How Small Firms Win: Stop Selling Services, Start Solving Problems

If your consulting firm, marketing agency, or IT services firm is struggling to generate leads and close deals, the problem isn’t your expertise. It’s your positioning.

Too many professional services firms start with their services rather than the problem they solve, target a broad audience, and lack a compelling value proposition. This weakens their ability to sell effectively and compete against larger firms.

When I speak with founders, I hear these challenges repeatedly – most deals are coming from referrals and their network. They are the chief rainmaker. They are struggling to generate leads and their sales team is not generating new clients.

The good news? The key to unlocking consistent sales is within reach. It comes down to clearly defining three elements:

1. The urgent and pervasive problem you solve for clients.
2. A tightly defined Ideal Client Profile (ICP).
3. A differentiated value proposition.

Getting these right transforms your sales process from frustrating to predictable. It moves you beyond all revenue is good revenue and starts scaling the firm.

1. Start with the Problem, Not the Service

Many founders make the mistake of leading with their service offerings: “We do digital marketing,” or “We offer IT solutions.” This is generic and uninspiring. Instead, you need to define the urgent, pervasive problem you solve. Why? Because clients don’t wake up thinking, “I need a new consultant.” They wake up thinking, “I have a big, painful problem, and I need help.”

How to Define the Right Problem:

• The problem should be urgent (painful enough that clients are actively looking for a solution now).
• It should be pervasive (something that affects many potential clients, not just a niche corner case).
• It should be costly (if they don’t solve it, they lose money, efficiency, or competitive advantage).

For example:

• Instead of “We do IT security consulting,” say, “We protect mid-sized law firms from ransomware attacks that could shut them down and expose client data.”
• Instead of “We do digital marketing,” say, “We help SaaS startups double their inbound leads in 90 days.”

This shifts the conversation from what you do to why it matters.

2. Narrow Your Ideal Client Profile (ICP)

If you’re trying to serve everyone, you’re serving no one well. The biggest mistake small firms make is going too broad with their ICP. Large firms can afford to be generalists; you can’t. The riches are in the niches. Specialization is your competitive edge.

How to Define Your ICP:

• Industry: What verticals or segments do you serve best?
• Company Size: Are you working with startups, mid-market firms, or enterprises?
• Job Title & Role: Who is your buyer? The CEO? The CMO? The Head of IT?
• Specific Challenges: What pain points does this ICP experience that you are uniquely positioned to solve?

For example, instead of targeting “small businesses,” a marketing agency might say: “We help 7-figure law firms generate 50% more inbound leads without paid ads.” The more specific your ICP, the easier it is to market and sell to them.

3. Differentiate Your Value Proposition

A strong value proposition is what sets you apart from competitors. If your firm sounds like everyone else, clients default to comparing on price. That’s a race to the bottom with razor thin margins.

The Secret to a Compelling Value Proposition: Tie it directly to your ICP and problem statement. Showcase why your firm are uniquely positioned to solve it. Make it measurable.

For example:

• Weak: “We provide IT support for small businesses.”
• Strong: “We provide 24/7 cybersecurity monitoring for law firms, reducing breach risk by 85%.”

The Value Proposition Formula:

• We deliver (insert outcome)
• By solving (insert problem)
• For (insert ICP)
• With (insert solution)

Your value proposition is not just what you do—it’s why you do it better than anyone else. If you are not turning away business, your ICP is too broad. Own your expertise!

How These Three Elements Unlock Sales

When you clearly define the client problem, ICP, and value proposition:

• Your marketing is sharper because you know exactly who to target and what message to use.
• Your sales cycle shortens because prospects see immediate relevance.
• Your team knows who are the right clients and wrong clients.
• Your pricing power increases because you are seen as a specialist, not a commodity.

This is how small firms win against larger competitors. This is how you move beyond growth and into scale. This is the foundation of a commercial sales engine and moving beyond founder led sales. Always remember, Nail it before you scale it.

Take the Next Step

If you’re serious about refining your positioning and learning from other successful founders, apply for membership in Collective 54. It’s where you’ll find peers who have cracked the code on defining their problem, ICP, and value proposition—and are scaling because of it.