There are only really three reasons people don't buy from you or hire you to help them.

Understand which is the main one for you and you're halfway to getting them to buy.

Problem #1 is that they don't want what you're offering.

Not that they don't need it. Not that they wouldn't want it if they knew what they'd get from it.

But right now they're looking at what you're offering and thinking “meh”.

Or even “that sounds good”. But sounding good doesn't get the sale. They have to want it and want it now.

This is typically the problem that most people who work in fields where the bottom-line impact of what they do isn't immediately obvious.

You coach leaders. Those leaders perform better. The whole organisation performs better. Sales go up, costs go down, share prices go up.

But it's all a bit nebulous.

As someone holding onto the purse strings I want something more solid. I want to see that if you train or coach my people I'll get a clear and pretty immediate ROI.

If you can't tell them that based on your previous work then you might get some sales from people who buy into what you do. But the bulk of clients who are much more pragmatic won't buy until they can see clearly how you will make their business or life tangibly better.

Problem #2 is that they don't believe you.

This is a problem that people like me who sell more tangible benefits often have.

If you work in a field like marketing or sales that directly delivers more revenue. Or one that directly delivers cost savings. Then it's pretty easy to get people to want what you're offering. Just tell them the results they'll get.

The problem is, often they won't believe you.

They've been told the same thing time and time again and it didn't happen.

So you need to prove to them why it will work this time with you. How others have got the results they're looking for. How your approach is different.

The best thing to do here is get them some results before they have to pay you. Then they've seen it with their own eyes.

Problem #3 is that the time isn't right.

They want what you have. They believe you can deliver it. It's just not priority #1 right now.

Or there's something else they have to get sorted first.

Or one of a whole host of reasons why now is not the right time.

This is the most pernicious reason we all face. 

There are a few things you can do to accelerate the process.

For example, if there's a deadline on your offer. Or if you can help the client see that things are going to get much worse if they don't act now.

But often, the time just isn't right.

And by “often” I mean 60, 70 or 80% or more of the time.

That's why follow-up is so important. Nurturing a relationship over weeks, months and years so that when the time IS right, you're in pole position.

That's what can make the biggest difference to most businesses.

So which of the 3 big problems do you face?

And what are you going to do about it?