Why "Do More Business Development" Won't Fix Your Feast/Famine Problem
Most agencies assume their feast or famine cycle is just part of the business. When pipeline runs dry, the conventional wisdom is clear: do more outreach, send more emails, attend more networking events, or build more retainers. Agency forums and business development consultants all preach the same message, you need more activity, more touchpoints, more hustle.
But here's what 12+ years of working with development agencies has taught me: the problem isn't that agencies aren't doing enough business development. The problem is that they're not strategically relevant to anyone in particular.
When you're seen as interchangeable with other agencies, you're forced to compete on price, take whatever work comes along, and depend on the luck of referrals. No amount of business development activity can fix a relevance problem. You can send a thousand cold emails, but if recipients can't immediately understand why they should choose you over cheaper alternatives, those emails are just expensive noise.
At Haus Advisors, we solve this through what we call "Relevance Engineering", making agencies undeniably relevant to their best-fit clients through systematic positioning, publishing, productization, and partnerships. This approach creates predictable pipeline flow because you become the obvious choice for specific problems, not just another option in a crowded market.
Most agencies would rather add more activity than fix their fundamental positioning problem. It feels easier to "do more" than to get clear on who you serve and why they should care. But activity without relevance is just expensive busy work that keeps you trapped in the same cycle.
What Actually Causes the Agency Feast or Famine Cycle (And Why Most Advice Misses the Point)
The feast or famine cycle isn't caused by insufficient business development activity. It's caused by agencies positioning themselves as commodity providers who can't articulate their unique value.
Most agencies think the cycle happens because they don't do enough outreach during busy periods. The real issue is that they're seen as interchangeable with dozens of other agencies offering similar services. When prospects can't distinguish between agencies except on price, they default to the cheapest option or delay decisions entirely.
When you can't clearly explain why clients should choose you over cheaper options, you're forced to take whatever work comes along during famine periods. This creates a cycle where agencies accept misaligned projects just to keep the lights on, which pulls resources away from ideal client work and makes it even harder to build a reputation for solving specific problems.
Referrals feel reliable until they suddenly dry up, leaving agencies with no systematic way to generate new business when they need it most. Referrals work when they work, but they're completely outside your control. Past clients move to new companies, forget about you, or simply don't encounter people who need what you do. The randomness of referral timing rarely aligns with your cash flow needs.
The "we do everything for everyone" positioning makes it impossible to build expertise, charge premium prices, or create predictable demand. When agencies try to serve all types of clients with all types of problems, they can't develop deep expertise in any particular area. Without expertise, they can't charge premium prices. Without premium prices, they can't invest in the systems and team members needed to create predictable growth.
Agency founders get pulled into delivery during feast periods because they haven't built systems that work without their direct involvement. When new projects start, founders often become the primary point of contact for complex technical decisions or client relationships. This makes it impossible to maintain business development momentum during busy periods, which guarantees the next famine cycle.
The Relevance Engineering Approach: Why Being "Undeniably Relevant" Ends Feast or Famine
Traditional business development advice assumes all leads are equal, but agencies thrive when they become the obvious choice for specific problems. The difference between a lead and a qualified prospect is relevance. When agencies position themselves as specialists who own particular problems, they attract prospects who are already predisposed to value their expertise.
Relevance Engineering focuses on four pillars that work together to create systematic demand: positioning (who you serve and what problem you own), publishing (content that educates and differentiates), productization (clear offers instead of custom scoping everything), and partnerships (co-marketing with complementary providers for warm introductions to pre-qualified prospects).
When agencies nail their positioning, they stop competing on price and start competing on expertise and fit. Sharp positioning makes price conversations easier because prospects understand they're not buying generic development work—they're buying specific expertise in solving problems they care about. This shifts the conversation from "how much does it cost?" to "how quickly can we start?"
Publishing builds trust and keeps you top-of-mind during the long sales cycles typical in agency work. Most agency sales cycles run 3-6 months from first contact to signed contract. Random networking and cold outreach can't maintain momentum over that timeline. Consistent publishing that addresses your ideal clients' specific challenges creates touchpoints that nurture relationships without requiring direct founder involvement.
Productized services make it easier for clients to say yes and for agencies to deliver predictably. When every project requires custom scoping, agencies spend enormous time on proposals that often don't close. Productized services allow prospects to understand exactly what they're buying and what it costs, which dramatically shortens sales cycles and improves close rates.
Strategic partnerships create referral systems that don't depend on luck or past client goodwill. Instead of hoping past clients will remember to refer you, partnerships with complementary service providers create systematic referral flows. When you solve specific problems for specific types of clients, it's easy for partners to know exactly when to recommend you.
Step 1: Get Clear on Your "Why Us" Message
Most agencies struggle to answer "Why should we pay more for you?" in 20 seconds or less, which immediately forces them into price-based competition. If you can't articulate your unique value quickly and clearly, prospects will default to comparing agencies based on cost and basic capabilities.
Your positioning should be built on past wins, not guesses about what markets might want. The strongest agency positions emerge from analyzing your best client relationships and identifying the specific problems you solved better than anyone else could have. This approach grounds your positioning in proven success rather than theoretical market opportunities.
The strongest agency positions solve specific problems for specific types of clients, not general "digital transformation" or "growth" challenges. Saying you help "businesses grow online" makes you compete with thousands of other agencies. Saying you help "B2B SaaS companies reduce churn through better onboarding experiences" makes you compete with a handful of specialists.
Testing your positioning means prospects immediately understand whether you're for them or not, eliminating misaligned leads that waste time during famine periods. Sharp positioning acts as a filter that attracts ideal clients and repels poor fits. This might seem like it reduces your total addressable market, but it dramatically improves your conversion rate with qualified prospects.
Sharp positioning creates word-of-mouth that actually converts because referrers know exactly when to recommend you. When your positioning is clear and specific, people in your network can easily identify opportunities to refer you. Vague positioning makes it impossible for potential referrers to know when someone needs what you do.
Step 2: Build Content That Creates Demand (Not Just Awareness)
Random blog posts don't create pipeline, but content that educates your ideal clients about problems they didn't know they had generates qualified leads. Most agency content focuses on showcasing past work or explaining services. Demand-creating content focuses on helping prospects understand the business impact of problems you solve and the strategic considerations for addressing them.
Agencies should publish based on the questions their best clients ask during sales conversations, not what they think will get social media engagement. The questions prospects ask reveal the challenges they're facing and the information they need to make decisions. Content that directly addresses these questions positions your agency as the expert who understands their situation.
Case studies work best when they focus on the business impact and decision-making process, not just the creative execution. Prospects want to understand how you approach problems, what your process looks like, and what results you deliver. Technical details about implementation are less important than strategic insights about why you made specific recommendations.
Consistent publishing (even during feast periods) keeps you visible when prospects are ready to buy, which rarely aligns with when you need new business. The biggest mistake agencies make is stopping content creation when they get busy. Since most prospects take months to make decisions, maintaining visibility during busy periods ensures you're top-of-mind when they're ready to move forward.
Content should position your agency's unique approach and methodology, making it harder for prospects to comparison shop. When your content consistently demonstrates a specific way of thinking about problems in your space, prospects begin to associate that approach with your agency. This makes it difficult for them to find the same perspective elsewhere.
Step 3: Design Offers That Clients Can Actually Buy
Scoping every project from scratch keeps agencies stuck in low-margin, unpredictable work that's hard to scale. Custom scoping requires enormous time investment upfront with no guarantee of winning the project. Even when you win, custom projects often involve scope creep and unclear deliverables that make them difficult to deliver profitably.
Productized services like "positioning sprints," "website audits," or "growth strategy intensives" make it easier for clients to say yes and agencies to deliver profitably. When prospects understand exactly what they're buying, what it costs, and what they'll receive, they can make decisions faster. Clear scope boundaries also make it easier for agencies to price confidently and deliver consistently.
The best agency offers solve urgent problems quickly rather than trying to do everything in one massive engagement. Large, comprehensive projects often stall in committee or get delayed by budget cycles. Smaller, focused engagements allow clients to experience your expertise and approach before committing to larger initiatives.
Retainers work when they're built around ongoing value delivery, not just "we'll be available when you need us" arrangements. Successful retainers involve specific deliverables and clear expectations about what clients receive each month. Vague availability retainers often lead to scope creep and dissatisfied clients who don't see consistent value.
Clear service boundaries prevent scope creep and allow agencies to price confidently instead of racing to the bottom. When your services have specific inputs, processes, and outputs, it's easy to identify when clients request work outside the agreed scope. This clarity protects margins and allows agencies to focus on delivering exceptional results within defined parameters.
Step 4: Create Systems That Work When You're Busy
The feast or famine cycle continues because agencies stop marketing themselves the moment they get busy with client work. Most agency founders handle business development personally, which means it stops completely when client delivery demands their attention. This creates a predictable cycle where agencies alternately focus on delivery or sales, but never both simultaneously.
Effective agency growth systems require minimal founder involvement once they're established, unlike referral-dependent approaches that rely on personal relationships and networking. Systematic approaches like content marketing, strategic partnerships, and productized service offerings can generate leads and nurture prospects without constant founder attention.
Simple systems like weekly pipeline reviews, monthly content publishing, and quarterly client check-ins prevent famine periods without overwhelming busy teams. The key is creating processes that can be maintained even during busy periods. Complex business development systems fail because they require too much ongoing attention when teams are focused on delivery.
The best agencies treat business development like client delivery: something that happens consistently regardless of current workload. Just as agencies don't stop delivering client work when they need to find new business, they shouldn't stop business development when they're busy with current clients. Both activities are essential to agency sustainability.
Partnerships and thought leadership compound over time, creating inbound demand that doesn't require constant founder attention. Unlike cold outreach that requires continuous activity to generate results, strategic partnerships and consistent publishing build momentum over time. The referrals and inquiries generated by these activities often increase even when agencies reduce their active effort.
When to Get Help vs. Go It Alone
Solo founders and small agencies benefit most from getting positioning clarity first through intensive sprints rather than trying to figure it out through trial and error. Positioning work requires outside perspective to identify blind spots and patterns that are difficult to see from inside the business. Attempting to develop positioning organically often takes months or years and frequently results in compromised positions that try to serve too many different audiences.
Agencies with 5-10 people typically need ongoing advisory support to stay focused on the right growth activities while managing increased complexity. At this stage, agencies have more strategic options but also more operational demands. Advisory support helps leadership teams maintain focus on high-impact growth activities instead of getting distracted by tactical opportunities that don't align with strategic goals.
Larger agencies (10+ people) often need embedded marketing leadership to build systems the team can run independently after the engagement. At scale, agencies need sophisticated marketing operations that require dedicated expertise to implement properly. Fractional CMO support allows agencies to access senior-level strategic thinking and execution capabilities without the commitment and cost of a full-time hire.
Most agencies can recoup their investment in positioning and growth strategy work by closing just one additional right-fit project per quarter. When agencies improve their positioning and systematize their approach to business development, they typically see better-fit leads, shorter sales cycles, and higher close rates within 90 days.
The feast or famine cycle isn't inevitable. It's the result of agencies positioning themselves as interchangeable commodity providers rather than strategic partners who solve specific problems. No amount of business development activity can overcome a relevance problem, but the right positioning and systematic approach to growth can eliminate the cycle entirely.
