The CRM that gets that a pitch is not a deal, and a retainer is not a renewal.
Advertising work runs on pitches, retainers, project traffic, and utilization. A generic sales CRM assumes closed-won revenue and renewal mechanics. Strkr ships a CRM shaped around agency work with campaign-aware pipeline, retainer tracking, and AI drafting that sounds like an account director.
An advertising agency does not run a quota-carrying sales motion. The agency runs a pitch cycle that pulls account, creative, strategy, and production into a 6-to-14-week sprint, a retainer book that renews on an uneven cadence, and a project traffic log that depends on utilization against hourly capacity. The pain points below are what Strkr's onboarding hears on every intake call with an agency, from a 12-person independent studio to a 240-person regional network.
Pitch cycles do not look like deals
A six-week pitch does not fit a seven-stage pipeline.
A new business pitch runs through RFP response, chemistry meeting, strategy workshop, creative brief, pitch presentation, and award. The cycle pulls four or five departments and runs 6 to 14 weeks. A standard seven-stage sales pipeline flattens this into Discovery and Proposal, which loses the handoff detail that drives the pitch outcome. Strkr models Pitch as a first-class object with internal milestones, department assignments, and the pitch brief as a shared surface.
Retainer accounting is messy
A retainer is a recurring commitment with scope creep risk.
A six-month retainer at 180 hours per month is a quota against hours, not a renewal date. The account team needs to know the running hours burn, the scope expansion requests inside the retainer, and the renewal risk if the client is unhappy. Strkr tracks Retainer as a first-class object with monthly hour budget, actual hour draw from the time tracker, scope-change log, and renewal date all on one card.
Project traffic blur
The CRM does not know what the project manager knows.
The project manager runs the daily traffic in Workamajig, Function Point, Asana, Monday, or a shared Google Sheet. The CRM usually does not. The account director walks into a client call without seeing that this account has three projects in flight, two of them late, and the current month retainer burn is at 94 percent on day 18. Strkr ties into Workamajig and the shared project tools through the webhook spec and prints the project status on the account card.
Utilization dashboards live elsewhere
The managing director wants utilization on one screen.
Utilization across creative, strategy, production, and account services drives the agency margin. Most agencies run a weekly utilization report on a Monday morning Excel export from the time-tracking tool. Strkr pulls the utilization data through the webhook and surfaces a live utilization view by department, by team, by individual, with the current week run rate and the four-week trailing average on one screen.
Creative review threads scatter
Email, Slack, Frame.io, Dropbox all hold pieces of the review.
A single creative review on a 30-second spot can run through three Slack channels, five email threads, two Frame.io sessions, and a shared Dropbox folder. The account director reconstructs the thread the morning before the client meeting. Strkr ties into Slack and the asset tools through the webhook, logs the review activity on the project card, and gives the account director a one-pane view of the review state heading into the client call.
New business referral network
The agency's biggest pipeline source lives in head space.
Referrals from existing clients, prior clients, agency alumni, and consultant friends drive 40 to 60 percent of new business pitch invitations at a typical mid-market agency. Most of that network lives in the managing director's head and the senior partners' email inboxes. Strkr models Referral as a first-class relationship type with warmth scoring, last-touch date, and automated nudges on quarterly outreach cadence.
The advertising agency schema
Objects shaped like agency work.
The default CRM schema does not reflect how an agency actually operates. Strkr ships a tunable agency schema with Account, Pitch, Retainer, Project, Scope-of-Work, Utilization, and Referral as first-class objects. The managing director can rename or extend anything. The default lands close to where most agencies eventually settle after a Workamajig or Function Point implementation.
Account object
Brand, product line, holding company, parent.
An account in Strkr carries brand name, product line, parent holding company, agency-of-record status, retainer value, project pipeline, and renewal date. The schema distinguishes a brand (Dove) from a holding company (Unilever) which matters for conflict policies and portfolio reporting. The account view surfaces every active project, every open scope-of-work, and the running retainer burn.
Pitch object
RFP, chemistry, workshop, pitch day.
A Pitch ties to a prospect account and carries the pitch brief, internal pitch team roster, strategic insight, creative concept, pitch budget, pitch award date, and competitive context. Internal milestones (brief kickoff, strategy readout, creative review, dress rehearsal, pitch day) each log an activity. Win-loss notes capture into the Pitch record on close for future reference.
Retainer object
Monthly hours, scope paragraph, renewal.
A Retainer captures the monthly hour budget by department, the scope paragraph, the renewal date, the fee structure, and the escalation path for scope-change requests. The retainer card shows month-to-date hours drawn, forecast month-end run rate, scope change log, and renewal date. Running past 95 percent of monthly hours triggers an alert to the account director and the finance partner.
Project object
Type, deliverable, timeline, team.
A Project ties to an account and defines project type (campaign, launch, website, content series, event, production, media buy), deliverables, start date, delivery date, budget, assigned team, and project manager. Hours tracked against the project pull from the time-tracker webhook. Project status (on track, at risk, late, blocked) rolls up to the account card.
Scope-of-work object
Fee, deliverable list, change order.
A Scope-of-Work (SOW) captures the deliverable list, agreed fee, payment schedule, acceptance criteria, and change-order log. SOW signatures capture through the engagement letter workflow with Strkr AI drafting the SOW paragraph in the firm voice. Change orders attach to the SOW object with the fee delta and the client approval status.
Utilization object
Target, actual, variance, by department.
Utilization rolls up from the time-tracker feed with target utilization by department (creative 60 percent, strategy 65 percent, production 75 percent, account services 85 percent), actual utilization, and variance. The variance view flags under-utilized capacity (available for new work) and over-utilized capacity (burn-out risk and quality risk).
How Strkr AI drafts in an agency voice
The AI jobs that fit account and creative work.
Agency communication is a craft. Strkr AI drafts in the voice the account director would use, with the strategic framing and the warm professional tone the client expects. The jobs below are what shows up in every agency deployment inside the first two weeks of cutover.
RFP response draft
The capabilities-and-fit response.
Strkr AI drafts the RFP response from the agency capability library, the past-work case studies, and the client brief. The account director tunes the tone and the case story references. The RFP that previously took two senior people three days drops to a one-day review on a draft that is 80 percent of the way there.
Pitch brief recap
The post-chemistry summary and next step.
After the chemistry meeting Strkr AI drafts the recap email with the client ask restated, the strategic territory agreed, the creative inspiration shared, and the next milestone (strategy workshop or pitch presentation) with the agenda. The account director sends same day instead of 48 hours later.
SOW scope paragraph
The deliverable list in the firm voice.
Strkr AI drafts the SOW scope paragraph from the project type, deliverable list, and prior similar engagements. The account director tunes two or three sentences before sending. The scope paragraph lands in the agency voice because Strkr AI learns the tone from the first 20 approved SOWs the account director sends.
Status update to client
The weekly account check-in.
Strkr AI drafts the weekly status update for each active account summarizing project status, upcoming deliverables, open client decisions, and current retainer burn. The account director approves and sends. The weekly cadence lifts from monthly or ad-hoc to actually weekly because the drafting cost drops to minutes.
Change order draft
The scope-change request in writing.
When a client ask crosses the scope boundary Strkr AI drafts the change order with the delta description, fee implication, timeline impact, and acceptance request. The account director reviews and sends. The scope-creep problem gets smaller because the paperwork friction is minimal.
Creative review summary
The round-up before the client review.
Before a creative review Strkr AI drafts the review summary pulling comments from Frame.io, Slack, and email into one agenda. The creative director walks into the review with the full context instead of reconstructing threads in the hallway. Review cycles close faster because the context is shared across the room.
Referral outreach
The quarterly check-in with the referral network.
Strkr AI drafts the quarterly check-in email for each referral relationship with a hook (the recent work the agency shipped, a question about the referral's current project, a note on an industry event). The managing director approves and sends a batch of 20 to 40 per quarter. The referral network stays warm instead of going dormant between pitches.
The weekly agency cockpit
The Monday-morning view the managing director opens first.
Agency operations run on Monday-morning rituals. Strkr ships a weekly cockpit that pulls pitch status, retainer burn, project traffic, and utilization onto a single view. The managing director opens the cockpit before the Monday leadership meeting and walks in with the full picture.
Pitch pipeline
Active pitches with milestones and win odds.
The pitch section shows every active pitch with the current milestone, pitch day date, pitch team, and internal win-odds assessment. The managing director sees the five pitches that need senior-partner intervention this week and the three that are ready to deploy more creative firepower.
Retainer burn
Hours used versus budget across every active retainer.
The retainer section shows each active retainer with the month-to-date hours drawn, forecast month-end run rate, and the color-coded burn status. The managing director sees which four retainers are approaching 95 percent and need an account director conversation before month-end.
Project traffic
On-track, at-risk, late, blocked.
The project traffic section shows every active project colored by status with the project manager assignment and the delivery date. The operations director sees the 11 projects at risk and the three projects blocked on a client decision. The daily traffic meeting runs faster because the status board is already synthesized.
Utilization snapshot
Variance from target by department.
The utilization section shows actual utilization versus target by department with the four-week trend. Creative at 72 percent against a 60 percent target signals burn-out risk. Strategy at 48 percent against 65 percent signals available capacity for new work. The managing director uses the snapshot in the pitch-pursuit decisions and the capacity-planning meetings.
Scope change log
Change orders in flight across accounts.
The scope change section shows every scope change request in flight with the account, project, fee delta, and client-approval status. The finance partner uses the view in the monthly P&L review. The account director uses the view to pursue the stalled approvals.
New business funnel
Referral activity and inbound inquiries.
The new business section shows the referral touches in the past 30 days, the pitch invitations received, and the inbound inquiries from the agency website. The managing director sees the funnel health and the gaps that need outreach push. The flow replaces the end-of-month new business review that nobody has time to run.
Head-to-head
Strkr vs a generic sales CRM for an advertising agency.
Most agencies try a generic sales CRM once because sales ops picked one for new business tracking. The schema fit is weak. The comparison below is Strkr's agency posture versus a generic CRM applied to the same agency.
Feature
Strkr
Generic sales CRM for an agency
Pitch as first-class object
With internal milestones and pitch team.
Deal with manual milestone workaround.
Retainer tracking
Monthly hour budget with burn-rate flag.
Recurring deal with no hour context.
Project traffic from PM tool
Workamajig, Function Point, Asana via webhooks.
Manual update.
Utilization dashboard
Live from time-tracker feed by department.
None.
Scope-of-work workflow
Draft, approve, change-order log.
PDF attached to deal.
Referral network scoring
Warmth, last-touch, quarterly nudge.
Contact tag.
Creative review context
Frame.io, Slack, Dropbox ties through webhook.
None.
Holding company versus brand
Parent-child account structure.
Flat account only.
Conflict policy per holding co
Conflict check across portfolio.
None.
How teams use Strkr
Five advertising agency playbooks.
The playbooks below are the patterns Strkr's onboarding team sees across agency deployments.
Pattern A
The 18-person independent brand studio.
An 18-person independent brand studio in Austin ran its account book in a shared Google Sheet with pitch pipeline tracked in another sheet and time logged in Harvest. The managing partner spent about 14 hours per month reconciling the three sources before the monthly P&L review. Strkr onboarding ran a 12-business-day migration. The pitch pipeline, retainer book, and utilization view landed on day one. The partner reclaimed the 14 hours and ran a quarterly new business review that had previously been skipped.
Pattern B
The 68-person creative shop running three practice groups.
A 68-person creative shop running brand strategy, content studio, and media planning as three practice groups ran Workamajig for traffic and a legacy CRM that nobody opened. The managing director wanted the practice groups on one surface with shared account visibility. Strkr onboarding ran a 24-business-day migration pulling Workamajig through the webhook and configuring practice-group-specific pipelines. Cross-sell revenue (practice group to practice group) grew 42 percent in the first full year because the shared account view made the opportunity visible.
Pattern C
The 180-person network agency with holding-company conflict policies.
A 180-person agency inside a mid-market holding network ran conflict policies that required a holding-company-level check on every pitch invitation. Strkr onboarding configured the parent-child account structure (brand under holding company) and the conflict check workflow routed every new pitch through a conflict review. The compliance officer approved pitches in Strkr with the full portfolio context. Pitch team deployment accelerated because the conflict wait dropped from three days to same-day in most cases.
Pattern D
The 32-person content studio with heavy retainer book.
A 32-person content studio ran 14 active retainers at 60 to 180 hours per month each. The partners could not see which retainers were drifting into scope creep until the monthly finance review. Strkr onboarding configured the retainer burn alerts at 95 percent of monthly budget and the scope-change log on each retainer card. Scope creep that previously went undocumented and ate margin converted into change orders. Change order revenue lifted 180 percent in the first full year.
Pattern E
The 11-person creative-strategy consultancy running a pure new-business engine.
An 11-person creative-strategy consultancy ran purely on new business pitch work with no retainer book. The pitch cycle averaged 11 weeks and the partners pitched 24 times per year with an 18 percent win rate. Strkr onboarding configured the pitch pipeline with internal milestones and the referral network tracking. The partners started the quarterly referral outreach cadence that previously had been ad-hoc. Pitch invitations grew from 24 to 42 per year and win rate stayed flat, which doubled new revenue capture.
Run the agency on a CRM shaped for agency work.
Book a 30 minute call. We will walk through the agency schema, the pitch pipeline, and the retainer burn view with your actual account book and department structure.
Does Strkr integrate with Workamajig, Function Point, Clients and Profits, or Asana for project traffic?
Strkr integrates with every major agency operations tool through its REST and GraphQL API, outbound webhooks with HMAC signing, and a published OpenAPI spec. The typical setup pulls project status, time entries, and resource allocation from the operations tool on a 15-minute cadence. For Workamajig, Function Point, Clients and Profits, Asana, and Monday the integration lands in roughly one engineering sprint. The result is Strkr becomes the client-facing CRM and relationship layer while the operations tool stays as the traffic and time-tracking system of record.
How does Strkr handle holding-company conflict policies for a mid-market network agency?
The parent-child account structure (brand under holding company) drives conflict policies at the right level. On a new pitch invitation Strkr runs an automated conflict check against the full portfolio across every brand in the holding company plus any direct competitors in the same category. Potential conflicts flag with context (prior brand representation, category overlap, pitch exclusivity clauses) and route to the compliance officer or managing director for approval. The conflict check history logs to the audit log so the agency can produce the full record for a holding-company audit.
Can Strkr handle a retainer that renews on an uneven cadence (annual, six-month, project-based)?
Yes. The retainer object supports any renewal cadence (annual, semi-annual, quarterly, project-based, open-ended). The renewal date drives the renewal workflow with Strkr AI drafting the renewal letter in the agency voice at 60 and 30 days before renewal. For project-based retainers that renew when the current project book runs down Strkr tracks the hour burn and triggers the renewal conversation when the forecast lands below 42 hours of remaining budget. The flexibility matches how most agencies actually structure their book.
What does Strkr cost compared to Workamajig, Function Point, Clients and Profits, or Deltek Vantagepoint?
Strkr prices flat per seat at $29 on Starter, $59 on Pro, and $119 on Scale per user per month with a 14-day trial. For a 48-person agency on Pro the monthly spend runs $2,832 for seats plus $49 for AI Enhancement. Workamajig prices around $50 per user per month on the SaaS tier with a mid-five-figure annual implementation. Function Point runs similar. Clients and Profits is a legacy on-premises license with per-seat annual fees. Deltek Vantagepoint is enterprise-tier pricing. Strkr sits in the mid range on seat price and adds the AI drafting, the CRM-grade pitch pipeline, and the retainer tracking that the operations-first tools often treat as a secondary feature.
How does Strkr handle creative review threads that scatter across Frame.io, Slack, Dropbox, and email?
Strkr integrates with Frame.io, Slack, Dropbox, and Gmail or Outlook through the webhook spec. Review activity on each surface (new comment, upload, approval event) logs to the project card as an activity. The account director opens the project card and sees the thread history across every tool without reconstructing manually. Strkr AI drafts a review summary before the client review pulling comments from every source into one agenda. The creative director walks into the review with the full context instead of chasing threads in the hallway.
What is the compliance posture for an agency handling healthcare, financial services, or government work?
Strkr is HIPAA compliant with a BAA available on request (relevant for healthcare advertising where PHI touches creative or audience data), GDPR and CCPA compliant today, and SOC 2 Type II is in progress with a target of 2026-Q4. Integration tokens live in AWS KMS, platform credentials live in AWS Secrets Manager, and the audit log captures every record read and write with 90-day default retention tunable per tenant. SSO (SAML and OIDC) is live on Scale tier through Clerk, MFA with TOTP plus text-based verification is live across all tiers, and Verified Domains are live on Scale tier. For government work the regional data residency posture ships in the subdomain roadmap on the Scale tier.
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