If you're an SEO freelancer in Lagos, Abuja, or anywhere in Nigeria, you've probably heard this response more times than you can count: "We already have an agency handling our SEO." It stings a bit. You've done your research, found a real prospect, crafted what you thought was a solid email, and boom. Rejection before the conversation even starts.
Here's the thing though. That objection isn't a brick wall. It's actually a signal that the business cares about SEO. They're investing in it. Which means they're either getting results they're happy with, or they're getting results they're not happy with. Either way, there's an opening if you know how to find it.
I've been in your shoes. I spent months sending cold emails to Nigerian businesses, getting ghosted or getting that exact objection, making maybe 30,000 to 50,000 naira some months from Upwork. That was unstable and exhausting. Then I started changing my approach to cold email, not the pitch itself, but the strategy behind it. Now I'm making between $1,000 and $5,000 per month consistently, which is 1,600,000 to 8,000,000 naira. And I'm going to show you exactly how to get past that "we already have an agency" objection and turn it into your advantage.
Why "We Already Have an Agency" Doesn't Mean No
Let's be real. Most businesses that say this aren't lying. They do have an agency. But that doesn't mean they're happy with them. It doesn't mean they're getting results. And it definitely doesn't mean they won't switch if you prove you can do better.
The mistake most freelancers make is treating this objection like it's final. They hear it, say thank you, and move on to the next prospect. But the best clients I've ever landed were ones who initially told me they already had someone. Why? Because they were open to solutions. They were just cautious about switching.
Think about it from their angle. They've already invested time and money with an agency. They've had meetings, onboarded, explained their business. Starting over with someone new feels risky. Your job isn't to convince them their current agency is terrible. Your job is to show them you can do specific things their current setup might be missing.
The businesses making real money in Nigeria, whether they're e-commerce stores, service providers in Port Harcourt, or product companies in Enugu, they're all chasing the same thing: more qualified traffic and more conversions. If they're saying they already have an agency, nine times out of ten, they want better results than they're getting right now.
The Pre-Research Email That Changes Everything
Before you even send your first email to a prospect, you need to do what I call pre-research. Not general research. Specific research that gives you ammunition to respond to that objection before they even voice it.
Visit their website. Look at their current rankings for their main keywords. Check their organic traffic in Similarweb if you can. See if they're ranking for long-tail keywords they should be ranking for. Look at their content. Is it thin? Is it outdated? Are they missing entire sections of content that their competitors have? This takes 10 minutes per prospect, not an hour.
Then, when you write your email, you mention these specific gaps. Not in a "your agency sucks" way. In a "I noticed you're not ranking for these three keywords that are sending your competitors 500+ visitors a month" way. Now you're not pitching an agency relationship. You're pointing out something their current setup is missing.
The email that works sounds like this.
Subject: Your SEO is missing [specific keyword cluster]
Hi [First Name],
I was looking at your site today and noticed something. You're ranking top 5 for "catering services Lagos", but you're not showing up for "affordable catering for weddings Lagos" or "corporate catering packages Lagos". Those three keywords are doing 200+ searches a month locally, and your competitors are getting most of that traffic.
Your current setup might not have prioritized those long-tail keywords. Worth a quick conversation to see if it's worth going after? 15 minutes max.
Cheers,
[Your name]
Notice what's happening here. You're not mentioning their agency. You're not bashing anyone. You're showing you did homework and found a specific gap. This gets past the objection before it happens because you're not pitching what you do. You're pitching what you found.
The Follow-up Sequence That Closes Deals
Your first email might not get a response. That's normal. But if you stop there, you're leaving money on the table. The businesses that actually respond and turn into clients? They usually respond on the fourth or fifth touch.
Here's the sequence I use, and it's designed specifically for people who might be thinking, "but we already have an agency."
Email 1 (Day 1): The research email above. Specific gap. No pitch. No ask for a call yet.
Email 2 (Day 3): You're not replying to their silence. You're sending a new email. Different angle. Maybe it's a case study from a business similar to theirs. Maybe it's showing how the keywords you mentioned would impact their revenue if they got even 10% of that traffic.
Email 3 (Day 6): You're adding something new to the conversation. Maybe it's a screenshot showing where they rank currently and where a competitor ranks for that keyword cluster. Maybe it's a quick breakdown of what fixing this would cost versus what it would earn them. Make them think.
Email 4 (Day 10): Now you can soften the ask. "If it makes sense, happy to jump on a 15-minute call and walk through how we'd go after this." By now, you've given them information three times. A call feels natural, not pushy.
Email 5 (Day 14): If they still haven't responded, one last message. No call ask. No pitch. Just, "I know you've got your agency handling this, but if you want a second opinion on these keywords, I'm around." Then stop. You've touched them five times. If they want to talk, they will.
This sequence handles the objection because you're never forcing them to choose between you and their agency. You're giving them useful information and making it easy for them to have a conversation if they want one.
Let's Talk About Scale and Numbers
Here's where most freelancers get stuck. They send five emails to one prospect. That prospect says no. They stop. Then they spend the next week finding new prospects.
That's why you stay broke.
What actually works is sending 500 emails a week to prospects you find. Not 10. Not 50. 500. If you're doing this manually, that's impossible. But if you're using Zaram Web Mailer, which automates cold email delivery at 30-second intervals and runs your follow-up sequences in the background, suddenly 500 emails a week is a reality.
Let's do the math. You buy 8,500 verified leads from FreelanceLeadsHub at 20,000 naira. These are real businesses with emails, phone numbers, websites, and locations. You set them up in a Google Sheets and connect it to Zaram Web Mailer at zaramwebmailer.online/register. The tool sends your first email automatically to all of them over the course of a week, personalizing each one with their business name and specific details you pulled from your research.
500 emails sent. Your response rate is 2%. That's 10 replies. These aren't all leads. Some are "not interested". Some are "we have an agency". But 3 or 4 of them say yes to a call. You jump on those calls. You close 2 clients at $500 each for a three-month SEO package. That's $1,000 in one month, which is 1,600,000 naira.
Do that two more months in a row, and you're at $3,000 per month. Four months in, and you've got enough clients that referrals start coming in. Now you're handling ongoing optimization for five clients at $300 to $500 a month each. That's $1,500 to $2,500 in recurring revenue every single month, just from the first batch of leads.
The reason this works is consistency and automation. You send 500 emails this week. 500 next week. 500 the week after. By month two, you're following up with prospects from week one while sending new emails to week three prospects. Your Reply Pilot feature in Zaram detects which replies are real interest and which are auto-responses, saving you time. Your bounce cleaner keeps your list healthy so you're not wasting emails on dead addresses.
Handling the Objection In Real Time
Now let's say you do get the call. You're talking to the owner or the marketing manager. They like what you said in your email, but they mention their agency again. "We like what you're saying, but we're already paying for an agency." Here's how you handle it.
Don't defend. Don't say, "Yeah, but they're probably not doing X." That puts them on the defensive and they've already bought into their agency, so they'll fight back.
Do isolate. Say, "That makes sense. I'm not here to replace them. I'm specifically looking at these three keyword clusters you're missing, which we could own in 90 days. Your agency might not have the bandwidth, or it might not be in their current roadmap. Is that something worth exploring separately while they handle your broader strategy?"
Now you're not the enemy. You're an addition. You're taking something off their plate and owning one specific thing really well. That's how you close past the objection. You position yourself as a specialist for a specific gap, not as a replacement for what they already have.
Some of them will say yes. "That makes sense. Let's start with those three keywords." Others will still say no. But the ones who say yes? They often end up firing their agency three months in and bringing you on for everything. Why? Because you've proven you deliver on a smaller scope, and now they trust you.
Building a System That Wins
The reason I'm making $1,000 to $5,000 per month consistently now isn't because I'm smarter than I was two years ago. It's because I built a system. I'm not thinking about where my next client comes from anymore. I know. I send 500 emails a week. I follow up. I close a few. And I move the closed ones into my delivery system.
The system is simple. Research. Email. Follow-up. Call. Close. Deliver. Repeat.
For this to work, you need three things.
- A list of real prospects with email addresses and business details. FreelanceLeadsHub sells these at 20,000 naira for 8,500 leads and 70,000 naira for 30,000 leads. Get the bigger list. You'll use it.
- An automation tool that sends the emails and follows up without you clicking anything. Zaram Web Mailer does this at 10,000 naira per month. It's cheap enough that even your first client pays for it ten times over.
- A repeatable pitch that gets past objections. Use the research-based approach above. Find a specific gap. Show them what they're missing. Don't pitch yourself until they ask.
That's it. You do these three things consistently for three months, and you'll have more than enough clients to make $1,000 per month. Do it for six months, and you're looking at $3,000 to $5,000 per month. Do it for a year, and you've built a business that doesn't depend on Upwork algorithms or platform fees.
The Objection Isn't the End. It's Just the Beginning
Every time someone tells you they already have an agency, remember this. They're not saying no. They're saying, "Convince me there's a reason to talk to you." And if you've done your homework, found a specific gap they're missing, and positioned yourself as a specialist, not a replacement, they'll listen.
The businesses that are spending money on SEO already understand the value. They're just being cautious. Show them you understand their business better than their current agency does, and the conversation changes completely.
Start with the leads. Start with the research. Start with a sequence of emails that gives value before asking for anything. And watch what happens when you scale that approach.
If you're ready to start, register for Zaram Web Mailer at https://zaramwebmailer.online/register. Set it up. Grab a lead list from FreelanceLeadsHub. And start sending. You'll be surprised how many of those "we already have an agency" prospects actually turn into clients.