Choosing a SaaS platform for your business should be easy, but it never is, due to confusing pricing models and features that don’t always match your needs. There are so many different options available that offer slightly different setups, and knowing which is most suitable for your specific needs can be overwhelming.
In this guide, we’ll cover the key points of Retainr, as well as compare it to its main competitors. Hopefully, by the end, you’ll have everything you need to pick the best agency management software for your company!

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What to Look for in Agency Management Software?

When looking for the best agency management software, there are several important factors you must consider. While the specifics will depend on your agency size, niche, work processes, etc., these points are universal.

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Accessibility

Perhaps most importantly, the SaaS platform needs to be easy to use. This isn’t to say there won’t be a learning curve. Rather, once you’re familiar with how everything works, you should be able to access the information you need with little difficulty.

Look for a service that is clear, not too cluttered, and has a fairly intuitive interface. Consider what are the most important aspects of your customer’s journey and prioritize these. For example, your main focus may be on communication, or it might be easy billing for quick services. Whatever this looks like, choose a platform that provides what you need.

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Integration

Agency management software should integrate with third-party apps. After all, if it doesn’t, then you’re not really solving any problems by adding yet another platform into your app suite. CRM platforms are meant to make work simpler, not more complicated.

However, integration differs greatly between services. The easiest way to deal with this is to look for a CRM platform that integrates with your main workflow apps. You should be able to find this information quite easily on a service’s website, as it’s a big selling point.

Alternatively, look for a service that uses a tool like webhooks. These are communication tools that share data between apps when an event is triggered. For example, if your client pays for your service via Stripe, the webhook will forward this information to your billing management platform.

The benefit of using webhooks over specific app integration is that you have a lot more flexibility with what apps you can actually use. For example, a CRM platform might not work with, say, PayPal. Using a webhook-based CRM platform means you can just set up a webhook instead.

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Communication and Collaboration

Creative agency work is highly collaborative — both between team members and with clients. As such, communication should be a high priority for your SaaS platform. Pretty much every service will have some kind of comms offering, so it’s a case of thinking about your needs.

For example, straightforward client portals are helpful, as are chat windows, tagging, commenting, and so on. It can be easy to overlook the importance of straightforward communication, at least until you’ve experienced a service that makes it complicated!

This is a fairly subjective concept, so have a look at different CRM platforms to see which suits your needs. If possible, play around with a free or low-cost trial because this is the best way to confirm it works for you.

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Customization

Again, customization is a vague topic that includes various different aspects of an agency management software platform. Some of the key points include:

· White label features. These allow you to showcase your branding on the service, so it looks like a part of your wider brand identity. Ideally, you’ll want your own colors, logo, domain, and so on.

· Workflows. Task management customization is another important feature. It should include KPI tracking, productivity assessment, and task assigning.

· Client portals. Your CRM platform’s white label features should extend to client portals. Ensure you can add your brand identity so your clients know it’s you.

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Scalability

This should be a no-brainer and is one of the main selling points of SaaS. Scalability is vital when you’re setting up a new work platform, as you’ll want something that can grow with your business.

SaaS is more or less based around scalability — you add on services as you need them, increase cloud allowance, and so on. From an agency’s perspective, scalability will essentially come down to adding more clients and more team members.

Alongside, you might want greater access to insights as your business grows, so you can see what’s going on. The specifics of what scalability means will depend on your business, but these are the main areas. So, make sure your chosen CRM platform addresses these.

Finally, consider how a CRM platform allows you to productize your services. In short, this means that rather than offering services you offer a product. What’s the difference? A productized service is essentially an easily repeatable package that’ll cut down on lead times and allow you to offer set prices and deadlines.

This is a key aspect of business scalability. Rather than spending time generating an offer for individual clients, you could offer, for example, “website design” for X price and a X-week turnaround. Doing so will help you save time and more easily scale your business offerings.

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Comparison of the Best Agency Management Software Products

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1. Plutio

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Pricing:

· Solo: $19US a month

· Studio: $39US a month

· Agency: $99US a month

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Plutio is an all-in-one SaaS platform for freelancers, small businesses, and agency teams. It covers various essential tools for running a business, such as CRM, client onboarding, invoicing customers, time tracking, and more. As with other SaaS platforms, it’s designed to consolidate numerous aspects of customer service management.

An important feature of any business SaaS platform, which is present here, is integration with other workplace services. Plutio integrates with apps including Google Drive, Gmail, Slack, Xero, and Trello. Combining aspects of your CRM processes in this way allows you to productize your services by offering easily repeatable, standardized packages.

However, no service is without its downsides... Plutio has a fairly steep learning curve if you’re new to business SaaS, and its interface can feel a little cluttered because it tries to pack so much into one screen.

Also, the differences between its paid levels aren’t particularly equal. The lowest level only allows you to invite 3 clients, whereas the top tier allows you to have 30. The difference in price doesn’t really reflect the extras you get, so choosing the right level for your business needs can be quite difficult.

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Pros

· Integrates with lots of third-party apps.

· Offers a lot of customization options.

· Allows for real-time collaboration with team members.

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Cons

· Steep learning curve.

· Interface can feel cluttered very quickly.

· Price differences don’t reflect extras.

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2. ManyRequests

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Pricing:

· Starter: $99US a month

· Core: $149US a month

· Pro: $399 a month

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ManyRequests is one of the easiest services to compare to Plutio. It positions itself as a top contender by aiming to address Plutio’s weaknesses. It offers CRM software, invoicing, white-label services, team collaboration, and more.

The main ManyRequests vs. Plutio comparison is the former’s interface. It looks far more straightforward and has a much cleaner layout. While it doesn’t offer as many customization options, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you want a simpler, easier to use platform.

One notable feature is that ManyRequests offers branded client portals. This might not sound like a massive benefit, but it’s certainly helpful for creative and design agencies. Having consistent branding looks good for the client and can help you track things more easily.

In terms of downsides, the main thing with ManyRequests is its lack of integration. This is another big point in the ManyRequests vs. Plutio comparison. Unlike Plutio, it has fairly limited third-party integration, so you won’t be able to bring all your workflows into one platform.

While its pricing is far higher than Plutio’s, the lowest tier of ManyRequests offers unlimited clients and all basic features. Granted, $99 a month is a lot for anyone smaller than a mid-sized agency, but it’s the same price as Plutio’s top level and offers more features.

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Pros

· Good for scaling as your agency grows.

· Offers several automation features.

· Decent centralized CRM platform.

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Cons

· Expensive compared to other options.

· Lack of third-party integration.

· Fewer customization features.

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3. Productive

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Pricing:

· Essential: $11US a month

· Pro: $28US a month

· Ultimate: $39US a month

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Productive helps agencies to consolidate their client data into a single platform. Of course, to make this sort of claim, it must provide all key aspects of CRM, such as budgeting, billing, project management, and more. Luckily, Productive actually does this.

It allows you to manage a client project in one location from start to finish, including assigning team members to different aspects. It can handle complex budgeting needs, resource allocation, and offers data-driven insights into financial data.

Productive integrates with Slack, Outlook, Google Calendar, Xero, and more. Like Plutio, this allows you to actually manage different aspects of the customer journey from a single location, which is an important part of CRM.

However, its main downside is that it focuses almost entirely on the profitability of projects. While financial management is obviously important, there are many other aspects of a good customer journey that are essential to juggle alongside. Its focus on money over these other factors can make you lose sight of the overall customer relationship.

Productive’s pricing levels are reasonable (at least in comparison to ManyRequests). However, the lower tier offers minimal team collaboration features and, much like Plutio, the add-ons for the higher tier don’t really reflect the price increase.

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Pros

· Platform is easy to use.

· Integrates with numerous third-party apps.

· Offers plenty of customization for workflows.

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Cons

· Price levels don’t offer decent service increases.

· Possibly too focused specifically on financial aspects of CRM.

· Minimal offline functionality (especially if you are on the go, a nomad, or without a reliable internet connection).

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4. AgencyHandy

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Pricing:

· Solopreneur: $49US a month

· Teams: $99US a month

· Pro: $149US a month

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AgencyHandy is suitable for service-based agencies, such as a creative agency, design agency, and so on. It covers the key aspects of client management software, such as project billing, white-label services, sales pipelines, and so on.

It offers a really easy customizable service package setup, allowing you to create 3 packages for your agency’s services. You can then publicly share or embed these to make it straightforward for clients to see what you offer.

Much like Plutio and Productive, AgencyHandy offers high levels of integration with third-party apps. Along with the usual productivity options, you can also add secure payment options such as PayPal and Stripe for easier billing and payment management.

Similar to ManyRequests, though, AgencyHandy offers minimal advanced features. This shouldn’t be too much of a problem for smaller agencies that just need a straightforward CRM tool, but larger agencies that need more complex insights will notice the difference.

Also like ManyRequests, AgencyHandy’s pricing levels are quite high. The lowest tier is $49 a month, which is half the price of ManyRequests. It offers unlimited clients and 3 users, so it’s arguably a better pricing option, but is possibly too high for the “solopreneur” it markets itself to.

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Pros

· Offers lots of customization options.

· Includes secure payment integration.

· Easy to scale as your agency grows.

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Cons

· Pricing levels are fairly high.

· Depth of features may not reflect pricing levels.

· Simpler alternatives might be better for smaller agencies.

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Why Retainr Should Be Your Top Pick For Your Agency?

So, now that you’ve gone through some of the leading agency management software options, why should you consider Retainr?

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Simplicity

One of Retainr’s key selling points is its simplicity. It offers straightforward client onboarding, including a tailored sign-up process and one-click onboarding. Getting clients into your service can be difficult if you don’t make things easy, so being able to customize your onboarding is a big feature.

You can also manage your clients through a single dashboard that tracks everything from first contact to project support. Use the dashboard to assign tasks, keep track of everything, and communicate with your clients. What’s more, you can generate insights on your leads, giving you greater control over client capture in the future.

Finally, there are simple payments. Retainr uses Magic Links: you generate a payment link, your client clicks on it, and the payment can be made. You don’t have to worry about invoice tracking, and you can set up recurring and automatic invoices.

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Automation

Automation is the future of agency management. You may already have some automated features in your workflows, but there can always be more! As a comparison vs. Productive, one of the more automation-heavy platforms, Retainr offers numerous different options to make your life easier.

You can automate emails, team messages, client updates, payments, and more. The purpose of automation is to take away repetitive tasks so you can focus on ones that require a human touch. However, you don’t want to lose sight of all these tasks, so Retainr lets you track everything in your dashboard.

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White Label Features

As mentioned, white label features aren’t a necessary feature, but they’re certainly useful. Creative agencies understand the benefits of a cohesive brand identity more than other agency types, so having the option built in to your CRM platform can make a massive difference.

Retainr offers full customization from a white label perspective, allowing you to showcase your brand through your colors, logo, domain, and more. You can even customize your client portals to reflect your relevant branding. This adds an element of professionalism that not many other CRM platforms offer.

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Scalability

Retainr, as a comparison to other CRM platforms, offers flexible scalability to meet your growing business needs. There are 3 tiers that all offer plenty of features, and you can have unlimited clients at every level. You can full access to all the important things that make Retainr shine, and the app will grow with you as needed.

One of the key aspects of scalability is being able to productize your agency services. In short, Retainr allows you to offer standardized, repeatable packages to your clients. For example, you can offer a “social media management” product with set features, prices, and timelines.

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Webhooks

Retainr uses webhooks as well as Zapier for full and flexible integration. Rather than focusing on integrating specific third-party apps, we chose to use webhooks so you can have as many options as you need.

Compared to services like ManyRequests or ClientManager.io, Retainr’s webhooks options gives you far more freedom with what and how you set up your workflows. If there’s a niche app you use for a particular aspect of your client management, you’ll be able to integrate it into Retainr. In total, we offer connections to more than 10,000 workflow apps.

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Who is Retainr For?

Retainr is designed for creative agencies that need all their client management in one place. Our first tier is ideal for freelancers or solo workers — it allows you to have 2 users. The middle tier is suited to teams (up to 6 users), while the top tier is for full agencies with up to 18 users.

Retainr.io, with all the featurs you need as a freelancer or a creative agency owner, starts from $83/month. While we’re not as cheap as other CRM platforms, compared to Plutio and Productive, Retainr offers plenty more features to scale up your business.

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Final Thoughts

What client management software should you choose?

Retainr is the agency management software that your creative agency needs, from onboarding, through productization, to invoicing and charging your clients. It addresses the weaknesses of some of the biggest players in the industry like Plutio and AgencyHandy, giving you flexibility and control over what you offer clients.

Retainr trial is only $1 for the first 7 days (claim it here). We offer full support and ensure a continuous feature development cycle to deliver the best solutions for your agency.
Get in touch if you have any questions, and we’ll be more than happy to guide you through the setup process. Now is the time to increase the productivity of your creative services and show your clients your professionalism.