A lot of your problems come down to one thing.
No one cares about your agency as much as you do.
Your positioning
We spend a lot of time creating positioning statements.
That’s not our positioning.
Our positioning is whatever is in our client’s head.
Changing that takes more than fussing over homepage copy.
They read your positioning statement like I read ‘McDonald’s burgers are 100% beef.’
I read it, but it still doesn’t occupy the place of natural food in my mind.
Agencies aren’t trying to convince clients they’re 100% beef, but they are trying to position themselves as strategic partners closer to decision-making.
However, your clients think you do what you currently do for them, not what you say you want to do.
You have to work very hard to change that.
It’s not enough to write down what you want your positioning to be and put it on your homepage.
At least McDonald’s tried by buying some advertising.
What are you doing about it?
What to do about it
Start with what they already believe. Put in the work to understand the positioning in their head.
That’s your starting point.
Make your way slowly from there. They aren’t going to do a complete 180 degree turn on you and suddenly believe your version of things. You need to create some steps in the ladder to move them in that direction.
Use proof and referrals. Can you get an existing client you do high-value work for together with one that thinks you do grunt work?
And then yes, do your messaging, get clarity yourself and put this in places clients can see. Not just on your homepage but in your email footer and on their invoice.
Then repeat yourself. You take up a tiny part of your client’s brain even when in a face to face meetings. Repeat yourself. You take up a tiny part of your client’s brain even when in a face to face meetings. Repeat yourself.
Oh and a bonus tip that makes all this easier?
Find the clients that wanted the high-value stuff in the first place, and don’t need convincing.
So simple.