To quote Leo Tolstoy, All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Clients only realize they need expert advice when they’re in trouble, but each situation is unique. Trying to predict their behavior seems as futile as trying to track wild animals roaming the countryside—confusing, frustrating, even daunting. And yet, that’s actually a completely manageable task.
Although the value of your service is clear to you, the clients don’t see what you see. To help them, focus on what they see instead.
The Trigger: There’s usually a moment where they will become aware that they may need help with [the expensive problem you solve]. What is it, typically?
The Paths: What is their course of action after each of the triggers? Why will they try to do, and why will it fail?
The Watering Hole: Once they feel sufficiently lost, where will they try to find more information? What will they find out, and why is that probably not going to be enough either?
The Bait: What is their underlying emotional state after going through all that? What type of message is likely to attract their attention to what you offer at that moment?
Go and talk to enough clients to map out the thought process they go through. Once you know how a typical client would describe that path in their own words, ‘hunting’ begins to feel much less random, and more like a rewarding journey.