One of the most important steps in landing a new consulting client is the discovery call.
I think of discovery calls as the bridge that takes a prospective client from “interested” to “serious.” They generally happen after a potential client is referred to you, finds you online, or otherwise hears about your services.
Discovery calls are often your first one-on-one chat with a client about their needs and your services. By the end of the call, clients should be impressed with your expertise and confidence and be able to decide if you and your services are a good match for what their nonprofit needs.
Discovery calls are ALSO a chance for you to vet potential clients (if you get a gut feeling about not wanting to work with a potential client at this stage, definitely listen!).
With so much riding on discovery calls, I wanted to share some of the best practices that we’ve developed at Funding for Good—and that have helped consultants in our 60-Day Consulting Boot Camp quickly start landing more clients.
5 Strategies for Better Discovery Calls with Higher Conversion
1) Create a pre-discovery-call intake form
Getting the right amount of information before a discovery call can significantly increase conversion rates. The key is differentiating people who are serious about investing in your services from those who just want to get free advice. And yes, those folks are out there!
If you use an automatic booking app like Calendly, you can embed questions in your booking form so that the call cannot be confirmed until folks provide required information. We’ve found that asking people to complete an intake form AFTER a call is booked does not work nearly as well.
To decide what to include in your intake form, think through what you need to know from potential clients in order to make it a productive conversation for you (and them). For example, you might want to understand what the prospect’s budget is (thereby confirming that they do have a budget for the services they’re seeking). You might want to know what challenge they hope you can fix or their most pressing pain points.
One big thing to keep in mind is that the more questions you ask during the intake/booking phase, the fewer people will complete the full form and go on to book a call. So, if you’re having too many discovery calls and not enough new clients, try adding MORE questions to your form. If you’re having too few discovery calls, you can always dial back the number of questions you ask.
2) Create discovery call templates
Instead of reinventing the wheel for every call, come up with a standard set of questions to cover each time. Create a copy of these questions where you can take notes for each client prospect. You can use a Word doc or Google doc for this or even use an app like Asana. If you offer multiple services, you might have different variations of questions / agendas for each service.
To streamline next steps, you can then create a follow-up email template that you can quickly complete right after (or even during) the call as part of your note-taking process.
3) Practice your pitch for your consulting business
Talking about ourselves doesn’t always come naturally! That’s why it’s so important to not just hone your pitch (about you and your services), but to practice your delivery.
So, what goes into a pitch? Be sure to cover:
- What you do (services)
- Who you work with (ideal clients)
- Why you are an expert (your background)
- Why you do the work you do (your passion)
You can start by practicing your pitch with family, friends, and other nonprofit consultants you know. Then, take your practice broader. Attend networking events, attend conferences, go to local events for nonprofits in your community, and join networking communities for other nonprofit consultants. Don’t just sit in the corner, though. Spend time chatting with people and introducing yourself!
When you give your pitch, notice how people react. Are they enthusiastic and inspired, or is there a point where their attention drifts? If you’re still struggling to be clear and concise when talking about yourself and your business, a business coach can do wonders in helping you get there (it’s actually one of my specialties when I coach nonprofit consultants).
4) Get super clear on your consulting services
Stop inventing new services for every client. You’d be surprised how common this is among nonprofit consultants, especially folks with a long background in nonprofit work.
While it’s nice to be able to do a bit of everything, being TOO flexible and customized in your services makes everything harder. You spend more time creating scopes of work and more time providing unique services for every single client. With your energy pulled in too many directions, you’re also more likely to get burned out and to underprice your services because you don’t have a solid baseline.
Instead, get ultra clear on your priority services up front. Then, during discovery calls, guide the conversation to ensure prospective clients can benefit from the services you WANT to provide (not just the services you CAN provide).
If you’re not sure where to start on your services, we’ve got a full guide about how to become a nonprofit consultant.
5) Focus on your confidence
One of the biggest changes I see among the consultants I coach is how their confidence—in themselves, their work, and their value—grows exponentially.
When you are confident about the value you offer, prospective clients respond more positively. Building your confidence when speaking to clients is possible for everyone, even introverts. It’s also incredibly important to the long-term success of your business.
Consider this scenario: Imagine you are a nonprofit with an urgent need. You set up discovery calls with two potential consultants who offer relevant services.
One consultant rambles on about the type of work they do, their background, and how they will make custom solutions once they learn more about the nonprofit’s needs (presumably on future calls). The call feels a bit disorganized overall.
The other consultant asks smart and insightful questions during the discovery call, suggests a clear strategy to address the nonprofit’s needs, and shares how this approach has helped other nonprofits in similar situations. The consultant then sends a prompt and accurate follow-up email recapping the conversation and next steps.
These consultants could have the exact same level of expertise. But who would YOU want to work with?
