Showerthought: A bad pitch at a Portland coffee shop made me change my whole approach

I was at the Albina Press last month, trying to land a new client over coffee. I gave my usual spiel about my skills and rates, and he just looked confused and said, 'But what problem do you actually solve for me?' That one question flipped a switch... Now I lead with the client's pain point instead of my resume. Has anyone else had a moment like that, where a simple question from a stranger changed how you work?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavinw451mo ago

Honestly, that's such a great point. Tbh a client asking "so what?" about a feature list totally reframed how I sell my services too.

margaret_taylor421mo ago

But features are what they're buying, right?

-1

shaneb161mo ago

Facts @margaret_taylor42, I had a client last year who kept asking about all these technical specs my service had. I spent 20 minutes listing features and she just stared at me. Finally I stopped and asked what problem she actually needed solved. Turns out she just wanted her invoices organized faster. Switched my whole pitch to "this saves you 5 hours a week" and she signed immediately. Features are just proof you can deliver the real thing.