Stop Selling and Start Solving – how to get better results by changing your focus is the topic of this Better Marketing podcast episode.
Stop Selling and Start Solving Introduction
Hi, I’m Tracy Heatley, and welcome to the Better Marketing podcast – bringing you Marketing Magic
in Minutes. This is the How To Stop Selling And Start Solving podcast episode for service-based and professional services business owners and entrepreneurs.
This episode is all about a mindset shift that could transform your results – especially if you hate selling, or your quite new to selling.
We’re talking about how to stop ‘selling’ in the traditional sense and start focusing on solving. You’ll learn how this one shift can make your marketing feel better, work better, and convert better.
Why Solving Works
- No one likes being sold to – but everyone loves having a problem solved.
- When you position your services as solutions, people listen differently.
- It builds trust faster, reduces objections, and creates stronger relationships.
One of my Strategy Cycle™ Program clients – a psychotherapist – used to struggle with promoting herself. Through our work, we repositioned her services to solve a specific issue with a specific type of client. Issues that her clients were desperate to fix. With that clarity, her confidence grew and so did her client base.
If you’re like many business owners who set the business up because you’re brilliant at what you do, and you wanted to provide a particular service through your own business. Essentially, by its very nature, you put yourself in a sales role, which can be quite daunting for most people. I’ve service-based business owner too, so I get it!
How To Shift from Selling to Solving
Here’s a few actions you can take to sift from selling to solving:
Focus your messaging on pain points and outcomes, not features
It’s so easy to talk about what you do, but your potential clients want to know why it matters to them.
Instead of listing features, focus on the transformation you create. Don’t tell them you “offer marketing consultancy” — tell them that you “help businesses build strategies that actually work.” When your message speaks directly to a pain point or desire, your audience immediately feels seen and understood.
This is something I often work on with Strategy Cycle™ Program clients. Once they stop describing what they do and start focusing on outcomes, everything clicks into place.
Use the words your ideal clients use – not your industry jargon
This is such a simple but powerful shift. When I’m mentoring or developing marketing strategies for clients, I often find they’re using their own internal language — not their customers’.
If your customers say “grow my business” but your content says “achieve scalable operational expansion,” you’ve already lost them. Mirror their words back to them. It builds connection and trust instantly.
If you want to learn more about how to do this, check out my Speaking Their Language episode — it’s all about connecting with your target audience in the right way.
Build stories and examples into your content – they’re more persuasive than pitches
Stories are how humans connect. They make your message memorable and emotional — and emotion drives action.
Think of a client success story you could share, like the organisational development client I’ve mentioned before who filled her leadership programme in three weeks by shifting her messaging to reflect her audience’s words. That wasn’t luck — that was strategic storytelling in action.
If you can link your service to a relatable story, people don’t just understand what you do — they feel it.
If this approach appeals to you and you’re ready to reposition your marketing, check out the Strategy Cycle™ Program or book a Marketing Power Hour with me to get things moving. I’ll pop the links in the show notes. Whichever marketing or AI marketing service you’re interested in, I’m always happy to offer a Complimentary Discovery Call, which you can arrange via my website.
Key Takeaways when it comes to stop selling and start solving
- Solving beats selling – every time.
- Speak to problems, not products.
- Build trust, not pressure.
I’m Chartered Marketer, Tracy Heatley. Let’s connect on LinkedIn. You’ll find me by looking for Tracy Heatley Chartered Marketer. Also, do follow me on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube at
tracyheatleyUK. All the details are in the show notes. Remember to subscribe to the podcast so that you don’t miss the next episode. I hope you’ve found this Stop Selling And Start Solving episode useful.In the next episode, we’re going back to AI Marketing. There are lots of other episodes about other elements of AI, but I’ve not done one for a while. Next time the focus will be on AI Tools That Save You Time, Not Cost You Sales
Until then, remember, as always that Better Marketing Means Better Business. Until next time, I’ll bid goodbye for now!