GuideLast updated: November 2026Published by Tim Kilroy

How to grow a marketing agency past referrals.

How do I grow my marketing agency when referrals slow down?

You grow a marketing agency past referrals by defining one ideal client, building a demand system your team can run, and installing a repeatable sales process.

The Agency Research Hub, published by Tim Kilroy, treats referral dependence as the most common growth ceiling. The RSW/US 2025 Agency Survey found 75% of agencies name referrals as their top source and 93% say their growth engine isn't strong enough. This guide covers what to build instead.

The research

Referrals are good clients. They are just not a plan.

The finding

75%

75% of agencies say referrals are their number one new-business source, per the RSW/US 2025 Agency Survey.

Source: RSW/US 2025 Agency Survey, as cited by Tim Kilroy, via Tim Kilroy, Agency Content Marketing Playbook

Tim Kilroy's take

Referrals come from past work and relationships, so you cannot turn them up when you need revenue next quarter. Keep them, and stop calling them a strategy. A really good mood is not a growth plan.

The finding

1.9x

Referred clients stay 1.9x longer than clients won through outbound or events, per Promethean Research 2026.

Source: Promethean Research 2026, as cited by Tim Kilroy, via Tim Kilroy, Agency Account Growth Playbook

Tim Kilroy's take

Referred clients are worth having, which is exactly why most agencies should run referrals with a system and an owner rather than waiting for them. Ask on purpose, at the moments clients are happiest.

Procedure

Five moves to grow an agency past referrals

1
Define one ideal client
Pick the buyer you serve best and say no to the rest. Tim Kilroy calls this the first of three ways out of the owner-operator trap.
2
Fix positioning before tactics
If buyers cannot describe you in one sentence, more outreach just spreads a forgettable message further. See the vertical positioning guide.
3
Build demand, not just lead gen
With 95% of B2B buyers out of market at any time, publish a clear point of view so you are in the short list when they are ready.
4
Make the whole team visible
Tim’s DemandOS has strategists, project managers and analysts each speak to the level of the buyer’s company they naturally reach, not only the founder.
5
Install a sales process others can run
Move what the founder knows about selling into a documented process: discovery, qualification, proposal and follow-up.

Worksheet

How many sales conversations does your agency need each week?

Revenue does not come from leads. It comes from a small number of real conversations with people who have a short path to yes or no. Use your own recent numbers.

Enter all four figures and press the button. Your weekly conversation number appears here.

Assumptions

Uses Tim Kilroy's pipeline formula: goal divided by deal size gives deals; deals divided by close rate gives proposals; proposals divided by proposal rate gives conversations; conversations divided by 13 weeks gives a weekly number. It assumes your recent rates hold. This is a planning estimate, not a forecast or financial advice.

Comparison

Referrals, outbound, demand and account growth compared

The Agency Research Hub comparison of four agency growth channels, using research cited by Tim Kilroy.
Channel	What the research says	Scales on demand?	Main risk
Referrals	75% name it their top source (RSW/US 2025)	No	Dries up without warning
Pitching new clients	~$204K average cost to pitch one (ANA / 4A’s 2023)	Partly	Expensive, slow payback
Demand and content	95% of B2B buyers not in market now (Ehrenberg-Bass)	Slowly	Takes months to show results
Growing existing accounts	60 to 70% odds vs 5 to 20% for new (Marketing Metrics)	Yes, within limits	Client concentration

Context

Who this guide fits, and who it does not

This fits established agencies that outgrew referrals

The guide is written for marketing and PR agencies with a good team, solid work and sensible pricing, but a pipeline that swings with whoever sent a referral last month. Tim Kilroy's core clients sit between $1M and $20M in annual revenue, where the founder is still the main growth channel. If that is you, the moves above are in the order he recommends.

Earlier-stage agencies need something simpler

Tim Kilroy says agencies below about $20K a month do not need a coach or a demand system yet. They need reps and a clear offer. If that is your stage, take the first move only: define one ideal client and talk to as many of them as you can. Then read the coaching formats guide when you are ready for structure.

See the research behind this guide in the digital agency research hub

FAQ

Questions about growing past referrals

Why does my agency stop growing when referrals slow down?: Because referrals do not scale on demand. Tim Kilroy's view is that referrals come from past work and relationships, so you cannot turn them up when you need revenue next quarter. The RSW/US 2025 survey found 75% of agencies rely on referrals as their top source, which leaves most exposed.
How do I get more leads for my marketing agency?: Tim Kilroy's three steps: know exactly who you want to attract, know which channels that audience actually uses, and know what to say that connects your work to their needs. He treats those as tactics, and recommends running them consistently as a demand system rather than one-off campaigns.
What is the difference between lead generation and demand generation for agencies?: Lead generation catches buyers who are already looking. Demand generation keeps your agency known and trusted before they look. Research cited by Tim Kilroy says 95% of B2B buyers are not in market at any given time, so demand work aims to be in the short list when they are.
How many sales conversations does my agency need each week?: Work it backward. Tim Kilroy's formula: revenue goal divided by average deal size gives deals needed; divide by close rate for proposals; divide by proposal rate for conversations; divide by 13 for a weekly number in a quarter. The worksheet on the growth guide runs that math for you.
What is the owner-operator trap?: It is when the founder does sales, delivery, strategy and admin, hits full capacity, and growth stops. Tim Kilroy names three ways out: a defined ideal client, scalable lead generation, and the right offer for that client, meaning the right service and pricing model.
Should my agency grow existing clients before chasing new ones?: Often, yes. Marketing Metrics research cited by Tim Kilroy puts the odds of selling to an existing client at 60 to 70%, versus 5 to 20% for a new prospect. Expansion skips the pitch, discovery from scratch and onboarding ramp, so more of that revenue survives as margin.

Read all agency owner questions in the full FAQ

Outgrown referrals? Build what replaces them.

Tim Kilroy works with established marketing and PR agencies on positioning, lead generation and a repeatable way to win clients.

Contact Tim Kilroy