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I was ready to say yes.

I’d followed her for a while. I trusted her work. I’d even carved out the budget. I wasn’t a cold lead. I was a ready-to-buy, ideal client.

But fifteen minutes into our call, I knew I wasn’t going to hire her.

She kept talking about deliverables, tools, and timelines. And I kept thinking, “I honestly don't care. I just need to stop feeling so stressed about this.”

What I needed wasn’t more features. I needed to feel seen. I needed someone who could connect the dots between her offer and my day-to-day reality.

She probably thought she was being helpful. But we weren’t speaking the same language. And that disconnect cost her the sale.

And chances are, you’ve had your own version of that call. The one where you’re explaining all the value, but still get an "I'll think about it".

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👋🏻 Welcome to issue 50 of straight-to-the-point insights that turn why they buy into how you sell.
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Most clients don’t know what they actually need.

That’s not a criticism. It’s just how it works. They’re close to the problem. They’re overwhelmed. They’re trying to make the best decision they can with the information they have.

So they focus on what feels concrete: the thing they’ve seen others invest in, the tool or deliverable that seems like a logical fix, the ask that’s easiest to articulate.

I hear it all the time from other business owners.

Someone shares about wanting to increase MRR: thinking about launching something new, adding a second offer, building out a product suite.

But the real issue usually isn’t a lack of ideas. It’s that their core offer isn’t landing yet.

What they actually need is to clarify and solidify what they already sell, before layering on more complexity.

Here’s how it plays out in real client conversations:

💻 A web developer gets asked to “fix the SEO,” when the real problem is a site that doesn’t reflect the brand or convert visitors once they land.

➡️ And so they optimize for visibility, but keep losing people once they arrive.

📝 A B2B tech company says they need better demo scripts, but what they actually need is clearer positioning. So prospects understand the product before the demo even starts.

➡️ So they keep tweaking scripts while the real friction happens in the first 30 seconds of the call.

♻️ A sustainability consultancy is asked to run a stakeholder workshop, when the real issue is that leadership hasn’t aligned on what sustainability even means in the context of their business goals.

➡️ They go through the motions, but the outcomes fall flat because of a lack of strategy.

🗣️ A leadership coach is hired to help with team communication, but the deeper problem is that the founder hasn’t redefined their role since the company scaled.

➡️ The real disconnect isn’t interpersonal; it’s structural.

None of these requests are wrong. They’re just incomplete.

Your client is describing the problem in the way they experience it. It’s your job to help them see what’s really going on underneath.

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I’ve been there too.

When I first started my business, I was writing website copy. That’s what people were asking for, so that’s what I offered.

• “Can you just make my website sound more polished?”
• “I want the copy to feel more engaging. Like, punchier or more modern.”
• “I feel like I’m saying what I’m supposed to, but it’s not really clicking with people.”

But over and over again, I’d sit down to write and realize something didn’t make sense. The offer wasn’t clear. The audience wasn’t defined. The messaging tried to speak to everyone, and connected with no one.

So I started asking more questions. Not to upsell strategy. But because I literally couldn’t do my job without it.

Eventually, I stopped taking projects where strategy wasn’t part of the work. I could give them copy that sounded great, but it wouldn’t do what it’s supposed to: resonate, build trust, and move the right people to act.

And if I’m honest, I probably contributed to the problem early on. The way I marketed my work back then made it sound like what people needed was better words. I didn’t realize I was reinforcing the idea that copy alone could fix what was actually a positioning issue.

Now, clients come to me because they’ve already noticed that disconnect. Their words aren’t working, and they want to understand why.

That shift happened when I stopped centering deliverables and started talking about what wasn’t clicking, and what we could do about it. 💡

And I see the same thing happening across industries. A founder thinks they need a new brand, but what they really need is clarity on what they’re building next. A content marketer thinks the problem is LinkedIn engagement, but it’s really that their message isn’t differentiated.

When the content isn’t connecting, it’s rarely just about the words.

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This is what it means to meet people where they are. Without staying stuck there.

If you position your work based only on what people ask for, it’s easy to get hired for the wrong reasons. If you try to push them into your process too soon, they’ll check out before they even understand how you can help.

They’re not wrong. They’re just early.

Your job is to listen, translate, and sequence the work so it actually solves the right problem.

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A few honest questions you might be asking…

✅ “But my clients don’t want strategy. They just want the work done.”

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​Yep, totally get it. Most clients aren’t asking for strategy sessions. They’re asking for clarity. For relief. For something that finally works.

You don’t have to sell them on strategy. You just have to connect the dots between what they’re feeling and what will actually fix it.

🤔 “How do I even know what they really need?”

You don’t have to guess. You just have to listen differently.

• What keeps coming up in conversation?
• What patterns do you notice across calls or proposals?
• What aren’t they saying directly, but keep circling back to?

You don’t need a script. Just better questions.

💭 “But shouldn’t we give people what they ask for?”

Sure. But give it to them in a way that actually solves the problem.

If someone asks for a new homepage but their positioning is unclear, you can write the homepage. But it won’t work the way they’re hoping if the bigger story still isn’t clear.

This isn’t about pushing more. It’s about delivering better.

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Today’s actionable advice

Take a look at how you’re describing your work. On your website, in your newsletter, or in your last few posts.

Then ask yourself:

• Am I speaking to what my clients think they need, or what they’re actually struggling with?
• Have I named the symptoms they’re feeling, or just listed the service I provide?
• Would a potential client recognize themselves in this message?

If your copy jumps straight to the “what” (like team training, SEO help, a new dashboard, or a revamped brand identity) but skips the “why this matters to them right now,” it’s likely not resonating.

Here’s one way to shift it:

Take a request you hear often—like “we need better reporting,” “we need help growing our audience,” or “we need to rework our pitch deck”—and reframe your message around the underlying issue that request represents.

• Is the reporting actually unclear because no one agreed on KPIs?
• Is the audience growth stuck because the messaging doesn’t resonate?
• Is the pitch deck falling flat because the positioning is still vague?

The better you get at naming the real problem, the easier it is for your messaging to cut through the noise and connect with the right people.

Not sure if your messaging is actually doing that? That’s what my copy audits and strategy sessions are for. I’ll help you find the gap and fix it.

Better messaging doesn’t start with a deliverable. It starts by naming the disconnect.

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Until next time,

Stacy

​LinkedIn​

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