In 100% of the agency business development engagements I work on, this is almost always one of the first statements I make. And you may think that’s a harsh thing to tell an agency, but according to this year’s 2026 Agency Core Report, the agency owner probably already knows it.
In this year’s report, 50% of agency owners cited demonstrating agency differentiation as a primary concern. In fact, it was second only to the perennial winner: prospecting pipeline, which came in at a solid 67%, the top spot for the third year in a row.
I personally was relieved to see this because I’ve been banging on this drum for a long time now. In a world filled with noise, and with prospects praying to find signal, distinction is no longer a nicety. It’s mandatory. And if you’re an agency that’s not just trying to fill your pipeline but actively level up, maybe you’re a local agency trying to become a regional agency, a web design firm moving from building $30,000 websites to $130,000 websites, you need to double down on distinction. Because what got you to where you are today (great work, good results, helpful referrals) will not get you to where you want to be tomorrow.
You’re like the high school pitcher who throws 90-mile-an-hour fastballs. At the high school level, you’re a rarity. Hitters don’t see 90 very often. They swing and miss. So you rack up strikeouts and, before you know it, you’re the talk of the town. You win awards. You make all-star and all-state teams. You get invited to tour college programs and think you’re all that and a bowl of jelly.
Then you show up at one of those fancy baseball showcase tournaments. Oh, wait, EVERY pitcher throws 90. Surprise. What made you distinct at the high school level is table stakes in college, because batters at this level are used to seeing 90.
That’s why the kid with the D1 scholarship offer is the guy who throws a 90 mph fastball along with a 75 mph changeup, a nasty breaking ball, and a slider that locks up the batter who realizes way too late it’s not going to be a ball. Oh, and he throws all four from the same arm slot, can hit any spot, in any pitch count, on demand, reliably.
Those are the PITCHERS in a world of guys who can pitch.
The Distinction Differentiation Problem in a Nutshell
The Agency Core 2026 research report put a spotlight on it: Differentiating our Agency as a concern nearly doubled over the last 12 months—up 17 points in a single year. For context, concern about the pipeline, which has sat at the top of the same list for three years running, hasn’t moved. Basically flat.
And I think I know why we’re seeing this huge spike in worry about agency differentiation.
When I got into this business in the early 90s, if you wanted to stand out, you stood out creatively. If your creative was genuinely distinctive, that was your ticket. You’d see agencies “get hot” and all of a sudden they were the belle of the ball. They’d win a string of pitches in a row. Clients hired them because their work looked like nothing else in the market.
That’s still worth something, but in my opinion, it doesn’t carry the same punch it used to. Feel free to tell me I’m wrong.
In today’s ROI-driven world, the client at the next level, the one that’s bigger than what your current roster clients look like, the one you’re trying to land before your case studies fully prove you can deliver what they need at their scale, isn’t going to take a flyer on you because your work looks cool. They can’t afford that risk. They’re trying to solve a real business problem. They need a reason to say yes that goes beyond “these people seem talented.” They need something that says, “This agency has a magic sauce our brand needs, and no one else seems to have it.”
What gives them that permission? Simple: positioning that makes them think, that’s exactly what I’ve been looking for. A point of view so specific to what they’re dealing with that they feel like you understand something their current agency doesn’t. Or a methodology that reframes the problem in a way that makes them realize they’ve been solving the wrong thing. Or a specialization so precise that hiring you looks like the obvious move rather than a gamble.
That’s what distinction does for a growth-minded business owner. It converts a risky bet into an obvious yes. Distinction derisks decisions. They know exactly what they’re buying before they commit.
But yet, so few agencies actually differentiate. Why?
If we’re to believe the Agency Core report, the reason is rational: we don’t have enough time, client work keeps getting in the way, or, as the old standby goes, the cobbler’s children have no shoes. And there’s a lot of truth to those answers.
Committing to a differentiated positioning isn’t just about saying you’re different. You can’t just tweak your website, add new messaging, stick a stake in the ground, and declare yourself differentiated. You have to actually go tell people, then retell people, then retell people again, because there’s so much noise in the world that if you want your little “we’re different” signal to cut through, you’re going to have to talk a lot. Or in all the strategically relevant places… more on that here.
And that’s what you’re hearing agency owners say, “We don’t have a process.” And most of them are right. Because, while virtually every business development engagement I’ve had with an agency begins with, “You have a positioning problem.” They all eventually pass through the “And you don’t have a process either” phase. But that’s ok, because I happen to know a great business development consultant who can help solve their business development process problem. 😊
But I think it goes deeper than that.
I’ve been in the agency business for 35 years, most of it in leadership positions, owning an agency, or working with agencies, often on behalf of agency owners to help grow their agencies. The similarity is that in each and every one of these roles, I have been responsible for the livelihoods of human beings who work for that agency.
And when you’re responsible for generating new revenue, bringing in new clients, growing the agency, and constantly replacing the revolving door of clients you already have (a door that seems to spin faster every year), you feel the weight of those livelihoods every day. Each time you lose a client or a pitch, you’re forced to look at the org chart a little differently because in the agency business, people are your most expensive asset.
Fear. I think the real underlying reason agencies are so loath to create truly distinct positions, niche down into a service offering, or even a category. It’s fear. Or, better stated, fear masquerading as a strategy.
The strategy is all about staying flexible: keeping a broad enough bucket of services or category of clients, so that no prospect ever arrives at your agency’s website and thinks, “Oh, this isn’t the agency for me. They help people like that, with problems like that, and that’s not me.” Agency owners tell themselves that flexibility is part and parcel to maintaining pipeline. And pipeline is necessary to maintaining people. We’ll have to agree to disagree on that one.
How do you know if your agency has a distinction problem?
Well, dear reader, it’s your lucky day.
Since I’ve long believed that agencies, by and large, suffer from distinction problems, and I’m not one to be coy with my views, I’ve found myself repeatedly over the last few years at odds with the very clients I’m trying to serve.
So, rather than arguing about agency distinction, I built a way to measure it. It’s a simple web-based analysis and reporting tool.
You plug in your website. Then add up to five competitors: the agencies you pitch against, the ones you want to pitch against one day, or the ones you suspect prospects compare you to. Hit “run report,” go grab a soda (or a bourbon if you’re worried about the results), and in three to five minutes, you’ll get an agency positioning distinction analysis based on our custom scoring rubric.
It’s not a full positioning analysis, like the one we deliver in our Distinction Engine engagements. It’s a triage step that quickly tells you whether you’re actually distinct and how your agency positioning scores across 12 distinction variables compared to the comp set you selected.
It’ll also point out a few low-hanging fruit fixes and even suggest a few potential positioning opportunities, based on your competitive set. And it’s completely gateless. No email. No phone number. No name. You just get the report.
If you’re still reading this and you’ve got that little voice saying, “yeah… maybe,” do yourself a favor and run it.
But if you do, act on the results. Even if it’s just having a meeting with your team to talk about them.
And if you decide after talking that you’d like some help, check out our Distinction Engine™ Agency Business Development Positioning & Planning Solution.
Till next time.
