Podcast 48: How to Use Discovery Calls to Find Clients

business finding clients podcast selling Jan 14, 2021

Do you speak to your clients before you work with them? Is it just an informal chat with you waiting to see if they book in with you? If this sounds familiar, you’re missing out on an amazing opportunity.

Discovery or exploration calls are a brilliant way to get to know potential clients, and importantly let them know how you can help them.

Having a plan for your calls will help you and your prospective client make the most of your time together.

What is a discovery call?

A discovery call is a sales call, but they don’t have to be pushy or leave you or your potential client feeling icky. They are simply a way of connecting with a prospective client and seeing if you are a good fit for each other.

What a discovery call is not

The discovery call is not about trying to solve a person's problems. That’s your job once they’re working with you, and paying you for your time and expertise.

Often, practitioners spend too long trying to provide solutions in the call, rather than using it as an opportunity to get to know them.

Booking a discovery call

Make it easy for your clients to book a call. If it takes too much effort, it will be a barrier and they will find someone else to help them.

Automated scheduling systems like Acuity or Calendly are perfect for this. You provide a link, and they book straight into your diary at a convenient time.

You can also use them to gather the information that will help you make the most of the call. A great question to include here is how they found out about you as it will help you understand what marketing is working.

Prepare clients for the call

Once someone has booked in to speak with you, it’s a great opportunity to let them know about you and your services. Testimonials from happy clients and links to useful content in the confirmation emails will help to build trust.

Have a plan

Whilst your call shouldn’t be scripted, having a structure will help you cover everything you want to during the call.

Set the scene for the call so they know what to expect. This is to find out whether you are a good fit to work together and whether you’re able to help them.

Listen to their problem - use this as an opportunity to really understand the problem your prospective client is facing. People love to talk about their problems so give them the space to do this and they will feel heard but make sure you don’t spend all your time here.
Ask questions - what do you need to know to make sure this client is right for you? They provide an opportunity to understand whether this is a priority for the client and how ready they are to work with you. Questions you could ask include:
- Where are you struggling most with this problem?
- What have you tried before to resolve it?
- How would life be if this was no longer an issue for you?
- Do you have the budget/time to invest in your health at the moment?
Offer your solution – focus on the benefits of your solution rather than just the features. A feature is part of your service, the benefit is the impact it will have on your client – it's the reason why they'll become a client, they connect at an emotional level. For example, a feature is a 1:1 health coaching appointment, the benefit is being supported to eat healthily to achieve your goal weight.

Tell them the next step – you need to tell the prospective client what to do next to work with you. Make sure they know

Are they right for you too?

Remember this call is about making sure you’re a good fit for each other. If you feel you’re not right, walk away and make any suggestions you feel would help them.

We’ve all been there trying to help someone that instinctively doesn’t feel right for us, especially when starting out. Those are the relationships that are more challenging ones, and you’ll feel like you’re not doing your best work. Discovery calls are a perfect way to help you avoid this happening in the future.

Follow up

If you've had a call with someone, remember to follow up as people are busy and they may just have forgotten to book. This can be as simple as a quick email asking if they have any questions. This can be the difference between you finding another client and not.

Are you struggling to find clients for your holistic business? Book a discovery call with me and find out how I can help you.