Four reasons consultants fumble when it matters most, and the one fix that cuts through all of them.
You’re a pro. You know your work. So why does it feel like a stumble when a prospect turns to you and says, “Tell me exactly how we’d work together”?
Erin Braford walks through four reasons consultants get stuck in those moments: the curse of knowledge, first-time buyers who have no mental model for what you do, the pull toward abstract outcomes over the concrete problems clients are living with, and jargon that signals expertise but creates distance.
[00:03:19] “The first part of the argument really has to be around helping someone understand that you speak their language.”
The fix Erin keeps coming back to is one thing: capture real client language. Mine old prospect emails to see how they described the problem, or run listening interviews with current clients. When you start from their words, you stop translating and start connecting.
[00:13:51] “If you can really say it clearly in one context, you can say it clearly in pretty much any context.”

Why It’s Hard to Talk About What You Do

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