Your agency probably isn’t what you think it is.
By Simon Ellicott · September 21, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
Your agency probably isn’t what you think it is.
Most Amazon agency founders approach me having already diagnosed the problem.
“We need bigger clients.”
“I’m too involved in the day-to-day.”
“We offer a far better service, but cheaper agencies keep winning.”
Sometimes that diagnosis is right. Often, it is only the visible symptom.
That is why every ELEVATE engagement starts with a capability audit.
Before repositioning an agency, changing its sales process, hiring, adding services or chasing larger brands, you need an honest view of what the business is genuinely good at, and where the gaps sit.
Because “we are strategic” is not a capability.
Many agencies say it, then demonstrate little beyond short term tactical activity: optimising campaigns, resolving cases, improving listings and reacting to the latest Amazon wobble. Useful work, of course. But not strategy unless it is connected to a clear commercial outcome and an overarching plan.
Likewise, “we have brilliant commercial acumen” can unravel quickly when the conversation moves beyond revenue growth.
Can the team explain Net PPM?
Can they identify the knock on effect of a promotion, chargeback, supply chain issue or advertising decision on a brand’s wider relationship with Amazon?
Can they advise a client when not to chase sales?
That is where the difference tends to reveal itself.
One agency may have exceptional Vendor Central expertise but package itself as a generic full service operator.
Another may be brilliant at helping founder led 3P brands unlock profitable growth, yet keeps pitching against large enterprise agencies for work it neither wants nor is set up to deliver.
A third may have genuinely outstanding advertising capability ... but cannot articulate the commercial problem it solves beyond “better ROAS”.
Every agency is different. Its best opportunity is rarely found by shouting the same things as everyone else, only louder, on LinkedIn.
In a market full of transition and understandable anxiety, the agencies that change their fortunes are usually the ones that get brutally clear on three things:
• What they are genuinely great at
• Which tangible pain point that solves for their ideal client
• How to position that difference so the right buyers actually care
The answer is not always “bigger clients”.
Sometimes it is a sharper proposition, a better qualified pipeline, a more honest service model ... or stopping work that is quietly draining the business.
Clarity first. Then growth.
#AmazonAgency #AmazonConsulting #AgencyGrowth #CapabilityAudit #AgencyStrategy #AmazonSeller #VendorCentral #Ecommerce
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