Quote from James A.Hart on July 15, 2025, 11:36 pm

One of the most common traps marketers fall into is trying to sell the way they think people should buy—rather than how the market actually buys. It sounds like a subtle distinction, but it can be the difference between a funnel that converts and one that completely flops.

The Problem with Idealistic Selling

You may believe your product or service is better than the competition. You might even have facts to back that up. But if your offer doesn’t match how people are conditioned to make buying decisions, it won’t matter.

Buyers aren’t coming to your landing page with a clean slate. They bring expectations, biases, and a mental model shaped by what they’ve seen in the market before. If your offer feels unfamiliar or confusing, even if it’s technically better, most prospects will bounce.

Example: The Keyword Package Dilemma

Let’s say you’re selling SEO services. The traditional market sells packages based on a fixed number of keywords—30, 50, 100. You might know that keyword count isn’t what truly drives SEO success, so you decide to offer unlimited keywords.

Logically, this sounds better. But to the average prospect, it creates confusion:

• “What does unlimited actually mean?”
• “How many will I really get?”
• “Is this just a gimmick?”

Instead of focusing on the problem and the solution, the conversation now revolves around your pricing structure—and not in a good way.

Don’t Try to Re-Educate the Market

Even if your way is more logical, trying to force a new buying behavior almost never works. It’s expensive, slow, and often ineffective—especially when you’re targeting cold traffic.

The solution? Meet the market where it already is.

Sell in a format the market understands. Use the familiar structure, but deliver your product in a better, more compelling way. You’re not lowering your standards—you’re removing friction.

Match First. Innovate Second.

Here’s a simple framework:

1. Identify how the market is already buying.
2. Package your offer in that familiar format.
3. Make your offer more valuable than the alternatives.

Innovation is still important—but not at the cost of clarity. Your job as a marketer isn’t just to build the best product. It’s to present it in a way that people are already prepared to buy.

Don’t waste time trying to change the market’s behavior. Instead, adapt your funnel to match it—and then outshine the competition with a stronger, clearer, and more valuable offer.