When we wrote the book Sell With Authority, one of the things we really emphasized was the need to differentiate your agency, to look, sound, feel, and be different from all the other agencies out there.
Otherwise, you just make it harder for prospects to choose you. One of the things that I think people get stuck on when they differentiate themselves is that they think it’s all about who they serve. And that’s absolutely important. Having a niche and serving a subset of all humanity in all businesses is important, but it’s also how you serve them, what you do for them, and what you believe.
We talk a lot in the book about your point of view, which brings a unique perspective to your work. So as I think about that, that’s often for agencies, one of the hardest things for them to land on is their point of view. What is their core belief? So, at AMI, the example we always give: At AMI, our core belief is that most agency owners are accidental business owners. They’re great at the client-facing work. They know how to do that. But the actual running of their business in a profitable, sustainable, scalable way is something that they haven’t been taught. That’s something they didn’t learn at school. That’s where AMI steps in, and it is helpful.
And so think of it that way. What do you know about your audience that most people don’t know or ignore, that you can actually help with, that you could lean into? So one question I want you to ask yourself as you think about this is…
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Hey, everybody. Drew McLellan here from Agency Management Institute. Coming to you this week from Johannesburg, South Africa. You know, when Steven Westner and I wrote the book “Sell With Authority,” one of the things we really emphasized was the fact that you had to differentiate your agency, that you had to look and sound and feel and be different from all the other agencies out there. Otherwise, you just make it harder for the prospects to choose you. And one of the things that I think people get stuck on when they differentiate themselves is they think it's all about who they serve. And that's absolutely important. Having a niche and serving a subset of all humanity of all businesses is important, but it's also how you serve them and what you do for them and what you believe.
We talk a lot in the book about the point of view that you have that brings a unique perspective to the work that you do. So as I think about that, that's often for agencies, one of the hardest things for them to kind of land on is their point of view. What is their core belief? So at AMI the example we always give: At AMI our core belief is that most agency owners are accidental business owners. They're great at the client-facing work. They know how to do that. But the actual running of their business in a profitable way, in a sustainable, scalable way, that is something that they haven't been taught. That's something they didn't learn at school. And that's where AMI steps in and is helpful. And so think of it that way. That's the point of view is what do you bring to the party?
What do you know about your audience that most people don't know or don't pay attention to, that you can actually help with that you could lean into. So one question I want you to ask yourself as you think about this is, what is something that all your competitors do or believe or say or promise that you think is wrong, that you think is actually incorrect or immoral or unethical or old fashioned or not in fashion anymore. But what are they doing that you believe shouldn't be done? And what do you believe instead of that? Because I think that begins to take you on the path of really defining your unique point of view and how you are different from everybody else who does what you do. So give that some thought this week. All right?
