When you start an agency, there’s a certain kind of client you dream about. The household name. The big logo you can put on your website. The one that makes people say “oh, you work with them?”
And don’t get me wrong, big brands can be brilliant to work with. But after more than a decade of running Digital Twenty Four, I can tell you this: the best clients aren’t always the biggest ones.
The best clients are the ones where the relationship works. And that has very little to do with the size of the budget.
What actually makes a great client
They trust you to do the job
The best clients hire you for your expertise and then let you use it. They ask questions, they challenge you when something doesn’t make sense, but they don’t need to sign off every comma. Trust is what turns a supplier into a partner.
They know what success looks like
“We want more followers” isn’t a goal. “We want more enquiries for our spring range” is. The clients who get the best results are the ones who can tell you what they’re actually trying to achieve, so everyone is pulling in the same direction.
They’re open to testing
Not everything works first time. That’s not failure, that’s marketing. Great clients understand that a test that doesn’t work still tells you something, and they’re willing to try new ideas rather than doing the same thing every month and hoping for a different result.
They respond
It sounds simple, but it makes a huge difference. Campaigns move faster, content goes out on time and opportunities don’t get missed when feedback comes back in days, not weeks.
They respect the team
This one matters to me more than any other. Our team are skilled, hard-working people. The best clients treat them that way, and in return they get people who genuinely care about their business. As I’ve said before, the client is not always right, and no budget is worth a team that dreads Monday mornings.
Why smaller can be better
Some of the most rewarding work happens with smaller businesses. When a business owner is directly involved, decisions get made quickly. You can see the impact of your work on their bottom line. A good month can genuinely change things for them, and that’s a brilliant feeling for everyone involved.
Smaller budgets also force focus. You can’t do everything, so you do the things that matter most, and do them well.
Fit over size
Over the years, I’ve learned to ask a different question when a new enquiry comes in. Not “how big is this?” but “can we do great work together?”
- Do we understand what they’re trying to achieve?
- Can we genuinely help them get there?
- Do our ways of working match?
- Will our team enjoy this?
If the answer is yes, the size of the logo doesn’t matter. If the answer is no, saying so early is kinder for everyone.
It works both ways
Of course, being a great agency matters just as much. Clients deserve honesty when something isn’t working, clear reporting without the jargon, and a team who treats their business like it’s their own. That’s the standard we hold ourselves to.
So if you’re a business owner choosing an agency, look for the same things in reverse. Do they listen? Do they tell you the truth? Do they care about the results as much as you do?
Get that right on both sides, and the size of the budget becomes the least interesting thing about the relationship.
