Lately, I’ve had a lot of one-on-one conversations with business owners, and a theme keeps coming up. They know they’re not selling enough. Their fix? Outsource the strategy. Hire a sales rep, an ad agency, a door-opening firm, or an AI funnel, and let them figure it out.

I call this throwing bodies at your strategy problem. You’re not alone if you’re doing it. Research by Kaplan and Norton found that 85% of executive teams spend less than one hour per month discussing strategy, and only 5% of the workforce understands it. So who is actually steering the ship?

Let me define what I mean. Your sales and marketing strategy is your super niche:

• Who you’re targeting (the industry or interest group)
• What the number one most expensive, urgent pain point is that they’re already actively trying to solve
• How you’ll prove you’re the expert and get in front of them

Here’s why owners hand this off, and why it backfires.

They Honestly Don’t Know How

Most owners have been guessing. They fell into their industries through word of mouth, old contacts, or whoever happened to call. Referrals are wonderful. But hoping and wishing for the next referral isn’t a growth strategy. Nobody teaches this at birth. I learned it over 20 years at Pepsi, Frito-Lay, and Diageo, and then paid coaches to fill in the gaps.

“I Have No Time”

Look, Elon Musk has 24 hours in a day. So do you. “No time” really means “not a priority.” And the cost is invisible until it isn’t. It’s like ice cream. You don’t gain weight the day you eat it. You gain it after a month of eating it every day. No strategy today means no new sales in 90 days. Often we can free up your time just by reassigning responsibilities to people you already work with.

Hoping Someone Else Will Do It for You

I’ve talked to so many owners who paid a fortune to outsource strategy, got zero ROI, and then changed all their messaging to something that ignored their own industry instincts. The magic happens when you marry what’s happening in the market right now with what’s in the founder’s head and heart. Take either one out and you get a very expensive failed AI program, a pointless rebrand, or sales reps dialing with no idea who to call or what to say.

And if you don’t know who to sell to or what to say, how will you ever hire for it, train for it, or judge whether someone is doing it well?

The Real Reason: Fear

This one hides behind everything else. “I’m too busy.” “I get referrals anyway.” “We’re doing fine.” I’ve had clients vanish off the face of the earth when their homework was to go to one event. Talking to prospects is scary. I get it. I’ve been scared plenty. But my rule is simple: when I pay an expert, I do what they tell me. Your level of business development equals your level of personal development.

Here’s the Bottom Line

Get help. It doesn’t have to be me. But work with a strategist who has a real methodology for listening to the market and marrying it with what you know. Then step into your own strategy. As Abraham Hicks puts it, get your hands in the clay and mold it yourself.

Want to reposition your messaging to grow your leads? Follow me on X, friend me on Facebook,watch my Podcast onYouTube or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk.