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It's a real balance, trying to overdeliver and serve without being taken advantage of.
If I understood you well, what I can do is consult with my client AFTER they pay my initial fee, or, at least, after they fill out a questionnaire, is that right?
I represent a number of different services and businesses, most of which could easily be contracted online without ever having to speak with the client and like you, have discovered that the prospective clients that want to 'pick your brain' before signing on are a) never going to spend a dime for your knowledge anyway b) going to be more trouble than they are worth - effectively reducing your hourly pay to about .29¢ an hr.
I don't have the time for lengthy phone chats - and I prefer clients who don't either!
There are certainly times when it is appropriate, and it is harder to enforce the no-call rule when you are still getting established in your particular field (that ol' credibility issue!) but calls should be minimized as much as possible - before and after the sale!
Isn't that what email was invented for? :-)
Yes. The questionnaire does help. I use it all the time.
You can certainly speak to them on the phone prior to the copywriting project. But you can say that phone consultations are reserved for paying clients only.
Therefore, if it's a pre-sale (or initial) consultation BEFORE hiring you, I would charge for this call. You can simple say that, if they decide to go ahead later, you can credit them the cost of the call toward their copywriting project (I would simply quote them the full amount, less the cost of the call).
Basically, if they later become a copywriting client, the call ends up being free.
The beauty of this process, however, is that 1) they must be a client to speak with you on the phone. (If they paid for the call, they are one.) And 2) clients will stick with email if they prefer to avoid the extra cost, and/or value your time more -- whether they use the phone or not.
Again, in my experience, clients who are adamant about using the phone before hiring you is a red flag.
One client once berated me for not picking up the phone prior to hiring me, and hounded me persistently. They expected their initial consultation to be free.
I later found out they went to another copywriter and became a "client from hell."
Now, this is not indicative of all prospects, of course. But a red flag is a red flag. Believe me, the loss of two or three clients doing it this way is little in contrast to the bigger loss of high-maintenance, time-sucking vampires who will keep you from growing in your business.
Value and guard your time like a hawk. You will appreciate it, and your best clients will appreciate it even more.
While I didn't really need permission from someone - I needed permission to do what I've felt I should do for some time now.
It'll actually allow me to not only value my own time and information and 'gifts/skills/talents' more considerably, but also train and set-right how others' view of my skills/time should be best utilized.
key for me: is if i spend all my time on the phone and none in developing new skills/sites/products, then in a shot period of time, I'll not even be called ;)
I think you hit some copywriters straight in the gut with this one. I used to offer a free phone consultation in the beginning as well, and found the exact scenario you painted here.
You might be on the strict side of the phone issue, as mentality plays a big part in controlling the phone calls we receive.
If you can't put down the phone, at least use some variation of
"Mr. Client, this conversation sounds like it's heading towards a marketing consultation, and I am happy to help you grow your business, would you like to schedule a paid phone consult this Friday or next Monday?"
That has always worked for me when a "non-client" calls me up.
Great conversation starter Michel! :)
Joseph Ratliff
Excellent and valuable article. I totally agree with you. I avoid the phone like the plague. I used to have people read about me in some book and they'd call me and feel perfectly free to use up my time and take free advice. Of course, I should have put a stop to it immediately. My fault.
The only time now when I'll use the phone is to talk to a client (after they've hired me) and then only if necessary. I really regret having my phone number on my site and may take it down. But, having said that, I have a phone service that screens all calls.
Susanna
I've been burned by long calls that go all over the place from people that are wasting my time AND their's just fishing for some golden treasure or tip before they move on never to be heard from again.
Now I charge $1 for an initial 15 min consult AND require a brief application/problem statement form to be filled out and sent to me beforehand.
This filters out a high % of the tire kickers so I can focus on the clients that are serious about their online business.
What's amazing is that some people pay the $1, and I never get the form so the application form is also an important filter.
-Peter
Using emails allows me to pre-screen the prospective client to see if we are a good match. I even give them short, clarifying exercises to complete so I can see exactly what their needs are and how coachable they are.
If we are not a good match, I do not take them on as a client.
Great post, Michel!
Thanks for all you BE an DO! :-)
This has been my experience as well but I thought that it was because I was bad on the phone. I lose 99% of my phone contacts. In fact, a WARNING sign for me of a no-follow-through is if the potential client wants to talk.
I must admit that I had a few high-paying clients who wanted to talk before hiring me but they are the exception and NOT the rule.
And you do end up giving away too much of your time and advice.
Great post!
-Ray L.,
Thank you. Timing is everything. I am a coach and speaker, my significant other is a consultant in real estate. Just this morning we were ranting about people wanting information for free. Why is it that people have no trouble paying an attorney several hundred dollars for a consultation and think that the information we have doesn't have value? Our biggest complaint is people who offer to take us to lunch to pick our brains. Quite frankly, we can buy our own lunches and would rather spend our time with better company. Making people jump through a few hoops such as filling out a questionnaire or paying for an initial consultation goes a long way towards eliminating the riff-raff. Thanks so much.
Barbara
BTW -- when was the last time you had a free "consult" with the dentist or doctor?
I've only done a couple of phone consults because I've generally gotten everything settled before-hand thru email. But I found in those few exactly what you exposed. The "prospect" is really just digging for free advice.
Kammy
My phone calls with prospective clients have been one of the biggest (and fastest) moneymakers in my business.
Sure, at the beginning, a lot of them were time wasters. But that was my fault for not spotting it and having the skill to deal with it or avoid it completely.
In my business, phone consultations have been responsible for turning $1,000 projects into $14,000 projects plus royalties in the span of a 60 minute phone call.
And they've been responsible for closing deals in a fraction of the time (and for much larger fees) than email would have returned.
In fact, I would have never even learned about some of those opportunities because they were hidden. I only got a clue there was something there when I heard the prospect speak in a certain way. Or when I noticed the tone of voice they used about a certain part of their business.
You can't discover those things in an email.
Being effective on the phone is just like copywriting--you have to take the time to develop that skill.
Without practice, you fall victim to many of the problems you mention. I sure did.
But you can learn pretty quickly how to squash them all. You just have to learn how to maintain control of the conversation at all times.
Phone selling probably isn't for everyone, but for me, it's one of the quickest ways to make money.
And you can still play "hard to get" if that's your positioning.
But the amount of benefit you receive from the call has nothing to do with the client. It's all about your skill on the phone.
And it's worked for me over and over again.
Selling copywriting services should be a high-ticket sale.
In my experience, many great copywriters severely limit their income by sticking to email.
Jason, I agree.
The question is, do you pick up the phone with every call? If you do, you're playing roulette. And yes, you will be lucky enough to land your best clients by picking up every call and controlling the call.
But I submit that you return calls rather than answer them all (that is, that you speak with them only after they've either initiated a contact with you and given you some information that pre-qualifies them somehow, such as after they filled out a questionnaire like a quote request form).
Admittedly, some of my best clients have been clients I've taken the time to respond. Some of which by phone. But there must be a qualification process beforehand. Otherwise, you're running the risk of spending most of your time trying to qualify the client rather than selling them on a project.
It may not be in the form of a paid consultation, either.
It may be in the form of a questionnaire, a referral (the client came as a direct referral from an existing client), a third-party screener (a gatekeeper), or a previous purchase (i.e., a client who has already bought from you, like products, for instance).
Controlling the conversation is indeed a skill, just like copywriting. But my point is that you need to pick your calls as you would your clients. Sure, email won't give you the deeper information that might land you profitable clients. But it may be a good way to start the qualification process, before you ever pick up the phone.
I highly recommend anything from Dr. Paddy Lund, a dentist who teaches the importance of positioning and screening clients properly:
http://www.paddylund.com/
Very thought provoking article. In my business (business/management consulting) speaking speak directly to the client is critical to increasing your chance of selling something - and increasing the potential size of the sale. Face-to-face is even better.
At the end of the day, in consulting, because the product is so intangible, the client is buying a relationship with you rather than a product. So they need to experience "working with you" before they are confident to commit to a significant project. In addition, clients rarely realise the full depth of their problems - it's only by talking to them and questioning interactively that you can help them see how much of a challenge they face - and so see that a bigger project than they thought they needed is required.
I'm trying to figure out why copywriting might be different. Perhaps you're selling more of a tangible product where the customer is buying the quality of your writing which they should be able to judge in advance? perhaps it's more specifiable up-front. But surely there is an intangible element too? "Will he understand what I'm realy looking for?" "Will we be able to communicate well during the project?". Surely it's difficult to tell these in advance without speaking to you.
Judging by the number of positive responses you've had to the post it seems to have rung a bell - but I hope people aren't giving up on the opportunity of bigger projects by not engaging directly first.
Ian
I definitely agree there.
I think the key is to have your funnel setup in a smart way. More automation at the beginning... and less automation (and more sales skill and manual value building) as the prospect moves closer to the sale.
Clearly, as you mention, your FIRST line of filtering should not be you on the phone. :)
But to close the sale (with a prospect my funnel has qualified), I can't think of a more profitable tool.
I second your Paddy Lund reco...
Great post. It'll save a lot of copywriters a lot of grief...and money. Here are some additional observations about the phone.
Many potential clients make initial contact with me by phone (I put that option on my website). Some obviously are looking for free advice; I usually give them a teaser and keep the conversation short. Others, I sense, are serious about whom they hire and just want to hear a voice, since you can gather a lot about a person by the way he/she communicates. These usually turn out to be good clients. In either case, I quickly ask what the assignment is, get their email address and tell them I'll send them an email proposal with an estimate of cost, how I work, and when I can schedule the project (mostly boilerplate). This brings the conversation to an email format, which is a lot easier to manage. Once hired, an occasional phone call is sometimes more expedient for complicated subject matter, rather than endless back and forth by email, which can be ambiguous.
Beware the prospect who keeps coming back again and again to ask questions about you, the process, etc., etc. They rarely buy. They can't pull the trigger. Don't waste your time.
For those paying clients who think your time is theirs and call you constantly, use caller ID to screen their calls and force a voice message. Then get back to them by email.
Jerry McT.
Imagine a pyramid structure with the lowest base representing "general" Leads generated from "unqualified" sources of traffic like Squeeze Pages, etc. Selling to this kind of prospect is done by "qualifying" him/her as Michel stated, in different ways depending upon your target market.
The higher you progress towards the pinnacle of the Pyramid, the more qualified your prospects are... in a sense they're probably already customers who bought your (affordable, entry-level) products OR took the time to learn more about you through your Blog and publications (again, as Michel does so well).
These "qualified" prospects are now past the "KNOW -> LIKE" stage and are progressing towards the "TRUST" phase of the "relationship". Initiating selective phone contact with THIS group may prove to be highly profitable. They really appreciate a "human" voice on the other side of the ether... and by speaking to you you have all the time in the world to position your company, close them and make their concerns go away.
As said by previous comments; any prospective client abusing this "selective contact" will remain a "prospective client". Politely find the fastest way to end the call, and make mental notes of what not-to-do-next-time. And remember the indisputable "mathematical law" of marketing: You need to answer or make 10 phone calls to close 2 or 3 clients (an example), the other 8 prospects who didn't qualify may not be lost entirely... who knows what business they may refer to you in future?
You said, "speaking speak directly to the client..." Exactly. For me, they must be a client first for the privilege of speaking with me directly. Or at the very least, a referral from an existing client who already has invested in me and my services.
As Dan Kennedy once said, "It's all about positioning, not prospecting."
If you positioned yourself properly beforehand, people will be willing to pay you just for the privilege of applying for your services -- including a phone consult -- in the hope you will consider them as a client.
They must pay in some way. Again, it doesn't have to be money, such as a paid consultation. It can be their time, such as filling out an application (like a questionnaire), going through a needs assessment, dealing with a gatekeeper, etc.
Large consulting organizations have sales reps who get paid on commission to sell the company. In most cases (with these companies), the sales teams are different than the actual consultants who carry out the services.
And I'm certain they don't cold call. If they do, there's still a qualification process in place, somehow, in some way.
You should be no different. You are a representative of "You, Inc." You are a business.
I personally don't like direct phone consultations with non-clients. Period. Does that mean I won't call them if I need to? Absolutely not. Will I avoid the phone if I knew the prospective client can end up as a very large account? Not at all.
But therein lies the point: I would have to know that beforehand. Meaning, they are pre-qualified in some way. If I did, I wouldn't hesitate picking up the phone if I knew full well there's a huge project on the line.
But I wouldn't pick up the phone willy-nilly with every prospect who calls my office. Or return a call with every prospect who simply "asks" to speak with me directly.
They have to pay for the privilege of speaking with me on the phone, whether that's in the form of money, time, or effort.
I actually received 2 phone calls in the space of 10 minutes the other evening - it reminds me to go around all my old affiliate accounts and ensure they have my new phone number.
One was to remind me to mail a promotion, after already sending me about 5 email reminders that day - I had signed up to the aff program, but decided it just wasn't the right fit.
The second was from someone I am a much warmer prospect being a client and affiliate.
The first one I just slammed the phone down, the second one I listened to, and attended a 2am sales call the same evening.
Phone calls are interruptive in both directions, maybe they are better served when the chance of falling on a receptive audience are higher, or for the call to be productive.
If a person never responds, I never call them. If they do respond and we schedule a call, then I go ahead with it.
Like Jason, I've found talking to prospects to be very profitable for me. But like you, I've also found some prospects to be huge time-wasters.
So it sounds I'll need to look at that process more critically now. :-)
A mandatory field was my phone number, which I hesitantly gave.
A couple of hours later, my phone rang. It was a number I didn't recognise and since it was my home phone, I let it ring off.
About an hour later, I received an email from the seller saying he couldn't get through on my number and asked for another number. I declined, saying I'd rather receive the details via email.
Nevertheless, he called me. No wonder: the price of an add-on for the program I was trying was almost double the price of the program itself! I then realised that the whole point was to call me anyway so he'd have a better chance of 'forcing' me into a sale! So when I said I'd think about it, his whole attitude changed to quiet, almost defensive.
I was so irked by his ignorance of my request that even if the price had been peanuts I still would have refused.
My point is, too many people take advantage over the phone and I would rather not open myself up to that possibility, from either side.
I guess I learned something there that I will certainly carry over to my own business dealings.
And Michel, you just confirmed it for me with your article. Good job. ;)
I've avoided speaking with clients on the phone at all and insisted they sent me their questions, feedback etc by email.
That saves a lot of time because it forces a client to think through what they say and write down exactly what they want.
People ramble meaninglessly on the phone.
I also learned that the quickest way to land a prospective client you actually want is to call them on the phone within 2 hours of them contacting you (whether they call you and leave a message, email you etc etc).
I think the key phrase here is "a prospective client you actually want".
There MUST be an element of qualifying the prospects you're willing to call back.
I'd also agree with Michel on the point that prospects who ask for phone consultations are usually a pain in the arse, are generally wasting your time and are not used to hiring professional copywriters.
Having said that if you're another copywriter competing with me for a client and I've gone the extra step to actually speak to that same prospect and build some one on one rapport my chances of getting hired are much higher (as long as I've maintained or increased the perceived value of my service).
So if you are 99% sure this prospect would be worth having as a client I suggest you get him on the phone immediately and start asking questions about his project and what he's looking for.
I don't suggest you give advice.
Good prospects know and expect to pay for advice.
Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh
In high-end management (rather than IT) consulting firms it's usually the senior staff that do the selling. The paid/bonused salesperson model has not been a succesful one - primarily because potential clients are buying the person and their capabilities - and a salesperson who hasn't been a consultant can rarely do the necessary client issue diagnosis and credibility building to be successful.
And you'd be surprised at how much cold calling large consulting firms do. Most have dedicated staff/agencies to make the calls - but some prefer their partners to actually call out to prospective senior clients.
I'd agree with you that qualification is key though. For inbound enquiries there's a lot of self-qualification going on too - anyone who calls McKinsey , Bain or BCG usually knows what to expect and believes there is a genuine opportunity. The most important prospect to weed out is not the tyre-kicker, but the guy who believes he is genuine, but who is unlikely to get internal approval, or who doesn't realise how big or how much the project is likely to be. They can be the biggest drains on time.
Ian
Agreed.
Many of the large firms I know or have worked with have internal sales staff, field teams, and/or telemarketers that answer inbound cold calls to screen callers, answer any pre-sales questions, and carry out needs assessments, before they escalate them to the senior staff who will continue the sales job and close the deal.
That has been my experience, but you know a heck of a lot more about business or management consulting than I ever will.
Nevertheless, calling prospects to close deals (whether it's a freelance copywriter or a senior consultant from a Fortune 1000 consulting firm) is a different ball of wax than what my article intended to cover, which was mainly inbound calls from non-clients asking for free copywriting or marketing advice.
Also, three other things come to mind:
1. It would be safe to say that large client firms, or C-level execs of large client firms, would be a little more qualified than most small- to medium-sized business owners.
2. Conversely, it would also be safe to say that large consulting firms approaching clients are well-positioned already, if not at least known to some degree, before initiating contact. (As opposed to a sole freelance copywriter.)
3. Finally, I submit that most consultants in business/management consulting, such as yourself, wouldn't be vulnerable to abuse on such calls, since offering any advice that would potentially offset the need for your services (and lose the client) would be premature, insufficient, or at the very least, difficult. (Whereas hungry copywriters desperate for a client would be in a more precarious position.)
Granted, if I, as a copywriter, were to do any cold-calling, I would first do direct mail to set the stage before picking up the phone. (And I certainly would have chosen my prospective clients carefully before mailing them in the first place.)
So the issue, really, is about pre-qualification. And not answering the phone or conducting initial consultations by phone is just one way to do this.
It is not just my preferred modus operandi, it has been my most profitable one, too.
Thanks for such an interesting discussion.
A lot of it is client education, since they're "all over the map" in terms of sophistication in using outside resources and engaging consulting support. Client maturity level/experience is important to manage effectively; prequalifying does a lot to help with it. If they ask questions that border on the "trying to mooch free advice" arena, I'd tell them "that's a great question, Dan - and we go into that in the Selling Power Revealed seminar for your participants ... it takes about 45 minutes to go over... I'd like to meet with you and the rest of the executive team at (your company) to talk it over, how's this Tuesday? I've got a spot open at 2pm, or we could meet Friday, if that's better?".
And then with that alternate choice close for the appointment, I'd meet with the exec team, pitch the seminar and close the majority of them. Then the key is, raising prices and scarcity positioning etc.. helped me get to 140 clients in Hawaii at least.
-k
Quite frankly, I *love* phone consultations! Get paid without having to look at the eye-killing computer screen.
Shel Horowitz, author of Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First and six other books
http://www.frugalmarketing.com
One idea to add to this, is for the clients who need to get a 'feel for you on the phone' one could have an 800 number hotline, with a pre-recorded message.
The client would call in, and listen to the message, thereby getting a sense of you as the copywriter. This should satisfy them, as they get to hear you speak on the phone.
AND, it cuts down on time taken up explaining again and again how the business works.
Cheers,
Christina Hills
"The Shopping Cart Queen"
What a great article and starting point for a much looked over question.
What rapidly becomes clear from reading these comments is that one size does most definitely not fit all. What catapults one business into the stratosphere could be entirely the wrong strategy for another business.
Ultimately, this comes down to having the right sales process for you and for your business...
And then sticking to it!
Many salespeople and business owners alike blow their chances of making the sale by talking too early and too much. Far from building rapport, exploring needs or checking commitments this approach, more often than not, results in a lot of frustrating tale chasing...
If you fail to qualify your clients you will spend far too much time and effort on clients that were not ever going to buy from you and far too little with those all important hot prospects.
Whether you talk to your prospects in person or not at the start of the process is your decision but the important thing is to have an intelligent and thought through process that works.
You need to know what you will and won't say and how far you are prepared to go on the phone.
In most cases, this will be all about questioning and not about giving advice. Stick to this thought and you will not find yourself dolling out free consultancy...
Most salespeople and business owners have a bad case of premature elaboration... and that's not good!
Stephen
This blog posts sums up expertly what I've learned as a small shop: The phone delivers horrible prospects. My existing clients have adjusted pretty well to my reduced phone time, too. It's key to mention "email is the best way to reach me".
Jim
Rgds
Ian
But you do you answer ever incoming call coming to your office? I think you prequalify them first in some way.
In fact, read some of the comments above, including my own. Prequalification is my point. I prefer to pre-qualify my non-clients before speaking to them by phone.
(Getting them to become a client by making a payment is one way, but it's not the only way.)
Then there are those I used to meet at networking events (before I stopped going) who would say, "Can we meet for coffee and talk about my website?" Or even, "I'd really be curious to know what you think of my website."
These days, I say, "Sure! You can hire me for my diagnostic service (I don't do free proposals but I subtract the diagnostic fee from the final big project). This diagnostic includes a phone call but we can have our review over coffee, if it's in my neighborhood. I live downtown with no car."
Usually that ends the discussion. If they faint dead away at the small diagnostic fee, they're not potential clients. It's been hard for me to say that sometimes when I'm having a slow week, but inevitably a great client shows up right afterward.
I'm happy to be able to apply the great tips that you offer here.
I totally agree your valuable tips on pre-qualifying, either through phone calls, gatekeepers, or even a form.
I have been running my own web development and online business coming to 3 years now. We have been providing great services and value to our clients, however, many a times... we have challenges of showing the actual value to our clients for them to take us on.
90% of our clients are through word of mouth referral, and usually would contact them through email, phone and 60% of the them, face-to-face meetings.
Now that I have read your post, I will definately have a better process and system of pre-qualifying rather than just, taking the new prospect, call, meet them, have lunch...
... and realizing that they engage on other services.
Thank You Michael,
Roy
In my opinion you've hit the nail on the head! I used to offer free phone consultations when I first started out but it only seemed to attract the tire kickers and freebie seekers. And I think I'm as guilty as anyone of getting carried away and handing over FAR too much information for free.
Looking back, the free consultations resulted in very few new clients for me.
My turning point was when I realized that NO initial consultation is ever free. If the client isn't paying for your time...then YOU are!
Thanks for reinforcing the point for me.
Regards,
Mark Heywood
Google requires your phone number in order to register and then it lists it in plain view in the SERPS.
This makes it necessary to have separate phone numbers for home and business...or a keen eye on your callerID display!