Why You Don’t Need Thousands of Sales to Succeed as a Consultant

And Why the “Guru” Way Will Lead You to Burnout

There’s something incredibly liberating about realizing you don’t need to make 2,500 sales a year to succeed.

Let’s look at it plainly: if you’re a consultant or service provider, you might only need twelve sales in a year. Yes—just twelve. That’s one new client per month.

If your clients stick around—and they should, if you’re doing your job well—that’s twelve conversations that can transform your entire income, lifestyle, and business structure. Compare that to the chaos of running a high-volume info-product business, always chasing a new pool of thousands. Which would you rather manage?

Now, here’s the truth: most people are used to the internet marketing machine. Product launches, countdown timers, affiliate hype, and “guru” posturing. We’ve all seen it—and most of us have rolled our eyes at it.

But let me tell you right now: that approach is not just ineffective for consulting—it’s downright damaging.

The Fallacy of the “Significance Model”

In the world of online marketing, the most popular sales method is something I call the Significance Model.

You’ve seen it before:

• “Look at me! I’m amazing!”
  
• “Look at all these amazing things I have!”
  
• “Look at how many other people say I’m amazing!”
  
• “Now, if you want to be amazing like me, give me your money.”
  

Cue the gold-plated unicorns and the rented Lamborghinis.

But let’s pause here. Imagine walking into someone’s living room and leading with:

 “Hi, I’m incredible. Look at my accolades. Look at my fans. Now, give me your money.”

You’d be shown the door before you could say “six-figure funnel.”

That style of self-centered selling doesn’t instill trust. It doesn’t make your prospect feel safe. It doesn’t build a relationship. It reeks of desperation disguised as confidence.

And worst of all, it doesn’t work in high-trust environments like consulting.

Here’s What Actually Works: Confidence Through Contribution

There’s this quote from Diego Rodriguez

“The amount of money someone is willing to pay you will be in direct proportion to the amount of confidence they have in your ability to get them results.”

Think about that.

You don’t build confidence by talking about yourself.

You build it by helping the client solve a real problem.

When people see that you can actually help—when you give value up front, when you understand their situation, when you lead them toward a solution—they begin to trust you. They see you as someone who gets results, not someone performing for clicks.

So, the real question is: how do we build that confidence?

Enter: The Client-Centric Model

Here’s how we do it.

Instead of using the tired guru tactics, we use a Client-Centric Model. 

Here’s what that looks like in action:

1. Stop talking about yourself.
   They don’t care about you. They care about their goals.
   
2. Stop bragging.
   Save the rented cars and Instagram flexing. It’s not impressing real business owners.
   
3. Demonstrate value by actually helping.
   Yes, give something useful first. Provide insight. Share strategy. Offer a taste of the transformation.
   
4. Let them qualify themselves to you.
   Not the other way around. You’re not begging for work; you’re screening for fit.
   
5. Use a collaborative close.
   Instead of a hard sell, have a real conversation. Help them see what’s possible—and what’s next.
   

Think of it this way.

Imagine a zombie apocalypse. You’re trapped in your house with 100 zombies clawing at the windows. Suddenly, Arnold Schwarzenegger bursts in and shoots 50 of them with a futuristic anti-zombie blaster.

Your response wouldn’t be, “Cool gun.”

It would be, “Please, finish the job. Help me!”

That’s exactly how this model works. Help people first, and they’ll ask you to help them more.

Fewer Clients, More Impact

Let’s circle back.

Twelve sales.

That’s what it takes to build a stable, high-value consulting business. One client a month. And when you use the client-centric approach, you won’t need a massive pipeline or a rotating door of customers.

Instead, you’ll build a solid base of long-term clients who stay, pay, and refer others.

So forget the guru model. Forget the hype.

Focus on results. Focus on helping.

And success won’t be a race—it’ll be a relationship.