Most of your market isn't ready. Start the conversation anyway.

Run an ad that says "Call now for a quote" and you're talking to a very small room.

I've been reading Sell Like Crazy by Sabri Suby, who founded the Australian agency King Kong. The idea I keep coming back to is how he splits a market.

According to Suby, only about 3% of a market is ready to buy right now. He breaks the rest down roughly like this:

• 17% are gathering information.
• 20% know they have a problem but aren't looking for a fix yet.
• 60% don't know they have the problem at all.

Most businesses fight over the 3%. Everyone else gets ignored.

The 97% are not a "no"

What Suby is really saying here is that "not now" and "no" are different answers.

Think about what that means for your own numbers. A campaign that brought in only a few calls may still have reached hundreds of future buyers. They just weren't ready that week.

So the real question isn't "why didn't they call?" It's this: what do you give them, so they remember you when they are ready?

Not ready today doesn't mean not yours tomorrow.

Start with one buyer

Suby's starting point is what he calls the dream buyer. A detailed picture of your most valuable customer. What keeps them up at night. Where they spend time online. The words they actually use.

Here's how I'd explain it to an owner. You already carry this person in your head. The client who pays on time, refers others and stays for years. Most ₹5Cr+ owners can describe them in a minute.

The work is getting that picture out of your head and onto paper. So your team and your marketing are talking to the same person you are.

Give before you ask

The next step in the book is the high-value content offer. Something genuinely useful, given free, in exchange for a name and an email. A guide. A checklist. A short training.

I think this is the part most owners skip. It feels like giving away work. But look at who it serves: the 17% who are researching and the 20% who know they have a problem. These people won't call for a quote. They will read something useful.

And once they have, you have a way to stay in touch. When their moment comes, you're not a stranger.

The word that matters is genuinely. If it's a sales brochure dressed up as a guide, they'll know.

Then make the offer hard to refuse

When someone does move into the 3%, Suby's advice is to make the offer easy to say yes to. Clear benefits. Real value. Bonuses. A strong guarantee. Honest scarcity.

That last one matters. What I take from this is that fake deadlines cost more trust than they win. If the offer really closes on a date, say so. If it doesn't, don't pretend.

Try this

Open last month's marketing: your ads, posts, emails and sales messages. For each one, ask a single question: was this speaking only to people ready to buy today?

Then write down one thing you could give the other 97%. Something useful enough that a busy owner would trade their email for it. Make the first version this week. Keep it short.