Client-agency relationships are lasting longer, but more than a third say they are harder to manage

Briefing, trust and feedback come first

According to the WFA, the top three factors in high-performing agency work are great briefing, respect and trust, and high-quality feedback. Clarity of roles and close working relationships also rank highly, while financial incentives score just 3.9 out of 5.

The WFA puts it plainly: “A well-negotiated fee cannot rescue an unclear brief, unrealistic scope or lack of trust or alignment about what success looks like.”

Relationships are lasting longer

The WFA reports that average client-agency tenure has increased since 2018 across creative, production, media and paid social. Paid social shows the biggest change, from two years to 4.3 years.

More than a third say relationship management is harder

At the same time, more than a third of respondents said agency relationship management has become more difficult. The WFA suggests this may reflect more stakeholders, more complex scopes, faster timelines and greater expectations around data, technology, integration and transparency, adding: “Complexity isn’t the enemy. Unmanaged complexity is.”

Paying for outputs, not just hours

The way agencies are paid is changing too. Labour-based models have fallen from 54% in 2011 to 19%, while fixed-fee or output models have risen from 20% to 33%, and labour-plus-performance models have more than doubled from 9% to 21%. Only 20% of respondents have started evolving their commercial models in response to AI, although 61% intend to (WFA).

What this means for account management

• Make briefs a two-way process. Play the brief back, confirm what success looks like and agree the scope before work starts.
• Keep a regular rhythm. Scheduled check-ins and clear feedback loops stop small issues becoming relationship problems.
• Map the stakeholders. With more people involved on the client side, know who approves, who influences and who needs to be kept informed.
• Tie the work to value. As more clients pay for outputs rather than hours, show how the work connects to the outcomes they care about.

If your team needs more capacity to manage client relationships well, Marketing Support Partners provides remote client and account management, from day-to-day communication to proposals and presentations, with flexible support from one week. For more on retention, see why clients leave agencies in 2026.