Why “Not Now” Could Be Your Biggest Sales Opportunity

Most businesses spend a lot of time thinking about one question:

How do we get more leads?

More traffic. More inquiries. More conversations. More people entering the pipeline.

But what if some of your best opportunities are already there?

That question came into focus during Episode 2 of Your Next Customer, when Leadstra’s Dave Anderson sat down with Tom Britt of the Towne Post Network.

Their conversation started with community marketing and the evolution of Towne Post, but it eventually uncovered something much bigger: a group of potential customers who have already expressed interest, already had a conversation, and already demonstrated a need—but weren’t ready to buy.

They’re the people who said:

“Not now.”

And treating “not now” as “never” could be an expensive mistake.

From a Community Website to 19 Local Magazines

Tom Britt launched what eventually became Towne Post in 2004 as a community website.

Since then, the organization has grown into a network of 19 community magazines serving markets across Indiana and the Louisville area.

But describing Towne Post simply as a magazine company misses an important part of its business.

Its franchisees aren’t simply selling print advertising. They work with local businesses as marketing consultants, helping companies build awareness and generate business through a combination of community publications, digital services, and marketing guidance.

That creates an interesting sales challenge.

Towne Post may offer one collection of marketing solutions, but the businesses buying those solutions can be dramatically different.

Your Customers Don’t All Buy for the Same Reason

Consider four potential Towne Post advertisers:

A dentist.

A restaurant.

A realtor.

A car dealership.

All four may want more customers.

But that doesn’t mean they have the same problem.

It doesn’t mean they’re motivated by the same things.

And it certainly doesn’t mean they should receive the same sales message.

One business might need immediate leads.

Another may be entering a new market.

Another might be trying to increase awareness.

And another may value the credibility and community visibility that comes from consistently appearing in a trusted local publication.

That’s an important distinction.

What you sell may remain the same. Why people buy it can be completely different.

Understanding that difference can change how a business approaches its marketing.

Instead of asking only, “Who is our target customer?” a better set of questions might be:

Why are they looking for us?

What changed that caused them to start looking?

What problem are they actually trying to solve?

And what would make solving that problem important today rather than six months from now?

The Opportunity Hiding Behind “Not Now”

That led the conversation to what Leadstra describes as the 30% opportunity.

Imagine someone responds to your marketing.

They talk with your company.

They appear to have a legitimate need.

But they don’t buy.

There can be dozens of reasons.

The timing isn’t right.

The budget isn’t available.

Another priority suddenly becomes more urgent.

They aren’t convinced yet.

They need more information.

Or they’re simply not ready to make the decision.

None of those necessarily mean the prospect will never become a customer.

They may simply mean:

Not now.

That’s an important group to understand because you’ve already done some of the hardest work.

They know you exist.

You’ve already created enough interest to start a conversation.

And you’ve learned something about what they need.

Starting over with a completely new audience isn’t necessarily the only path to the next sale.

What Could That 30% Be Worth?

During the episode, Dave and Tom worked through Towne Post’s numbers.

Using the assumptions discussed in their conversation, approximately 1,300 prospects would need to be touched to generate the desired number of conversations.

Around 30% of that group represents roughly 399 people who deserve additional attention.

Then they looked at what could happen if even a portion of those prospects eventually converted.

Based on the assumptions used during the discussion, the potential annual client value approached $590,000.

That isn’t a prediction or guarantee.

It’s an illustration of something businesses frequently overlook:

There can be enormous value sitting inside an existing pipeline.

The immediate instinct when sales slow is often to pour more prospects into the top of the funnel.

Sometimes that’s exactly what’s needed.

But before spending more money acquiring another thousand names, it makes sense to understand what happened to the people who already raised their hands.

Stop Sending Everyone the Same Message

There’s another problem with simply putting old prospects into a generic email campaign.

They aren’t all the same.

The dentist who needs more patients isn’t necessarily motivated by the same thing as the restaurant trying to fill tables on Tuesday nights.

Their industries are different.

Their buying motivations are different.

Their urgency is different.

Their personalities may even affect how they evaluate information.

During the conversation, Dave and Tom discussed DISC profiles as one example of how people process sales and marketing messages differently.

The larger lesson isn’t that every company needs a complicated personality assessment.

It’s that relevance matters.

A prospect should feel like you’re talking about their problem—not simply sending them another marketing message.

Build a “Not Now” Campaign

By the end of the episode, Tom had a clear 90-day priority:

Go back to the 30%.

But importantly, the solution wasn’t simply, “Send more email.”

The opportunity is to build a thoughtful reengagement campaign using multiple forms of communication.

That could include:

• Personalized email based on the prospect’s original need.
• A phone call that starts with their situation rather than a sales pitch.
• A handwritten note.
• Relevant educational content.
• A customer story from a similar business.
• A check-in triggered by an appropriate amount of time.
• Different messages based on the prospect’s industry or reason for originally reaching out.

The objective isn’t to chase someone until they buy.

It’s to remain useful and relevant until their “not now” becomes:

“Now might be the right time.”

The Next Customer May Already Know You

There’s a simple exercise almost any business can do after listening to this episode.

Look at the people your sales team spoke with during the past year who didn’t become customers.

Remove the people who clearly weren’t a fit.

Then look closely at everyone else.

Why didn’t they buy?

What did they need?

When did you last contact them?

What has changed since then?

And most importantly:

Have you given them a good reason to talk with you again?

Businesses will always need new prospects.

But your next customer doesn’t necessarily need to be someone you’ve never met.

They might already know your company.

They might already understand what you do.

They might even already believe they need what you’re selling.

They just weren’t ready the first time you asked.

And that’s a very different marketing problem.

Your Next Customer is a Leadstra series built around a simple idea: four questions can uncover what’s keeping a business from reaching its next customer.

Four questions. One diagnosis.