June 10, 2025
Sell something else
It’s pretty common for someone to say to me...
“I really want to work with X, but it’s impossible because Y!”
...where X equals their dream type of client and Y equals some specific perceived obstacle.
For example:
“I really want to work with nonprofit environmental groups, but it’s impossible because they can’t afford my data warehouse service!”
When I hear this sort of thing, I ask things like:
- Are you sure that NONE OF THEM could afford your expensive service?
- If so, could you deliver the service in a LESS EXPENSIVE way?
- If not, could you design a DIFFERENT SERVICE that they would value more highly?
- If you don’t want to do that, how sure are you that you REALLY want to work with this type of client?
Here’s the thing...
Every type of organization spends money.
The bigger they are, the more they spend.
If they don’t want to spend money with you, it’s not because they don’t have money.
It’s because what you’re selling isn’t worth the price to them.
So what can you do?
Sell something else.
Yours,
—J