Every business owner is familiar with the “free consultation” model. There are best practices to increase your conversion from prospect to client.
If you do this right, you gain an ideal client. Do it wrong, you end up wasting your time, and struggling to grow your business.
Let’s look at six common mistakes when giving your free consultations.
1. You gave complete a consulting or coaching session.
Your prospect can be so happy and pleased with your work that they don't need to hire you They received all they needed in your FREE consultation. It's a bittersweet situation. They are satisfied for the moment, but you know that to get to the root of the problem and create lasting change would take months. You lose out on a client and they did not effectively solve their problem.2. You generously overstep your own boundaries.
If you're an over-giver, watch out for this mistake. Similar to mistake #1, you might get so caught up in your discovery session that you give out more time for the same cost...free. Some prospects will take advantage of your generosity that they expect this from you every time you work with them. If they do hire you, you may end up with the wrong client due to the impression that you do not respect your own time.3. You were too generic in your targeting.
Let’s use a hypothetical example. You market yourself as a marketing consultant. A prospect signs up for a free consultation appointment thinking they were getting a branding consultant. Your true specialty is social media strategy, yet they don't want help on that this year.4. You didn’t let them know what to expect.
If you don't set expectations upfront, letting prospects know what to expect during your consultation, they may be surprised and maybe even angry by the end of the session. Some people, in all good faith, sign up for a free consultation not realizing that you may be asking questions about their life or their business that are intimate and confidential. It can be uncomfortable for them and a waste of time for you.5. You avoided all mention of fees.
You waited until the end of your call to mention your fees, without finding out their price point. Many business owners don’t mention fees until they are actually closing the sale because talking about fees is “uncomfortable”. When do you talk about fees, it's awkward and insecure. It makes the prospect uncomfortable as well and they may not sign up with you.6. You didn’t make your prospect work for the complimentary session.
Take an extra step and prequalify or disqualify your prospects. Have them fill out a form online or setup a preliminary short phone appointment to ask your qualifying questions. Some people will disregard and not want to go further than this step. That just means they weren't ready for your services.These are just some of the pitfalls you can plummet into if you don’t follow a finely-tuned client attraction system.
Tailor your free consultation sessions—and your marketing—to attract your ideal clients who:- Need your precise area of expertise—and approach
- Understand the nature of consulting or coaching
- Are ready and able to invest financially in your consulting or coaching
