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When a buyer says, "This is what I need."

And you offer that exact service, I know your eyes get wide and inside you start cheering.

Because the proverbial dart just hit the bullseye. 🎯

So, when they ask, "Can you help me?" you answer "Yes" and immediately fly right past discovery and go into solve mode.

You start talking about your services and how you can get them there.

First, I can't fault you because I get giddy myself and want to do this. But, I have too much scar tissue to tell me this isn't the best approach.

Because what they want might be achievable, but what they need to get there might be unknown to them.

Which is why you lose deals on pricing or to other vendors. They don't understand the full scope of what they are getting into so when someone else says they can also do "X" and are cheaper, they go with them.

But, your service might be higher quality, more in depth and offer additional pieces that they actually need.

They just weren't aware of it.

Let me share an example we can all relate to...websites.

Everyone reading this has one.

Now, imagine you sell web development services. The buyer says, "I need a website." And you say, "Great, I can build you one."

Discovery is done, right? We are now onto sending a proposal.

Wrong.

They told you what they want.

They didn't tell you what they need.

Because they likely don't know. And the gap between those two things is where deals fall apart, projects go sideways, and you end up getting compared to a competitor who charges half of what you do.

Here's what that prospect probably doesn't know yet.

Before a website can do anything meaningful for their business, they likely need

There are four or five foundational things that have to be in place before you touch the thing they came to you for.

If you skip past all of that and just say "yep, let's build it", one of two things can happen.

Either way, you lose.

When you're presenting your services, your job isn't just to confirm you can deliver what they asked for.

It's to show them the full journey they're about to go on.

Think of it as an A through F chain.

Your service might live at D. But if your prospect walks in only thinking about D, and you never bring up A, B, and C, E or F, you're setting everyone up for frustration.

They don't know what they don't know.

That's not their fault. It's your opportunity.

This is where you earn the right to be called a trusted advisor instead of just another vendor. You're not slowing things down by having this conversation. You're protecting them from a decision they'll regret and potentially wasted dollars on something that'll end up being half-baked.

Someone else may just take their money and say they can do it, you're showing them what the process actually looks like, what to prepare for, and what to watch out for.

That's guiding them.

That's what a partnership looks like and that's what people are really buying when they choose to work with you.

It also completely changes the pricing conversation. When you've walked someone through the full picture before you ever get to the proposal, your price doesn't feel expensive.

It feels thorough.

The cheaper competitor who just said yes to the website? They never had this conversation. And your prospect will feel that difference, even if they can't articulate why.

The website example works because almost everyone has lived it. You think you're buying a website and six weeks in you realize you have no brand guidelines, no photos, or no copy. It's far too common and extremely painful.

But this plays out in almost every business.

→ A financial advisor whose prospect comes in saying "I need to start investing" but they're carrying a lot of debt and have no emergency fund. Investing is step D, not step A.

→ A marketing agency whose prospect wants to run paid ads but their offer isn't clear, their landing page doesn't convert, and they haven't figured out who they're actually selling to. Running ads before solving that is just burning money faster.

→ A tech company whose prospect wants to add a new CRM for their sales team but they don’t know the data they need to collect, how deals flow or if all departments are on board with this change. Implementing before getting buy-in on change management internally would be a nightmare for the client.

Every business has a version of this.

The question is whether you're the one who brings it up or whether you let your client find out the hard way after they've already signed.

Yes, there are times when this slows down your sales process.

Yes, there are times when they have to use another vendor first because you don't offer those services.

But, what's the alternative? Would you rather them be pissed off because they went with you and now have to spend more time and money after the fact?

When you are ethical and educational, you build a reputation for that.

People want to work with people who care deeply about their products but more deeply about their clients.

The best thing you can do is know your buyers' world well enough to anticipate what they haven't thought about yet and educate them on the best path forward.

ICYMI: Knowing your industry inside and out is what makes this whole conversation possible and I covered that deeper in issue #39: The #1 Edge Every Founder Overlooks.

Grab a piece of paper or open a blank doc and map out your client's full journey.

Not just what you do. Every step that they’d need to go through to starting seeing results.

Label it A through F, or however many steps it actually takes.

Then ask yourself: where do I live on this map? And does my prospect understand everything that comes before (or after) me?

If the answer is no, that's your gap. And closing it is one of the fastest ways to build trust, justify your price, and show up in a sales conversation like someone who actually knows what they're doing.

If you put this together, I’d love to see it. Reply and let me know. I read every response.

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