Make Booking That First Call With You As Valuable As A Paid Offer

The moment when you are most likely to lose a good lead is when you need them to book that first call.

I call it ‘the last threshold’ and crossing it is a much bigger ask than signing up for your newsletter or reading a case study.

In this newsletter, I’m going to show you how to set up your marketing so you make that crossing easy and, for the right person, as compelling as possible.

Let’s dive in…

Why They Don’t Book

There are three reasons why leads don’t book calls.

1. You haven’t established fit
2. You haven’t established trust
3. The Unknown

Establishing fit and trust are topics that we’ve covered elsewhere (case studies, proof elements, process frameworks, and so on).

That leaves The Unknown.

If you ask someone to book a call with you and they don’t know what that means for them, and I mean in graphic detail, they have an evolutionary reason to do nothing. Because the unknown is dangerous.

So, the first step is to remove the Unknown.

Replace it with…

• an Information Pack that answers those close-to-signing doubts and questions
• a description of what will happen on the call, including the duration
• where the call will end in terms of what might happen next

Here’s some sample copy you can use…

“Our call will be about 20 minutes. It’ll be an informal chat to give you a chance to see if there is a possible fit between what you want to achieve and the services I offer. And you’ll also have a chance to ask all your questions. By the end of the call, you’ll have a good idea about whether you’d like to talk more/hire me. To wrap up, I’ll explain your options and you can choose what to do next.”

All we’ve done is shine a light on what will happen. That alone is a huge boost to the chances of your lead booking that call.

But here’s how to really stack the odds in your favor…

Make the call an offer.

Your Call as a Service

As long as you are in front of the right market, your offer will do more than anything to determine your ability to sign new clients.

The right offer makes your life a joy. The wrong offer brings misery.

We’re going to apply that idea by making booking a call with you an offer.

Think of that first call as a service. That means it needs to be valuable, something your lead wants and will be willing to give 20 minutes of their time for.

Here are some suggestions…

• I’ll help you pinpoint your exact problem, its likely cause and suggest ways forward
• By the end of our call, you’ll have a clear idea if we can work together, so you can move forward with me or move on to find a better fit for you
• If we’re not an obvious fit, I’ll give you three recommendations from service providers I trust to help you
• You’ll get my full expert attention and at least one recommendation for what you can do right away
• By the end of our call, you’ll have a good understanding of what’s possible in your unique situation and realistic timelines and costs
• After our call, I’ll follow up with a summary email that will contain my notes and recommendations

To people with pressing problems, these can be quite valuable. We are offering clarity and guidance as well as access to an expert ear.

By thinking of that first call as an offer, as something your clients would value, you’ve made it much easier to say yes.

Summary

Helping your clients to book that first call comes down to two things.

• replacing the unknown with a reassuring known
• imbuing the call with value

In other words, remove reasons not to book the call and add reasons to book the call.

What happens next is up to you.

That’s it for this week, enjoy the rest of your weekend and I’ll see you next Saturday or during the week on Linkedin,

Paul

---