If You Want To Keep Your Agency Small, That's Not A Bad Thing - A Chat With Jonathan Leafe, Agency Consultant
🎙️ Happy Clients Podcast Recap: If You Want To Keep Your Agency Small, That's Not A Bad Thing - A Chat With Jonathan Leafe, Agency Consultant
Running and growing a digital agency can feel like walking through the desert. At first, everything seems manageable, but as soon as the team grows past 10 or 15 people, things get complicated. Suddenly you need structure, systems, and account management expertise that many founders simply don’t have.
On this episode of The Happy Clients Podcast, host DOT & Company welcomes Jonathan Leafe, longtime agency owner and consultant, to unpack what it really takes to scale successfully while keeping clients happy.
We help agency owners grow by taking client management off your plate - and putting you in the CEO seat instead
🎙️ Happy Clients Podcast Recap: If You Want To Keep Your Agency Small, That's Not A Bad Thing - A Chat With Jonathan Leafe, Agency Consultant
Running and growing a digital agency can feel like walking through the desert. At first, everything seems manageable, but as soon as the team grows past 10 or 15 people, things get complicated. Suddenly you need structure, systems, and account management expertise that many founders simply don’t have.
On this episode of The Happy Clients Podcast, host DOT & Company welcomes Jonathan Leafe, longtime agency owner and consultant, to unpack what it really takes to scale successfully while keeping clients happy.
Why Agencies Struggle When Scaling
Jonathan points out that most founders don’t start agencies because they love business operations, they start because they’re passionate about creative work, design, or marketing. The challenge comes when growth requires new skills: managing teams, setting up systems, and tracking profitability.
He calls the stage between 12 and 25 employees “the desert.” At this size, founders can no longer be directly involved in everything. Without strong processes, agencies risk losing control, burning out, or watching clients slip away.
The Hidden Cost of Poor Account Management
One of the biggest takeaways from this conversation is the critical role of account management.
Jonathan explains that many smaller agencies make the mistake of combining project management and account management into one role. This creates conflict:
Account managers want to say yes to keep clients happy.
Project managers need to say no to protect resources and deliver quality.
When one person wears both hats, the agency’s growth stalls. Even worse, clients feel neglected, opening what Jonathan calls “the back door,” where existing clients leave while the team chases new business.
Why Retention Beats New Business
It’s easy for agencies to obsess over new leads, but Jonathan warns this is a dangerous mindset. Bringing in clients while ignoring current ones is like filling a bathtub with the plug pulled out.
Instead, strong account management drives retention and growth from within. Happy clients stay longer, buy more services, and refer others. In fact, Jonathan built a multimillion-dollar agency without a new business department, simply by keeping existing clients delighted and engaged.
Doing What Clients Need, Not Just What They Ask For
A powerful line from this episode: “Never do what the client asks for. Always do what the client needs.”
This mindset shifts account managers from order-takers to trusted advisors. It builds deeper relationships, delivers better results, and positions agencies as true partners rather than just vendors.
The DOT & Co. Connection
At DOT & Company, we see these challenges every day. Agencies with amazing creative skills often get stuck in “the desert” because client management takes too much time, energy, and expertise. That’s where our Client Account Managers (CAMs) come in.
We:
Handle day-to-day client communication
Build systems and processes that scale
Focus on retention, upselling, and long-term client happiness
Just like Jonathan explains, the account management seat is the most important role in your agency, and DOT makes it seamless without you hiring in-house.
Key Takeaways from Jonathan Leafe
Scaling an agency requires a totally different skill set than starting one.
The 12–25 employee stage is the hardest, “crossing the desert.”
Account management and project management must be separate roles.
Retention is more valuable than chasing endless new business.
Agencies grow faster when they deliver what clients need, not just what they ask for.