The pipeline
For an agency on retainers, the risky month is the one before a contract ends. This pipeline keeps the sale and the renewal on one board, with a date for each.
| Stage | Move a card here when | Needed to enter | Stale after |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enquiry | Someone asks about your services | 2 days | |
| Discovery call | A call is booked or done | Next activity | 5 days |
| Proposal sent | They have a price and a scope in writing | Deal value, Services, Next activity | 7 days |
| Negotiating | They've come back with changes | Next activity | 7 days |
| Active client | The retainer is signed | Monthly retainer, Contract end | |
| Past client | The retainer ended, on good terms | ||
| Lost | They said no, or went quiet for good |
Why these names: Palby CRM counts a stage called Active client or Past client as won, and any stage with Lost in its name as lost, so your win rate adds up without setting anything. Won and lost stages don't take a Stale after limit.
The fields
| Field | Type | Options or rule | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Services | Multi-select | SEO, Social media, Paid ads, Content, Website, Email | What they're buying, for filters and for upsells |
| Monthly retainer | Currency | S$ | The number that matters at renewal |
| Ad budget a month | Currency | S$ | Separates a S$2,000 test from a S$20,000 account |
| Contract start | Date | When the clock started | |
| Contract end | Date | Remind me: Once, on the date | The reminder arrives a week before it ends |
| Renewal talk | Date | Remind me: Once, on the date | Six weeks before Contract end. This is the one that saves the retainer |
| Decision maker | Text | The person who signs, when it isn't the person you talk to | |
| Lost reason | Select | Price, Timing, Went in-house, Chose another agency, No reply | Moving a card to Lost asks for it |
| Amount paid | Currency | S$ | What they've paid you so far, as a running total |
| Date paid | Date | The date of the latest payment |
The Source field your board starts with stays as it is: write referral, Instagram or the name of the event.
The follow-up rules
- No proposal without a chase date. Next activity is needed to enter Proposal sent, so every proposal leaves with a date to follow it up. Seven days in that stage with no activity, and the card is flagged as stale.
- Talk renewal six weeks early. Set Renewal talk when the retainer is signed. A week before it, and on the day, an email lists who's due.
- Check in on past clients each quarter. When a card moves to Past client, set its follow-up to In 3 months. Agencies that left on good terms are the warmest names you have.
- Read the reasons once a month. Filter Lost by Lost reason. Three "Price" losses in a month is a pricing conversation, not a sales one.
Set it up in Palby CRM
About fifteen minutes, on the board you already have.
- When you set up your business, pick Services and agencies. Its stages are Enquiry, Discovery call, Proposal sent, Negotiating, Won and Lost.
- Rename Won to Active client, then add Past client after it.
- Add the ten fields above, each with its type. For Contract end and Renewal talk, set Remind me to Once, on the date.
- Open each stage's settings. Pick its Needed to enter fields and type its Stale after days.
- Save a view called Renewals: Stage is Active client, shown on the calendar by Renewal talk.
Already have a spreadsheet? Name its columns like the fields above and include a Stage column that uses these stage names. Import it, and one tap undoes the whole import if it went wrong.
An example board on Monday 2 November, with made-up names
| Customer | Stage | Services | Monthly retainer (S$) | Renewal talk | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harbourview Dental | Active client | SEO, Content | 3,500 | 16 Nov | Book the renewal call |
| Kopi Lane Cafes | Active client | Social media, Paid ads | 2,800 | 8 Feb | |
| Meridian Tuition | Proposal sent | Paid ads | 2,200 | Chase on Wed 4 Nov | |
| Okto Furniture | Negotiating | SEO, Website | 4,000 | They want three months before a year. Reply by Fri | |
| Tanjong Physio | Past client | Social media | Check in on 1 Feb |
Harbourview's renewal talk is on 16 November, so its reminder email arrives on the 9th. The retainer ends on 28 December, which leaves six weeks to agree the next year.
Use it as a spreadsheet
No CRM yet? Copy these columns into Google Sheets or Excel, one row per client:
Client | Contact | Phone | Stage | Services | Monthly retainer (S$) | Ad budget a month (S$) | Contract start | Contract end | Renewal talk | Next step | Next step date | Lost reason
Sort by Renewal talk every week, and by Next step date every day.
30 minutes. You choose the day and the time.
Book a walkthroughKeep reading
- Custom fields in Palby CRM
- Pipeline and deals
Questions about the marketing agency CRM template
Each client's stage, the services they buy, the monthly retainer, the contract dates and the next step with its date. The renewal date is the one most agencies miss.
Enquiry, discovery call, proposal sent, negotiating, active client, past client and lost. Rename them to match how you sell.
About six weeks before the contract ends, so the client decides before they start looking elsewhere.
Yes. In Palby CRM a customer can carry several deals, each with its own value and close date.
Yes, the template is free to copy into a spreadsheet or set up in Palby CRM.