Have you ever noticed how quickly you’re willing to pay someone when a problem you’ve been mildly irritated by suddenly becomes incredibly painful?
There’s a reason dentists have emergency appointments: Apparently we’ll spend weeks chewing on the other side of our mouth before we decide to do anything about that tooth. Then suddenly we can’t eat ice cream without seeing stars, and we’re calling to ask how soon they can get us in, preferably twenty minutes ago.
My recent version of this involved a brand stylist rather than a dentist, but the willingness to hand over my credit card, no questions asked, was very similar.
I had a brand photo shoot coming up in two weeks, NOTHING I felt good about wearing in it and absolutely NO interest in figuring it out by myself.
My husband made the honest mistake of trying to help… let’s just say he was not the right person for that particular job.
And then I suddenly remembered that I DID know the right person for the job!!
Sheri Brasier is a leadership and business coach who also happens to style women entrepreneurs, and as a female entrepreneur who takes how she shows up seriously, I fit the description of someone she could help.
But I was perfectly happy knowing she and her services existed without ever giving her any money for the last 2 years.
That was until the photo shoot got close enough for me to realize that the photographer could take beautiful pictures, but I was still going to have to get dressed for them.
So I booked a virtual styling session without even asking what the session cost because it simply didn’t matter. I knew I needed her expertise and I was willing to foot the bill because I trusted her to deliver incredible results.
And she did!
With what felt like absolutely minimal input from me, she curated six looks for me to choose from. We chose my favorites; she gave me the links to purchase the exact items I needed, from the boots to the blazer to the bracelet, and 48 hours later, I had everything I needed.
The outfits worked perfectly, the shoot went amazingly, and the money spent on both felt completely worth it.
You’ve probably had your own version of this, where something you’d barely considered paying for suddenly became worth every penny because you needed help now.
And yet, when we’re the ones selling, we forget how much that “sudden burning desire” matters.
A good fit doesn’t always mean ready to buy
We spend a lot of time identifying our ideal clients, which makes sense. We need to know who we can help, but fitting that description doesn’t tell us what’s happening in someone’s life or business today.
Someone might be experiencing the problem you solve, but mildly enough that they’re willing to live with it. Or they might not have encountered it yet. Or they might have already dealt with it and be past the point of needing your help.
None of those situations is a verdict on your offer, and none means there’s something wrong with that person.
You can be exactly the right person to help them without them having a reason to hire you today.
It’s hard to feel good at sales when you’re trying to get someone excited about fixing something that isn’t really bothering them.
And, generally, if you do manage to “convince them,” the pressure on you to deliver results is much higher because you don’t want them to feel like they wasted their money.
Buyer’s remorse is much more likely to rear its ugly head when the buyer feels like you sold to them rather than them choosing to buy from you.
I was a potential client for Sheri long before I became a paying one.
The relationship and awareness were already there, so when getting dressed for those photos became an urgent problem, I knew who to contact and when I sent Sheri a message asking if she offered virtual styling sessions, she didn’t have to sell me her services because I was already sold.
That doesn’t mean everyone else needs more convincing.
It means our marketing needs to speak to people at different points in the buyer’s journey, and our sales conversations need to address what the person in front of us actually wants help with.
What do they need to change from yesterday?
Confession: I used to tell my coach that I sucked at sales.
Some of that was a confidence thing, especially when I was selling a new offer or doing something I wasn’t sure of yet, but I was also spending way too much energy trying to convince people I had the solution before making sure they were actually experiencing the problem I could solve.
By asking intentional questions, I learned to let my prospects qualify and sell themselves on my offer.
My last two clients who signed with me came into our conversations already experiencing the exact problem I help solve.
Both were maxed out on capacity and couldn’t scale; one was already working well outside of “normal hours,” and the other recognized she’d reached her limit and was stuck there if something didn’t change.
They didn’t need months of nurturing from me before they wanted help. They showed up with the “I need this yesterday” energy because they were already experiencing the problem and wanted something to change.
I just had to give them the space to verbalize it.
This is the part my coach has really helped me dig into, because there’s something between describing someone’s pain and painting the picture of their future.
I can talk about what your business could look like six months from now with an AI-powered operating system built around how you work and you might agree that transformation is worth working toward.
BUT if you’re already beyond capacity, you also need to understand how I’m going to save you time and relieve your stress next week.
As Sheri’s client, I can appreciate the long-term benefits of having a wardrobe that fits my brand for another two years, but what I needed at that moment was help choosing clothes for a photo shoot that was happening in two weeks.
Your client needs to recognize the immediate help you provide inside the bigger transformation you offer. That gives them something concrete to consider when they’re deciding whether to spend money with you now.
Weekly Challenge
Choose one client you help and map out their buying situation:
- What pain are they experiencing? Describe what’s actually happening in their day, beyond a broad word like “overwhelmed.”
- What do they want to change yesterday? Identify the immediate relief or result they want, and what you can realistically help them address first.
- What transformation are they working toward? Describe the bigger outcome that solving this problem helps make possible.
Pay particular attention to that middle answer. “I want to grow my business” and “I cannot take another client without letting someone down” give you very different starting points for a conversation.
If you’d like help separating those answers, the companion AI prompt in Notion AI Skool will walk you through this week’s challenge using your own clients and offer.
And have you ever known about a service for ages, then suddenly had a problem that made you buy it immediately? Hit reply and tell me what changed. I’d love to hear your version of my photo-shoot wardrobe situation.
