Why the Firm That Got You Here Won't Get You There
Nov 09, 2026It was built for the client you have. Not the one you want next.
Most of my clients come to me when they’ve hit a wall. Growth has flattened. Things feel stale. And nobody in the building can quite say why.
When a great franchise goes stale
When I was growing up, James Bond was the epitome of cool. By the early 2000s, the franchise that had defined cool for forty years had become a cartoon of itself. A wink and a throwaway line in practically every scene. It was no longer aging well, and they desperately needed a new audience.
A different Bond for a different generation
Then comes Daniel Craig in Casino Royale, and the movie tells you from the first scenes that things are going to change. M (a perfectly icy Judi Dench) exasperatedly says, “Christ, I miss the Cold War.”
This wasn’t just a younger Bond. It was a completely different one. Tortured. Struggling. Carrying pains and problems of his own. Paired with a woman every bit his equal. He spoke to a more complex, nuanced generation that wanted the challenge itself, and not just the smirk.
Then comes my favorite moment. A bartender asks if he’d like his martini shaken or stirred. Bond looks up. “Do I look like I give a damn?”
Forty years gone in one line. The franchise took its foundation and rebuilt it for who it needed to reach now. And that changed everything else.
If you want to change your game, change who you’re going after
That’s the lesson, and it’s simple.
If you want to change your game, you’ve got to change who you’re going after.
If you find yourself stalled, there are always solid business and strategic reasons behind it. Usually, when I delve into this with clients, it comes down to this. You may have maxed out your current customer target group, and you’re probably going to have to go after new types of customers.
That’s a strategy and story challenge, not a sales problem
And that’s a fundamental change. It requires a different business strategy and a different customer strategy, because these people are different. And to reach them, you need a revitalized story. One that takes the foundation of the original and revamps it for this new audience, making it more relevant to them and their lives.
Let me show you with a couple of examples.
The grandsons in the convenience store
I told you about Old Spice once. Here’s the part I didn’t tell you.
Old Spice was a true legacy brand, once the number-one men’s fragrance. It got big thanks to the men who fought in World War II, and then their sons. But by the time I got there, that market had long passed. The upcoming market was the grandsons. And they were a completely different target.
These were young guys shopping in convenience stores. For them, life was about being young and unapologetically masculine. Having fun. Being blunt. Being able to prove you were better. A completely different customer, which required a different business strategy and story.
You’ve seen how that turned out. Old Spice is the number-one-selling men’s deodorant, antiperspirant, and body wash brand in the US.
The $3 million client and the $100 million client
The same logic applies if you’re in wealth management, financial services, or a legal or CPA firm. A client with a $3 million business is very different from a client with a $100 million business. If you want exponential growth, those $100 million clients make a big difference. But that’s going to require a completely different business strategy, customer strategy, and story to reach them.
In all my years doing this work with those firms, the ones that landed the bigger client didn’t get there by selling harder. Every one of them had to change those same three things.
That’s okay. But you’ve got to realize that in order to grow, you’re going to have to make those fundamental strategy and story changes.
What to try this week: three flip charts
It’s as simple as writing on a wall. Put up three flip charts, or do it digitally.
One: who are we targeting today?
Two: where are we stuck, or where do we want to go?
Three: who do we have to go after to change that?
Now the discussion, and this is the part that matters. Honor the first chart as you go after the third. Find the core commonality. For Old Spice, it was that others noticed. Especially women. For most of my professional services clients, it’s a kind of care that has earned real loyalty. Then ask two questions. How does that translate to the new target? How does that change their lives?
If you want to change the game, change the target
The firm that got you here was built for the client you have today. Will those same people get you to where you need to go?
Great work gets you noticed. Clarity gets you chosen.
The story that won the client you have won’t win the one you want next.
The leaders and businesses getting overlooked aren’t doing bad work. They’re doing great work the market can’t repeat. Here’s the test: if a stranger asked what you do, could you answer in one sentence that makes them say, “Oh, that makes sense — I can see why you’re different”? If not, that’s not a marketing problem. It’s a clarity problem.
After working with hundreds of businesses and more than a thousand leaders, I built a scorecard that finds where a story breaks down. I call it the Clarity Score™.
5 questions, 10 minutes. Answer fast, and score what’s true in the wild — what other people can repeat when you’re not in the room. One number that shows you exactly where your story is breaking down, and what to fix first.
The number isn’t a verdict. It’s the starting point for becoming the Obvious Choice™ in your market.
Branding Changes Everything®
Because clarity changes everything.
