Direct sales of professional intelligence are expensive. Intermediaries already sit in the room with your customer. They have existing relationships, billing, and trust. You become a tool they offer.
The intermediary model works because:
- Trust transfer is free — they introduce you with their credibility
- Pricing is flexible — they margin it, you don’t fight for every dollar
- Distribution is instant — they already have the client list
- You stay invisible — the service is theirs, the automation is yours
Most people miss this. They build a “product” and try to sell it. We built a service and gave it to intermediaries to deliver.
The intermediary gets value (new service to offer, lower ops cost). The client gets what they need (intelligence delivered by someone they already trust). You get reach and margin without sales overhead.
This only works if your service actually works. And if you’re OK not being the face of it.
Thoughts on building intelligence services, automation, and business in Malaysia.
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