After my last newsletter, I got a few questions about this idea of coming up with problems to solve for your clients, instead of waiting for them to show up with one.

So I wanted to go a level deeper this week.

Here’s the core idea:

Most agencies are too damn reactive.

They wait for clients to come to them and say, “We have a problem. Can you help?”

But in reality, there are always problems to be solved.

Problems your clients are already feeling.

Problems they’d happily pay to solve.

They're just lurking beneath the surface and your clients haven't quite connected the dots yet.

And as an agency owner, part of your job is to cultivate those problems.

But here's the deal, you have to be intentional about it. You have to actually carve out time to do this.

Here's what my process looks like.

Once a week, I block off a couple of hours (usually Thursday morning).

I pick one client and go on a deep dive. I look at what they’re working on right now. What they’re focused on this quarter. What pressures they’re under. What success actually looks like for them.

It's a full-on investigation. I'm checking social media, internal documents, press, reviewing emails. Whatever I can get my hands on.

For example...

A few weeks ago, we worked on a funding letter document for a client. Just a basic document design job. Nothing too exciting.

A few days later, during one of my investigation sessions, I sat down and actually READ the thing. All 20 pages of it.

And it was a goldmine of problems.

Buried inside were 3–4 clear opportunities where we could easily help them:

• improve a process
• clarify their messaging
• better support the goals they explicitly stated

None of those ideas came from the client asking.

They came from paying attention.

Now sometimes you won’t have that level of insight. And when nothing is coming up from your investigation, that's when you pull out the big guns and...

...wait for it...

...schedule a damn call.

Yes, it's true. Not everything happens over email. Sometimes you get the best info by just hopping on a quick phone call with your primary client contact.

It's not a pitch.

It's not a “status update.”

Just a regular ol' check-in.

--

This is EXACTLY what good account managers do at large agencies.

They get on the phone without a clear reason, just to understand:

• what the client is working on
• what’s not going well
• what’s changed
• what they’re trying to accomplish next

Then it’s your job to figure out where you can slot in:

• to improve results
• to save time
• to reduce cost
• or to remove friction

If you can do a half-decent job at this. You'd be surprised at how much new work naturally flows.

If you want a simple challenge:

Once a week, pick one client.

Spend two focused hours getting smarter about their business.

Do this consistently. At scale, it compounds.

Watch what happens to your revenue over time when you stop waiting for problems—and start finding them.

Have a great weekend.
​

— Shane