How do you turn a lead into a high-paying client?

Here’s a rough outline of the process that I follow.  This is the exact process I teach students inside the Agency Coach coaching programs and is the same one operating inside of my multi-million dollar agency.

(I tell you this not to brag, that’s definitely not my style – I tell you to explain that this is a proven process that already works and I hope you find value in seeing this for yourself.)

Important note: As I describe this process, you’d be best served by mentally comparing it to your own way of doing things.  AND – instead of saying “I already know that” or “I don’t like to do it that way.”  Suspend any judgment of this process.  Instead, when those objections show up, replace them with, “isn’t that interesting?”

That’s the pathway to learning from others and getting the most from it.

Without further delay, here’s our process…

Step 1: Lead Comes In

It doesn’t really matter the source of the lead, so long as they are interested in getting help with one of the services you offer OR (even better) they just want your help to increase their customer activity (and don’t care about what service will do that.)

So, this could be a lead from a Facebook Ad campaign, word of mouth, a referral, an existing client, or someone you met at a chamber or networking event.  Bottom line: This process works on any lead so long as they have a desire to grow their business.

Step 2: Conduct an initial interview (and do not sell or talk about your shiny $***)

This is a really important step.  **And you have to do it the exact way I describe below – no skipping steps** 

Interview the client as if you were an investigative reporter vs. an order taker at a burger joint.  You want to understand as much about their business as possible.  A deep understanding!

You want to understand what they sell, who they help, why they are in the business, what’s not working for them right now, what they want to change, what are their goals, and how achieving those goals is going to change their lives.  Don’t be asking about how many pages they want or what kind of ads they want to run or which keywords they want to rank for.

I look at this step like those old episodes of “How It’s Made” or “Mister Rogers” where you get to go on a virtual factory tour and learn how and why they make the thing they do.  Dig deep and have fun getting to know them (as people) and their business.

Important: This is not the time to start parading out your offers or talking about the services you can provide.  (EVEN IF THE CLIENT STARTS ASKING YOU ABOUT IT)  Simply tell them that you’d be happy to cover all of the details of the services you offer but first, you need to get a solid understanding of their business to know which services to recommend (and in which order.)

I get it.  This is super hard.  But, this is where most agencies mess up.  They give in to the pressure of telling the client all about their services (and maybe even their pricing) and what they don’t realize is that when they start talking about this stuff, they’ve already lost the sale.  So don’t do it.

Step 3: Evaluate the client’s current situation (for all the services you offer)

When you’ve finished with the interview, end the meeting.  Let the client know that you’re going to go back and do some research and build a plan for them.   Before you go, set up another meeting for a few days out.

Your evaluation is pretty straightforward.  First list out all of the services that you could offer them, then do a high level of what you see them doing well and what they aren’t.

For example, if you were evaluating their website, you might check to make sure that it’s mobile-friendly, that it has clear calls to action, looks professional, and is built on something like WordPress.

Or, for PPC Ads, you might check to see if they are running ads.  If they are not, your evaluation just states that they are not running ads and that they are missing out on an opportunity to do so.

Do this for each service that you offer.  You don’t have to go deep, just a high-level overview of what they are doing well and where there is room for improvement.  In doing this, it should be pretty clear to you which service (or services) they should start with.  I’ll share more on that in step 5.

Step 4: Share the evaluation with them (in person or over zoom)

Meet with your prospective client to review the evaluation.  Do this in person or over zoom.  Don’t just email them over the evaluation.  (We call that proposal grenading.)

Meet with them and walk them through each service that you offer and explain to them what you see.  Tell them what they are doing well, and point out where there might be room for improvement.  

As you do this watch for their head to nod.  Or, ask them questions like, “does this make sense?”  They nodding or saying “yes” is a good indication that you are showing them real value.  It’s also known as a “trial close” as in you are preparing them to say “yes” when you ask for their commitment to move forward.

Step 5: Make a recommendation (actually 2 or 3 is better)

Based on your evaluation, you probably have a good idea of which services they should start with.  In my recommendations, I like to give them 3 different options. 

Package A is the smallest

Package B is in the middle, and

Package C is the largest.

Each package is a combination of different services.  

This is important: make a recommendation.  (Usually, the middle one, unless you have reason to do otherwise.)

Here’s what I say:

“Money and time being no object, I think you would be best served with Package C as it includes everything that I think we need to improve.  But I realize that isn’t always possible, and the great thing about digital marketing is that we don’t have to bite off everything at once.  That’s why my strongest recommendation is Package B.  All of these options are great options so you wouldn’t go wrong starting with any of these. What do you think?”

Then shut up.  Get comfortable with the silence.  This is where the client will either agree or where their objections or questions will come up.

Step 6: Enroll the client in your services (celebrate any sale, big or small)

Congratulations! If you’ve followed the steps outlined above, you’ll find your client enrollment skyrocket.

I really don’t care which option the client chooses because of what happens in step 7. 

Step 7: Repeat steps #3-6 every 90-180 days

Just because you enrolled the client in your service doesn’t mean the opportunity to sell or enroll them in more services is over.

Put a reminder on your calendar to schedule a follow-up evaluation every 3-6 months where you take them through the evaluation process again.

Think of it as a school report card.   When your grades come out you don’t get a whole new grading system.  It’s the same basic evaluation.

The same is true with your clients.  After they enroll in your programs, give them a new report card congratulating them on their improvements and highlighting where there is still room to grow.

THIS is how you turn a $67/month client into a $500/month into a $2500/month into a $5000+/month client.

Mount Everest isn’t climbed in a single day. (Unless you take a helicopter!)

So, why would you expect all of your clients to climb to the peaks of your services at once?  Will some of them want to do that?  SURE!  But lots of others need to take it one step at a time.

If you’re curious about what needs to change about your sales process to help your clients buy more of your agency’s services, we’d love to help!
Apply for a coaching call with our Director of Coaching. 

We’ll help you figure out what’s holding you back from enrolling clients in your higher-priced packages and show you how to make the changes necessary to close more big sales.