In this article, I’ll introduce 8 steps you can take to sell your consulting or coaching services in a call more effectively.
Give And Gain Information
A straightforward way to meet potential clients is to offer a free consultation. A video call (or face-to-face meeting) gives you the opportunity to establish trust and rapport. You want to meet a potential client on a personal level, start building a relationship and find out if you are a good fit.
By demonstrating your expertise during the consultation, you can present yourself as a credible and trustworthy consultant or coach. But it is very important to remember that you don’t want to coach or consult someone for free in this session. Don’t solve any problems on the spot. Your consulting or coaching is the product you are selling, and you should demonstrate its value, not giving it away piece by piece.
Therefore, all you want to do in a free consultation is to give and gain detailed information about your coaching or consulting so that you can offer the best possible service to the right client. You want to learn more about your potential clients’ needs and goals. This information can help you tailor your offerings to provide them with the most benefits. And it can help potential clients understand what to expect from your consulting or coaching services and whether you have the right offering for their needs.
Booking Options On Your Website
Utilise your website to offer potential clients a free consultation. Place a prominent call-to-action (CTA) on your website’s header, starting page and service pages that prompts potential clients to sign up for a free consultation with you. This can be in the form of a button or a banner that stands out. Either integrate a short application form that reaches you in the form of an email. Alternatively, integrate a scheduling tool (e.g. Calendly) or that allows potential clients to book their free consultation directly from your website. This streamlines the process and lowers the threshold for potential clients to take action.
Ideally, the scheduling tool is synced with your calendar, automatically adjusting your availability. Alternatively, select two or three weekly time slots when you set aside time for free consultations. Manage your schedule well and calculate the time spent on free consultations in your general pricing.
Prequalifying Clients
To prequalify clients, you could also add a short questionnaire that potential clients need to fill out before requesting a free consultation. Ask some questions that show if someone is the ideal client for you. For instance, you could ask questions such as “What are you hoping to achieve with this coaching?” and “Are you ready to invest into making profound changes?” or “What has holding you back so far?”
Make sure the questionnaire is easy to use and requires minimal effort to fill out. Be prepared that some people might find it too time-consuming to take part, but it is quite likely that they would not have been ready to buy your services anyway. For that reason, a questionnaire or anything that takes a bit of effort is a great way to prequalify clients in the sense that you only spent time with people who are serious about taking up your offer.
Selling In An Authentic And Benefit-oriented Way
Once clients have successfully signed up for a free consultation, you should be well-prepared to sell your consulting or coaching services in an authentic and benefit-oriented way. Make sure you are yourself in that call because you will spend quite some time with your future clients. Pretending won’t get you anywhere and there is also no point in signing clients if you know already that you are not going to work well together.
Take a look at these 8 steps to get the most out of a free consultation for you and your potential client. This is already very valuable, and clients will appreciate that you are giving them your time for without charge. Now let’s dive in.
1 – Understand Their Why
The first step in selling your consulting or coaching services is to understand why your potential clients are seeking your coaching or consulting services. Their “why” should be the driving force behind seeking coaching or consulting. It should be clear and meaningful. Knowing their why will help you to better connect with your potential clients, and to tailor your consulting or coaching services to their specific needs. Create a more personalised experience for them right from the start.
2 – Probe Their Pain
Next is to identify any pain points or challenges that your potential clients are currently facing. What problems are they trying to solve? What obstacles are preventing them from achieving their goals? What is painful or difficult for them about their current situation? What are the biggest frustrations or struggles that they are trying to overcome?
One of the most effective ways to probe a potential client’s pain points is through active listening. As a coach or consultant, you are probably well aware that active listening is a communication technique that involves paying close attention to what the other person is saying. This involves taking time to understand the points being made and asking relevant questions to clarify understanding as needed. By actively listening to what the client has to say, you can get a better understanding of their struggles and the solutions they are hoping to find.
Take the time to listen carefully to their concerns and formulate follow-up questions to clarify their needs and goals. Keep asking open questions that allow the potential client to share more about their situation. For example, you might say, “What challenges are you currently facing in your career?” or “What goals do you have for your personal life?” Probe deeper into their emotions by asking questions that elicit how they feel about their current situation.
By understanding their deepest pain points, you can position your consulting or coaching services. And by meeting their real pain points you will also feel more confident knowing that you are rather helping than selling.
3 – Help Them Visualise Their Ideal Outcome
Once you felt the pain points, focus on a brighter future. Ask the potential client to describe what outcomes they are looking for. This stage is crucial because now you can make them feel that there is a solution to their problems in reach. But don’t do it all for them. It is much more effective to let potential clients paint the picture for themselves. That way you learn more about what they are looking for. Support feelings of happiness by asking positive questions and by letting the client tell you about their motivation, goals, and dreams.
If someone is not good at imagining things, then share suitable examples of how you have helped previous clients achieve a similar goal after overcoming their pain points. This can enable a prospect to see how your consulting or coaching services can support them in addressing their specific challenges.
By helping your potential client to envision how this would feel like, you create a roadmap to achieve their goals and position your services as a valuable resource in that journey.
4 – Identify Their Objections
However, most people are not yet buying. What comes to their minds are objections. These objections could be anything from feeling like coaching or consulting is too expensive to not understanding how it could really make a difference.
Identifying your potential clients’ obstacles is critical to helping them overcome them. What are the barriers that prevent them from taking action? Listen carefully to their worries. Make sure to fully understand their perspective before responding. Show empathy and dig deeper to find the underlying concerns that may be driving their objections. For example, a potential client may express to be concerned about the costs of your coaching or consulting services.
However, their underlying concern may be whether your services will really deliver the results they want or if they are wasting their money. Addressing all underlying concerns can help alleviate their objections. Continually clarify their objections with open questions. For example, you might say, “Can you tell me more about your concerns about this approach?” or “What specifically worries you about this?”
Through objection handling, you help your potential clients to overcome fear and insecurities. Change is challenging. Nevertheless, change has to happen in order to reach a specific goal. And for this, a price must be paid in the form of money, time, and effort. If you were to give your coaching or consulting for free, the implementation and the results would not compare to when your clients have to stretch themselves to reach for the stars.
Handling objections has nothing to do with persuading someone to do something they don’t want to do. It is not about applying pressure or manipulating thoughts, it is all about supporting a potential client in making a decision that feels right. If the person has a pain point that they want to solve to reach a goal and you know how to achieve this, then your powers of persuasion are all about embracing change and putting the effort in. So, like a great sports coach, you are leading them toward the finish line by overcoming their inner hurdles.
5 – Identify Their Readiness
It is now time to face the realities. Before you can sell your consulting or coaching services, it’s imperative to determine if your potential clients are ready to commit to working with you. Are they prepared to invest in your services, is the budget available right now or later in the year? Do they have the time to commit to the work required every week or month? Are they ready to take action and make things happen?
By understanding their circumstances, you can ensure that you’re offering them the right services at the right time.
6 – Present A Suitable Offer
Once you’ve determined that your potential clients are ready to work with you, it’s time to be very clear about the coaching or consulting services you’ll be providing. How will you help your clients achieve their goals.
Give a short summary of the call. Describe the current situation of your potential clients, their personal pain points, and their future goals. Mention their objections and how you will overcome them. Then reassure them, that you can achieve their goals together.
Highlight your unique value proposition: Share what makes your coaching or consulting services unique and valuable. For example, you might highlight your expertise in a specific area or your coaching approach that sets you apart from other coaches. Share your credentials, experience, and any testimonials from previous clients. Be transparent about the process and what your clients can expect from working with you.
Again, focus on their vision and make sure that your offer is tailored to their specific needs and enjoyable. Talk about the outcomes and the benefits. This is the moment when they need to understand the real value of what you’re offering.
Then allow time for your potential client to ask questions. Staying silent can help to trigger the client to ask something. Answer the questions briefly. Don’t lose yourself in too many details. Your potential client simply should feel that you know how to get them safely from A to B and that it is self-evident to you that all will work out.
You are waiting for the client to ask for the price. Now tell them about the price and everything that is included. Consider making a discounted offer if they say yes straightaway to lower the threshold.
You are doing a great job if the price doesn’t matter anymore because the value is exceeding everything they have been thinking about.
7 – Again, Adress Any Objections
It’s not uncommon for potential clients to have again concerns or objections before committing to buy. Be prepared to address these objections head-on. Listen to their concerns and provide solutions or alternatives.
For example, you could offer a smaller, low-cost package to help them get started if time or money are an issue. Offer a few individual sessions before commiting to a full 6-month-coaching-program or a 1-month-break-clause for a consulting contract. However, keep in mind that your business should be growing with this new client. Don’t sell your services below value or treat your business like a hobby. Making a profit is a legitimate goal and part of your own satisfaction with your work as a coach or consultant.
8 – Get A Decision
It’s time to ask (!) for a decision. The big question in the room is whether your potential client wants to do something about their challenge/pain/problem or whether they want to continue to settle for the current situation they are in. Ask this question openly.
Then be clear about the next steps and what they need to do. At this stage it is crucial to be confident in explaining the methods and process. If requested, allow more time to decide but be very clear that you’re expecting an answer soon.
Wrap up the free consultation by thanking your future client for their time. Let them know that you’re available to answer any additional questions they may have and that you’re looking forward to working with them.
Selling Consulting Or Coaching Services In A Call – Conclusion
To conclude, selling consulting or coaching services in a call requires a strategic but personalised approach. By understanding your potential clients’ pain points, goals and vision, obstacles, and deeper concerns, and finally their readiness to take action, you can tailor your coaching or consulting services to their specific needs and provide a valuable solution to their problems.
