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How Splitting My Sales Process Into Two Meetings Helped Me Close More Deals

A Sales Process That Helps Close More Deals

I remember when I first started selling web design and digital marketing projects to clients.

It was most exciting when I had a prospect who reached out to me and I could tell I had a REALLY good chance of closing them on a new project.

Do you know the type?

They reach out via phone or email. They explain pretty clearly they have an issue they know you can fix AND their issue seems painful enough to them that it feels like they may already have a check in hand ready to pay you.

Here’s how this would play out for me:

  1. I developed a solution that EXACTLY matched their need.
  2. They loved it.
  3. They hired me.

I closed the business in ONE call, (like I thought I was supposed to do) and I thought I was really good at this “sales thing”. LOL.

One Solution Does Not Fit All

So, what did I do? I took this same ONE CALL approach and applied it to EVERY opportunity that came my way, even the ones not as eager to buy.

As soon as someone would give me the slightest indication of needing my help (or I got the sense they needed help), I’d jump RIGHT into trying to solve the problem.

So, several strange things happened with a client who wasn’t a HOT buyer:

  1. I closed fewer of these types of clients.
  2. Sometimes they stopped responding after our initial conversation
  3. They hired someone else to do the work

Honestly, it grew to be very frustrating when sometimes I could easily close the sale and other times, I couldn’t get them to say YES no matter what.

I knew I had to treat these types differently, but HOW?

Figuring Out What Clients Actually Want

Thankfully, my business coach at the time gave me some sage advice. He said:

The more a prospect understands their OWN pain, the better equipped you’ll be to solve it.

In that moment, it was clear to me WHY some prospects are ready to buy while others take a lot longer.

I had done a poor job of helping a client clarify what they needed and wanted. They didn’t want a website from me, they wanted to look credible online. They didn’t want me to run Facebook ads or a pay per click campaign or do SEO… they wanted more visibility and customers.

It was painful to these clients they had a lack of leads coming from their online efforts, and it was painful for them to have an inadequate website for their business.

Follow These Steps

So, in order to help them clarify their pain points, I decided to do the following:

  1. Stop trying to close them on the first meeting they have with me
  2. Use the first meeting to ask them a bunch of questions
  3. Use these questions to get a better understanding of what their issue is
  4. Use these questions to help them better understand their OWN issue
  5. Set up a followup meeting at a future date to present them the solution (aka the proposal)

If you’re having trouble closing clients, just follow these steps. I know it can feel like the process is slowing down when you have two meetings BUT when it results in more sales, and you can ask for more money each time, it is totally worth it.

When you do this, you’re absolutely going to close a lot more sales. As a bonus, I’m offering my exact questions I ask during the first meeting RIGHT HERE!

If you’re interested in seeing the exact questions I ask in the first meeting, just click here to download the PDF.

Mike Schmidt
Founder
AgencyCoach