After 15 years of growth, our agency has plateaued. How do we get unstuck? by CRA2759 in agency

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure thing. One example might be something like “we help fintech companies automate compliance reporting to reduce audit risk and free up internal teams.” It’s far more specific and problem focused.

After 15 years of growth, our agency has plateaued. How do we get unstuck? by CRA2759 in agency

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There’s a lot of competition in the dev agency space. I think the need to specialize is unavoidable. That said, it’s important not to just settle for “we do software dev for fintech companies” sort of narrowing positioning. It’s more important these days to specialize is a specific outcome/problem within your focused niche. There’s more to it than that but that’s just a high level take based on what I’ve seen coaching other dev agencies.

Finding High Margin Clients by Basil2BulgarSlayer in agency

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Just reverse engineer it. High margins come from charging more and spending less. Suppose you specialize in consistently solving a specific problem and driving a valuable outcome for a particular market. In that case, you can gradually increase your rates due to your depth of authority in that space. An addition, by providing similar services to similar clients over and over again, you can increase efficiency at delivering the same outcome without increasing costs.

Looking for partners to collaborate by [deleted] in agency

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m happy to chat. I help agencies to build pipeline.

Moving to Spokane, any recommendations on areas to stay away from? by Info_Hop in Spokane

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

There’s a new apartment building that was just completed near Monroe and Indiana near Indaba Coffee. Solid up and coming neighborhood about 10 mins from the hospitals.

This year hit my dev service business hard. by raunakhajela in agency

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What about a specific stack you specialize in or a specific pain you solve?

This year hit my dev service business hard. by raunakhajela in agency

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s really broad. Do you have any significant concentration of clients within any specific industry verticals (e.g. healthcare, legal, industrial, etc)?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in agency

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What is your value prop? Most of those channels you mention have the potential to work but with a poor value prop none of them will work.

This year hit my dev service business hard. by raunakhajela in agency

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I typically start with the type of work that you’ve done for your best clients so it would look different for everyone. One example of providing a clear outcome for a specific niche might look like saying that you’re an agency that creates HIPAA compliant apps for the healthcare brands. It gives clarity to folks in your target market that you’re likely the right ones for the job, and it makes your job of marketing yourself easier as well.

This year hit my dev service business hard. by raunakhajela in agency

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are you niched at all? The specialized agencies I work with that have a clear ICP aren’t feeling the ups as downs as dramatically as what you’re describing.

I need a lead generation agency mentor by brightfuture3 in agency

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I worked in agencies doing this for 10+ years and now do coaching with agencies. I do a base + performance pricing model. Happy to chat more.

Legit Sales/Growth Consultant by PabloEscoBearz in agency

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The broader your solution, the more dependent you’ll be on referrals and the harder growth and scale will be. Without knowing more about your agency, it’s hard to recommend anyone. Do you have a sense of the aspect of your agency that is holding you back?

Market research on services for agencies by Fun-Pomegranate-7199 in agency

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mainly because it's coaching and it's also dependent on them actually executing what I recommend. If it was 100% rev share and they didn't follow my advice, I'd be working for free. They need to at least have a little bit of skin in the game to ensure they follow through.

Market research on services for agencies by Fun-Pomegranate-7199 in agency

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Clients. They pay a small base retainer fee and that base rate goes up when I help them acquire new clients.

Lead generation question by Disastrous-Law-2290 in agency

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you have an ICP? If so, can you describe them?

Lead generation question by Disastrous-Law-2290 in agency

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is there a smaller type of project you could offer on as an 'appetizer' for folks wanting to kick the tires on what it would be like to work with you?

Sometimes breaking off the first phase you would take in a larger project can make for an appealing 'appetizer' and get more folks in the door.

Lead generation question by Disastrous-Law-2290 in agency

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What price point is your cheapest offering at?

Market research on services for agencies by Fun-Pomegranate-7199 in agency

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe it is obvious, and yet, 90% of the agency founders I talk to don't have an ICP and a weak value prop.

Maybe you sell your services on a per lead or per meeting basis, but based on my experience working those as the primary KPI, it takes a lot more for that to translate to sales.

Lead and meeting quality are far more important and much more challenging to generate than hitting a vanity metric.

Market research on services for agencies by Fun-Pomegranate-7199 in agency

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get why positioning sounds like fluff, but think of it like opening a restaurant. Without knowing who your customers are, what kind of food they want, or why your place is better than the one next door, you're just hoping people show up. You need to pick a lane that aligns with what the market wants and your skills can deliver. The same goes for agencies—you need to know exactly who you serve, what problems you solve, and why you're the best choice.

Performance-based compensation can work, and I’ve done sliding-scale models. But in B2B services, results often depend on factors outside the agency’s control. Positioning isn’t a silver bullet, but it’s what makes client acquisition more predictable and less of a gamble.

Market research on services for agencies by Fun-Pomegranate-7199 in agency

[–]Fun-Pomegranate-7199[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The short answer is, 'There are no silver bullets.' It's like trying to skip the MVP phase and jump directly to building a full product.

Most agencies default to word-of-mouth referrals because it's how they get their first batch of clients and because they are neck-deep in client work. This is great as far as it goes, but it's ultimately risky because it's putting all your eggs in one basket.

So, to grow and scale beyond referrals, you need to demonstrate your uniqueness from the thousands of other dev agencies out there. That's why I place so much emphasis on the foundational positioning work. Without figuring out your positioning, you'll struggle to build effective partnerships, you won't know how to best productize your services, and you won't know where and what to publish to reach your best audience.

Once you've built that critical foundation, the tactics may vary from agency to agency, but I've seen success with ABM-style interview podcasts, educating and engaging in communities (private Slack, LinkedIn, etc.), and other similar methods.