Most agency owners try to fix lead-gen by tweaking marketing campaigns or testing new tactics. But when I wanted deeper insight—the kind that leads to strategic, sustainable growth—I turned to a surprising source: past and current clients.
Not as clients, though. As advisors.
If you want better insights, you need to talk to clients outside of their “client” hat. That’s where a Client Advisory Board can help.
For several years, I convened a Client Advisory Board, bringing together a small group of past and current clients to advise me. But the unexpected benefit? They helped me improve lead-gen and more. Ultimately, this has helped me help more agencies.
The power of seeing clients in a new light
When you shift from you advising them to them advising you, you unlock a completely different level of insight. Clients can:
- Tell you why they hired your agency in the first place.
- Explain what truly sets you apart (and it’s not always what you think).
- Reveal the red flags that might be scaring off potential leads.
- Share whether new services are likely to resonate.
Most importantly, they give you honest, constructive feedback that you rarely get in typical client conversations.
How a Client Advisory Board can help your lead-gen
Most agency lead-gen efforts are externally focused:
- Improve marketing campaigns
- Fine-tune sales outreach
- Test different lead sources
That’s all important—but it misses a crucial step: getting inside the minds of your best clients.
When I ran my client advisory board, here’s how it helped me in my lead-gen:
1. Clients help refine your messaging
The way you describe your agency is often not the way clients think about you. Advisory board members told me how they explained our services to others, which helped me:
- Adjust my positioning to match what resonated most
- Simplify my messaging (cutting out unnecessary jargon)
- Emphasize the benefits they actually valued, not just what I assumed mattered
If you’re struggling to attract the right clients, you might be talking about your agency in a way that doesn’t align with how clients see your value. Your advisory board can bridge that gap, in a more structured way than just emailing a random client for advice.
2. Clients share what convinced them to hire your agency
When I asked, “Why did you choose to work with me?” the answers weren’t what I expected. Some mentioned my expertise (expected), but others pointed to things like:
- How we explained things in my email newsletter
- The clarity of my sales process
- Referrals from peers who spoke highly of us (including some where I didn’t realize they’d talked about me)
Knowing this helped me double down on what was already working instead of guessing at new lead-gen tactics.
Your best clients already know why people should hire you. Let them tell you—and use that to sharpen your marketing and sales approach.
3. Clients give feedback on why they didn’t hire someone else
One of the most eye-opening conversations? When I asked why they didn’t move forward with others.
Their responses included:
- “They didn’t seem to ‘get’ me and my goals.”
- “I thought they’d ridicule my past choices.”
- “They didn’t pay attention to what I shared in the sales process.”
The last point reminded me about hiring a financial planner several years ago. One well-reviewed person asked a million questions beforehand about things like account balances… but once we were on the sales call, forgot a key point about my goals. Ultimately, I hired a CFP who used a more coaching-style approach.
These insights led me to work with my team to tweak our lead-gen strategy:
- I added more case studies (and made it a priority going forward), including a mix of ROI- and relationship-driven testimonials.
- I described how I customize my advice to each client’s Values, Goals, and Resources (that is, I meet them where they are).
- I tightened my Ideal Client Profile (ICP) criteria—and have continued to do so since then.
You can spend weeks or months A/B testing different marketing messages… or you can just ask your past and current clients what’s missing.
How to enlist your team to recommend Client Advisory Board members
As an agency owner, you likely don’t have deep firsthand relationships with every client—especially if you’ve successfully delegated client management to your team.
That’s why it’s critical to involve your team in choosing advisory board members. Here’s how:
- Ask your account managers and other client-facing team members for input. They know which clients are insightful, engaged, and willing to give constructive feedback.
- Look for a mix of current and past clients. Past clients offer a unique perspective on why they stayed or why they left.
- Avoid “yes people.” You want honest insights—not just compliments. Encourage your team to nominate clients who are willing to challenge assumptions and offer actionable feedback.
Once you have a shortlist, personally invite those clients to join the board. Depending on how well you know them, you might start with a “get to know you” (GTKY) call first, where the offer is contingent on your both seeing a match.
Should you pay your advisory board?
Rather than a cash payment, consider what a credit or other bonuses might look like. For a while, I “swapped” calls—where I’d alternate between calls to help the board versus calls to help me.
How to delegate running the Client Advisory Board
Your role as the agency owner is to lead the conversations—but that doesn’t mean you should handle the logistics.
Here’s how to delegate effectively:
- Assign a team member to manage scheduling, reminders, and follow-ups. This makes it easy for you to simply show up and focus on the discussion.
- Have your team collect key client insights before each meeting so you go in prepared with high-impact questions.
- Assign someone to take notes and summarize action items so you can implement the feedback efficiently.
You still need to “drive” the board program
The more you prepare, the more you’ll get from the advisory board. You don’t have to do all the prep yourself—but don’t abdicate the process.
I was once part of an unpaid advisory board for a software platform. I liked having VIP access to the product team; I could share feedback and receive early access to new features.
The problem with this board was that it quickly petered out due to weak organization. The first meeting was in-person in another city; I wanted to go, but they gave just a few weeks’ notice. The next meeting was held virtually but without much further notice.
Don’t make your client advisory board members think they’re an afterthought. And reserve time to take action on their feedback, including letting them know if there’s a reason you won’t (or can’t) follow it.
Applying this to improve your agency’s lead-gen strategy
Whether you start a formal client advisory board or just have more structured conversations with past and current clients, the lesson is the same: The best lead-gen advice often comes from the people who’ve already hired you.
If you want to expand your lead-gen strategy even further, check out Diversify Your Lead-Gen. My on-demand training is designed to help agencies:
- Identify the best lead sources for your agency today.
- Improve your messaging, to connect with what clients really need.
- Create a sustainable system for attracting better-fit clients.
My co-organizer for the training became a client after I disbanded the advisory board. But if it were still running, I absolutely would have invited him—because he would have brought sharp, actionable feedback on what works (and what doesn’t) in agency growth.
Remember: Your past and current clients already have the answers you need; you just have to ask.
QUESTION: Have you ever asked past clients for lead-gen insights? How might a Client Advisory Board help your agency?
