocate

Retaining agency clients for longer in a space notorious for fail rates 

In a niche that’s notorious for hitting roadblocks, Amanda shared that client retention starts right from the sales call. 

And went on to explain that; “her agency’s leads aren’t sold into a peony scheme dream, snake-oil promises that maybe other agencies have promised them. 

Instead, we keep things very realistic, and because most of our leads are coming through our Instagram content and eCom Growth hub, they are fairly high quality and understand the fundamentals of the industry that it takes more than just one month to build a brand.” 

Like this client acquisition & retention tips blog and want more? Discover The Academy today!

The Academy – a twelve-week online-based program, support & mentorship membership.

What’s included:

  • Onboarding call with our onboarding specialist
    • To help you know your way around what’s inside The Academy 
    • Receive a high-level, personalized guide to help you knock down the biggest domino you’re facing in your business
  • Twelve-week access to a private Facebook group
    • In which you may ask for help or feedback on anything agency-related
    • Where the invaluable magic of support (peer & coach) and networking happens
    • 24/7 support from coaches or moderators
  • Up-to-date agency growth training covering:
    • Course Introduction
    • Agency Foundations
    • Hiring Production Teams
    • Automating Your Marketing
    • Sales & Closing
    • Processes
    • Launching a DIY Offer
    • Wrap Up & Mastermind
  • Live weekly training/workshop calls covering a range of topics;
    • 2 x Automated Funnel review calls/wk currently hosted by Karen Sahetya – Tuesdays 5pm EST & Thursdays 12pm EST
    • 1 x Sales Processes & Business Development training call/wk currently hosted by Andy Seeley – Mondays 4pm EST
    • 1 x Mindset call/wk currently hosted by Anna Shilina -Tuesdays 8pm EST
    • 1 x Agency Systems & Processes call per month currently hosted by Katya Sarmiento – last Thursday of the month at 4pm EST
    • Access to our collection of past training/workshop calls
    • 1:1 Mindset calls at no extra cost