Wouldn’t be great if we could convert calls into clients without having to be a sales ninja… the good news is you can! It’s my goal for every one of my clients to have hot leads on their calls WANTING to buy from you before they even click the zoom link!
In this episode I share with you HOW you can do exactly that and the most important parts of the client journey that you need to get right to see more clients on calls and saying the all important YES word.
Listen to the podcast in the player above or read the blog below.
Convert calls into clients
Recently, I’ve been bringing a new client into the Elevate programme. I have worked with this client on an intensive before and I’m really excited to help her elevate her business over the next 12 months.
Part of this process is to go through and look at where her leaky buckets are. This is something that you can do as well in your business – if you are feeling like you want to reach a goal but are not getting there fast. It helps you work out what is not working and helps you focus your time. I can have a no pressure chat with you here, if you want to find out where your leaky buckets are.
One of the things that came up for this client was sales calls. The client is not getting as many as she would like. Her email marketing was not converting into calls. And while she is getting people signing up to her lead magnet, it is not converting into those crucial sales calls. Once on the calls, she was not converting her leads.
Sometimes the reason for not moving forward is because the technicalities are not correct. You may not be being as clear or the process isn’t working. For example, with this client they had a ‘skip this step’ in their sales funnel. So people were skipping an important step.
It may well being something obvious in your process that you cannot see. Often having an outside person look and test what it is you do can bring this out so that you can fix it.
Pro tip: make sure that you test your systems. Get someone to sit with you and walk through those systems and processes so you can see how a user uses it. It helps pull out any questions or problems in your sales funnel.
Pre-qualify your calls
One of the leaky buckets is not enough people signing up for calls but at the same time there is no pre-qualification questionnaire on these calls. I have a tight pre-qualification questionnaire. We need to be careful how we position calls to convert into clients.
If it is a brain-picking call – where someone uses it to get your expertise – this comes out if there is any woolliness around the purpose of the call. You may find that you get more brain-pickers than leads. The purpose of the call should be clearly about talking about you programmes, working together and if they are suitable fit.
There is zero-pressure to say yes but looking at the roadmap about how you would work together. You would have a basic blueprint on how you would move forward based on the information shared on the call. You need to draw a line on specific scenarios as this is what paying clients pay for.
It is about being clear on your boundaries so when you get brain-pickers, you have a way of drawing that line.
If you are not clear about what the call is about, you can deter actual clients who may want to work with you. They will not understand what the call is about and what will happen so may not book in the first place.
Getting fence-sitters to jump in
One way to get fence-sitters to jump in is through using pre-qualification questionnaires so that they have a ball park figure of your pricing. They can then understand if you are within their budget. Or you have a range of prices. It avoids embarrassment and expectations and boundaries are set.
I put boundaries in place so that those calls go as successfully as possible. Everyone involved knows what is expected and there is no confusion or surprises. You can find out if you book a call.
But getting fence-sitters to the point to book a call – you will need to answer their worries and objections. The problem of getting enough calls is all to do with how you nurture your prospects before they even get to the call link. When they reach that call link, they need to want to book a call with you.
Nurturing before the call
What we don’t want is to coax people onto a call and then switch it into a sales call. We need to be clear and want them to buy from us. In order to do this, we need to be sure that everything we give them upfront is priceless. It is pure gold that helps them overcome their objections and know that you are the one they want to work with.
For example, I launched this podcast and am on over 80 episodes where people get to know me, build trust in me. They can hear my voice and understand the knowledge I have and the expertise that I hold. Over time, they will build up a relationship with me without my even knowing about it.
You do not need to launch a podcast to do this. There are many other ways. You can run live series, or Q&As, writing consistent blogs. There are different ways to build this. Audio and visual is one of the best ways to nurture. While written content is great, audio and visual content breaks down a wall between you and your audience. It will supercharge your content.
When you don’t have this nurturing working well and converting before the call, we have to rely on ninja sales tactics on the call. If you get it right on the front-end, then it is very difficult to mess it up on the call. You have done the work already so they know they want to buy from you. When you try nurture on the call, you end up giving away too much that should be covered by paid work.
Creating a one-way system on your nurturing before the call avoids any back and forth. Your expertise as a coach, expert and trainer, are the best thing. Your accountability and help to implement that is pure gold. You want to reserve most of this for your paying clients.
You want to avoid giving half an answer. This is something I have seen with clients before where they have given away too much on the calls that the prospect has had great results and transformation as a result of that call. They got what they needed from that call.
Nurture an audience rather than one specific person. When you do this, you do not have to be the best sales person when you have someone on the call.
How can you nurture people in the front end?
Email is a great support mechanism for this. Part of my Evolve and Elevate Strategy Sessions is that email is not dead and can be a great nurture for people. You should not rely solely on email marketing. There are other ways in which you can do this, whether that is personal outreach or video email versus the written word. You may wish to send personal voice notes.
This may seem old fashioned but it works. People buy from people and conversations sell. If you can get into conversation about how you can help, then your leads are going to be more willing to get into those sales conversations with you.
You can do this in a group. My podcast it the way I do this in my business. There are other mediums you can use that may be right for your business.
Demonstrate the transformation
However you decide to nurture your leads, you need to think about ‘how am I demonstrating the transformation I deliver? And do people understand the return on investment that I am giving to them?’
I’ve spotted in content that they have lots of it but are not focussed on demonstrating the transformation they deliver. While they have lovely messages in there, it does not demonstrate the transformation.
Show them the consequences of not taking action
Your nurture sequences need to show your leads the consequences of not taking action on their problem. What is the impact for them if they start as they are or don’t take any action? There could be detrimental effect in going backwards or the impact of staying the same. You need to explain to people why they need to take the action.
Chances are that your leads do not understand the impact of taking action. You, as the expert, are the person with the foresight of this and need to use this to create awareness. You can spot the mistakes before they do. Give them a reason to move forward so they are not in a worse place as a result of inaction.
Objections
What are the objections that your prospective clients have to working with you and buying your product? It could be around their own self-belief. You can use your nurture sequence to help them find that self-belief. Or it could be an objection on time or worried about how taking those steps will impact family, finances and mindset. They may be unclear on whether it is the right thing for them.
You can create content around specific products that you offer. This can help towards the end of your funnel when people are sitting on the fence. It can help people make a good decision. Some people are too scared to have a conversation because they don’t like saying ‘no’. Delivering that information to them, helps them make that decision.
Brainstorm the objections and the reasons someone would reject you. Welcome that rejection and think about what it is that you can do to help them believe in themselves and understand this is the right thing for them. If people do say no to you on a sales call, you want to be asking them why. Gather that intelligence so you can overcome future objections and use it when you nurture leads.
The demonstration of your skills can be toned down. It does not need to make up a large proportion of your content. You can show your results and case studies to help people to see what is missing and what they have not been doing.
Understand what is missing
It is crucial for your prospects to understand what is missing and where they have been going wrong. And you do this as you nurture your leads. Show them they have the Unique Magic Bullet they can use. It is the science behind why what you do works and why your way will help them achieve their goals. Many people will be sceptical so educate them on your unique way of doing things and how it will work.
This will help your audience understand why they need it and why it is unique to you. If the solution is unique to you, then when someone joins your sales call they already know they need what you deliver and no one else can do that.
Overall, make sure your front end works for you so you don’t have to work as hard on those sales calls. That is the main message to take from this episode.
Useful links:
Book a Call with Jen – bit.ly/claritycallpodcast
Download my FREE Seven Figure Market Leader Roadmap –http://www.marketleaderleague.com/marketleaderroadmap/
Send your emails to jen@jen-hall.com
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