Why Your Customers Aren’t Buying (And What to Do About It) with Kristin Zhivago
Episode Overview
You might be spending thousands on marketing and still leaving money on the table—not because your product isn’t good, but because you’re talking to people you don’t really know.
In this episode, Stephanie sits down with Kristin Zhivago, revenue systems architect and president of Zhivago Partners, to talk about what’s actually getting in the way of your sales. Kristin has spent decades interviewing customers, identifying hidden sales stoppers, and helping companies remove friction from their buying process—and the results speak for themselves. One of her clients went from stalled to a Microsoft acquisition.
If you want to grow revenue without throwing more money at ads that aren’t working, this conversation is going to change how you think about your customers, your marketing, and your message. We dig into what buyers are actually thinking when they decide to purchase, why most small businesses are promoting the wrong things, and how a handful of customer conversations can unlock the clarity your marketing has been missing.
Whether you’re a home service business, a B2B company, or somewhere in between, the insights in this episode are practical, eye-opening, and immediately actionable.
Check out our discussion on Revenue Friction
Listen to our discussion on Revenue Friction
Show Notes
Kristin Zhivago has spent decades doing something most businesses skip entirely: actually talking to customers. As a revenue systems architect and founder of Zhivago Partners, she helps companies identify the hidden friction that’s slowing down sales—and then removes it. In this episode, she walks Stephanie through the buyer’s mindset framework, explains why most marketing misses the mark, and shares a client story that resulted in a company being sold to Microsoft. If your revenue isn’t growing the way you’d expect, this episode is worth your full attention.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
Why the real problem with selling isn’t selling—it’s making it hard for people to buy
The three-part buyer mindset framework: desires, concerns, and specific questions
Why you should interview your customers before spending another dollar on marketing
How to conduct customer interviews that get honest, actionable answers
The difference between a baseline industry promise and a real competitive advantage
Why getting the message right always comes before choosing your marketing channels
How to identify “sales stoppers” hiding inside your own business
Key Takeaways:
Your customers have already done most of their research before they ever talk to you—your job is to meet them where they are, not drag them back to the beginning of your sales process
Promoting the wrong thing (even something impressive) can quietly kill your growth—customers only care about what solves their problem
You only need five to seven customer interviews to get bankable insights—this is not a massive research project
Marketing makes promises. Your business either keeps them or breaks them. Broken promises are a slow death.
Message first, channels second. A great channel with a bad message still fails.
Don’t spend another dollar on marketing until you truly understand what your customers were thinking before they bought
Resources Mentioned:
- Roadmap to Revenue: How to Sell the Way Your Customers Want to Buy by Kristin Zhivago (available on Amazon)
- Zhivago Partners website: zhivago partners.com
- Kristin Zhivago on LinkedIn
Final Thoughts
Revenue growth doesn’t always come from spending more, sometimes it comes from listening more. Kristin’s approach is a reminder that the best business decisions start with understanding the people already choosing to buy from you. Before your next marketing investment, consider picking up her book or reaching out for a customer interview. The answers you need might already be sitting in your customer base, waiting to be asked.
