Most agency CRMs are configured for new business - tracking prospects through the sales pipeline until they sign. But for agencies, the real work begins after the contract is signed. Client retention, expansion, and referrals are where the money is. Yet most agency CRMs have almost nothing for this.
We have built Attio workspaces for agencies ranging from boutique consultancies to 100+ person shops. The pattern is consistent: the agencies that systematize client success outperform those that treat it as ad hoc relationship management. The question is whether your CRM supports that or fights against it.
Here is what we have learned about building CRM infrastructure for agencies.
The problem with CRMs for agencies
HubSpot and Pipedrive are built for linear sales: lead to opportunity to closed deal. They assume the relationship ends when the contract is signed, or at best, that renewal is a simple repeat of the original sale. This does not match how agencies work.
An agency client is not a closed deal. It is an ongoing relationship with multiple stakeholders, evolving scope, and constant risk of churn. The account director who signed the deal might leave. The primary contact might get promoted and no longer have time for you. The project that was going well might suddenly become a political liability inside the client organization.
Your CRM should help you see these risks coming. It should track stakeholder relationships across the client organization. It should flag clients who are going dark. It should show you which accounts are ready for expansion and which are quietly sliding toward churn.
Most agency CRMs do not do any of this because they were designed for a different business model.
What agencies actually need to track
The difference between a struggling agency and a thriving one often comes down to client retention. Here is what you need to track to stay ahead of churn:
Multi-stakeholder mapping
Every client has multiple relationships - the champion who brought you in, the budget holder, the day-to-day contact, and the executives who could kill the relationship. Track all of them and understand the dynamics.
Client health scoring
Build a composite score from engagement signals, deliverable satisfaction, relationship strength, and strategic alignment. When health drops, you want to know before the client starts shopping.
Contract and renewal tracking
Know when every contract is up for renewal, what the renewal terms are likely to be, and who is responsible for the conversation. Surprises are expensive.
Project profitability
If you do not know which clients are profitable and which are burning hours, you can not make good decisions. Link time tracking to client records.
Referral source attribution
Track where your best clients came from. If referrals drive 60% of new business, you need to know exactly which relationships are generating them.
Expansion opportunity tracking
Who is ready for additional services? Who mentioned a new initiative that you could support? This is pipeline that already trusts you.
How we build Attio for agencies
Agency implementations typically take 2-3 weeks. We start by mapping your client lifecycle - from signed contract through renewal or churn - and identifying the signals that predict each outcome.
The core architecture usually involves a Client object (separate from the standard Company) that carries agency-specific fields: contract value, renewal date, health score, primary contact, and team assignment. This connects to a Stakeholder mapping that tracks all the relationships at each client, with notes on each person role and your relationship strength.
We then build automations that surface risks and opportunities. Clients approaching renewal without recent strategic contact get flagged. Accounts with declining engagement scores trigger check-in tasks. New contacts at existing clients create expansion opportunities.
The goal is to make the CRM a tool for proactive client management, not just a database of contact information.
Custom objects we typically create
Clients
Your ongoing client relationships
- •Contract type and value
- •Renewal date and terms
- •Health score
- •Assigned team members
- •Client tier
Stakeholders
Every contact at each client organization
- •Role and influence level
- •Relationship owner
- •Last meaningful contact
- •Champion vs. blocker status
- •Flight risk indicators
Projects
Work being delivered to clients
- •Project status and timeline
- •Team allocation
- •Hours tracked vs. budgeted
- •Client satisfaction signals
- •Profitability metrics
Referral Sources
Where your best business comes from
- •Source type
- •Clients generated
- •Total revenue attributed
- •Quality rating
- •Relationship owner
Integrations that matter
Is Attio right for your agency?
If you are primarily focused on new business development and your post-sale process is simple, a standard CRM like Pipedrive might be enough. It is simpler to set up and the sales pipeline features are solid.
Attio makes sense when you need to track complex, ongoing client relationships with multiple stakeholders and projects. The flexibility to build a client health system that matches your specific risk factors - not some generic template - is where Attio provides value.
Attio is a good fit if...
- ✓Client retention is a strategic priority
- ✓You have multiple stakeholders per client
- ✓You want to integrate time tracking and project data
- ✓You are building systematic client success processes
- ✓You value modern, fast software
Attio might not be right if...
- —You mostly need new business pipeline tracking
- —Your client relationships are simple and transactional
- —You want something that works with minimal setup
- —You do not have capacity to customize
Frequently asked questions
We build custom fields that track the signals that matter for your agency - meeting frequency, email engagement, project satisfaction, payment timeliness, etc. These roll up into a composite score, and you can adjust the weights based on what you learn predicts churn.
Yes. We typically integrate with Asana, Monday, or Linear so that project status is visible in client records. When a project goes red, it affects the client health score.
We create separate client types with different fields and tracking. Retainer clients have monthly value and renewal cycles; project clients have project-by-project tracking and rebooking opportunities.
With time tracking integration, you can see who is allocated where and identify capacity for new work. This data lives in Attio alongside client records.
Evaluating alternatives?
Read our Attio vs Hubspot comparison →