How to Identify When Your Client is Ready to Buy – 4 Questions to ask yourself!

GRAB THE FREE CLIENT TRIGGER GPT 

Here's something I've noticed after years of coaching: most business owners can spot a potential client, but they struggle to recognise the moment when that client is actually ready to make a buying decision.

You know that feeling, right? You're putting yourself out there, creating content, having conversations, but you're wondering if anyone's actually going to take action.

The truth is, there's a moment.

A specific moment where your client shifts from “I'm thinking about this” to “I need this now.”

And if you understand what that moment looks like, everything changes.

I was having dinner with a brand strategist friend recently, and she told me something that completely shifted how I think about messaging. She'd noticed a pattern in her business. Every single time a new CEO landed in an organisation, nine times out of ten, they wanted to overhaul the brand strategy. They wanted to make their mark, put their fingerprint on the place, shake things up.

Once she saw that pattern, she started deliberately connecting with companies going through leadership changes. She wasn't waiting for them to come to her – she was timing it right.

And that's exactly what we can do as business owners. We need to understand what's happening in our client's life when they're ready to work with us. Not just what they want, but the deeper reason why now is the time.

I discovered this the hard way. One of my Amplify clients started using these questions in a single LinkedIn post and got two inquiries off it. It's proven to work for me, and it's worked for business friends I've talked to about this. So let me walk you through the four questions that'll help you identify when your client is truly ready to buy.

Question 1: What result do they want, and what's the real-life reason it's urgent?

This is where most people get it wrong. They ask “What result do you want?” but they stop there. And they get fluffy answers like “I want to grow my business” or “I want more clients.”

That's not what we're after.

I want real-life reasons. The kind of stuff that actually keeps your client up at night.

For example, I work with women who have built successful offline businesses but they're burnt out or they know they want to change to a scalable model. They've been doing the one-on-one thing for 10-15 years potentially and they're tired. They're ready to build a personal brand, create scalable assets, and attract clients without trading every single hour for dollars. Often, they're in their late thirties, coming into their mid to late forties, and something clicks. They don't want to be on client sites anymore. They want something different.

Or maybe someone wants consistent revenue so they stop white-knuckling it every month. Or they want a brand glow-up because they're embarrassed by what they're putting out there. Or they want leverage and scalability so they can actually see their kids without working all the time.

The magic happens when you understand the objective and the oxygen—what they want and the deeper reason why. Because most people have multiple reasons they want something, but there's usually one big reason that's the real driver. That's what you're looking for.

So when you're having discovery calls or reviewing past conversations with clients, ask yourself: What was the real-life situation they were in? What had to shift? And why now?

Question 2: What have they already tried?

This matters so much more than people realise.

Your client might have already bought courses. Maybe they've worked with other coaches. They've done their own research, tried random things, and nothing's stuck. But here's what's crucial—you need to know not just what they've tried, but why it didn't work.

Did they buy a course but never had time to go through it? Did they work with another coach but couldn't implement what they learned? Did they try a strategy once, it didn't work immediately, and they gave up? (Because here's the thing – most strategies take time. They don't go gangbusters the first time.)

When you understand this, you can shift the narrative. Instead of making your client feel like they're the problem, you can say “You're not the problem. The plan was the plan.” And then you show them why your approach is different and why it's going to work for them.

This is a question I always ask in discovery calls: Have you worked with another coach before? What was your experience? What else have you tried? What worked, what didn't, and why? If you're using an application form for your mastermind or programme, you need to be asking these questions.

Because understanding this tells your client that you get it. You understand their journey. And you've got a solution that actually fits where they're at.

Question 3: What external shift just happened that made them snap into action?

External events matter. They're the things that happen outside of your client's control that create urgency.

It could be business stuff—an offer flopped, their revenue dropped, they've got a full calendar but not enough income, or a big opportunity just landed but they're not ready for it yet. They need support to step into it.

Or it could be life stuff—a baby, marriage, moving house, a milestone birthday, whatever it might be.

The reason we want to know this is because when one person's experiencing it, other people are too. If you've got clients who come to you after they've been going it alone and they know they need support—like they're ready to leave their corporate job, they've just finished a course or programme, or they're at an age where they're done trading hours for dollars and want freedom and leverage—then you can speak directly to that in your content.

When you understand the external triggers, you can say to your ideal client: “If you're at this point in your life, now's the time to take action.” And they'll feel like you're speaking directly to them.

Question 4: What internal belief, fear, or self-talk has hit breaking point?

This is the one that really gets to the heart of buyer readiness.

These aren't external events. These are internal whispers. They're the voice inside your client's head where they're just like, “I'm done with thinking this. I'm done with feeling this. I'm done with saying this to myself.”

It could be “I should be further along by now.” That's a big one.

Or “I'm embarrassed by my outdated brand. People won't think I'm good enough.” Or “I feel like I'm so good at what I do, but I'm invisible.” Maybe they're worried they'll burn out before anything works.

One of the biggest ones I hear, especially from women I work with, is this: “I'm the bottleneck. I'm in my own way. I know what I need to do and I'm just not doing it.”

The shame of constantly planning without taking action is real. And it's a breaking point for a lot of people.

For me personally, a lot of what I see is self-sabotage. My clients are smart. They've been successful. They understand the strategy. But they keep telling themselves they can't do it. They're not good enough. It won't work for them. They don't have time. Whatever the excuse is.

Those internal whispers are the cracks that show before the building collapses. Your client knows it. And they're ready for someone to help them break through.

When you can identify what sentence is looping in their head keeping them stuck, that's when you can speak to it. That's when they feel truly seen.

Why These Four Questions Transform Your Messaging

When you build your messaging around these four buyer readiness signals, something powerful happens.

First, your clients feel genuinely seen. You're not staying on the surface. You've spoken to other people who feel the same way, and so the people looking for your help recognise themselves in what you're saying.

Second, the right buyers self-qualify. They're like, “Oh my gosh, yes, that's me.” And you're showing them that you understand exactly what they're going through and that now is the time for them to change.

Third, people reach out faster. Your sales cycles get shorter. Why? Because you're not speaking to everyone. You're speaking to someone in a very specific moment of their life.

And finally, your content becomes a mirror. When you speak to people on that deeper level—what results they want, what they've already tried, what's happening externally, what's happening internally from a belief perspective—you've got a message that actually lands. It resonates. It moves people.

I had a client do this on LinkedIn in a single post about how she felt when she saw competitors doing something she wasn't doing, and the fact it was always on her to-do list but she never made time for it. People reached out to her. That's the power of becoming a mirror to the clients you want to work with.

How to Use This in Your Business

Look back at your previous discovery calls. If you've got clients you've already worked with, think about what was happening in their life at that moment. What was the real reason they came to you? What were they thinking? What were they feeling?

For example, one of my clients told me she'd worked with another coach but that coach never held her accountable. She came to me because she knew I would be tough love. She knew I wouldn't let her get away with things she didn't want to get away with.

Other clients come to me because I came out of corporate and consulting. They're at that moment in life where their kids are getting older, they don't want to be out and about as much, and they feel like I understand what they've been through. I've lived it.

And that's powerful. When your client knows you've been through what they're going through, and you've come out the other side, that resonates deeply.

So take these four questions and work through them. Really think about your ideal client and the moment they're ready to buy. Understand what result they want, what they've already tried, what external shift is happening, and what internal belief has hit breaking point.

That's how you'll start speaking directly to your dream client. That's how you'll shorten your sales cycle. And that's how you'll become the person they can't help but reach out to.

 

Ready to set yourself up for scalable success in 2026 – Apply for the Amplify Accelerator now.