How to reach clients by recognizing their “last straw” moments.

Entrepreneurs who are service professionals will attract clients who realize they need help and they need it now.

Image by Matthew Waring on Unsplash.

If your services relate to problem-solving, I’m willing to bet that few people will call you for an appointment until they’ve experienced a sharp defining moment. Psychologists call these experiences “crystallizing moments” as things come together clearly.

We often think of “last-straw moments” as pretty extreme, such as the person who wakes up in jail with no memory of how he got there. But game-changing moments feel huge to the client, not necessarily to anyone else.

You can usually recognize a “last-straw” story. For example:

Larry’s teenagers are the love of his life (when they’re not driving him crazy). He knows he needs to set up a will with guardianship provisions, but keeps putting it off. One day a good friend gets seriously injured by a hit-and-run driver in a freak auto accident. The next day Larry starts looking for an attorney.

Sam has gotten comfortable in his job. One day he’s having drinks with a friend when he realizes he’s been getting lower raise percentages than anyone in the department, while he’s bringing in a solid contribution to the bottom line. He realizes he needs a career coach.