How to spot business opportunities in repeated client questions

There’s free market research happening in every discovery call, consultation, or casual client conversation – and most of us ignore it completely.

I’m talking about the questions prospects keep asking. The things they assume you don’t do. The services they ask about that you brush off with “sorry, I don’t offer that.”

Those repeated questions aren’t annoying interruptions. They’re showing you exactly what people need that you’re not providing.

It could be a service you could easily add. It could be clearer messaging on your website. It could be a massive gap in your market that nobody’s filling properly.

Here’s how this shows up in different businesses:

My wonderful VA Erin used to ‘only’ manage my diary, inbox, and social media scheduling. But I needed her to help out with editing some videos and putting them into templates. At first she said she didn’t do that, so I was going to pay someone else to do it. Then Erin decided to learn how to do it, and now she does all my video editing (and my testimonial interviews too). Not only is this amazing for me, she can offer the services to new clients as well.

A personal trainer told me clients kept asking “what should I eat?” during sessions. He’d give basic advice but say nutrition planning wasn’t his thing. After the twentieth person asked, he worked out they wanted meal guidance from someone who already understood their fitness goals. Now he offers nutrition plans alongside training and clients get better results.

A bookkeeper I know kept getting asked “what does this mean for my tax return?” She’d say she just did the books, they’d need to ask their accountant. But clients kept pushing because they wanted to understand their numbers now, not wait for the annual accountant meeting. She learned enough about tax basics to have those conversations and now clients value her much more than “someone who just enters numbers.”

I learned this myself

Years ago, I’d finish an SEO project and tell clients “you need regular blog posts optimised for search intent.” They’d nod, agree it was important, then ask “can you write them?”

I’d say no. I was an SEO consultant, not a copywriter. Different skill. Different service.

Except it kept happening. Every single time, clients would ask if I could write the content I was recommending. They didn’t want to manage two different people. They wanted someone who could do both.

Eventually I worked out that what sounded like “can you write my blog posts?” was them saying “I’d pay you more money to solve this whole problem, not just point out what’s broken.”

So I learned to write properly. Added copywriting to my services. Started charging for content as well as SEO and strategy.

Then something else started happening – old SEO clients would send me content someone else had written and ask “can you SEO this?”

I’d have to pull it apart, restructure it for search intent, optimise it properly – sometimes rewriting huge chunks whilst trying not to lose their tone of voice or meaning. It was harder than writing from scratch, but they kept asking.

Because what they really wanted was someone who understood both SEO and content/copy – not a writer who’d add some keywords, and not an SEO who’d make everything sound like a robot wrote it to fit keywords in.

The gap you might be missing

When prospects keep asking if you offer something you don’t, that’s not them being awkward. That’s them telling you there’s a gap.

Maybe it’s a natural extension of what you already do. Maybe it’s something you could learn. Maybe it’s something you’re already halfway capable of but haven’t packaged as a service.

Or maybe it’s a sign that your messaging isn’t clear – they can’t tell what you do and don’t offer.

Either way, those repeated questions deserve attention. They’re free research into what your market needs.

Stop brushing them off. Start asking yourself why they keep coming up.

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For copywriters reading this

If clients keep asking “can you help with SEO?” – that’s not annoying, that’s an opportunity.

They’re telling you they’d rather pay one person to write content AND make sure it ranks than juggle a copywriter and an SEO person who might contradict each other.

SEO isn’t some mysterious dark art that requires a computer science degree. It’s a learnable skill that pairs naturally with copywriting. And clients will pay properly for someone who can do both.

That’s exactly why I created Ascend.

It’s a 6-month programme for copywriters who want to add proper SEO services – not just “I can write SEO-friendly copy.”

If you’re a copywriter who wants ongoing retainer work instead of one-off projects, Ascend might be for you.