Breakthrough client moments often start small. A seemingly modest project, a stalled campaign or an almost-overlooked opportunity can reveal insights that shape how agencies operate long after the initial win. Over time, those lessons become internal playbooks—practices and habits teams return to over and over again because they repeatedly prove their value in the real world.
For agency leaders, these stories are referenced often internally because they offer more than nostalgia; they highlight the operational discipline, creative instincts and strategic rigor that can turn a single success into a repeatable advantage. Here, members of Forbes Agency Council share the big client wins that have become lore around their agencies, continuing to inform how their teams approach new work, along with the habits their agencies will never give up.
Treat Small Projects As Strategic Opportunities
Good work begets good work. One repeatable “win” we often reference began with a small assignment, one that others might have underestimated due to its modest budget. We recognized its true value because it aligned well with our branded offerings and strategy; its purpose resonated with us, and it connected us to a larger ecosystem with meaningful growth potential. Within a year, that initial project expanded into extensive work across multiple product lines, reaffirming an essential principle that guides us: Early engagements are opportunities to demonstrate strategic insight, not just deliver on the brief. The habits it drove are indispensable, simple and timeless—invest effort thoughtfully, overdeliver on insight from day one, and recognize when a “foot in the door” could become a long-term partnership. Consistency, thoughtful resource management and relationship cultivation are what transform a single project into decades of impactful collaboration. – Anne St. Peter, Global Prairie
Showcase Engaging Behind-The-Scenes Video Daily
One ongoing strategy we repeat with local bakeries, cafes and restaurants is to start their day, every day, with a video of their food preparation to share as social media Stories: croissants, cookies and pies coming out of the oven with focus on the steam rising; the preparation of a cappuccino, from grinding the beans to frothing the milk; marinating a steak in advance of that night’s meal. All of these mouthwatering tidbits show potential customers, before they ever enter the establishment, what’s there to devour and are exactly the kind of engaging “behind the scenes” content social media users are craving—it literally sets their cravings for the day! We started this strategy years ago with the advent of Stories across social media platforms, and with all the algorithm changes over the years, it is the one strategy that continues to be successful over and over again. – Lisa Montenegro, Digital Marketing Experts – DMX Marketing
Inspire Stakeholder Confidence With Transparent Comms
We had a public biotech client years ago that had to postpone its annual earnings conference call due to the inability of its auditors to sign off on the company audit in time. We had an emergency conference call with the company’s CEO to understand what happened. He was very nervous because the company’s profit was now being turned into a large net loss due to the auditors’ surprise requirement to write down an old acquisition. The CEO was caught off guard by this shift in stance by the auditor; he worried about how investors would interpret a delay in reporting the company’s annual financial performance and that the company’s expected profit was now a significant net loss. Our team spoke with the client to understand the accounting treatment of the write-down and noted that it was a 100% non-cash charge on the company’s income statement. We decided to announce the delay of the company’s conference call and explained the reason in granular detail. The stock opened slightly down the next day, but by the end of the week, after the company’s rescheduled conference call had taken place, it had fully recovered. This is a great example of transparent crisis management. – Scott Powell, Skyline Corporate Communications Group, LLC
Deliver Exceptional Craft To Restore Client Trust
We won a fintech client who’d been with another agency for over 10 years—rewriting everything that agency sent. The client had come to think that shoddy work was normal. The retainer was low, the agency represented direct competitors and the CEO was concerned their ideas were being used elsewhere. They were right to worry. Within a week of working with us, they saw the difference: award-winning submissions, bylines, press releases and no red ink. The CMO got her time back, and her team could finally focus on strategy instead of editing their agency’s work. But here’s what proved the habit that mattered most: The private equity firm behind that fintech noticed the difference in quality. They came back to us, and they’ve referred us to others again and again. That’s the compounding value of craft and integrity. When you do the work right—and protect what’s yours—you don’t just keep one client. You earn the trust of everyone watching. The habit it proved was effective? Never compromise on craft. An agency that represents you well gives you time back. One that can’t is using it up. And referrals don’t come from satisfied clients. They come from clients who are genuinely surprised by what’s possible. – Kathleen Lucente, Red Fan Communications
Conduct Deep Audits To Reclaim Online Authority
We often reference a case where a world-class brand was basically invisible online. Despite their real-world success, their digital narrative was a mess, controlled by outdated news and louder, less qualified competitors. They were an industry leader, but online they looked like a ghost. Within six months, we helped them become the definitive authority that everyone encountered first. They went from being “just another player” to being the only name that mattered. This win proved that the only way to truly help a brand is through absolute due diligence: deep auditing, sentiment analysis and correct classification. You have to find the “trust gaps” before you can bridge them. It reinforced our rule to never skip the “blueprinting” phase: the meticulous mapping of the landscape before we make a single move. We learned that when your approach is data-based, success isn’t a gamble or some “algorithmic magic”—it’s just a matter of execution. This is how we ensure a brand is consistently seen, trusted and chosen. It’s a repeatable formula that turns a distorted digital image into an unshakeable market leader, proving that with the right data, dominance is an inevitability. – Uri Samet, Buzz Dealer
Use Incremental Testing To Validate Measurable Gains
One example I still reference internally involved a large, high-traffic insurance platform where the goal was to increase quote applications. The site was already receiving millions of visits, and we had tested everything from messaging to layout changes with limited impact. The breakthrough came from a surprisingly small change: adding a subtle two-pixel drop shadow to the primary conversion container. We A/B tested the adjustment at scale, and it delivered a statistically significant lift in completed applications. The lasting lesson wasn’t about the visual detail itself. It was about discipline. It reinforced that outcomes are often driven by incremental experimentation, not sweeping redesigns, and that assumptions about what “should” work are far less valuable than validated testing. It also highlighted the importance of staying anchored to the client’s actual KPIs and internal pressures, rather than our own design preferences. That habit of continuous testing, with humility regarding results, is something we’ve never stopped. – Mike Demopoulos, hosting.com
Create Clear Decision Structures For Project Momentum
One win we still reference came from a project with a law firm in our first year of business that never really broke, but never really worked either. Everything looked fine on paper. Deliverables were met; meetings happened; reports were sent. But progress felt heavy and slow. After a few months, it became clear the issue wasn’t the work. It was how decisions were being made. Every change required too many opinions and too much time. We reset the engagement by agreeing up front on who could make calls, how quickly feedback had to happen and what signals meant we should adjust course. Once that agreement was in place, things moved again. That client is still with us today and has referred numerous clients to us over the last 13 years. The habits it reinforced for us are ones we won’t drop: Decide how decisions get made before you start, keep approval paths short, set clear response expectations, and don’t ignore drag. If something feels slow early on, it usually gets worse, not better. – Don Dodds, M16 Marketing
