How to Onboard Clients When They Say YES to Your Proposal

There are basically two kinds of restaurants….

… the kinds that are intentional about their dessert offering,

… and the ones where it’s clearly an afterthought.

The intentional restaurants might have a dessert tray that they parade out to your table where you can get a preview of what they have. The ones that are even better, wheel out a desert cart where you might just grab what you want for instant satisfaction.

The restaurants where it’s an afterthought might recite the standard line, “did you save room for dessert?” while holding your check-in their hand.

Why is this important?

Well, one type of restaurant is ready and assumes the sale, whereas the other is not ready and assumes the sale is lost.

The waiter in the second restaurant has already assumed that you’re NOT buying and proof of this is that they often have your check-in in their hand. If you asked this waiter, “Do people buy dessert?”  She’d probably say, “most people never buy desert.”  And, she’d be right!

But is this true because people don’t want dessert or because it combines her presentation and her assumption? I’m guessing it has a lot to do with the latter.

So, how does this apply to your agency?

What are you doing when you’re reaching the end of a sales presentation for a prospective client?

Do you have the contract ready for them to sign and the ability to make their payment on the spot? OR are you assuming that the sale isn’t a “sure thing” and get your contract and payment ready after they say yes?

If you’re like most agencies, you are not showing up to sales appointments ready to onboard a client with their first step of payment and contract.

Imagine you stood in line at the grocery store, loaded up all your things onto the conveyor belt, and as the cashier greeted you, they said, “oh, you want to buy this stuff? Come back tomorrow, and I’ll be ready to scan these and take your payment.”  That would be ridiculous, and we’d never shop there again.

Now, I know you’re running a grocery store! But you’re still creating an obstacle for your clients and customers. Why?

Make it easy for your client to get started with you. Show them professionalism by being ready to begin their project. Anything short of this is gambling.  

You should always be stacking the cards in your favor in your agency. Having a contract ready to sign and the ability to run their payment is an easy way to do it.

Apply for a coaching call with our Director of Coaching. We can guide you in the onboarding process so that clients may get started quickly and easily with your agency.