For a lot of agencies, the difference between an “okay year” and a “great year” comes down to a few key relationships.

This is not a groundbreaking insight. But it is one that’s easy to forget when you’re in the day-to-day. 

You expand an existing account - that’s your margin.
You land two or three additional clients - that’s your year.
You lose one major client - that’s your stress level (for the next six months.)

And yet, when growth stalls, most agency founders think:

“Maybe we need outbound.”
“Maybe we need to spend on paid.”
“Maybe we should sponsor that event everyone’s going to.”

We get it. These are familiar moves. Scalable moves. Tactics you’ve seen work for product companies, SaaS startups, even other agencies. 

But here’s the reality: most agencies don’t grow like that.

More Leads Probably Aren’t the Answer

This isn’t a high-frequency sales business. 

Most agencies don’t sign new clients every week. Some might only close a few deals a year, and that’s enough.

And because every deal carries weight, not all growth levers are created equal.

But we still get tempted by scale-friendly tactics:

• Cold email sequences that churn through lists

• Lead gen campaigns that promise predictable pipelines

• Conferences that cost five figures and deliver one decent intro

Sometimes they work. Sometimes they’re worth it.

But they’re rarely the reason an agency grows in a meaningful, sustainable way.

More often, it comes down to something simpler, and harder to replicate.

The high-touch stuff that doesn’t scale

When we look at our own agencies at Barrel Holdings, we ask a few basic questions. 

On the new business side:

• Who are the 3-5 people in your network who’ve referred your best clients in the past?

• Are you staying in touch with them? Or are you taking them for granted?

• What kind of outreach are you doing weekly - not mass updates, but 1:1 messages, check-ins, real conversations?

On the client side:

• Which of your current clients are likely to grow with you this year?

• Are you investing in that relationship? How?

• Are you proactively delivering value, asking for feedback, and finding ways to deepen trust?

There aren’t revolutionary ideas.

But they’re easy to overlook when you’re focused only on what scales.

What we’ve seen work

The agencies that keep growing, without constantly reinventing their GTM strategy, usually have three things in common:

1. They’re consistent with their relationship-building habits.
   Weekly check-ins. Follow-ups. Thoughtful touchpoints that don’t feel forced.

2. They know who their connectors are.
   And they treat those relationships like assets, not afterthoughts.

3. They pay attention to the clients who already trust them.
   Expansion revenue is more likely when you’re showing up, not just delivering.

Final thought

You don’t need dozens of new clients to change the trajectory of your year. 

You need to go deeper with the right five people (maybe fewer.)

Before you spin up a new funnel or campaign, look at what’s already worked.

Chances are, the path to a stronger year is already sitting in your inbox.