Many small business owners like consultants, virtual assistants, business and life coaches, service-providers, and others who work one-on-one with customers and clients automate discovery calls to share their offers and enroll new clients.
Discovery calls are a powerful way to get more customers, but it can be time-consuming if you don’t develop a process that can be automated and replicated in a way that keeps your calendar and programs full.
1 Build a Landing Page TO AUTOMATE DISCOVERY CALLS
Your first step is to build a page that tells your audience about your discovery calls. Make sure to describe what’s included and why they should set up a call with you.
You can do this with your basic website pages, or you can use landing page software like Leadpages.com or an autoresponder that includes a landing page builder like ConvertKit.com.
2 Set Up a Questionnaire Via Your Scheduling Software
Using scheduling software like Dubsado.com (my affiliate link) allows you to have your new potential client fill out a pre-qualifying questionnaire before they can book their appointment.
Most people will happily fill out a short questionnaire, try to keep it to 3-5 questions. Make sure to also ask them for their full name, email address and their phone number if you want to call those who are no-shows.
Remember, you're trying to qualify your leads with this questionnaire, so don’t be afraid to ask questions that will help you decide if they're a good fit for your program, mastermind, mentorship, or other offer.
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3 CREATE Emails for Your Autoresponder
Now, set up some emails in your autoresponder so that once they submit the questionnaire and choose their time for a call, they receive a confirmation and reminder emails. It's a good idea to include important information and instructions.
Use your email autoresponder for this or you can use the scheduler platform if it comes with email features.
4 Let Your Potential Customer Choose Their Time to Call
The scheduling software allows you to sync your business calendar with the scheduler so it only shows the times you’re available. This way you won't end up double booked. Make sure you test each step of the booking process before you make it available to the public.
You can also set up different booking funnels for the different types of calls you offer. As an example: you might offer a 20-minute clarity call for your group coaching program, a 30-minute discovery call for your private coaching program, and a 40-minute interview for potential podcast guests. Each one can be set up as its own funnel with a different email follow up series.
5 USE ZOOM or set up a Dedicated Phone Line for YOUR Calls
Using Zoom or having a dedicated line is the way to go. This will keep your personal cell phone number protected so you won't receive business calls during your time off. After receiving text messages in the middle of the night many times, I learned I needed a boundary to protect my evenings, middle of the night, weekends and other personal time.
Choose what works best for you. But if you give your clients your direct number, they will call and text you during off hours.
One more point, if you're using your direct line, you'll run into an issue when you're ready to handoff customer service calls.
6 Read Their Questionnaire Before the Call
You can sign into your scheduling software to read their answers to your questionnaire before your call. You can also automate this process by setting up a Zap (Zapier.com) to force the system to put the questionnaire into a special Dropbox or file on Google Docs.
7 Set Up Follow Up Information to Go Out Automatically
Once the call is finished, you’ll want other follow-up emails to go out to your lead automatically. This is an important part of the process so that you can continue with the enrollment conversation if you didn't sign them up on the call.
You can use tags and triggers within your autoresponder using IFTTT.com or Zapier.com to make it happen automatically.
Discovery calls help you attract and enroll more clients. However, because they are time-consuming, it’s best to have a plan. Map your discovery call process so you know exactly how you want to build the funnel and make sure every loose end has a pathway to the next step.
PRO TIP 1: Use the customer’s answers to the questionnaire to help guide the call. You can speak to the concerns or challenges they may have mentioned in the questionnaire. And also bring in their aspirational goals and deepest desires to help bridge the gap between where they are now and where they want to go.
PRO TIP 2: Follow up as soon as possible. It's best to send an email within 24 hours after each discovery call. Include details about your offer, a payment link, and the deadline (if you have one) so that you can avoid overbooking yourself.
This process works wonders for booking more clients for one-to-one AND group offers. Keep your discovery call funnel open until all of your programs are full, then turn them off so you don't continue to receive bookings.
Once a spot opens up, turn your booking funnel back on.
This is how you can control when you want to give discovery calls and when you want to focus on serving your current clients.