I’ve spoken to over 500 agencies, consultancies, and ad/martech companies about new business.
Here are 15 things the top performers do differently in 2025—and what’s no longer working.

Strategic Positioning & Market Focus

1. Random Acts of Marketing → Unified GTM Strategy

• Old Way: Run disconnected campaigns with no clear connection to sales goals.
• New Way: Align sales, marketing, and client services under one go-to-market strategy.

2. Generalist Targeting → Narrow ICP & Named Account Focus

• Old Way: Try to sell to any company that might need your service.
• New Way: Focus on a narrow audience with named accounts you intentionally pursue.

3. Generic Services → POV + Signature Methodology

• Old Way: Sell services without a distinct philosophy or structured approach.
• New Way: Lead with a unique point of view and back it up with a signature methodology that builds trust and clarity.

Team Structure & Operational Efficiency

4. Lone Wolf Model → Augmented GTM with Offshore + AI

• Old Way: Rely on the founder or a single BD person to handle all outreach and sales manually.
• New Way: Build a scalable GTM operation using offshore talent, automation, and AI to support your team and increase output.

5. Rolodex Rainmakers → Repeatable BD Engine

• Old Way: Hire “rainmakers” who rely on their personal network but lack a structured process.
• New Way: Build a business development system with repeatable, measurable processes that don’t depend on any one individual.

6. Chasing Views → Content-Based Networking

• Old Way: Measure success by podcast downloads, webinar attendance, or social impressions—focused on mass reach over strategic relationships.
• New Way: Use content formats to reverse-engineer relationships with your dream clients—inviting them as guests, collaborators, or contributors to create value and start conversations, regardless of reach.

Marketing & Sales Execution

7. Company-Centric LinkedIn Posts → Leadership-Driven Thought Content

• Old Way: Post company updates from the brand page that few engage with.
• New Way: Activate your leadership and subject matter experts to share insights and POVs, amplified via LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads.

8. Expensive Conference Sponsorships → Owned, Intimate Events

• Old Way: Spend big on conferences, hoping to get noticed.
• New Way: Host your own private roundtables and curated dinners to build real relationships.

9. Spray & Pray Outreach → Signal-Based Selling

• Old Way: Send mass emails to a wide, unfiltered audience.
• New Way: Use buying signals and intent data to target the right people at the right time.

Content Strategy & Channel Selection

10. Self-Promotional Content → Educational, Value-Driven Content

• Old Way: Talk about your company, people, and awards.
• New Way: Act like a media company—educate your audience and help them solve real problems.

11. Publish & Pray → Precision Outreach with Paid & ABM

• Old Way: Rely on inbound content—blogs, SEO, and company social posts—hoping your ideal audience stumbles across it.
• New Way: Define a narrow target audience and use paid thought leadership, personal brand voices, and ABM campaigns to reach them directly—on your terms, not by chance.

12. Everyone Is a Prospect → Community Building Mindset

• Old Way: Treat everyone in your database as a potential sale.
• New Way: Build a loyal community that follows, engages, and advocates for you over time.

Measurement, Mindset & Revenue Alignment

13. Performance-Only Focus → Brand + Performance Mix

• Old Way: Invest solely in short-term performance marketing for lead generation.
• New Way: Build brand awareness while driving performance for sustainable growth.

14. Marketing = Lead Gen → Marketing = Revenue Engine

• Old Way: Treat marketing as a top-of-funnel lead-gen channel, disconnected from revenue accountability.
• New Way: Integrate marketing with sales and client services to operate as a unified revenue engine.

15. Sales-Only Metrics → Leading Indicators of Engagement

• Old Way: Only measure success based on meetings booked and revenue won.
• New Way: Track reach, engagement, and account penetration as predictors of future growth.

Sticking to the old rules won’t get you new results. What will you do differently starting tomorrow?