TL;DR
Start with people who already know your work, like past clients and stalled proposals. At the same time, build a list of companies that look like the client you lost, and pitch them one result you can prove.
Find companies like your best clientLosing your biggest client hurts twice. The revenue goes, and so does the work you'd planned your team around. The fastest replacement usually comes from people who already know you, so start there this week, and run cold outreach alongside it rather than after it. Agency owners raise this exact problem in r/agency and r/marketing.
This week: people who already know your work
Warm contacts reply faster than strangers, and you can reach all of them in a day.
Past clients who left on good terms. Budgets and priorities change. A short note saying you have room again costs nothing.
Proposals that stalled in the last year. The reason they stalled, often timing or budget, may have moved.
People who've referred work before. Tell them plainly that you have capacity.
Freelancers and other agencies who turn work away. Overflow and referral partners are common in agency life.
Keep the ask short and specific:
Hi [Name], we have room for one new [service] client from [month]. If you know anyone who's [specific situation, for example opening a second location], I'd be grateful for an introduction, and happy to return the favour.
Build a list that looks like the client you lost
The client you lost is a blueprint. You knew how to win them and what results you got. Companies that share their traits are the ones most likely to buy the same thing from you.
Trait to copy | Example | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
Industry and niche | Regional dental groups | Map listings, industry directories |
Size | 20 to 100 staff | Company websites, team pages, job posts |
A buying trigger | Opened a new location, hiring a marketing manager | News, job boards, the company's own site |
Tools they use | Runs on Shopify, uses HubSpot | The website's code. See our guide to finding companies that use a software |
Keep the first list small. Fifty companies that closely match beat five hundred that loosely do, because every email can mention something specific about the company.
Pitch the result, not the agency
A prospect doesn't care that you lost a client. They care whether you've solved their problem before.
Hi [Name], we helped [a company like the one you lost, described by type] [a specific result you can back up] over [time period]. [Company] looks like it's in a similar spot because [something specific you noticed]. Worth a 15-minute call to see if the same approach fits?
Use a result you can document. If the lost client can't be named or won't be a reference, describe the work by type and keep the numbers you're allowed to share.
A plan for the first month
When | What to do |
|---|---|
Days 1 to 3 | Email past clients, stalled proposals and referrers |
Week 1 | Build and verify the lookalike list, send the first cold emails |
Week 2 | Follow up once, take first calls, send proposals where there's interest |
Weeks 3 to 4 | A second lookalike segment, and a check-in with everyone who said "not now" |
This is a plan for the work, not a promise about results. How fast a client signs depends on your market and your price point.
The first month after losing a client, from warm contacts to a second segment.
Doing it with ManyPI
Disclosure: ManyPI is our product.
You can describe the client you lost in one sentence, for example "independent dental groups in Ohio with 3 to 10 locations that opened a new location this year, with the marketing manager's email", and the agent searches the live web (company sites, map listings, directories, job boards and news) plus a database of over 600 million contacts. Every email is checked before sending, campaigns go out from your own inbox and stop when someone replies, and the built-in CRM keeps the warm follow-ups from slipping. The lookalike companies page shows how it works, and our guide to getting B2B leads fast covers the sending side.
A lookalike search for the client you lost, typed into the ManyPI agent.
Be careful with discounts while you're under pressure. A client signed at a panic price sets the rate for the whole relationship, and it's hard to raise later.
Written by
Ole Mai
Founder / ManyPI