Considered vs Chosen: Why You’re Stuck in the Maybe Pile

There’s a big difference between a client being interested and actually choosing to work with you.

They’re checking you out, asking questions, maybe even booking calls, but they’re not making a decision. So you’re stuck in the maybe pile, where you’re being considered, but not actually chosen.

Over time, that starts to wear on you.

What’s missing here isn’t more effort or better sales tactics. It’s Easy Yes Energy.

In this episode, I’m going to break down why this is happening, what most people get wrong about it, and how to build the kind of Easy Yes Energy that moves you from being one of the options… to being the person they actually choose.

Today, we’re continuing the Easy Yes Energy series, and I want to start off by talking about something that doesn’t get discussed nearly enough.

What it feels like as a business owner when you’re not chosen.

If you don’t have a steady stream of leads, it’s frustrating when people aren’t reaching out to work with you. And when they do, but still don’t say yes, it’s even more discouraging.

Over time, it can start to mess with you, and you end up questioning everything: 

• Why isn’t this working?
• Is there something I’m doing that’s turning people off?
• Why does this keep happening?
• What am I missing here?
• OMG, do people hate me now? 

Your frustration is totally valid, but we need to look at what’s really going on. Your clients are making decisions long before you ever get on the call.

By the time someone is deciding whether or not to work with you, they’ve made a series of small decisions along the way to give them just enough to keep going.

We all know there’s a big difference between someone who is all in… and someone who is just not sure yet. When someone is all in, they ask when they can start; when they’re not sure, they ask you to explain the process…again.

Easy Yes Energy is about doing the work to ensure that more of your sales conversations happen with people who are all in. And that starts with carefully positioning ourselves at every stage of the consideration process so more potential clients choose you.

This Isn’t a Sales Problem. (It’s a Positioning Problem.) 

When you’re dealing with hesitant clients or conversations that don’t convert, it’s easy to assume the problem is happening in the sales process.

This is where many people misdiagnose the problem. They think that if they just fix their sales process, they’ll close more clients. 

While your sales skills matter, your job is NOT to convince anyone to work with you on a sales call. By the time someone gets on a call with you, they should be trying to figure out how to move forward and ensure you’re a good fit.

Think of it this way. A sales call is about confirming, not convincing. The real work of being chosen happens before the call with how: 

• You talk about what you do.
• You define the problem.
• Specific you are about who it’s for.
• You show that you understand their situation.
• Obvious you make it that you’re the right fit.

A sales call should focus on questions that move the decision forward, not on questions that try to resolve confusion.

If you’ve been on calls where your would-be client is talking to you about logistics and ensuring it’s a fit, that’s a sign they’re mostly sold.

But when someone isn’t sure, their questions sound like:

• Can you explain what you actually do again?
• How is this different from what I’ve already tried?
• I’m not sure if this is what I need.

These are two completely different conversations, and only one of them leads to a definitive yes to working together. 

So if you’re finding yourself on calls where you’re over-explaining, over-justifying, or trying to get someone across the finish line, that’s not a sales problem; it’s likely a positioning problem.

Even if you’re not in that situation, paying attention to the series of decisions your potential clients are going through before they reach out can make a huge difference between being considered and being chosen.

Because here’s the part you don’t see.

There are people checking you out right now who will never reach out. You’re losing leads you never even knew you had because it didn’t feel clear enough to take the next step.

These are the invisible leads that you never even know about.

When your positioning is strong at every stage of the consideration process, people stick around longer and are more likely to reach out to you. When it’s not, you’re losing leads before you even know they exist.

The Consideration Journey: Where You Win (or Lose) the Yes

You’ve heard of the customer journey before, but what I want to talk about is the part that actually determines whether someone chooses you.

The Consideration Journey.

Clients don’t go from finding you to hiring you in one step. They move through a series of small decisions that take you from considered to chosen. And most of those decisions are happening before someone ever fills out your inquiry form or gets on a call.

From the moment someone comes across you, they’re trying to figure out:

• Do I understand what this person does?
• Is this for me?
• Would this actually work for my situation?
• Why would I choose this person?
• Should I do this now?

And if any of those questions aren’t answered, they don’t move forward.

This is your positioning in action. Your positioning is what helps someone move through those decisions at each stage of the consideration journey.

Your positioning is what someone sees and decides on before you’re ever part of the conversation. It should be working for you 24/7 to answer those questions quickly, so people can move to the next step in the journey.

So let’s look at the steps in the consideration journey, because this is where the decision is actually made.

Step #1: Is This For Me? 

From the moment someone comes across you, they’re making a quick call:

“Is this for someone like me?”

They’re doing a quick assessment to decide whether you work with people like them. Maybe they’re on your website after a friend referred them or heard you speak at an event. Or something on social media caught their eye, or they found your podcast randomly.

No matter what they’re reading, hearing or watching, they’re looking for specific cues to decide if you’re someone they should give any more time and attention to.

That’s why you’ve likely heard me rant about how “women entrepreneurs” isn’t a specific enough group of people to focus on serving.

Because that could be literally any woman with a business. Someone just starting out, someone running a multi-million dollar business, someone selling products, or the local real estate agent.

To be effective and actually answer the “is this for me” question, your positioning needs to be ultra-specific. Otherwise, you’re losing potential clients at step one of the consideration journey.

Step #2: Do I Understand What You Do?

Once someone sees themselves in who you’re talking about, the next question is: “Okay… but what do you actually do?”

If they can’t understand how you help, the decision gets made, and you’ve lost them. They’ve tapped out of the consideration journey. 

This is where a lot of positioning falls apart, as people default to labels like consultant, coach, strategist, or expert instead of telling their potential clients what problems they solve. 

You have your potential clients' attention, now they’re trying to figure out if you can help them solve their problems.

Let me give you a couple of examples.

There’s a major difference between “I’m a brand strategist” and “I help service providers clarify their positioning so it’s easier to attract and convert the right clients.”

Or “I’m a dietitian.” versus “I help women in their 40s and 50s navigate hormonal changes and adjust their nutrition so they feel more like themselves again.”

Both of those examples tell you what problems they solve, not just what their professional credentials are.

Speaking to the problem keeps their interest and builds Easy Yes Energy by making it obvious that this is about them.

Step #3: Could This Work for Me?

At this step of the consideration journey, your potential client is going a little deeper and starting to ask if your services could work for them in their unique situation.

This is where things get real: they start thinking about how it applies to their business and asking whether it’s a good idea, with questions like: 

• Will this work at my stage of business? 
• Will this work for the type of services I offer?
• Is this a good fit for how I like to work? 

From a positioning standpoint, your potential client needs to picture how the solution could play out for them. This is where examples, specificity, and proof matter, such as: 

• The types of clients you work with
• The situations they’re in
• What changes for them
• What this actually looks like in practice

If your potential client can picture it, they’re more likely to see how you could help them. 

If they can’t? That’s where hesitation sets in, and they may go looking for something that feels like a better fit.

Remember, in the side eye economy, they’re not just evaluating you; they’re thinking about everything else they’ve already tried. So your positioning needs to deliver context.

For example, if someone has already gone through the annual report process and it was slow, messy, and took up way too much of their time…

And your positioning sounds like: “I design annual reports.”

They’re going to assume it’s more of the same. But if instead you say: “I help teams deliver their annual reports on time without endless revisions or last-minute drama.” 

That feels different and could work for them, as it solves the problem and shows how it does. 

Step #4: Why Would I Choose You?

Your potential client is getting a little closer to the point where they’re ready to have a conversation with you. But at this point, you’re still not the only option.

And this is where Easy Yes Energy really matters.

Because your potential client isn’t trying to figure out who’s the #1 person in the world, they’re trying to figure out who they can say yes to.

At this stage, your job isn’t just to show that you’re qualified. It’s to make it easy for them to think:  “This makes sense. This feels right. This is who I should talk to.”

While you need to ensure people understand that you’re an expert at what you do, you can’t rely purely on your experience or credentials. That information alone doesn’t help someone decide to work with you.

Easy Yes Energy at this stage comes from showing them why you in a way that feels specific to them and their situation.

That means going beyond the basics and sharing your point of view and approach, including: 

• What do you believe is different?
• How do you solve this problem differently?
• Why does your way work, especially for someone like them?

This is the difference between being one of the options and being the one they choose to talk to, and ultimately, hire.

Step #5: Should I Do This Now?

Now we’re at the final step in the consideration journey: whether to reach out to you now.

Most positioning ignores this and stops at what you do and who it’s for. But in the side-eye economy, it’s easier for people to default to not deciding, so your positioning needs to create a reason to move now.

I’m not talking about some bro-marketing bullshit urgency tactics, but about positioning the problem so the cost of waiting is visible.

Without it, there’s no reason to decide; they delay. If there’s no reason to act now, there’s no reason to decide, so you end up stuck in the maybe pile. 

Easy Yes Energy here comes from helping your potential clients see: 

• Why this matters right now
• The cost of not addressing it 

That helps your clients make the right decision for them right now, rather than defaulting to “maybe later.”

From the Maybe Pile to Easy Yes

Being chosen isn’t about one moment. It’s about how you guide someone through each step of their consideration journey, supported by your positioning. 

When you’re able to answer the five questions I shared in this episode, it’s easy for clients to say yes to you because they feel confident that you’re the right choice. 

So if you’re not getting inquiries, or you’re getting the wrong ones, or people are getting all the way to a call and not choosing you…

It’s likely that somewhere in the consideration journey, your positioning isn’t doing what you need it to do for you and your business. 

Because being chosen isn’t about convincing someone. It’s about making the decision to work with you an easy yes.

Here’s the question I want you to think about: If more people found you today…would they actually say yes?

If you’re not sure how to answer that, I’ve got you.

On Wednesday, April 8th, I’m dropping a bonus episode in the Easy Yes Energy series about the blocks that stall your marketing and sales and what to do about them.

It’s the perfect follow-up to this episode, especially if you’re feeling like you’ve got work to do on your Easy Yes Energy.

If you’re ready to fix your Easy Yes Energy this spring, doors to the Staying Solo Squad open Monday, April 13th.

When you join us, you’ll start by creating your Easy Yes Action Plan, a simple plan to strengthen the parts of your business that help the right clients recognize you, respect you, and reach out.

Get on the wait list now, and you’ll get an exclusive bonus when you join us.