"We Tried That, and It Didn’t Work” – How to Overcome Resistance to Change

The most interesting part of my work is consulting on business growth. I’ve done it for a couple of years as an extension to generating leads using Google Ads.

One thing still amazes me: people pay for my advice - then ignore it completely. Sometimes they’ll dismiss my suggestions without a second thought.

It took me a long time to realize that resisting change is as human as hoarding cables from old gadgets.

We avoid change instinctively - even when we know we have to change to get what we want.

Over time, I found a more effective way to help clients change. (I can’t take credit for it - I’m sure I read it somewhere.) Let me tell you about it.

I’ve been working with an immigration law firm for a long time. Google Ads has been profitable for them. The owner recently set an ambitious goal to grow the business. We met to discuss scaling up their Google Ads to generate a lot more leads.

He had budgeted for the extra ad spend, but I spotted a problem: scaling up required far more cash than just what Google would charge. You see, although Google Ads is profitable, it doesn’t immediately improve cash flow.

Their clients pay in three equal instalments:

1. Initial payment on signing the contract.
2. A second payment on submission of the paperwork. This usually comes 3–4 months after the first payment.
3. The final payment on approval - about six months after submission.

The initial payment isn’t enough to cover the costs of acquiring the client and preparing the submission. We worked out that the firm would need enough cash to cover the advertising and operational costs for about three months.

When I suggested increasing the first payment to cover these costs, my client immediately dismissed the idea, saying, “We tried that, and it didn’t work.”

In the past, I would have pushed back. But I’ve learned that arguing just makes people cling to their opinions like a toddler with their favourite toy.

Instead, I took a different approach. At our next meeting, I asked, “What would have to be true for us to be cash flow positive on the first payment?”

This question doesn’t imply immediate change, so it’s a lot less threatening. It doesn’t trigger defensiveness.

In our case, the answers were something along the lines of:

• The first instalment would have to be higher.
• The cost to win a client (advertising + sales team) would have to be lower.
• The cost of preparing the application would have to be lower.
• Or some combination of the above.

But, it’s not just that this question stops people being defensive, it can surface ideas. And, it lead us to a breakthrough: we restructured the payment plan into four stages:

1. An initial payment on signing the contract. This covers the advertising and sales costs.
2. A second payment when the client has provided all the required documents. No work on preparing the submission starts until the second payment.
3. The third payment on submission, as before.
4. And the last on approval, again as before.

The change fixes the cash flow problem and allows the business to grow without having to borrow a lot of money.

Next time you face resistance to change, try asking: “What would have to be true?” You might be surprised at the answers.

Related articles

The book I couldn't write today

Online advertising sprays data everywhere

Ignore the AI hype. Watch the engineering.

You can't afford to be sloppy anymore

Tried to Fix Lead-to-Sale with Software. Here's What Actually Happened.

3 thought-provoking questions

Topics you'll find on this site