Why Prospects Aren’t Becoming Clients on Your Discovery Calls

Are You Sending The Right Message?

Your online scheduler says it’s a 15 minute call with you

So when your prospect scheduled that meeting with you, the message she got that was that this wouldn’t be a serious decision-making call and more like a quick meet and greet. 

And then when you kept the conversation going for 20-30 minutes or more after the 15 minutes that she has marked in her calendar–without getting agreement from her about it–she couldn’t help but wonder about your seeming lack of boundaries, process, or honor for other people’s time and schedules. 

What would it be like to work with you if you don’t even stick to the boundaries that you yourself put in place? Why do you schedule a 15 minute call if it’s not a 15 minute call? Something’s not right here, and she feels it.

Who’s Leading Who?

You’re not leading the conversation, and it’s all over the place

Your prospect hops on, excited. She’s got a problem and is looking for solutions, and maybe you’ll be the one that can help.

But what she gets feels more like a gab session, without a plan, a sequence, or flow that shows her you know how to assess a client’s needs. Sure you ask questions, gathering tidbits of information here and there, but they feel random and the conversation is not illuminating in any way for her. 

She came here to find out if you can help her. Your website showed her that you definitely have the hard skills that she’s looking for. But your lack of structure and leadership on the call felt like a waste of her time – making it impossible for her to even consider moving forward from here. 

You Haven’t Built Enough Trust Yet

Your eagerness to be friendly, to be liked, and to try and get her as a client

When you say you’d “LOVE” to work with her, even though you barely got to know her, comes off as disingenuous and eager for the sale – which is probably the opposite of what you’re going for with that line.

Because all you had was a fairly brief and superficial conversation, with no structure and no leadership, she does not feel that you’ve really seen, heard, or understood her. You’ve not built the know-like-trust factor enough for her to take a step forward with you. (Key word: enough.)

To be clear: she thinks you’re really nice and friendly! You achieved that. She hears that you’d “LOVE” to work with her. But that’s just not enough for her to move forward with spending thousands of dollars with you. 

You Got Ahead of Yourself

You send a proposal or intake form or invoice as a follow-up to the conversation, even though she didn’t ask for that

You told her that’s what you’d do, because that’s your process, because you don’t know how to make the sale on the call. And so you’re thinking (or you’ve been taught) that if you send the proposal and then keep following up, maybe you’ll get a new client out of it. If it’s happened like that before, surely it can happen again, right?

To her, the fact that you sent these details, when she didn’t explicitly ask for them herself, just reinforces the feeling that you’re not on the same page as her. You’re way ahead of her in the decision process, she doesn’t really know you or trust you yet, and now you’ve triggered the push-pull dynamic: you’re clear that you want to work with her, and she’s not at all clear that she wants to work with you, so she feels you pushing– and will therefore pull away. (That’s what’s happening when they ghost you.)

What Happens Next?

So what do you experience as a result?

• You probably hear lots of “I’ll think about and be in touch” on your calls, but many (or most) of those people never actually do get back to you
• You have created (or want to create) a follow-up system for reaching back out to these people every X number of days or weeks because…isn’t that how you get them as clients, by following up? 
• You have unpredictable and inconsistent income from your business
• You’re not making as much money as you’d like or need
• Your business primarily gets short-term engagements with clients (that don’t commit to the bigger, more meaningful, long-term services you offer)– and you basically have to re-sell to them every time they need something new

Does Any Of That Sound Familiar?

If any of this describes you, you are not alone. I see it all the time. But although it’s common, it’s a major hindrance to your business growth and is definitely holding you back, especially if you’re highly-skilled at what you do and know you’re services can really help people.

So I want to tell you that:

• It’s time to learn a better way. Your business growth is severely limited right now and your income doesn’t reflect your skill level
• You can make sales of your full-shebang premium packages right there on the call– like, you get the payment on the call and start right then (really)
• You can fill your business or practice with ideal, long-term clients this way (and shut that revolving door of short-term engagements that are frankly more energy than they’re worth)

I can help you learn how to master the techniques of a powerful and effective sales process that builds trust and connection – to easily enroll motivated, aligned clients who experience the best results and happily pay for your long-term services. Schedule a discovery call to learn more.