.png)
Many SoDA agencies are exceptionally good at uncovering unmet needs.
We might name the method differently (e.g., user research, ethnography, rapid prototyping, trend analysis), but the outcomes point in the same direction: insight-driven solutions that help clients connect more meaningfully with their customers.
I’ve been struck by how much this mirrors the way SaaS businesses operate, having moved back and forth between agencies, SaaS companies, innovation consultancies, and corporate ventures over the course of my career. There is a kin-like overlap impossible to ignore: we share an emphasis on discovery, validation, and shaping propositions and messages around real need states.
But when it comes to sales, arguably the most important pieces of growing a business, SoDA agencies and SaaS companies couldn’t be more different. SaaS companies have a level of sales discipline, go-to-market execution, and unabashed ambition that I’ve heard said from agency leaders to be some combination of “too salesy,” “vulgar,” and, well, just, “not for us.”
Regardless of how you view the way SaaS companies develop and sell their solutions at scale, I offer you this: as you think about where revenue growth might come for you in 2026, there might be something in these 4 SaaS plays to help you and your team.
"Don't find customers for your products, find products for your customers." – Seth Godin
Play #1: Sharpen your ideal customer profile (ICP)
Agencies usually define ideal customer profiles (ICP) by industry and size. We've all said at some point: “we want clients in luxury, automotive, AI…who are at least $500m in annual revenue.” Let's put these lenses aside for a moment and look at what problem/s you are good at solving.
Much like the advice shared in this year's SoDA Global Member Meeting growth session, run by a collaborator of mine, Howard Moggs of UNCOMMON, the best place to start is:
- Reviewing who you already serve and look for a pattern for the challenges you solve.
- In the Jobs to be Done (JTBD) framework: what are they hiring you for?
With this insight in hand, you can not only create strong positioning language (We solve X for companies who Y), but you can also run inbound (content) campaigns and outbound (audience-targeted, direct) efforts that take into account what you've learned about who you serve and what you are solving for them. This also allows you to show up in new categories and verticals that, on the surface, you don’t have a right to play in. But upon examining what the client is really asking for or needs, it turns out you have three case studies ready to demonstrate you’re a good fit after all.
I'd recommend speaking to 3-5 people across these three groups: current, prospective, and aspirational clients. How I've run this for SaaS startups and early stage corporate ventures looks roughly like this:
- Use the same interview script to ensure reasonably structured data.
- Ask questions that help reveal behaviors and preferences, avoid leading or on-the-nose questions, and avoid selling (at this stage, curiosity is the goal).
- Have a consistent approach to analyze transcripts and synthesize findings; I generally like the human-run protocol: we met, we were surprised to learn, we wonder if this means, it would be game changing to. I then have some prompts I use with Claude to see if I missed anything.
Play #2: Map the full sale
We’ve all been blindsided by a “no” in a pitch or RFP process that came from people we’d never met or considered. It’s easy to default to the person who is giving us the most positive feedback and engagement, but what if they don’t have the final say or enough influence to advocate for us behind closed doors?
Something you’ll see in software sales is the concept of mapping all the key players, roughly using the following model:
- Champion: Advocates for you and helps you understand the internal landscape. Helpful in mapping the rest of the stakeholders, booking meetings with them, and preparing the right materials/talk track to show up strong.
- Economic Buyer: Controls budget and makes the final call. Know what they value, how they measure impact, who signs, and who approves.
- Details Person: Often procurement, legal, compliance, finance. Focused on risk, comparability, ease of purchase; they can block you if you appear too different, risky, or hard to buy.
- End User / Integrator: Lives with the consequence of the sale (e.g., managers and directors in departments like marketing, communications, product, IT, operations, etc.). Understand how your work fits into their day-to-day reality; have clear value propositions and onboarding prepared for them.
When you map these four types, you see not just who is involved, but how their needs connect, what is most compelling to lead with, and how to best match your messaging and talent to meet each group where they are.
Play #3: Develop tight offers that get people to raise their hands
An offering is the full body of work. An offer is a tight, high-impact slice of that work that people can immediately say yes to.
Examples include:
- A webinar
- A workshop
- An audit
- A lightweight diagnostic
- A small prototype
- A problem-solving session
An offer puts you in front of your audience, builds familiarity, and when they're ready to buy, shows plainly that you can solve their “pain” better than alternatives. I’ve observed a handful of SoDA agencies developing thought leadership content that is starting to get at this concept, to which I’d say: yes, and… consider also running complementary offers with your content to help pre-qualify the need-state of your inbound leads.
Play #4: Run direct sales alongside BD
We all know that agencies rely on founder and executive-led sales, referrals, and business development, but rare is the agency who is bold enough to run a direct sales motion.
Here’s likely the most controversial, but the most promising play in this entire article:
- Direct sales adds another lane of deal flow. And in this talent market, you could have your pick of SaaS BDRs (business development reps) who could bring this skill to your team.
As with anything, you want to start small: pick a clear audience, shape a tight interim offer, and run one consistent channel. Done with discipline and consistency, this motion can compound fast. You need only to search for software as if you were a SaaS (and not agency) leader to find a bevy of options to enable and scale your efforts: Clay, Ramp, DemandOS (I'm both a client and advisor), Apollo, HubSpot, and Loom—to name a few.
You don't need all (or any) of this today. As the motion matures, you'll know when to upgrade from spreadsheets to paid, scale-forward tools (truth be told, I still prefer my Google Sheets, formula-driven "pipeline dashboard").
Conclusion
What the SaaS playbook ultimately teaches us is this: there are things we do well and can better apply to ourselves, and there are things we’ve long turned our noses up at that are hindering our ability to grow. I say this both pragmatically and with a ton of love in my heart for seeing SoDA agencies thrive.
Specifically:
- Sharpening your ICP forces clarity around the problems you solve and the patterns you can credibly own.
- Mapping the full sale removes surprises and helps you show up with the right message, talent, and materials for each stakeholder involved.
- Developing tight offers gives prospects an easy way to engage, learn, and self-identify their need state.
- Running direct sales alongside business development creates an additional, controllable lane of deal flow that does not depend solely on referrals or founder energy.
I am by no means asking you to overhaul your agency’s sensibilities in order to adopt every SaaS habit. But I am asking you to check your priors and ask: is our opinion of direct sales serving our growth ambitions, or inhibiting them? I also recognize that not all four of these plays will make sense for your team or your growth goals. But I'm betting some of what I’ve included might spark deeper thinking and an open mind to trying new things and for that, I wish you as much up and to the right in 2026 as the market will bear!
