You’re a marketing advisor, but your clients and prospects say they want you to do execution work. What do you do?
This is a common situation I hear from others.
It’s likely because they don’t yet see the value in having solely your expertise applied to their situation. If they did, you wouldn’t need you to manage projects and perform tasks.
Luckily, you can change that.
It’s often a sign either you’re not specialized enough OR not seen as credible enough (the top two factors in my Mindshare Framework). The two are heavily related and interdependent.
The less you specialize, the more your clients will want you as a pair of hands to make up for a perceived lack of value in what your brain offers alone.
They won’t believe you have enough value to contribute profitably on top of the cost of execution. Whether that’s true or not is a different question, and one that should be addressed with value conversations.
The first box to check is to see whether you’re niched down enough to be uniquely qualified to solve your client or prospect’s problems.
Your brain becomes far more valuable when you are seen as one of only a few people who can actually solve their problems.
Then, if you can, find ways to bring in execution partners who can implement your strategies while creating a business case that is a win for everyone.
This isn’t theory, I do exactly this every day. It just takes a combination of good positioning, credibility, and some practice communicating the net value of your expertise—even with execution sold separately.