if your sales problem… isn’t a sales problem?

Published 6 months ago • 1 min read

Most people I work with don’t have a sales problem.

They have a sequencing problem.

It’s easy to assume we need better calls to action or stronger offers. But often, the issue isn’t in the pitch, it’s in the path that led to it.

If your marketing isn’t converting the way you want it to, it might be because you’ve skipped the part of the journey that matters most.

Here’s what I mean:

Marketing is roughly the first 75% of the buyer’s journey.
Sales is the final 25%.
And your messaging needs to evolve as they do.

The percentages aren’t exact, but they help reframe where most of your energy needs to go, and when.

Because the buyer doesn’t start their journey ready to buy.

They start unsure. Maybe curious. Maybe quietly searching.

And if we meet them too soon with sales messaging, it creates pressure, not connection.

A metaphor I like is the spotlight on the bridge.

Imagine your buyer walking across a foggy bridge. A spotlight leads the way.

At first, the light is on them, their world, their questions, their unmet needs. That’s where your message belongs.

Only later does the spotlight shift to you, your insights, your solution, your offer.

And that shift needs to happen at the right pace.

When it does, selling doesn’t feel like a leap.

It feels like a natural next step.

So if things have felt off in your marketing or your sales, pause and check:

Are you guiding… or jumping ahead?

Sometimes, the simplest shift is the most clarifying.

To guiding, not pushing

Louise

Louise Beattie

Forge & Flourish

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