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It doesn’t matter whether you’re brand new in business or you’re an advanced entrepreneur with momentum and leverage working for you, you’re frequently engaging in a conversation with prospective clients.
And when you have a step by step template to follow, you can predict with extraordinary accuracy how many of these “Discovery session” conversations will turn into paying clients.
Which is one of my secret strategies to accomplishing two critical goals as a woman entrepreneur. First, to smooth out your cash flow with a steady stream of ideal clients.
And second, to help you increase your income as you raise your fees and gain more momentum with your marketing.
Ultimately, the goal in a Discovery session is to transform ideal candidates into paying clients, so it’s important to understand that this conversation isn’t just a friendly chat and it’s not “free coaching”.
The key part of any Discovery session is to make an offer.
Remember: you’re helping a potential client find a solution to their situation. If you freeze when it comes time to offering your service, you deny them the gift of transformation they so desperately want…and that your work can deliver for them.
Fortunately, there is an easy way to smoothly transition when the moment comes to make your offer. Here are 3 simple tips to immediately help you with this.
Tip #1 – Take Control Of The Conversation Right From The Beginning
Give your prospective client a brief description of the session outline at the beginning of the call. For example, you might say:
“We have about 30 minutes together and in this time we’re going to discover in-depth what your current situation is and then see if there’s a fit for how I can help you solve that problem so you can get what you want.”
This step establishes you as the leader of the conversation, a place from which it is much easier to make an offer.
Tip #2 – Turn Problems Into Possibilities
While it’s crucial you get your prospective client to deeply discuss the challenges they’re experiencing, if you let them go into a “well of despair” they won’t believe they can get what they want when you make your offer.
Instead, keep listening for what’s possible for them while they’re sharing their “pain”. This will give you the information you need to confidently tell them they CAN achieve their goals and to help them feel relief when they hear your offer.
Tip #3 – Convert Their Pain Into A Cost
Clients often don’t realize the extent of what their situation is costing them. As an objective observer, you can walk them through seeing the tangible costs of not making a change. This approach works brilliantly, even if your service is softer and is not directly focused on generating income.
When seen from a financial perspective, your prospective client is more likely to want to take action to resolve their problem. Show them this connection and you’ll automatically increase your success rate in transforming potential clients from interested to invested…with you!
