Why Buyer Priorities Feel Impossible Right Now And The Shortcut to Real Conversations
I’m Peter O’Donoghue and I help B2B Consultants create a predictable business development system so you’ll never struggle with an empty pipeline. I recently launched a completely new 1 to 2 results coaching program that is an unbelievable offer to get me on your team for virtually nothing. Take a look here.
“Every time I think I’ve figured out what my prospects need, the goalposts move faster than I can write another white paper!”
Does this sound familiar?
In today’s uncertain market, your target market is changing virtually everyday - new board mandates one day, budget freezes the next, buyers themselves struggle to pin down their top priorities.
You launch webinars, craft drip emails, build complex quiz funnels, massage your referral network… and still your calendar stays stubbornly empty.
The thing I see really moving the needle for Consultants right now is identifying a “green-light” project to inject themselves into. If you align your business development to those pre-authorised initiatives, you’re no longer pushing water uphill, you’re simply stepping into motion already underway.
Below we’ll cover:
Why prospects can’t name their priorities in 2025
The true “moments of urgency” that compel them to call you
The power of Client Insight Interviews to surface those green-light projects
How Green-Light Selling lets you inject yourself into already-approved work
A step-by-step lean interview process you can run this week
What life looks like six months after you adopt these approaches
Let’s dive in.
1. The Buyer’s Blurred Lens in Today’s Chaos
Even seasoned executives can’t keep track of their own shifting priorities:
Monday, the CEO demands a 10% margin uplift in six months.
Wednesday, the CFO slashes discretionary budgets.
Thursday, a competitor’s surprise product launch rattles the board.
Friday, Trump announces another random act of lunacy
By the time you craft another “ultimate guide,” your prospects world has already moved on to Plan Z. No wonder your latest webinar “pilot” had zero lift - your message never matched their internal frame of reference.
2. Moments of Urgency That Break the Paralysis
Buyers finally move when one of these seven scenarios hits home:
New Stretch Targets from the C-Suite
Stalled KPIs & Overloaded Teams
Major Client or Deal Loss
Fresh Leadership with a Change Mandate
Imminent Budget Cuts or Reallocations
Projects Running Over Time or Over Budget
Competitor Moves That Spark Unease
Each of these creates a green-light window - an internal approval to seek external help and get things back on track.
But how do you find these initiatives?
3. Client Insight Interviews: Digging for Real-Time Needs
Before you can propose, you have to learn. Client Insight Interviews are 20-30 minute interview calls where you interview potential ideal clients and:
Surface true pain in their own words.
Quantify impact - hours wasted, revenue at stake.
Reveal internal green-lights - which projects are already approved and waiting for fuel.
And, of course, you have to leave your ego at the door and approach these without a predefined agenda.
Here’s a short run through of what the client insight interview is all about from my course.
You emerge with actionable intelligence, not guesswork.
And the question I get so often is “how do i transition those calls to clients?”. If that’s jumping into your mind right now then this video answers that too:
4. Green-Light Selling: Joining Authorised Projects
Many consultants make business development way too difficult. They feel they have to be so innovative they have to create the need.
“Let me create a need you don’t yet realise you have.”
That’s a steep hill to climb and few Consultants have the skills (or patience) to push uphill.
If you master Green-Light Selling you are essentially speeding up time and effort to revenue.
You:
Identify Approved Initiatives – Use your interviews to learn which projects have board or senior-leadership sign-off (“migrate to cloud,” “launch new service line,” “optimise sales operations”).
Map Your Role – Position yourself not as a need-creator, but as the specialist they already asked for.
Inject Expertise – Offer a quick diagnostic or audit aligned to that green-lit scope, so they see you as the natural next step.
Suddenly, your business development resonates: you’re not selling as you’re boarding a moving train.
5. Running Your Interview & Green-Light Playbook
Follow this four-phase, low-overhead process:
Phase 1: Surface the Green-Light
Ask: “Which initiatives have you recently green lit for the 6,12,18 months?”
Listen for specific project names and timelines.
Phase 2: Diagnose the Execution Gaps
Ask: “What risks may stop these hitting their objectives?” or “What’s slowing progress right now?”
Quantify delays, budget overruns, or skill gaps.
Phase 3: Position Yourself as the Injector
Bridge: “[Name] would it help if I went away, got my team together and came up with some ideas that might mitigate the risks usually associated with projects like this?”
Confirm openness to hear new ideas
Phase 4: Secure a Follow-Up
Ask: “Fantastic. That should take us about 3 days so how are you looking a week thursday - maybe around 3pm?”
Lock in a time to share your ideas
Secure other team member inclusion to shortcut time to approval. “[Name] Most of our best clients find they get the most value from these insight calls when they have [Job Title 1], [Job Title 2] and [Job Title 3] involved. What’s the best way to get them involved?”
6. Six Months Later: A New Normal
Picture what your life could be like in a few months:
The Week begins with three green-light projects already scoped and your ideas to mitigate any risks of those projects well scoped out and proposed in the form of consulting work.
Your inbox pings with new potential prospects agreeing to client insight interviews.
You enjoy a clear separation: strategy first, then delivery - no more learning how to originate deals an consulting projects where the client didn’t even know they had an issue.
Your Next Steps
Schedule Insight Interviews - invite 30 prospects to join an interview with you
Run the Client Insight Process - surface green lights, diagnose gaps, and propose your injector role off the back of new ideas and insights.
Follow Up Precisely - lock in easy to say ‘Yes’, front end offers aligned to pre-approved projects.
Just this one act of proactive business development can provide massive rewards. Here’s a Corporate escapee talking about his experience of running client insight interviews to give that all important injection of motivation:
PS: If you like my approach to business development - I’m launching a completely new client engagement model with unlimited on demand calls and support with me. Details here