You're Not Bad at Sales—You're Just Selling to Ghosts

5 days ago
5 min read

Why understanding the buyer's journey is the difference between feast and famine for small businesses

Let me guess: You've got a solid product or service. Your clients love you. But your pipeline looks like a graveyard of "I'll get back to you" and "We're still discussing it internally."

You're not alone. And here's the truth nobody wants to say out loud: Most small business owners earning under $100,000 annually aren't struggling because they can't sell—they're struggling because they're selling to the wrong people, at the wrong time, with the wrong message.

I've worked with hundreds of founders who hit this wall. They're experts in their field, lousy at sales psychology, and exhausted from chasing prospects who were never going to buy.

The game-changer? Understanding that your buyer isn't on your journey—they're on theirs. And if you can't meet them where they are, you're invisible.

Here are 6 strategies to stop guessing and start closing:

1. Map Your Buyer's Problem Before You Pitch Your Solution

The mistake: You lead with features, pricing, or "what makes you different."

The reality: Your buyer doesn't care about you yet. They're trying to solve a problem, and they're not even sure what the real problem is.

What to do instead:

Ask diagnostic questions that help them articulate their pain: "What's the cost of not fixing this?" or "How long has this been an issue?"
Listen for emotional triggers—frustration, fear, urgency
Don't pitch until they've convinced themselves they have a problem worth solving

Example: Instead of "We offer bookkeeping services," try: "Most owners I talk to don't realize they're losing $10-15K annually to tax mistakes and missed deductions. Is that something you've looked into?"

You're not selling bookkeeping. You're selling recovered money.

2. Identify Where They Are in the Decision Process (and Stop Wasting Time on the Wrong Stage)

The reality: Not everyone who inquires is a buyer. Some are researchers. Some are price shoppers. Some are genuinely ready.

The buyer's journey has three stages:

Cold (Awareness): They know they have a problem but haven't decided to fix it yet
Warm (Consideration): They're evaluating solutions and gathering information
Hot (Decision): They're ready to buy and choosing between options

What to do instead:

Cold buyers need education, not a pitch. Share a case study, send a resource, stay visible.
Warm buyers need differentiation. Show them why you're the right fit through proof and process.
Hot buyers need confidence. Remove friction, answer objections, make it easy to say yes.

Stop treating every lead the same. Your email to a cold lead should look nothing like your follow-up with a hot one.

3. Disqualify Ruthlessly (Your Time is Your Most Expensive Asset)

The mistake: You're so hungry for revenue that you chase everyone who shows mild interest.

The reality: Bad-fit clients cost you more than they pay you—in time, energy, and opportunity cost.

What to do instead: Create a disqualification checklist and use it in your first conversation:

Do they have budget or access to it?
Do they have authority to make this decision?
Is there a genuine need (not just curiosity)?
Is there urgency or a timeline?
Are they willing to engage in your process?

If the answer is "no" or "I don't know" to more than two of these, politely exit the conversation. Tell them to circle back when X, Y, or Z changes.

Script: "It sounds like this isn't the right time for you yet. Let's reconnect in [timeframe] when [trigger event] happens."

You just freed up hours to focus on real buyers.

4. Sell the Next Step, Not the Whole Relationship

The mistake: You're trying to close a $5K contract on the first call with someone who just learned you exist.

The reality: Buyers need micro-commitments before they make macro ones.

What to do instead: Break your sales process into small, low-risk steps:

First touch: "Can I send you a 3-minute video that explains how this works?"
Second touch: "Let's do a 15-minute discovery call to see if this makes sense for you."
Third touch: "I'll send you a custom proposal. If it looks right, we'll schedule onboarding."

Each step is easy to say yes to. Each yes builds momentum.

The power move: Always end every interaction by scheduling the next one. Never leave it open-ended.

"Based on what you've shared, I think there's a fit here. Let's schedule 20 minutes next Tuesday to walk through a quick roadmap. Does 10am or 2pm work better?"

You're leading the journey, not waiting for permission.

5. Speak to the Emotional Win, Not Just the Logical ROI

The mistake: You're hammering ROI, efficiency, and features. They're nodding and ghosting you.

The reality: People buy based on emotion and justify with logic. If you're only speaking to the spreadsheet, you're losing to the competitor who's speaking to their gut.

What to do instead: Identify the emotional outcome your buyer actually wants:

The restaurant owner doesn't want accounting software—they want to sleep at night knowing their numbers are right
The consultant doesn't want a CRM—they want to stop feeling like they're dropping balls with clients
The retailer doesn't want inventory management—they want to stop losing money to stockouts and overstock

Ask better questions:

"What happens if you don't fix this in the next 6 months?"
"What would change for you personally if this was handled?"
"What's the worst part about the way you're doing this now?"

Then mirror their language back in your proposal and close.\

6. Create Urgency Without Being Sleazy (Because "Limited Time Offer" is Played Out)

The mistake: You're either too passive ("Let me know when you're ready!") or too aggressive ("This price expires Friday!").

The reality: Legitimate urgency comes from consequences, not manufactured scarcity.

What to do instead: Help them see the cost of inaction:

"You mentioned you're losing about $2K a month in missed invoicing. That's $12K by the time we hit summer. What would that money mean for your business?"
"You said your lease renewal is in 90 days—if we don't have this system in place by then, what's your backup plan?"
"Your busy season starts in 6 weeks. If we start now, you'll be ready. If we wait, you'll be scrambling."

You're not pressuring them. You're helping them see what they already know.

When urgency is real, it doesn't feel pushy—it feels helpful.

The Truth About Sales When You're Under $100K

You don't need fancy CRMs, sales teams, or expensive courses.

You need three things:

Clarity on who your buyer is and where they are in their journey
Confidence to disqualify bad fits and lead good ones
Consistency to show up, follow up, and close

The buyer's journey isn't a mystery. It's a map. And when you learn how to read it, everything changes.

Your next $100K isn't hiding—it's waiting for you to stop guessing and start guiding.

Want help designing a sales strategy that actually works for your business? Join KPIXAI and map out your entire growth and sales strategies and access your Quick Analysis for free for 30 days.

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