Apr 3 • General discussion
The worst way to position your agency in 2026 (most are doing this)
I need to tell you about something that's quietly killing agencies right now.
It's not AI. It's not competition. It's not even pricing.
Here's what's happening...
Most local agencies are still selling like it's 2015.
"We do SEO." "We'll rank you in maps." "We'll get you to the top of Google."
And it works. Kind of.
They close deals at $500 to $1,500 a month. Clients get leads. Everyone's happy.
Except the sales calls keep getting harder.
More objections. More "let me think about it." More price shopping.
Here's the thing most agency owners don't realize...
They're not losing because they're bad at SEO.
They're losing because they sound exactly like everyone else.
When a business owner is evaluating you today, they're spending 7 hours consuming content across 11 different touch points, on 4 different platforms-over 62 DAYS before they even get on a call.
They're checking Google. Reading reviews. Asking ChatGPT. Scrolling Reddit. Watching YouTube.
And if all you have is a maps listing and a website that says "we do SEO"...
...you look exactly the same as the other three agencies they're talking to.
So they default to price.
Remember when taxis owned every city in America?
In 2009, there were over 200,000 taxi drivers in the US. They had the licenses. The infrastructure. Decades of dominance.
Then Uber launched in 2010.
By 2015, taxi medallions in New York that were worth $1.3 MILLION dropped to $250,000.
By 2020, most cities barely had taxis anymore.
It happened in less than a decade.
And it happened right under everyone's noses.
Taxi drivers kept saying "people will always need cabs." They kept doing what they'd always done.
Meanwhile Uber positioned themselves differently.
They weren't just "a ride." They were convenience, transparency, and trust.
The taxis didn't get worse. The game just changed and they didn't adapt.
Right now, agencies are doing the same thing.
They're operating in the "search economy" when we've moved to the "recommendation economy."
And this is happening to you RIGHT NOW.
Right now there's a prospect who needs exactly what you offer.
They're evaluating options.
And they're passing over you because you sound like everyone else.
Not because you're not good enough. But because you haven't positioned yourself as incomparable.
Mike and I just closed a law firm for $49,000.
For 90 days of work.
They signed 20 minutes after we got off Zoom.
No negotiation. No "let me think about it."
Why?
Because we weren't one of three options. We were the only option that made sense.
That's what being a "category of one" means.
If you want to close $5,000 to $15,000 deals instead of $500 retainers...
If you want prospects showing up already sold instead of price shopping...
You need to become a category of one.
Mike and I just opened 10 spots for our Category of One Mastermind.
Six weeks. We custom build your "high ticket proof stack" WITH you. Then we teach you our exact sales system.
And as a bonus, we fully custom build your pitch and exactly what to say, not say, how to handle every objection so your calls run easy.
The taxi drivers thought they were fine too.
Talk soon,
Brian and Mike
With
P.S. If sales calls are getting harder and harder and you can't figure out why, this is why and exactly how to fix it.
1
0 comments
The worst way to position your agency in 2026 (most are doing this)
skool.com/mapsliftoff
From Maps Liftoff, Brian Willie & Michael Clay. Master Local AI-driven visibility and get found everywhere.
Leaderboard (30-day)
1
+2
2
+1
3
+1
4
+1
Powered by