POST 3: OWN A PROBLEM THE VENDOR CAN'T SOLVE ALONE
Capability Gets You in the Partner Directory. Owning a Specific Problem Gets You in the Deal.
Ask most agency leaders what their firm does, and you'll hear some version of the same answer: 'We're a full-service partner. We do strategy, implementation, optimization, and managed services across the full platform stack.'
It sounds comprehensive. It sounds capable. And in a co-sell conversation with a vendor sales rep, it is almost completely useless.
The agencies that get called first have made a different choice. They've identified a problem the vendor's sales team encounters repeatedly, can't solve alone, and needs a trusted partner to address.
Why Vendors Have Problems They Can't Solve Alone
Vendor sales teams are built to sell the platform. Their training, their tools, their incentives, and their time are all oriented around moving prospects through a platform buying decision. They are not built to solve the problems that live adjacent to that decision — and there are many.
A prospect's data isn't ready for the platform they're about to buy. Their internal team doesn't have the skills to operate it. Their organizational structure will create adoption problems that no amount of technical implementation will fix. Their industry has regulatory requirements the vendor's standard approach doesn't address.
These aren't edge cases. They are the normal conditions under which enterprise platform deals happen.
The Problems Most Worth Owning
Data readiness. The most powerful platform capabilities are only as good as the data going in. Most enterprises aren't ready — and most vendor sales teams know it but aren't equipped to address it.
Organizational change and adoption. Platforms fail not because they're implemented incorrectly but because the client organization isn't structured, trained, or incentivized to use them effectively.
Vertical compliance and regulatory expertise. In regulated industries, the standard platform implementation approach doesn't account for specific constraints the client operates under.
Executive business case development. Vendor sales teams are often poorly equipped to help build the internal business case credibly.
AI activation and operationalization. Most enterprises have platform-native AI capabilities they aren't using.
The Narrower the Better
When it comes to owning a problem, narrower is almost always better. Broad claims are forgettable. Specific claims are memorable.
Own one problem, in one context, better than anyone else. That is a position worth building — and worth protecting.