Contents
As your digital agency faces growing client demands, it may be time to consider using client management software to streamline and manage your operations. The right agency client management tool can help you transform your business into a high-performance agency by simplifying your operations, improving communications, and driving informed decision making through analytics and reports.
So what’s the ideal agency client management software for your agency?
In this article, we’ll delve into the best agency management software based on different operational needs. Read on to know more.
What is agency client management software?
Agency client management software is a tool designed to help agencies improve their operations and client management. The software helps you enhance various aspects of your operations, such as client data management, project management, reporting and analytics, communications, and even billing and invoicing.
Many of these tools automate repetitive tasks, such as data entry, scheduling client follow-ups, and importing client data from external sources. This automation frees up your sales team’s time, allowing them to focus more on client interactions that drive sales and less on administrative tasks.
Why does your agency need agency client management software
As your client base grows, your agency will need more resources to meet their expectations. While scaling up your team is an option, adding more team members might not be your next best step financially, especially when you’re a smaller business with limited budget.
Instead, what you need is a system that streamlines your operations and takes care of repetitive tasks so your team can focus on jobs that require human interaction. This system doesn’t just free up hours of your team’s time, but it will also support your operations as they grow.
Client management software not only takes care of repetitive tasks, but also helps you build an efficient and effective system at a fraction of the cost of recruiting additional team members.
Here are some reasons why you need an agency client management software:
To manage all client data in one place: Client management software stores comprehensive data of your clients, such as contact details, interaction history, communication details, and past projects in one place. This helps your team access the most crucial client information from one place without needing to switch between multiple tools, or refer to another person in charge.
To automate repetitive tasks: Manually managing repetitive tasks, such as data entry, reporting, and scheduling follow-ups, requires a significant amount of time and effort. It’s also prone to human errors, and could be easily overlooked when things get busy for your agency. Agency client management tools take care of these tasks so you don’t have to.
To improve communications: Client management software significantly enhances your internal and external communications by keeping all parties updated and engaged throughout the course of your projects or sales process.
To make informed decisions: Decisions based on data and analytics are generally more effective and practical. Client management software provides data-driven insights into client behaviour, project outcomes, and business performance. This helps you better understand the effectiveness of your strategies and activities so you can refine your approach over time.
Best agency client management software for communication: Slack
Price: Starts at 7.25 USD per user per month
Free trial: Available on request
Communication barriers within your team can lead to delayed delivery and missed deadlines. If you have been relying on traditional communication tools like emails, it’s time to switch to a tool that ensures flawless internal communication.
Slack is a cloud-based team collaboration and messaging tool designed to streamline internal communication. While it’s not specifically client management software, Slack plays a crucial role in enhancing interactions, which can directly improve client relationships. Features of Slack include channels, direct messaging, integration with external project management tools, voice and video calls, file sharing, customisable notifications, and much more.
If your client uses Slack, you can even connect their organisation’s account to yours (with your preferred permission settings) for enhanced collaboration.
| Pros | Cons |
| Keeps all team communication in one place, enhancing transparency and collaboration. Allows teams to customise the workspace with various apps and integrations according to their specific needs. Simple and easy interface, even for new users. Great for both small teams and large enterprises, adapting to varying needs seamlessly. | Without proper configuration, the constant flow of messages and notifications can be overwhelming. Full features come at a price and can be significant for larger teams. Since Slack is cloud-based, it requires a consistent internet connection, which can be a limitation in areas with poor connectivity. |
Best agency client management software for lead management: Privyr
Price: Starts at $30 USD
Free trial: Available
If you’re generating leads for your agency from online sources, having a system that streamlines your process from initial lead generation to the sales process can play a crucial role in improving conversion. After all, it’s not just about how many leads you generate, but how many you convert – and much of this depends on how quickly you can reach out to new leads.
It’s best to have a tool that can alert you of your new leads in real time, automatically download them to your CRM system or smartphone, let you automatically assign leads across to your teammates, while keeping all leads data in a central location.
Privyr is a mobile-first client management software that allows you to run your complete sales process from your mobile and desktop. It’s an ideal tool for small to mid-sized businesses looking to convert more leads into customers. Some important features of this tool include real time lead notification, automatic syncing of new leads from any of your online or offline lead sources, automatic lead distribution, follow-up reminders, and much more. It’s a great client management tool for agencies looking to run their sales process on the go.
Privyr also offers a Team dashboard that allows agencies to track how their sales team is performing in terms of contacting and nurturing the leads assigned to them.
| Pros | Cons |
| Light yet powerful tool with simple interface on mobile and desktop. Effortless to learn and use. Doesn’t require extra tool/software to integrate with other systems or download data. | May not be ideal for large businesses that require complex forecasting and analytics. |
Best agency client management software for CRM: HubSpot
Price: starts at $15 per user per month
Free trial: Available
A customer relationship management tool (CRM) is an ideal option if you’re having a hard time managing agency leads and clients effectively.
HubSpot is a comprehensive CRM that also offers great sales and marketing features, making it highly popular among digital agencies, sales teams, and various service providers.
HubSpot’s features include CRM capabilities, marketing automation, sales pipeline management, customer service tools, integrations with a variety of other artificial intelligence tools, reporting, and analytics.
| Pros | Cons |
| All-in-one platform that combines CRM, sales, marketing, and customer service tools. Easy to useSuits a wide range of business size. Backed by strong community and support | While there’s a free tier, advanced features can be expensive for small agencies. Limited customisation options |
Best agency client management software for project management: Bonsai
Price: Starts at $9 per user per month
Free trial: Available (7 days)
Bonsai is a unified client and project management tool designed to simplify project workflows, client communications, and budget tracking for agencies. Its user-friendly platform includes visual project planning tools like Kanban boards and Gantt charts, resource allocation features, and integrated budget management with real-time reporting.
Bonsai’s client portal enables seamless collaboration, giving clients real-time visibility into project tasks while allowing agencies to set specific permissions for client engagement. Clients can be granted access to view, comment, or contribute to project tasks, creating a more integrated and transparent workflow that keeps everyone on the same page.
| Pros | Cons |
| Collaborative client portal with custom client permissions Offers an all-in-one approach to client, project, resource and financial management Designed to automate various admin tasks to increase efficiency and productivity for agencies | Not ideal for large enterprises No free plan |
Best agency client management software for creative task management: Workamajig
Price: Starts at $39 per user per month
Free trial: Not available (demo can be requested)Â
Workamajig is an excellent client management tool designed for creative agencies looking to integrate various aspects of agency operations, including project management, collaboration, financial tracking, and resource planning. Designed to meet the unique needs of creative professionals, such as designers, advertising teams, and communications departments, Workamajig addresses their creative challenges and helps them overcome operational issues that affect agency performance and scalability.
Major features of Workamajig include project management, resource management, collaboration tools, CRM and sales, financial management, time tracking and reporting. With this tool, your team can track their time on tasks and projects, which feeds into analytics to help manage productivity and profitability.
| Pros | Cons |
| Designed for creative industries with relevant tools and workflows. Combines project management, CRM, and financial tools in one platform. Allows for impressive customisation to fit the specific processes and needs of creative agencies. | Steeper learning curve compared to general client management tools. User interface may feel less intuitive for new users. The cost can be higher than simpler tools, especially for smaller agencies or startups |
Things to consider while choosing a client management software for your agency
Here some important factors that you should evaluate while choosing the ideal client management software for your agency:
- Requirements: Identify the primary challenges in your operations that need fixing. It could be lead management, client communication, or task automation, your software should be able to address your core concerns.
- Usability: If your team lacks professional-level technical expertise, consider ease of use. Your agency management should have an intuitive interface that your team can quickly adopt without extensive training.
- Integration: As an agency, you must be working across multiple platforms and software. Therefore, it’s crucial that your client management software integrates easily with the tools or platforms you already use. This is important to avoid the disruption of existing workflows.
- Scalability: The software should be able to grow with your agency. It should support more clients, users, and increased complexity over time.
- Budget: Determine your budget early and find the best software that fits within these financial constraints without compromising on essential features.
Conclusion
The right client management software will help you take care of the roadblocks that can impede your agency’s performance and scalability. However, there’s no one size fits all solution when it comes to choosing a tool for your agency. You should always consider your business requirements and goals while choosing the right tool for your agency. For instance, if you need to manage your sales processes on the go, Privyr might be the ideal choice. Conversely, if your agency has larger scale needs and a bigger budget, HubSpot may be more suitable.
More importantly, most client management tools offer free trials, so always utilise them to test how well the software fits with your operations.
