Avoid the commoditization trap!

If you are a digital service provider without a clear positioning, you will quickly become a commodity. The market perceives you as interchangeable – and then only the price counts. How do you avoid falling into this trap? With focus.
Leadtime® | Blog | Author | Lukas Ebner
Lukas Ebner04/03/2025
Leadtime® | Blog | Illustration | Commoditisierungsfalle

Commoditization describes a process in which products or services are increasingly perceived as interchangeable. Price becomes the central basis for decision-making – experience, style or even quality hardly play a role anymore.

The term originally comes from commodity trading: a ton of wheat is a ton of wheat – no matter which farmer it comes from. And it is precisely this principle that is beginning to prevail in the digital industry. Web design? Available everywhere. SEO? (Allegedly) everyone can do it. Online shops? A dozen providers. For customers, these services are no longer distinguishable – so the winner is whoever offers the cheapest price.

The result: more and more agencies and service providers are caught in a ruinous price war.

Why this is dangerous for agencies

Young digital agencies in particular often start out with a broad portfolio – everything from social media to web development, preferably with a bit of branding on top. This often makes sense at the beginning: you gain experience, get your first projects off the ground and secure liquidity.

But over time, it becomes clear that without a clear profile, you will fade into the market. Your website sounds like every other. Your offer documents are alarmingly similar to those of your competitors. And the conversations with prospective clients? They almost always revolve around price.

Typical symptoms of this trap:

  • You write many offers – but only win a few projects.
  • Your prices have to be regularly “adjusted” to remain competitive.
  • You are not perceived by customers as a strategic partner, but as an extended arm.

You can feel it: you have fallen into the commoditization trap.

The way out: positioning yourself to solve a specific problem

The way out does not start with an expensive marketing campaign. It starts with a bold decision: focus.

Focusing on solving a specific problem for a clearly defined target group builds trust. And trust sells – even if the price is higher. Customers don't want the cheapest provider, they want the best problem solver.

Clear positioning gives you:

  • Visibility – Your communication becomes razor sharp.
  • Trust – You come across as a professional. Because you are one.
  • Routine – Your team works more purposefully and efficiently.
  • Higher prices – Because you are no longer comparable.

This does not mean that you can do less. Rather, it means that you can focus your energy more effectively. Less wastage, more impact.

Specializing also means: streamlining processes, creating structures and making knowledge reusable. This is exactly where Leadtime comes into play.

Leadtime helps you to transfer recurring services into structured project templates. This turns one-off expertise into a repeatable method. Your team can work more predictably, your offering becomes more tangible – and you stand out from the competition.

Instead of selling yourself on price, you make your value visible with Leadtime. And you avoid the commoditization trap once and for all.

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