Ever had a sales call with someone who seemed like the perfect fit… only for them to disappear, “think about it,” or politely wander off into the land of no follow-up?

It might not be your price.
It might not be your offer.
And it might not be that they “just need more information.”

In this episode, Brooke Greening breaks down one of the most common reasons great-fit prospects still don’t buy: they don’t have enough clarity. Not more details. Not a longer pitch. Clarity.

Because people don’t buy when they understand every moving part of your process. They buy when they can see how your solution connects directly to their problem.

Sales doesn’t have to be sleazy. And your sales conversations don’t have to turn into a monologue about all the impressive things you do. Thank goodness. 😂

Episode Summary

In this episode of Sipping Matcha and Helping You Make More Sales, Brooke and Scott continue walking through Brooke’s SERVICE Sales Framework by focusing on V — Verbalize the Value.

This is the part of the sales conversation where many service providers accidentally lose the sale. After listening well and identifying the problem, they shift into “pitch mode” and start explaining their whole process, program, method, or offer.

But Brooke explains why that’s not the goal.

Instead, verbalizing the value means building a clear bridge between the problem your prospect just shared and the way your offer can help solve it. When done well, your prospect feels understood, sees themselves in the solution, and starts to believe things could change.

Brooke also shares why people buy clarity, how to avoid sounding generic, and why your prospect should never have to connect all the dots on their own.

What you’ll learn in this episode

You’ll learn:

• Why great-fit prospects may still walk away from your offer
• The difference between giving more information and creating more clarity
• Why “explaining what you do” is not the same as helping someone understand why it matters
• How to help prospects see themselves in your solution
• Why sales conversations fall apart when you shift into a generic pitch
• How verbalizing value builds confidence in you, your offer, and the client’s ability to succeed
• Why trust grows when your solution is tied directly to the problem they shared
• Two simple questions to ask yourself after your next sales conversation:
  • “Am I talking about what I do, or why it matters to this customer?”
  • “Does my customer have to figure out why this matters, or am I making the connection for them?”

Resources mentioned

Sales Conversation Assessment

Take Brooke’s quick assessment to see what’s working in your sales conversations and where you may be losing momentum. https://buildingmomentum.info/assessment

Join the conversation / subscribe

Get more episodes and resources from Sipping Matcha and Helping You Make More Sales. https://buildingmomentum.info/matcha

Connect with Brooke on LinkedIn

Follow Brooke for practical, human-first sales guidance for service-based business owners. https://linkedin.com/in/brooke-greening

Why Great-Fit Prospects Still Don’t Buy | Chapters

00:00 Why Great-Fit Prospects Still Don’t Buy
01:05 Why Sales Conversations Directly Impact Revenue
03:39 The Service Sales Framework for Better Client Calls
04:06 How to Connect Your Solution to Their Problem
05:02 Stop Pitching Your Process on Discovery Calls
06:28 People Buy Clarity, Not More Information
07:11 The Difference Between Information and Clarity
07:40 Help Prospects See Themselves in Your Solution
08:02 Generic Sales Pitch vs. Specific Client Problem
09:38 Turn Objections Into a Clear Path Forward
10:43 Don’t Make Buyers Connect the Dots
11:15 Build Buyer Confidence Before Asking for the Sale
13:28 How Trust Separates You From Competitors
14:41 Why Prospects Shut Down When You Start Pitching
16:03 What Better Sales Conversations Sound Like
17:05 The 3 Things Buyers Need Before They Say Yes
18:02 2 Questions to Audit Your Next Sales Call
19:13 The Bridge Method for Closing Better-Fit Clients
19:53 Subscribe for More Service Sales Training

Why Great-Fit Prospects Still Don’t Buy | Episode Transcript

Brooke Greening: Have you ever talked to a potential client and you thought that it was going to be a great fit, and you truly believed that you could help them, but they didn't buy? This episode is going to be for you

So the biggest thing is when people think that it's their time to talk.

They feel like they have to explain exactly what they do, how they do it, and do all of these details, and that is not the goal. In this moment, the goal is to help the customer to understand how we can solve their problem that they just shared with us.

Okay, number one, people buy clarity.

So when people don't buy, a lot of times we think, "Oh, they needed more information," or maybe it was in regards to price and it was our competitor. But a lot of times that's not it. They needed more clarity. They didn't need more information, they needed clarity.

We, they, no one is unintelligent. No one… It's not that people don't understand, it's that they do not live inside of your business day in and day out, so we can't just assume they're gonna automatically make those connections. That's why we bring it to the surface and make it so applicable to them.

Scott Greening: All right.

Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Sipping Matcha and helping you make more sales. In about the time that it takes you to enjoy your matcha or coffee break, our resident sales coach, Brooke Greening, gives you some great sales advice, especially related to those sales conversations. 'Cause the reality is if you have to talk to people to make sales, how well you lead those conversations is gonna have a direct impact on your revenue.

And in addition to being a great sales coach Brooke is also become a tutor- Yeah … for our daughter as she's preparing for her finals. This is her first year of high school. This is the first time she's really had- Yeah … finals, and she's doing a health science class. She wants to be a nurse, so she got into this program.

It was a really big deal. Now it's- Mm-hmm … the end of the year, and she's got finals.

Brooke Greening: Yeah, over the last 20 chapters that they've gone through in their medical textbook, but yeah.

Scott Greening: Yeah. So I- the real- the good news is she's done really well in the class, and so I think she- Yeah … just has to get a 50 on the final-

to, to keep an A or something in the… She's got- Yeah … she's got some good cushion. But she takes things very seriously. Mm-hmm. And we're excited for her. We're proud of her, and then Brooke gets to live out her dreams, her childhood dreams of studying- Yes … medicine.

Brooke Greening: So before we decided to get my master's in counseling, I wanted to go into medicine so badly.

I wanted to be a doctor. But then I realized all of the math it required, and it was actually my mom. She was like, "I really think you should probably think- … about a different direction." 'Cause I had different learning disabilities and all of that, which our daughter does too. She has quite a few. But we are very proud of her, and she's working through it.

It is a little interesting 'cause Scott said, "Hey you're starting your tutoring again." that's one of the places we started our sales. I worked with an education- Mm-hmm … community, and we got them on track making all sorts of sales. And that was when first- Scott and I first started working together, which lasted about-

a month. We've

Scott Greening: done much better this time, so that's great. But yeah your interest in medicine- … it was related to helping people, but also probably- Yes … George Clooney on ER, so

Brooke Greening: that's- Oh, totally. That Thursday nights ER, if I have people who know what I'm talking about. If you know, you know. Oh, so dreamy.

Yeah. Such a great time.

Scott Greening: We're old. So, and so is George Clooney. Hi, George, if you're listening. Oh, yeah,

Brooke Greening: that'd be

Scott Greening: great. But we've been talking about your service sales framework, and we're stepping into- Mm-hmm … a new part of this framework. So we've talked about setting expectations, which is letting people know what's gonna happen so they can relax and engage.

Mm-hmm … and we've talked about establishing rapport. We've talked about recognizing the problem, and today we're talking about verbalizing the value, which means what? What are we talking- Yes … about?

Brooke Greening: So the big thing is it is actually, this is the part where we're going to connect how we can help with the problem they just shared with us.

We are going to build a bridge. They have shared the problem, and this is just to encourage you, go back to our other episodes, 'cause we spent three of them helping you understand to make sure you have the problem right, how to make sure you've got the right problem, making sure it doesn't all fall apart on you.

This is why it's so important, because now we're going to connect how we can help with the problem they've just shared with us. We're gonna make that bridge so that they can start to trust us and start moving forward with us.

Scott Greening: All right. So like a lot of your framework how you approach this is a little different.

We're not talking about pitching. Our son Asher said that word the other day, and- … he almost got in trouble. Uh, but we're- I mean, you know- … talking about different things. how do most people think about it? What's the difference?

Brooke Greening: So the biggest thing is when people think that it's their time to talk.

They feel like they have to explain exactly what they do, how they do it, and do all of these details, and that is not the goal. In this moment, the goal is to help the customer to understand how we can solve their problem that they just shared with us. So it's going to be much more limited. It's not going to be just this broad streak of all the things that we do.

Scott Greening: All right. So this you're saying this is not the point where I'm supposed to just wow everyone with my awesomeness, dazzling intellect, George Cl- Clooney-like good looks- … all the things.

Brooke Greening: No, no, Dr. Greening. Although you have all of those things- All of those things … that is not what we're going for.

Because this is where people get in they get in trouble because they think, "Okay, now it's my chance to tell them about my whole entire process," or, "Now it's my chance to explain my whole entire program," or, "Now it's my chance to prove how smart I am or how good I am, like, how I can really help them."

And none of those things are actually what matter in this moment that we're talking about.

Scott Greening: All right. So we're kinda setting the stage here. We're whetting people's whistles, to say for the next couple- … of episodes on some bad examples and how to do it and that. But- Mm-hmm make the case.

Like why is it so important to do it this way as opposed to we listened enough, now we're gonna pitch?

Brooke Greening: Yeah. Well, you'll just make less money if you don't. But let's actually dig deeper what this looks like. You'll just lose sales. But we need to give you more answers why this matters. Okay, number one, people buy clarity.

So when people don't buy, a lot of times we think, "Oh, they needed more information," or maybe it was in regards to price and it was our competitor. But a lot of times that's not it. They needed more clarity. They didn't need more information, they needed clarity.

Scott Greening: Okay. So sometimes I'm a little dense. You can help me in it.

They need clarity about w- like, so information seems to be information about what we do, maybe the details- Mm-hmm … of pricing, those types of things. What's the difference between that and then providing this clarity?

Brooke Greening: Clarity is helping them understand why it matters. And we're gonna talk about this in just a minute.

We're not going to assume why it matters because they have told us why it matters, and we start to make that connection. So information is, you're just telling them what you do. There's nothing wrong with that, but if we just leave it there, that's why they don't buy. They need to understand why does that matter and how does that connect to the problems I've just talked to you about?

Scott Greening: And how does this help people buy? Like, how does this help them make a decision?

Brooke Greening: Yep. The second thing is people need to see themselves in the solution. If they don't see themselves in the solution, then this is just that generic piece that we're talking about. So a lot of times we talk about our solutions in general terms.

We think we're being specific. We think we're really helping them, but when you actually peel back the curtain, you realize, no, this is pretty generic. You could say this to anyone and it would resonate the same instead of it being about their specific solution. So just as an example, I was working with one of my clients and we were talking specifically about this, and she was like, "No, I really do.

I really make sure that I connect it to them." But they would be- say things like we will help implement this into your business, and we will help you to know what the next step is to do," instead of the actual problem. So an example could be like, "Hey, when you said you got stuck here and your three team members are struggling with ABC, this is where we're gonna be able to come in, and I'm gonna use this sp- specifically and help you guys with that."

We can say implement or we can say directly connected to the problem they have. That's the difference. We think it sounds the same, but to them it doesn't, and if we do not make those connections for them, if we do not build that bridge really clearly, that's why they don't wanna buy. 'Cause they don't see themselves in the solution.

They see other people that have been successful. They see you that has been successful, but they don't see themselves in it yet.

Scott Greening: Yeah, and part of the tension I think that, that exists there, and in your master class, which everybody can join on to do that. But like you say, "Hey here's these seven problems that almost everybody has," and that- Mm-hmm

that's true. And that's a marketing piece. "Hey, we want you to, like… We're spreading a wide net. We're capturing that." Mm-hmm. But when you then take it and say, "Oh, you mentioned this specific part," you're not leaving it at that level. You're getting specific to the things that they've been sharing with you.

Brooke Greening: Yeah. So if someone says, just as an example, 'cause we do a whole conversation assessment and they take it before we meet on our first what we call discovery call, seeing if it can be a good fit to, to start working with them. They'll take an assessment and it'll say, "Okay, how are you feeling about objections?

How are you feeling about creating urgency?" And so I can say, "Hey and on week four we're gonna talk about how to be able to handle objections and how to be able to create urgency that gives direction and hope." That is more generic, as opposed to I know them, I've talked to them, we've uncovered their problems, and to say, "Hey, when you're getting ready to go on your Zoom call and you start to get like this pit in your stomach because you know these are the objections you're facing," and then I list them off because we've just talked about them.

This piece is gonna help us really address how we can help you specifically in that. That's where I'm making those connections. That's where it's being more specific instead of generic.

Scott Greening: Yeah. And the power of that is like it gets to the heart of those types of issues that they may be thinking like, "This is what keeps me up at night.

This is like the first- Mm-hmm … thing I'm worrying about when I start my day." Yeah …

Brooke Greening: those

Scott Greening: types of things.

Brooke Greening: If you have, if they have to do the work of connecting the dots, like how, why it matters to them, how it's gonna impact them, then you're just making your sales conversation that much harder and you're going to make it that much harder to be able to make a sale and be able to help them.

We, they, no one is unintelligent. No one… It's not that people don't understand, it's that they do not live inside of your business day in and day out, so we can't just assume they're gonna automatically make those connections. That's why we bring it to the surface and make it so applicable to them.

Scott Greening: All right.

So I think we've gotten two of the reasons so far. I know you've- Yeah … got more as to why it's important. What's another reason why it's so important to do this verbalizing value where we connect our solution, our product, our offer to the problem that they've just shared with us?

Brooke Greening: It creates a lot of confidence.

So when your solution is directly tied to the problem that they shared, it, like it's a really fun thing to see, but people start getting confident. They get confident in themselves, they start getting confident in you, and they start getting confident that things are gonna get better.

Scott Greening: So they can, they start to see the path, right?

Brooke Greening: Mm-hmm.

Scott Greening: Yeah. And the, you said they can start to feel confident in the solution. The path is not the path is not leading to you, where you're surrounded by like an aura- … an angel singing. And although I think that every time I- Oh … I look at you.

No, you

Brooke Greening: don't. Yeah. He does not.

Scott Greening: Let's not get into our marriage counseling issues. But no, no. But the,

Brooke Greening: the- Or our conversation this morning.

Scott Greening: The point is they can see their future. They can see success. They can start to get confidence like, "Oh, I think things could be different. I think my problem could be solved.

I think I could do this differently," those types of things.

Brooke Greening: Yeah. That's the biggest piece, 'cause so many times we want them to just have so much confidence in us and we think if they trust us and they have super confidence in us, then they're going to buy. That is a part of it, but they have to see how they play a part in it, or you just start coming across as the hero all over again, and that isn't going to work for them.

They may not even be able to really verbalize it or put their finger on it, but something isn't going to feel right to them. But when they believe, "Oh, my life is gonna get better and I trust you to help me to get there," that's when things will start to change, and then they can have confidence that, okay, it doesn't have to be this bad.

And if you can even get to that point in a sales conversation, we are moving in the right direction. Yeah. And that is for both of you.

Scott Greening: I think people make buying decisions when they can start seeing themselves succeed, and so that's- Mm-hmm … that's what we're talking about. So I think maybe- Yep

you've got one more reason of why this is such a big deal. What's the last reason?

Brooke Greening: It all builds up to this, and that's building trust. If you are actually stating what they just shared with you and the problems and how you can make those connections directly, you are building trust, because it is showing them that you're listening, that we've just spent three episodes of, like, how do we recognize the problem?

How do we make sure we didn't get the problem wrong? How do we build that piece of trust? And so if you've done all of that work and then you start talking about something different or we start going into a pitch, that's where it starts to become deflating, and they're like, "Did they even listen to what I have to say?"

And then the trust starts to, to erode again. And so it literally just helps them to believe, "You've trusted me." And the other piece is you completely start to separate yourself from the competitor all over again, because if they do start to… If the competitor starts to pitch at them, they will think in their mind, "Oh, but that's not what they did," "They truly listened to what I said, and they can- they helped me to understand how they could help.

I think he's just more impressed with what he does, not so much what I need help with."

Scott Greening: Yeah, I know there's been circumstances when I've talked to somebody on a sales call or something like that and looking for help, whether it's something personal or something for our business and that, and I'm beginning to feel optimistic that, oh, I think this person really is listening and really caring.

And then we get to this magic point and it's- Mm-hmm … sh- they switch. They went into their script or their pitch- Yep … or their whatever, and I'm like, "Ugh, wah, wah." Like, not, maybe not. It's, it's- Yeah … just, yeah, it's just, it's very discouraging, and then it, it- Mm … almost, I can't remember ever being at the end of that "Oh, I think I'm gonna work with this person."

Brooke Greening: Yeah, no. At that point, you're just like, "Oh, they were really good up until right

Scott Greening: now." Yeah.

Brooke Greening: And then you're like, that, "You've just shown your true colors." And a lot of times people don't, and we're gonna go into this in the next episode in regards to good examples and bad examples, but as I work with my clients, they're not manipulative.

They're not even trying to do this, but they're accidentally sabotaging it all the time 'cause they're going into their pitch, and we've missed the problem that they've shared. We're not saying you can't share the things that you do. We're not saying we're not gonna start sharing what that investment looks like.

I'm not saying we're changing any of that. But in the moments that we're talking and we're trying to help them build that bridge and build those dots and connect those dots, we don't start launching into all the things that we do that have nothing to do with the problems that they've just shared with us or what they want.

Scott Greening: All right. So you've shared several reasons, good reasons, great reasons, four of them, as to why this is so important. paint the picture. What does it look like when we start to do these things in our sales conversations?

Brooke Greening: Yes, and this is what my clients have told me. I've had my clients come and tell me, "I had no idea."

"I had no idea this is how a sales conversation could go." Because instead of them hearing like, "Hey, I want to think about it," or, "Hey, that was very helpful. Thank you. Maybe I'll call you next week," you start to hear them say, "Oh, that makes perfect sense. That's exactly what we're dealing with. This is what we've been looking for."

Those responses do not come if we're just winging it or if we're just trying to explain things better. They happen because our customer feels understood, and they believe that we know how we can be able to help them with the problems they just shared with us. Your whole conversation starts to switch when you do this right.

Scott Greening: Yeah, and that's, it's because that's what people ultimately want, right? They want a little, they want a little hope. They want to see, think that things can change. They want some success.

Brooke Greening: Yeah. They want to know three things. One, you understand the problem. Two, you understand what's at stake, and three, you know how to help them.

Those are the three things they need to know.

Scott Greening: Hey, it's Scott here jumping in, and I always appreciate Brooke and her advice. If you're wondering, maybe like I am, of how you're doing on verbalizing the value, I encourage you to take a few minutes, it'll take 10 minutes or less, to do her sales conversation assessment.

And you'll get a quick report back on what's going well and how you could do better maybe in some areas. You can always get that at buildingmomentum.info/assessment, and it'll be a great tool, a great resource, and it'll be a help to you as you lead these sales conversations. So Brooke, what… I know we're heading towards a big episode-

on how to do this and all that. But what- Yes … what could people start to do w- this week? How could they begin to apply this?

Brooke Greening: So there's two things that you can do this week. The first thing is I want you to just start noticing in your sales conversations. So I just want you to ask yourself, okay, every time I'm talking about your service or how you can help, I want you to ask yourself, "Am I talking about what I do, or am I talking about why it matters to this customer?"

That's the first thing I want you to do. And then the second thing I want you to do is I want you to ask yourself, "Does my customer have to figure out why this matters, or am I making the connection for them?" Those are the two things. One, ask yourself, "Okay, am I zoning just on what I do, or am I talking about why it matters?"

And then to go a little bit deeper, "Okay, do they actually know why this matters, or are they having to figure this out on their own? Or am I clearly making those connections for them?" Those would be my two thoughts for you.

Scott Greening: Yeah. I, again, this it's probably more me and my issues, but I always think man, it's just logical why people should do this, and they should just make all those connections.

But- People don't do that. And when I'm talking- Mm-hmm … to other people and it's not my thing, I don't do that. Mm-hmm. I need them, I need some help. Any parting shots- Yeah … for us this this time, Brooke?

Brooke Greening: No just continue to think of it as a bridge. Your customer is over here, you're over here, they've just shared their problem.

Now we're gonna start talking about how we can bridge that gap, how we can start to have them come and start working with us. And the very first piece of that is helping to make those connections for them. And come to the next episode, 'cause we're gonna give you some good examples of what to do and what not to do, and more than likely, you might resonate with some of the ones that you don't wanna do.

Scott Greening: You might say, "Ooh, I might know somebody that, that does- Oh, yeah … something like that."

Brooke Greening: Maybe you know someone. Maybe it's not you personally- That's right … but maybe you've heard it

Scott Greening: before. Yeah. Right. 'Cause we're perfect- … in every way. Hey, thanks Brooke. If you want to make sure that you don't miss the next episode, if you wanna to know when Brooke is dropping some great sales knowledge again in the future, we encourage you to subscribe, to follow, to do all of those things.

We'd love it if you'd leave a review on your po- podcasting platform of choice, or comment on YouTube or any of those things. We love hearing from you, and we want to keep making these episodes valuable for you. So if you can let us know what you're thinking, that'd be great. Until then, hope you enjoy your matcha and make some more sales.

Brooke Greening: Bye-bye.

Do we hang

up?