Why Agencies Stall And How to Escape the Half-Niched Trap

If you’ve owned your shop for a while now — you know agency leadership isn’t for the faint of heart.

You’ve built a team. You’ve delivered results. Your clients love you. Awesome.

So why does biz dev for yourself still feel as hard as it does?

Biz dev may feel hard for a myriad of reasons — but when we meet an agency for the first time — we start off by zeroing in on what we call Money Draining Mistake #1. More often then not — it’s the culprit.

I’ll give you a hint. It’s talent. It’s not team and it’s not about credentials.

It’s about distinction — or more specifically, the lack of it.

Mistake #1: Lack of distinction because you’re only ½ committed to a niche

Intellectually — I know you know this. That you and your agency “should” specialize.

But in practice?

You may still be trying to playing it safe. Dipping a toe into the “niche” waters but still taking work that falls outside it.

Here’s how this may be showing up:

• You’ve got a niche on paper — but referrals still come from everywhere
• You produce content — but it’s generalist enough to keep options open
• You want to double down — but fear turning down work keeps you hedging

And here’s the irony. You may have caught yourself saying something like this to your clients…

“When you try to serve everyone — you end up sounding like everyone.”

Or — ”without a clear flag planted = you don’t attract the audience and prospects you want.”

I promise you — if your audience doesn’t know exactly who you’re for — you become another “me-too” agency that is bobbing around in the sea of sameness.

Why Staying Half-Committed Drains You

Here’s what happens when you live in what we call “The Amber”:

• Content feels grindy because you’re not sure what to say — or who it’s for
• Your team second-guesses strategy because there’s no consistent client profile
• Referrals slow down — and you don’t know how to replace them
• Sales calls drag because every prospect needs a custom pitch

You start reacting instead of building and you find yourself passively waiting for that next referral to come knocking. 

And the worst part?

You know you’re capable of more — but feel like you’re stuck in neutral.

Where Does Your Agency Land?

Let’s bring this into focus. We built the Focus Finder to help agency owners self-assess where they stand against the most common mistakes.

Here’s the scale for Mistake #1:

🔴 Red	Serves anyone and everyone
🟠 Amber	Want to go narrow but no specific niche criteria in place to make that possible
🟡 Yellow	Ideal Client Profile/avatar is clear — could name 25 right-fit prospects
🟢 Green	Recognized authority in a B2B niche — they come to you

Where would you place your agency right now?

The Money Making Move: Determine WHO You Serve

Let’s make this practical and tactical.

If you’re serious about building a sales pipeline that feels like a steady stream of right-fit prospects flowing into your agency — you can’t afford to stay half-commited to a niche.

The agencies winning right now are the ones who are radically clear on WHO they serve — and how they make life better for that audience.

That’s why this move starts with one simple, powerful framework we use inside The System. We call it the XYZ Statement and you may have seen / heard Hannah teach it during one of 2-day Intensives. 

The XYZ Statement

Here’s the formula…

“We help [X] do [Y] so they can [Z].”

This isn’t just clever copy — it’s a forcing function that requires specificity and brevity so your right-fit prospects can see and know immediately that you are for them.

• [X] = the niche or vertical you serve
  
• [Y] = the problem or pain you help them solve
  
• [Z] = the business outcome they care about most
  

When you build your XYZ Statement — you’ll notice a shift immediately:

• Your team starts speaking with conviction.
• Your sales calls become more focused.
• Your content starts drawing right-fit prospects like a magnet.

Everything becomes aligned. BOOM!

When your XYZ Statement shows up consistently in your outreach, proposals, and cornerstone content — that’s how you begin to build your authority position within the niche you’ve committed to serving.

The Evidence is Clear

As Edelman Trust Barometer research shows year after year — audiences trust thought leaders who show depth, not breadth.

And Harvard Business Review research reinforces that specialization drives pricing power and customer loyalty.

So if you’re afraid that going narrow means leaving money on the table — the data says otherwise. We promise you — going narrow is where the gold is.

A Real-World Example

One agency we worked with had “creative expertise for B2B” as their positioning. Solid. Professional. But vague.

After working through the XYZ exercise, they decided to double down on:

“We help private equity firms grow the valuation of their portfolio companies through content and conversion strategy.”

They went from “Amber” to “Green” — and within one campaign cycle:

• Shortened sales cycles by 31%
• Closed 3 new right-fit clients
• Increased average project value by 47%

Their biggest regret? Not doing it two years earlier.

What Green Looks Like

Here’s what it feels like when you’re operating in the green:

You know who your dream clients are — and they know who you are.

Your outreach, content, and offers are calibrated to your niche.

Sales conversations feel like confirmations, not pitches.

Your team is focused, confident, and efficient.

Your content actually moves the needle.

And best of all — you stop chasing and you start attracting.

How Predictive Helps: Head + Hands

If you’re in the “Red” or “Amber” — you don’t need another PDF, swipe filem, or template on how to find your niche.

Instead — you may need a thinking partner who can guide the strategy and a doing partner who can help you move further faster by putting a lot into place quickly.

That’s what The System 2.0 delivers.

We bring:

• The Head: tools like the WHO Framework, XYZ Statement, Focus Finder, and a tool box of 33 other frameworks, visal tools, wrapped within a proven methodology
  
• The Hands: A team of 30 experts who will build, test, and operationalize alongside you

You don’t just “decide” your niche — we help you live it out in your content, outreach, and sales rhythm.

What Would Green Mean for Your Agency?

Agencies get stuck in the red and amber zones — not because they’re broken, but because no one ever showed them a clear path out.

Over the last 15 years — we’ve walked alongside many agency owners and their team to help them through this shift — from trying to be everything for everyone — to owning their niche and their addressable market.

If you’re wondering what green could look like for your shop — that’s exactly what The System 2.0 was built to create.

Go here to learn more about The System 2.0. We look forward to meeting with you and learning more.

Until then — onward with gusto!