067: Stop Losing Leads (Get a Better Sales Process)

Renee: Hey. Hey, it's Renee, and today we're talking about one of my favorite things to fix because honestly, this is where many smart women are leaking money without even realizing it. And when you say leaking at my age, it can mean a lot of things. But the worst thing is. I don't wanna leak money, and I don't want you to leak money, and it's not because you are bad at what you do or your offer sucks.

It's not because you need another certification. It's because the client journey is messy. And when your client journey is messy, your revenue gets messy right along with it. I can't stress this enough. You are not bad at sales. You're having conversations. You are doing what you should be doing, but the conversations are dying on the vine.

Ugh. Or you're making offers, but they're not even at the right price, or they're too vague or they're too complicated. let's be real. Again, at a certain point in our professional career, we can do a lot of things and it is difficult to put everything in. Two or three sentences. So it is complex, but it doesn't have to be complicated.

And again, you're helping people, but not in a way that builds predictable sales, AKA next steps. You know what I mean? if you're thinking about what I'm thinking, you should go check out episode 64, why clients leave after the first sale and how to fix it. Okay? So if you are due here. Welcome. This is The Selling Your Expertise Podcast.

I'm Renee Rebar, sales coach for B2B Service providers and consultants who want to help people but have never really, genuinely officially been trained on how to package, upsell and deliver their expertise. It might have been a part of a program you took at some point or one little lesson or module, or they had a guest speaker in the Mastermind you were in.

But whether you've read my book, seen one of my talks like the one I did for TEDx, or you're brand new here, I'm glad you're with me. This is your chance to get some official STAs training up and running and seeing if that part of your business is the part that you've been filling the gap for.

So go to ask me coach.com for all the freshest ways to stay connected beyond this podcast, but. Let's dive into today's episode, So today I wanna walk you through a story. I always love my stories. Actually, a few stories blended together because I protect my clients' details, of course, with fierceness.

but the lessons are real, the patterns are real, and I promise you, if you are an expert service provider or consultant trying to hit your revenue goals, you. Are going to see yourself in this. And I'm not just going to tell you a story. I am going to give you the step by step fixes that it takes to actually turn the dio, because that's what we do here.

It's says real talk, real strategy, real money making activities that you. Can take action on my clients say that when they listen to my podcast, they get validated and reaffirmed and they hear it in another way. That we have in our same one-on-one conversations when we have our client sessions or we're talking on Voxer.

And so I'm not holding anything back. My clients what they get a lot of customization. They get a,they get a lot more than just the podcast, obviously, but the strategies and the conversations, the how to think about these sales strategies, that is all absolutely, exactly what I'm sharing with my highest and best paying clients right now.

Speaking of them, I was talking to one of them recently. She, and again, I am so blessed to have super smart, super capable, highly skilled people that I get the chance to work with. And this particular client, she was already getting great results for her clients. She had finally landed an offer that made sense, like she was, you know,she had been like many of us, I still do too.

Evolving our offers. Right.It's a great way to, to position it instead of changing ping ponging around, because that's a negative way to say it. She had been refining and evolving her offers for a while, and she finally found one that landed and really just, she loved talking about it, and the people that she was talking to were super receptive.

Her ideal clients, which is always good. So her offer was not one of those. I'll do everything for everyone, which is where all of us have been. Okay. I don't care who you are. I have to, I have totally been there too. but a clear specific offer, a focused first step, something that she could do something, her ideal client genuinely was looking for something that opened the door to more projects.

Ongoing. Right.Beautiful. I love that for us. And she says to me, essentially, Renee, I feel really good about the actual advice and the exact service I'm offering. I know what I'm doing. And again, she, although has so many levels of expertise, suffers from self doubt like all of us at times.

Right. And she went on to say, I know this helps people, but I'm getting stuck around intake and follow up. I'm not sure what happens before the paid work, and I'm not sure what happens after I deliver it, and right now I'm pricing it in a way that doesn't really make sense if I include all the time I'm spending.

And I was like, oh yeah, yes, there it is. Because this is the exact moment where a business starts to mature. This is the moment when you stop asking, can I sell this? And you start asking, how do I structure this so it actually supports my revenue goals and gives my clients amazing results? Because that is a very different question, right?

And that question that is CEO behavior. A lot of expert service providers and consultants are still trying to grow. With an employee mindset, meaning I'll do the work, I'll be helpful, I'll wait until someone asks. I'll send them the deliverables and hope they get it. I'll give them options and let them decide.

Ah, no. That is being an order taker. You want to be the trusted advisor if you wanna hit your revenue goals consistently with great clients who treat you with respect. You need a client journey that supports that. How Renee, how do you, how do you suggest I do that? How Renee, how I love that question.

Here is your ideal client journey checklist. First, it helps the right people understand the value of what you do. Second, it gives them a natural, low risk way. To begin. Third, it leads cleanly into paid projects where you can easily accomplish your revenue goals. Now. How do I get more views in my posts is not the question I want you to ask.

I don't want to hear. Should I be on LinkedIn? Substack YouTube podcast? Seven Stages in a Horse? No

Ask. How do you move real humans from being, I think I need help. To, yes, I want your support, and I know exactly what happens next. That's the game. The story behind this lesson is all about you understanding the bigger picture and how your expertise can be positioned, right? You are not an order taker. You are the CEO of your own business.

You cannot wait for other people to connect the dots. So this client had created a small paid diagnostic offer. It was smart, it gave people clarity. It helped them see what was working and what was broken, what was needed, and because she was excellent. At what she did, she gave the person real value, but this was the issue here was, definitely there's always gonna be one issue to make the recommendations really hit.

She needed context. Context she could not fully get from a short little pre-call questionnaire on your calendar, right? Context, she got and needed from researching. Sometimes for hours. And then once she delivered the findings, she realized that just handing them a report, which is what some gurus suggest.

And I've never thought that was a good idea, even a really good report. thanks to our AI helpers today, we can really create an amazing report and a deep intense report pretty quickly. But even then, it was not enough to show them what they needed to do with the findings because the rapport is not the transformation.

A list of recommendations is only as helpful as the person's understanding of who's reading it. And even when she did a loom, 'cause we had definitely tried that as a part of the offer evolution. I'm like, let's send a video. It's only as good as the person's depth of understanding around the problem.

even with a video report and graphics, most of her ideal clients were oblivious to the problems that even existed. Because of her years in corporate working at big agencies where her reports were valued because the person getting them was just as aware as her.

She had been assuming the person with a similar title to her old boss, her AKA, her ideal client also understood. And that is where the sky opened up in the best way possible. Her past. Here you go. Here's a video. Here's my report. in her client journey was now nixed and now she's in the middle of thinking,do I do another call before?

Do I do a call after? Do I charge more? Do I make it free? Do I give three options? Do I let them choose? Do I send the report first? Do I talk them through it? Am I undercharging? And now I turn this and, how do I turn this into a giant custom project every single time? yeah, right? that's the idea.

Listen, that confusion, that's totally normal. So you see, like her understanding came and then immediately thunder and rain came. So I,I just want to say that out loud as a part of this lesson, because it's normal. It's normal to gain clarity and then get immediately. Crap done. It genuinely is. And so I just wanna say it's totally normal because here's what she was really building.

It was not just an offer. She was building the path a client takes from curiosity about what seemed to be a problem, to a full commitment, multi-phase, maybe year long fix. What they knew was a major problem that needed prior, that needed to be a priority and be solved. Not only now, but by her. And once she saw that part, that's when everything changed.

So here's the core lesson I want you to take away from this story. Your first offer is not intended to do everything. It just needs to be enough. To create clarity, demonstrate your thinking process, reveal the gap between where they are and where they want to be, and to help your ideal clients say this.

Oh, I get that now. I never saw it that way. If you hear that, you're doing it right, and it is so important not to overdeliver in the first step.

Because you are the expert. You have been to the mountain and back again. You've heard me say this, you know the thousand mile journey that they need to get where they actually said they wanted to go. But if you. Share all that upfront. Then they're just drinking from a fire hose and nothing is actually gonna move.

It's gonna feel like you're doing a lot, and then it's going to stop them from buying. So it actually has the absolute reverse effect. You become tired and broke. Two horrible things. So you want to structure the first offer, so it naturally leads to the second step. I know your eye rolls, you're like, duh, of course.

But that second step, that's where revenue starts becoming significant. So let me break down the structure I want you to think about, right? This is especially powerful for you if you're a B2B consultant, strategist, copywriter, marketer, operations expert, funnel builder, and if you help your clients with messaging.

Visibility, fractional C-Suite support, and any expert service where you're helping businesses solve high value problems. Okay, ready? Let's build your three part client journey. Part one, the free specific review. This is not a vague discovery call.

If you wanna go deeper into that, go back to episode 46 and why no one's booking your discovery calls and how to fix it. So again, this is a free specific review, not a pick my brain, or let's hop on a chat or just a virtual coffee unless you enjoy unpaid consulting and confusion. This is a specific. Time bound review.

So a short call, let's say 20 minutes, and you're thinking to yourself, I already know I can hear it. 'cause my clients say all the time, 20 minutes. What am I gonna do in 20 minutes? let me tell you, and it should answer one question. Your client is willing to admit they have. Publicly. So you think about what are we looking at, right?

What are we looking at together? So here I'm gonna give you some examples because this is the best way that I learned. So maybe it is the same for you, a 20 minute website conversion review where you walk away with one edit on your site that will increase conversions on your next 100 visitors. Huh, specific and time-bound.

A 20 minute automations audit where you walk away with one new automation plan that will help you save at least an hour a week. Oh, or a 20 minute Google Business profile review where you walk away with three edits that will get your business scene before. Your competitors or a 20 minute AI workflow review, walk away with one AI swap for repetitive work you are already doing, saving you at least four hours a month.

Or a 20 minute email delivery audit. Walk away with one strategy to increase your next email actually arriving in your audience's inbox. Or a 20 minute visibility podcast guest injection. Walk away with podcasts to be a guest on where your ideal client is already listening. One of mine that I love to do is a 20 minute call where they walk away with five names of ideal potential clients and what to say to them To get the conversation started again, if you wanna check this out, go to ask me coach.com for that one.

This free initial call is not about solving their entire business problems. I mean, for real. They aren't even looking at it the way you do at this point. So just like I say in my book, you have to meet them where they're at. So I want you to think about this initial free call like a doctor on a first initial visit, you are assessing, you are asking smart questions.

You are helping them see something they could not see on their own, and that's the goal. Okay? That's it. That's part one. Part two is the paid no-brainer session, and this is where you go deeper and it usually is around 60 minutes or sometimes a short diagnostic with a session attached.

This is the first paid. Yes. And I love this step because it protects your boundaries and helps you see under the hood so much clearer on what you actually are looking at. So my clients who have never done these before, who start doing these, almost always say, I am so glad I sold this first, because during this I realized what they actually meant when they said.

Website, AI org chart, podcast, launch course, funnel ads, et cetera, right? all of the different expertise that my clients have, they're like, yeah, they set the right words and they were saying the same words as I would use to describe all of those things, but what they meant. Was way different. So can you see why this is so important?

Because instead of jumping straight from a free call to a 20 K proposal, you are inviting them into a contained paid experience. And in essence, this paid one hour-ish session, even if it's broken into two parts. Is the first meeting you would've had anyway once they had handed you the 20 K, except this session helps you scope the project and determine if it truly is a 20 K project.

Or is it a 5K one or is it a 70 5K one? And it allows you to, to future pace them to show the phases that come after they solve this initial problem. It maps out the year, in essence of potential projects that they could get support from you around. It protects you from being a one trick pony. Do you see that?

Because yes, you can help them with their Google ads, let's say, and you can also edit their website. So once they land there, they convert and you can also build the funnel they opt into, so it pulls their leads to the right spot. And you can also install AI voice for them. Since now their sales team will be getting more calls.

Do you see this? You are a unicorn. You have so many skills. You don't just want them seeing you as a Clydesdale, even though Clydesdale's are majestic. They're just one part of the equation, right? So this is where you give clear findings, prioritize recommendations. Strategy, maybe a blueprint, but it shows a map.

No, this is the plan. You're the architect. You're rolling out the blueprints, and you're making sure that the windows and the walls and the yard and the pool are all in the right place. And then the construction team comes in. The fact that you know how to be the architect and the construction team, that's because you're a freaking unicorn, right?

Not everybody knows how to do that, but we don't want you battling against what their business coach said because their business coach doesn't look at their business the way you do. You see what I'm saying? And so many of you have said this to me. So this session creates demand. It shows the potential client for the bigger projects what it would be like to have your support and when done right, this tiny one hour session can turn a, I'm not even sure how important this is right now into a full.

Year long aligned client who respects your advice as much as their gratitude that you can help them get it done, even if you're only consulting their internal team. And this is again, another thing that my clients just cannot wrap their head around initially until they see it materialize literally in front of their eyes when they follow this map.

So by the time you get here, you have crossed all four mile markers that every buyer needs to say yes to anything. I spell it out in my book. The four mile markers are proximity, right? So you have proximity to them. That's how you figured out identifying them as an ideal client potential. You had a reason to reach out, you educated them.

And again, this is again, free initial call, initial paid discovery, which is the no-brainer offer session. Those are education on both sides. You're learning about them and they're learning about you. And the final fourth mile marker is indoctrination. Indoctrination is when they are fully aware of their problem, and now they realize that if they're going to fix this, it can only be you.

I tell my clients that if they do parts one and two correctly, they will never have to convince anyone of anything. This is a zero entry sales process meant to create zero friction. If you'll notice. maybe you haven't. I don't talk about overturning objections because when you sell the way that I'm guiding you to sell, you won't get objections.

So when we build a sales process like this, you don't need the lead to be interested in your Part three project to start, oh, lemme say that again. When you build a sales process like this, you don't need your lead AKA, your ideal client to be interested in your Part three project or your main 20 K project to start.

And unfortunately that is where my corporate refugees heads are at when they hang up their own shingle. Yes. Corporate refugees because they are used to people around them already understanding the problem, already understanding how they know how to solve it expertly, and the only conversation is about when and how much.

But that's what we talk about in part three of this process. So do you see how this process opens up so many more opportunities to you even in your own existing network where they already know you, they already like you, they already trust you, they just don't really know how or if you solve the problem, they've been complaining about.

They could literally display zero interest, but they are willing to start because you identified what they are willing to admit publicly. That's where the 20 minute free call starts the process. Then you qualify them by asking the right questions at the right time. Okay, that's part two. Part three is the phase one project, which is where most. Amazing, brilliant, smart women who just haven't had sales training. Think someone's gonna go from a post on LinkedIn. Is it possible? Might it have happened before? Sure. Even a blind squirrel gets a nut every now and then. But the point is, you are entering into the relationship really genuinely in the wrong way.

It's like a booty call. It's just too fast, too soon, and everybody's confused, and then everybody resents each other later. See? Here's the reality in part three at this point, and only at this point, you recommend the next best step, not three random packages. You throw spaghetti at the wall, a recommendation, you are the expert.

You say, based on what I've seen, here's what I think you need next.

That might be guided support like consulting. It could be done for you, and it doesn't even have to be done by you. PS I just can't say this enough. I work with so many experts who are like, well, I don't want an agency. Okay, well, you know what to do. You have a signature process. Why can't you get someone to do it?

A junior person, grab them wherever you may, and then you do the final. Wrap up the final touch points and then it is done for you. Blessed by you using your system, using your structure. Or it could be a hybrid, right? Consulting done for you, combination therein. Maybe they need a little bit of help, a little bit of help that you're willing to give.

But again, there's a lot of variables. When we make a 20 K or a 30 K or a hundred K offer that we can't guess on, and we have two choices. We can either do paid discovery like I'm recommending here, or you can have. 10 calls to help figure it out, and it could still go off the rails. So I want you to think about this as I am meeting them where they're at.

I am creating a plan, like a blueprint, and then I'm gonna recommend the first step, the thing that makes the most sense next. And. You're going to give them a path where they can see the horizon, not how, not even the pricing, just that there is a horizon and that you know how to get 'em there. So you're recommending a path.

You're not going to make them sort through some Cheesecake Factory menu of options when they're already thinking, oh, I don't know if this is even the right time. I don't know if I have the resources. I don't know if I, This is where your ideal clients are often stressing out. They're like, there's so many things that are important.

Okay. Don't make it harder for them to say yes. Use the plan, the initial paid session, the no-brainer offer, whether it's a blueprint, a map, a strategy that you laid out in part two as your outline for your initial proposal. I'm gonna say that again. Use the plan that you laid out in the no-brainer session as your outline for your.

Proposal. Do you see how this is so awesome? Right? And when I lay this out for my clients and they start to actually do it and see it, they're just like, why have I not been doing this every time? But they still get tricked. They still get tricked. I can't tell you how many times over the years that I've worked with lots of clients when they're like, yeah, I know those other three people needed paid strategy, but this one, she's ready.

She knows me, she knows what's going on. And I'm like, it's up to you. It's your business. I would do it. I would still do the no-brainer offer. I would still do the strategy blueprint map, but if you wanna do it without, that's fine. And every time they come back to me say, I should have done it because of this reason, because now she said this, but she actually wants this because of this, because of that.

So this part two, I know we're in part three number. Part two is your outline for your proposal. Okay. So you see part two is really a simple next step. It's not a huge lift because you have done the heavy lift upfront, right? Or so like you, when you've done part one, you've done part two. When you make that proposal in part three, it's a no-brainer.

here's what you know, like this is obviously what we're trying to avoid. So by doing the heavy lifting up front, because you know their business so much better. You are able to help them so much more thoroughly and for longer periods of time. Here's what I mean. I worked with a woman who would do a website edit, like a punch list, I'm gonna get these 17 things done.

Just tell me what you want. And I'll be honest, most people didn't even know what they wanted. They didn't know what they needed. I. She would do them in VIP days, ultimately that was great that she could protect her time, but it wasn't strategic from her side. And people absolutely needed what she did.

they needed their website edited and they told her what they needed and she would just do it, but her handoff was weak. She'd gather info, do the work, send the deliverable, like she would get their list of things that they wanted her to do. She was literally an order taker. She would do the work, send the deliverable here, your website's all set, and then float away into the night like a little business ghost.

No, no follow up, no expert advice for the next step. For example, she knew how to do email marketing like a rockstar, even bookkeeping, but she never mentioned it. She would say, they didn't ask me, or It's on my website. She had an employee mindset in her own. Business and it was keeping her broke, so I wanna avoid that for you.

So once we restructured her process so that the first conversation had a clear purpose, the paid review was sold separately, and first, the next recommendation was often two or more VIP days, because she wasn't waiting for the customer to connect the dots. For her, she took the lead and that alone doubled her revenue.

The first quarter. She applied this, not because she changed her expertise, not because she changed her offers, but she changed her client journey to this simple three part process. I wish that were the only example, but I genuinely have hundreds and I need to give you this next one right now so you can adopt this three part sales process for yourself.

Another woman was closing one project a month, but making it harder than necessary. She'd get to the offer and say something like, I could do a guided version or a hybrid version, or a done for you version, or maybe like a smaller version or a version of this later. no. I will say this with love.

If you are ever closing somebody and you are giving them the choices, you are confusing people and a confused buyer buys nothing. Your ideal client does not know how to architect the project. That is your job. So instead, I had her lead with an anchored recommendation, something like, there are a few ways I could support you.

The most hands-on version would be X and the fully DIY path would be Y. But based on what you shared, here's the option I recommend. That's the key phrase based on what you've shared with me, here's the option I recommend. That is consultative selling. That is you firmly planted in the most important role.

The trusted advisor. This is how you make it easier for them to say yes. And then there's this pattern, which I also see all the time. A brilliant expert gets a good referral. She serves that person well. The client is happy. Amazing, right? Yeah. But then she starts waiting. Waiting for the next referral, waiting for the next person to need help, waiting for someone to remember she exists.

No, we're not playing that game. We are not building a business on, hopefully somebody thinks of me, because that is what gets you into those. I think ridiculous. 30 day posting, whatever they are, initiatives. I'm like, why? For what? You're just bringing in a bunch of people that don't actually understand what's happening unless you have a right process.

So don't wanna jump from post to proposal. So many people do that. They skip steps one and two of this breakdown, and they regret it every time. That's when they come to me thinking, nobody knows who I am and I undercharge and they said this, and da. If you sell the way I'm breaking down today, you will not have to turn over objections because this is a pipeline, not a wish.

So there's a book I used to give my salespeople when I ran my agency and it was called, oh, the Places You'll Go By Dr. Seuss. And there's a part of the story called the Waiting Place. It's where everyone is waiting for something to happen, but that. Puts them in a helpless state. This three part zero entry sales process is where you take back control and genuinely help more people.

I want you to shift into proactive outreach with a specific reason to talk to them, right? Not spammy or weird. Not, Hey girl, just bumping this into the top of your inbox. I beg of you. No. Stop it. Do not do that. Instead, have a real invitation with a specific outcome, with a real problem that they've admitted publicly.

Your ideal client is out there. They're probably in your network right now. This is how you start creating demand instead of waiting for luck. Okay. Let's get super tactical now, right? I wanna give you the step by step process exactly how to put this into action for your business.

Step one, define the small first problem. Your ideal client is willing to complain about publicly that you can assess fast. I want you to ask yourself, what is one problem I can help someone? Clearly see in 20 minutes not solve fully, not completely implement their whole business. Assess clearly. Like my example of guiding someone to identify five names of actual people and exactly what to say to them in 20 minutes.

My ideal clients often are willing to complain publicly about wanting more leads, and that's why I chose that. And it's very easy for me to help them identify five people and give them exactly what to say. So the key is that the problem must be specific, relevant. Valuable and easy to name. So again, specific to them.

Positive attitudes contagious. Oh my goodness. Thank you. Eighties. You gave me so much fodder for my comedy. All right. Then you wanna name the review like a grown business owner. I say this because please stop naming offers like it's a creative writing assignment. Make it clear, make it direct, blunt even.

And literally on the nose, I was setting up a free call with someone doing this, and it turns out she ran. Meta ads, but from every piece of content I saw the header on her, LinkedIn, the website she wrote. I could not figure out what she did. She used so many adjectives. I was like, I literally don't know what you do.

Like I understand you're gonna change my business. You're gonna get me more leads. You're gonna do this, but what do you do? I didn't understand it until she told me. I'm like, why don't you just lead with that? And yes, all those other things are true also, but like at least include that part. So she had creative writing, written out her actual work, and she's oh my gosh, you're right.

So make it clear. Make it direct, blunt even, and literally on the nose. All right, here's your formula for this. Time, 20 minutes specific area of business, whatever that is, and a concrete outcome. I gave you so many examples earlier in this episode. Please go back and listen if you need to, but people say yes to clarity, not mystery.

Here's the next step. Decide what happens on the free call. Your free call should have a job. So here's the structure that I teach. I start at the top, why do they even want this thing? So for me, why do you even want more leads? What do they think this outcome will get them? That often uncovers the real problem that they aren't willing to admit publicly.

So it's the problem beneath the problem that we really need to get to so that we can get to the quick right. Then ask what have they tried? And here's the best part. Show me, have them show you this two minute screen share is so eye-opening. Most likely when they say something as innocuous as, I want more leads, or I want a better website, or I want my emails to convert, or I want my posts to be more authoritative.

The way they are evaluating that is very different than the way you would.

Speaker: That's one of the reasons why they need you because all of the things they should be looking at, but don't even know that they should. Haven't you ever heard someone say, I didn't even know what I didn't know. That's what I mean when they say website leads, email posting, whatever they're saying. That is the core public problem.

They don't know what they don't know. They don't know what you know. And so you've gotta take that and ask them to show you. And I say this as well, your clients are very smart people, but not when it comes to your expertise. They might say the words, but what they mean is often the gap where your first project is hiding.

So make your favorite phrase on the free initial call. Show me what you mean.

Can you share your screen real quick? All right. Then show them the bigger picture and where this one thing that you are giving them today fits into the bigger picture. So this might be a graphic that you created on napkin.ai or on Notebook or maybe on Canva. But you show them that this one little thing, like for me, the five hidden leads where it actually fits into the bigger picture and that's when they start to go.

Oh, I see. And since you've already gathered context on, for me at least what they're selling now, how people are currently finding them, I ask what happens after someone shows interest. I ask where do they think they're losing people? And I ask what their revenue goals actually are. What, why they're trying to hit them.

That's when my advice will actually hit home. Same thing for you. So when you book this initial free call, do not wait for the call to start to ask questions that will help give you context around the problem you're solving that they have been admittedly saying publicly, because that's the best part is right here.

You come into the call with. Context and then you give them a piece of homework. So again, I wanna say this one piece of homework, not seven frameworks, not the whole implementation plan, not free consulting, disguised as generosity. The 20 minutes is up and they leave with what I promised and what. One specific action looks like, and then I will set a date often to check in with them, whether that's, I check with them, on Voxer, or I check in with them on a text or I check in with 'em on a call.

It just depends on who it is and what we're talking about, because this is when you move into the next step. Creating your paid no-brainer session. This is your first paid. Yes. So all of this has been finding people and then starting the conversation with them with a specific initial free 20 minute call.

And now we're gonna say, listen, I've heard what you've done. I see what you've accomplished. Thank you for showing me. Now let's talk about what the next step looks like. For example, a 60 minute client journey strategy session, or for me it might be a revenue path session or an offer and follow up fix or a sales process blueprint.

I love those. So inside that session, you'll give them a diagnosis of where you see the problems that could happen, but you can't know everything. 'cause you haven't done all the backend checking, right? You're just saying, this is where I typically see problems. You'll give them a list of priorities.

You'll give them a sequence of events of what they should think about first, second, and third, and then you'll talk about the first things to fix with a recommended path forward.

Yeah, I see that now. I never thought of it that way. I never would've asked those questions. I never would've looked there. That is your proof that it's working. You wanna separate your data. A lot of you are data-driven, and I love that data from recommendations. So it's the data supports the recommendations.

This is a huge light bulb moment for many people. So I have one client who's very data-driven. Everything she talks about and teaches and consults on and ultimately does through her own business, is data focused. And she had bundled up everything together. Like it all had to be one thing. Now, often there are multiple pieces in this case with her piece one was the findings, what she observed, measured, reviewed, audited, and gathered based on this one.

Business. And then the second piece was then it's her recommendations, what those findings mean, what out of all that, that she measured and observed and reviewed matters most. And most importantly, based on what they shared with her, based on what she observed, measured, reviewed, audited, and gathered, they should do next.

That separation is so powerful because it helps you stop overworking the first step. It makes your expertise more visible because anyone can generate data, but not everyone can interpret it well, so you wanna walk them through these results in a live call. Ultimately, that's my best advice, is that it's not just an email.

Of the report and it's not just a loom with an email, the report and hope for the best, right? You want them in the room with you. Why? And in the Zoom room or in the Google meet room, Like it doesn't have to be in a personal, actual, physical space. But why do you want to show them what you found personally?

So again, this is me saying that a 60 minute strategy session should have a part two. So you're gonna share with them all of the findings and initial reviews and evaluations. You need to let them sit with it. Maybe for a couple days, and then you get 'em back on for a live call for like t again, 20 minutes.

These don't have to be long, but this live conversation lets you ask better questions because now you've had time to think about things as well. You can maybe evaluate the transcript, look them up a little bit more deeply. You'll have more information to ask better questions, and then you're uncovering the missing context.

Like I said, it's that gap in that place that the client didn't even know to look. That's your first project. You're also hearing their reactions, understanding how their team works, if they have a team, what's gonna be happening, who can handle taking care of certain pieces. And you are going to, again, show what's happening.

You're gonna share your observations, but you're also gonna. Again, through this second call, build more trust and more importantly, create momentum toward your next step recommendation. So when they see how you think your value goes up, it's not just in your deliverables. I can't say that enough. And your recommendation, is that a recommendation, not a buffet?

Yes, I do teach the Goldilocks close, which is high, low, just right. I did share that with you in today's podcast, but I'm not actually giving them three choices. I'm saying there are three paths right now based on what you shared with us that we could take. However, based on everything you've shared with me and what I've learned, I think this is the sweet spot.

This is the next best step. And when it comes time to actually move into phase one, this is what you wanna repeat. Based on what I've seen, here's what I recommend, and then explain the scope and the timeline and the expected results. Again, you're not a magician. You are, you are. You're a unicorn, but you're not a magician.

And a lot of whatever we do with our clients also means they have to show up and do things. Even if you're building and designing the whole website or the whole email sequence, you still need information from them. In a timely fashion, which we can all agree. They don't always do that well. Right? So you can mention other levels, like other phases for context if you wanna anchor the pricing, but do not dump the decision making burden on them.

They are more overwhelmed than you think they are most likely. And they need clarity. 'cause whether they're a middle manager at an organization and you're pitching a corporate. And they wanna look good. They wanna get promoted, whether it's their business, even if they're making one or 2 million a year in their current business, that's still a very small business.

The founder is probably doing a lot more than they should be, and they just haven't crossed that bridge. They still have all the problems that even a startup has. So the more overwhelmed they are, the more clarity they need. I want you to follow through. A lot of women do the free call, even do the paid session, and then they disappear because they don't wanna feel pushy.

No follow up, follow through. That is you leading them. That is you helping them. If you gave someone insight and you know the next step. Would help them. This is where you can show your support and encouragement like, like this. You might say something like, I've been thinking about your goal of hitting consistent revenue monthly without relying on referrals alone.

Based on what we uncovered, the next best step is. Your signature system so that we can outcome of the first bigger project. Let's set up a time to look at what's happening now, and if this is genuinely your next best step, I care. And even if this is not the right time for us to work together officially, I still want to know you're moving in the direction you want.

Okay. As a sales coach, I wanna talk about the revenue that this zero entry process can build for you. And I really wanna make this practical, right? So let's say you do four specific free initial calls each month. Let's say half of those turn into a paid no-brainer session. let's say at least one of those, right?

It's not gonna be the end project. It's not gonna be the only project. We don't do one-off itis here, unless you are pitching the whole year and they're paying you over time. I had one person email me, I really like doing one-off projects. Yeah. But her business is a lot. she goes to corporate and those are six figure deals, so it takes her a lot longer.

So it's a little bit different than a one-off VIP day. And so. I want you to have real revenue that's predictable and forecastable without hustle. That is sustainable. With actions you can control finding and inviting four people per month to a free initial. Review call audit, right? Not a discovery call, a specific 20 minute goal that they get right away, and then at least two of those I bet you'll find are eligible.

They qualify for a no-brainer offer, a strategy session, a 60 minute plan, map, blueprint, something, and no matter what you charge, whether it's 200 or 2K for that initial no-brainer offer, it's still not something you can live off of, right? You need to move them into the phase one offer, but this is a zero entry sales process.

So what I'm helping you get is more people in the position, in the right place, where when you present a phase one offer, they have more education and they've been indoctrinated, they've been qualified, so that when you present that it. Clocks. It tracks it makes sense. , It's an easy, yeah, that makes sense.

That is what you want to hear, and so that's what this does for you. As opposed to posting and asking for referrals all the time, though, which might be from people that knew you from before, you had lots more experience and understood pricing. It helps you avoid all the struggle. It allows you to identify four people a month, invite 'em to something specific, and then have at least one new client starting with you every single month.

At least. This is, and I'm low balling this, there's lots of people that do this and they're able. To up that to two or three or four or five new clients starting each month. It just depends on what your business model is and what you can handle. So now we're talking real revenue go growth, because the point is not for every call to become a giant client immediately, the point is to build a journey that creates consistent.

Revenue based on actions you can take sustainably a journey where the free call filters people out because a lot of people that start to invite people to free calls realize they've been targeting the wrong ideal client. Maybe it used to be their ideal client, but then things have changed. Things have shifted.

They learn, they've learned things, and now they wanna shift it to a slightly different type of avatar. So the free call filters. The paid session qualifies and deepens trust. It firmly places you in the trusted advisor spot versus the doer or the order taker, and then phase one becomes the next natural step.

The first bigger project, maybe it's 30 days, maybe it's 90 days, maybe it's six months. That's how you start forecasting revenue like a CEO. all right. A quick reality check here for the women who are undercharging. If your first paid step includes pre-work, custom thinking, a live session, recommendations, follow up a natural bridge to bigger work.

Please do not price this like a novelty mug at Target. I beg of you the very least. Start at 200 and then move your way up. Your pricing should reflect the clarity you provide, the decisions you accelerate. That's where a lot of companies slow down is they're stuck in decision paralysis, right? Analysis, paralysis, the mistakes you help them avoid.

Remember you showing them the,the bigger picture here of all the places where you typically see leaks, you typically see problems start to arise, but they don't even know it's a problem until it's too late and expensive. that's the place where you help them to avoid that in the first place, and more importantly, the revenue impact for them of fixing the right thing first based on your recommendations.

So when you fix sales and offer confusion and weak follow up and client journey gaps that affects real money. But the deeper shift here is the mindset, and I want you to hear this. Your job is not to prove your value by doing more in the first interaction. Your job as an expert in your field to sell your expertise is to create a path where the right person can say yes in stages.

It protects you from being in a big contract with the wrong people. And undercharging and resenting your life and everything else, and it protects them from not getting the right results and giving you a bad review or whatever happens, right? Your reputation is the most important thing to protect, and of course, the relationships along the way by taking it in stages slower than you think you should in the beginning.

That's what makes sales feel better. It protects your time, it increases your conversions, and this is what makes revenue consistent. And honestly, this is what makes you feel like a business owner instead of a talented person with a very exhausting calendar. Many of the women I work with say I wasn't thinking about my business long term.

they were thinking like, oh, what would I, what will I post today? Or Who will I talk to today? And it's just they were very reactive instead of proactive. Another thing they say is, you have taught me to publish and connect and close deals over the course of a year, not just this week. And that is getting them out of hustle mode, right?

Hustle is now, now, now sustainable is we're gonna get to it and here's the plan. And that's usually when I start to cry, honestly, because I am so here for that reason. Okay, so here's your weekly challenge.

I want you to do one thing. Identify one problem. Your ideal client would gladly get help assessing in 20 minutes because they've said it publicly. Name your free review clearly using time, topic, outcome, right? That framework, and I gave you tons of examples in this episode, and I want you to think of five real humans that you could invite to that call.

That is your challenge. And if this episode hit home and you want help building your sales process, your client journey, and your offers so they actually support your revenue goals sustainably, then go to ask me coach.com. That's A-S-K-M-E-C-O-A-C h.com. Have a beautiful week. I'll talk to you soon.