People don’t simply want you to solve their problem:
A friend of mine who is a landscaper once told me that when he first meets potential clients they are often embarrassed by the condition of their property. When he senses this, he immediately points out how many of the problems with their property are due to such things as drought conditions, bad soil conditions and the like. In other words, the condition of their property doesn’t say anything negative about the potential client. It isn’t their fault! How important is this subtle change in strategy? He told me that the number of people he secured as clients increased significantly once he realized that people often not only want their property to look nicer, but don’t want to accept responsibility for it looking poor in the first place.