Practical Sales Training™ > How To Lose The Sale > The “Anything/Anyone” Problem
The “Anything/Anyone” Problem
Sounding like you help everyone sounds great. It just doesn’t sell.
If your offer works for anyone, doing anything, your buyer has to do the hard part. They must figure out where they fit.
What Is It
The anything/anyone problem happens when your offer feels too broad. So buyers can’t quickly see themselves inside it.
It makes life exciting for you. But it makes life harder for them.
Why Does It Work
Selling is about connection, not capability. So the connection point matters more than the offer itself.
That point mixes what you do with what it means for them. If you leave that translation to them, you’re leaving the sale to chance.
Since most buyers won’t do that work themselves, they simply walk away confused instead of interested.
How Can You Use It
To fix this, you need specificity. So give your buyer something narrow enough to grab onto.
Give A Range Or Scope
Give buyers a clear range or scope of what’s possible. So instead of “anything,” show them the edges of what you actually do.
A defined range feels safer than an open one. Buyers trust boundaries more than promises.
Name The Problems You Solve
Tell buyers the problems you solve, named clearly. So instead of describing features, describe the pain that goes away.
A named problem is instantly recognisable. Vague capability rarely is.
Be Clear On Who It’s For
Be specific about who your offering is for. So describe the buyer, not the offer itself.
Once someone recognises themselves in that description, the rest of your pitch becomes easier to hear.
Better yet, use all three together. Scope, problem and person reinforce each other.
When It Works Best
This shows up most with broad platforms, wide service lists and flexible tools. So the more your offer can do, the harder it becomes to explain simply.
It also appears in new categories, where buyers lack the language. Since there’s no shortcut, you have to build the connection yourself.
When It Becomes Dangerous
It becomes dangerous when buyers give up translating before they ever reach you. So a competitor with a narrower, clearer pitch wins by default.
It also costs you time in every conversation. Since you end up explaining capability instead of closing on relevance.
Common Mistakes
Trying To Appeal To Everyone
Some businesses try to appeal to everyone at once. So the message gets watered down until it means very little to anyone.
Confusing Capability With Appeal
Some confuse broad capability with broad appeal. Being able to do everything isn’t the same as being right for everyone.
Leaving The Translation To The Buyer
Some leave the translation work entirely to the buyer. So the buyer quietly picks a competitor who did that work for them.
The “Anything/Anyone” Problem – An Example
ChatGPT And The Rise Of Prompts
We can see this happen in real time with tools like ChatGPT. It can do so much that some people simply don’t know where to start.
That gap created an entire market for “prompts”. Prewritten examples that remove the thinking and get people moving straight away.
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