Hey, hey. Welcome back to Selling Your Expertise podcast. I'm your hostess with the most is Renee Hribar, and we're kicking off this Monday with a question, how many free sessions or discovery calls have you done in the last three months? Dun dun. Whenever I ask that question, people hit the floor. Leave the room.

Pretend they're not home. Because the reality is is that many times it is, well, I was in a summit and then three people booked, and then two different, two different show, and then one, she just wasn't my person. Right. And the bigger question here is how many of these. Turned into long-term high value clients, and if the number isn't what you want, you're not alone.

Everything is changing with the way we sell high ticket, right? If you're a high ticket service provider or consultant and you wanna turn free calls into 10 K clients turning helpful into highly paid, then this is the episode for you and it is perfect timing. Perfect timing, right? Because today I am gonna break down exactly how to make that free discovery call, especially those quick chats that my clients are offering right now, turning them into five figure client relationships.

We're gonna talk about that today on the podcast. And if you're listening to this, the week that I'm publishing it, you are in the states. Happy Thanksgiving. I'm also wanting to validate you and your suspicions that as a high ticket service provider or consultant, you do not have to have a low ticket offer for the masses.

There are lots of ways to make money harnessing the attention on buying trends over a holiday like Black Friday, but it does not have to be a half off sale, so don't. Get sucked in. If you want to plan something for the next big holiday attention, then yes, we should talk. 'cause there's lots of ways to boost your authority to level up your pricing and cutting prices.

Slashing prices on high ticket services like consulting or website design or bookkeeping or dashboard building or marketing is not the path. So. Let's dive into today's podcast and talk about what does work sustainably a sales process you can count on year round to bring you consistent, reliable revenue and not burn your time.

So let me give you an example. Take my client who has a boutique marketing agency for chiropractors who's offering three free Google Business profile reviews to people. She's met in an online networking group she's been in for the last year. Now they're not all chiropractors, and she was challenged by how to invite them to a call.

This is what we did. Strategically looked at who was in her networking group, who she had connected with in some way, shape or form, and then made a very simple invitation personally, and we said, listen. I say we because she did it, but I helped write it. This is what I do all day long, is I get to play Cyrano on your shoulder and we said, listen, before we announce this publicly, I wanted to reach out personally as a part of the mission to demystify marketing, especially within the organization that she's networking in.

She's giving, I'm giving away three free Google Business profile reviews. Now, we strategically chose businesses who are in the health and wellness space, so they're chiropractor adjacent and they have physical locations, and so they are already aware that it is something that they should be paying attention to, how they're paying attention to it, what they've got going on.

Well, it's typically a really easy. Window into all of the other things that she can help them with. And that is where we're gonna continue the story in a moment. But just think about it, what is your version of that? And so she just sent out a quick message. do you wanna check out the details before I announce it publicly?

So, hey, I thought of you. Before I do this publicly, do you want the information? And it's working like gangbusters. Okay, so I wanna give you another example. I love giving examples and the reason I do this is 'cause that's how I learn. So I hope that you are connecting with this in that way. Like you can tell me theories all day long, but until I see an example, I don't get it.

So I'm giving you. It's the same training that I need when I learn something. another woman I work with who guides executives to shine through their authority, building content specifically on LinkedIn so that they get that promotion. She's helped somebody go from just being a high level manager to into the C-suite like.

Big time. It's just a recent big win for her and her clients. She also helps them get those coveted board positions. So she, what she did is she offered free LinkedIn profile reviews. Now she did it just as we were starting to work together. We had. Been chatting a little bit, but not really working on the logistics of these types of, of invitations.

And so she put up a post and she had almost 30 people raise their hand. And so it, it did a lot more than we anticipated. and we had to mitigate some of the risk of her time beaten being eaten up. in the future, don't just put up a post necessarily. This is something you wanna do strategically.

Something that I say is under the radar. yes, eventually you could put up a post, but ultimately this is meant to be intentional visibility, intentional connection, not just hope somebody sees it today. Now in her case, it, she did it and it almost, you know. Killed her calendar. her inbox blew up is the point.

And again, why that as her free call? Why is that her new discovery call? Because it's the problem before the problem. Okay, so I've given you an example of a marketing strategist, then of course this content strategist. Now a dashboard designer. This is another amazing example. She knows that when you pull the data and where you pull it from, it makes all the difference in the dashboard.

So with her background and experience, she's got a lot of amazing things that she's done over the last. Two decades that she's been in the online space, she decided to do free website reviews. And honestly, her first pushback to me was like, Renee, no one, no one cares about that. I'm like, oh, oh. But they do, and, and it's, she's like, it's so easy for me.

I am like, boom. There's the reason we should do it because it's so easy for you, because these discovery calls should have as little work for you before, during, and after as possible. Once we have the system set up. this dashboard designer decided to do free website reviews because ultimately that's the problem before the problem and it's catching fire.

So she's asking and reaching out to her existing network. Some people that she's done work for before, others that she's been, uh, you know, in their world somehow, somewhere, some way. So this dashboard designer is not a big. Speaker, she does not have a book. She does not have this big online presence. In fact, uh, she barely has any online presence, but she's really good at what she does.

And although, yes, a lot of her work is done through referrals, we still have to nurture that referral network. And by doing this, this has actually brought some of her other clients that own big agencies back into her world, and she's starting to have conversations about how she can do this. For their clients, which just perpetuates the lack of her needing to be on social media because she's getting her business from different channels.

And that's one of the beautiful things that I want you to think about is you do not necessarily have to be posting, posting, posting, posting, posting to get business. In fact, that's one of the old ways that is broken. So. Let's continue on here. I mean, I, all of this has been inspired by the people in my permission to sell program.

We practice a three part structure for every free call we practice how to spot, who's ready now versus who's just curious. By practicing qualifying questions. We also work with AI and transcripts that we have from other conversations that we've held, and of course, follow-ups to make the next sale obvious.

And so when I work within my permission to sell program, when I work with my clients. I'm not teaching them to sell, sell, sell and persuade. I'm teaching them to ask questions that help the person they're talking to naturally come to their own conclusion. So that is an obvious next step to work with this person.

In another phase, like the next phase leveling up. It also protects my clients from scope creep because if they've got clearly defined time bound and specific proposals every single time without trying to fix everything in one proposal, because we know stuff always comes up that we didn't think about and then we need, oh, I just need to do it.

' I must have missed it in my proposal. No, we can make more money, help the client more. And have a better working relationship with our business. Right? How many times have you offered a proposal? You've been delivering it, something's come up, it shifts everything, and you felt bad because it didn't come up initially in your discovery, even though you spent hours and hours and hours discovering, preparing, proposing, and, and you just do the extra work for free because you feel like you should have known.

We're stopping that this process helps mitigate that risk. So you're getting the entry point, right? This is what I want you to really know about, like, you know lots of people. You have people who you have gotten to know who you have been in networking groups with, who you used to work with, who are your LinkedIn connections, who are in your phone, like you have contacts.

If you've got more than 10 contacts on your phone and more than a hundred Facebook connections and more than a hundred LinkedIn connections, then you have a lot. Of untouched leads, but most people skip this part, or they hope the people that are out there see their post and understand what it means and are in the state of mind to really see it, hear it, understand it, and are self-aware and are ready to buy.

Ooh, it's a lot of, it's a lot of ifs. It's a lot of conditions that need to be met, and I'm telling you, it's not helping you. So. This is a new entry point You're getting the entry point today. If any of these strategies or processes I'm sharing with you here spark more questions, make sure to go to my ask me coach.com and find out what else is available for you.

There's an application to work with me. Once you fill that application out, I'll review it and I'll give you my best advice. Even if it's not the program or working with me, I, I will always give you my best advice for your next best step. Back to this. This came out of a conversation with my permission to steal students and during a recent implementation session, we looked at where their leads were coming from and all of them had a really intense feeling that they wanted to look for new people.

And I get that there will always be new people coming into your life, but I guided them how they were looking at the leads. In their existing network. In the past, many would toil over creating a post that seven people would see or spend weeks preparing for a summit that 14 people would watch or send emails and pray that the person they wanted to connect with actually saw it and was in the exact right space to take them up on their call to action.

So instead of the old way of getting visible and waiting for someone to book on your calendar. Who was problem aware and genuinely understood the value of what you brought to the table. Now we are flipping that script and taking back control, less time, posting only intentionally visible. Personally inviting only certain people to a free call and only a limited amount per month.

And it's not only getting them into genuine conversations with their ideal clients, but it's also qualifying those people along the way, educating those people along the way. We're getting educated along the way so that we know what their next best step might be. allowing us to show the true value of working together versus having to worry about messaging for a service that's customized to each client anyway, like messaging is for mass marketing.

If you are a high ticket service provider or consultant, you do not have a mass market business. You do not need to have a mass market structure, and messaging is for mass marketing. Today I'm talking about an entry point. What is your version of the Google Business Profile or the LinkedIn profile review or the website, homepage review.

What is your version of that? In the past, even when someone booked on your calendar, you'd have to hope they showed up. Right, and then hope that they're the person that you like to work with. Oh, are they self-aware? Are they educated on the problem? Are they ready to take action? I see you. You're out there giving value.

You're hoping it builds trust and you like it to lead somewhere. But here's the problem. Most experts over deliver information and under deliver leadership. And leadership is what actually sells.

Yes, leadership. The free call is not a full diagnostic. It's not you curing every single problem or even identifying every single problem. It's not let me fix everything for you. It's a window into how you think, how you work, and how you guide, and it's, oh. Two-way window you can see in and out of a window.

So it's also a window into how they think, how they work, and where they're trying to go. And when you lead them through identifying their big goals, the. Testing their current reality, assigning a small piece of homework. Those are the three key components that I teach that go into a free call, whether it's labeled as a discovery call or it's labeled as something else we have to know and lead them through.

What are their big goals and how do what you do make sense? How does it pull through? What is their current reality? People can say, oh yeah, I've, I've run Facebook ads. Oh, okay, cool. Show me your backend as soon as you see it. If you're an ads manager, for example, you might. Immediately see, okay. When they say, I've run Facebook ads, what they mean when they say that and what you mean when you say that are two very different realities.

Right. And that's okay. That's okay. It, it's good because it gives you a window into how. They think how they work and where they're trying to go, right? And then it becomes super easy for you to help them and guide them. But that leadership role, you are leading them. Sometimes I call it being a Sherpa.

You're sher buying them through where they need to go. That's it. Like that's the whole game. There's every single one of these free calls, these discovery calls or initial free calls is three parts. Let's talk about their big goals because they have them, but they might not be connecting the dots about how their big goals are possible.

Through your guidance, whether you're doing the work for them, or whether you're talking them through it, guiding them, doing it together, whether it's a one-on-one experience or a group experience, you know you can help them. And it's our opportunity to guide them to their big goals through the pieces of the puzzle that we know need to connect so that their big goals are possible.

So these, these free calls, these discovery calls, these Google business profiles, LinkedIn profile reviews, website reviews, the the examples I gave you, and whatever other thousands of examples are out there and available for you and everyone else listening, I. It's really into three parts. What are their big goals?

Test their current reality. So show me your screen. Let's share screens. Let me show you my screen. Let me share with you what I'm talking about and then assign a small piece of homework because that helps them understand that there is a path through and that you can guide them on it because like that's it.

If you do it right, this is what they're gonna say. Wow, she's really great. I wish I had more time with her. That's what you want. You want them to want more time with you. You want them to want more. That's the moment when you're leading to the next touch point. Too many experts jump straight into the thing they do.

For example, I have a client who started her own marketing agency. She has years of experience in building websites, running meta and Google ads, leveraging ai and AI voice, SMS, all the different pieces of the pie. she's so brilliant and what she knows is that for her clients, their initial problem is something that she can fix quickly, and so she has to name it.

So for her, she might use the Google Business profile example again, right? Just like my other one. I, I work with a lot of marketing agency owners, the idea is that the people that you are working with, let's say she does the Google Business Profile review for people that she wants to talk to, even though she really does wanna help them with their meta and Google ads and leveraging ai.

They're aware of their Google business profile, and that's a thing that they need to pay attention to. They're aware that they need to pay attention to it, so it's an easy yes for them to say, yeah, okay. I'll take you up on it. So when she invites them, let's say, to a quick 20 minute free session where she'll review their Google business profile, it's an easy yes because the free initial review and the few fixes she can make in a few minutes is not the goal.

It's the tool. It's the tool to see into their business. Get to know them better in a way that she hadn't before, even if she's already gotten to know them in different capacities. So here's the reframe. I'm gonna give it to you. It's the same thing I've given to her, and this is exactly what I have her saying.

So I'm gonna read a little script for you, okay? Okay. Let me get into character. Oh. So before we even look at your Google business profile, tell me what are your big goals over the next 12 months? if she's already asked that on a pre-call question, which I am a big fan of, then she might say, tell me more about the big goal that you shared in the form that you filled out before this call.

Then she might say something like this, and this is a framing called statement, statement question. This is something I taught my son, something I taught my husband. It's something I teach my clients. It helps people understand the assignment. It's also called Leading the Witness. But we're gonna do this because we want to lead.

We're not lawyers. This is not a courtroom. So we are allowed to lead the witness. So for those of you who also love crime dramas as much as I do. Here is what I had her say. Some of my clients start here and end up opening up another location, taking summers off, writing a book. Others build recurring revenue with a course or a membership, or finally step out of the day to day.

What does that look like for you? See, so it's statement, statement question. Now, all of the pieces in that statement were actual realities that her clients had created. So she's not just making this up out of thin air. She didn't just get this from chat, GBT. She got this from looking back at her client experiences over the years.

And yeah, some people opened up at locations, some people took summers off. Some people write a book. Some people create recurring revenue with a course or a membership. Some sell the business or step out of the day to day. Those are all realities that have happened based on working with her. And so she was giving the person ideas while also then asking a deeper question about their goals.

I can't say it enough, but for a discovery call, this is a big piece of the puzzle and most service providers and consultants go straight into that thing they do and skip right over what's important to the person you're talking to. Their goals, their thing, their stuff. So this one question about their goals changes, everything.

Now they're dreaming out loud with you and you are positioned as the strategist. Even if you are going to do the work, you're going to build the funnel, you're going to write the email copy, you're going to build their dashboard, even if you're going to do the work. Now, they also see you as the brain, and that means you're not going to have to arm wrestle them about what their business coach told 'em to do versus what you are suggesting.

You're so much more than just the tech setup. And this goes for my consultants too, because a lot of you know your work so well inside, out, left, right, and center, but you're up against people saying, well, I don't know if that's a good idea. And this helps you and them connect on the one thing that they care most about themselves, their goals, their life, their business, the things they want.

Because once you've got the big goal, then you move into the area of expertise that you wanted to be in in the first place. This is the place where you're gonna feel most confident and comfortable, and you get to ask them to show you something, something tangible that relates to their goal. So for example, it might say, let me, let's share screens and show me your Google business profile.

And then she'll go through a few clicks with them and they are super excited and they will start to see a difference. And then she might add, do you wanna show me how you find your, uh, review link, for example. Most of the time when she asks them that, they freeze. They're like, uh, what? Same thing if you're an ads manager or you're building dashboards or funnels, you're like, okay, so take me to the insights or take me to this.

Or like, they, they're like, what, what, what? It's the same reaction that I get. When I ask people how many discovery calls they had in the last three months, so this does two things though. It reveals their actual skill level and their actual reality of how they're interacting with the thing that you do know the most about.

You are the expert in. And number two, it gives you control the room in the nicest way possible. You're the teacher, you're at the front of the class. So you ask questions instead of explaining everything, like this is key, you're not withholding value, you're creating space for them to recognize the gap.

Lemme say that again. When you ask questions, instead of explaining everything, you're not withholding value. You're creating space for them to recognize the gap. See, when they realize how much they don't know, they stop price shopping and start paying attention. So again, continuing on with the free call.

Can you see how this might feel a little different than what you've been doing? And I'm being a little facetious here. It's probably very different than what you've been doing, but these shifts into the new way of doing. 20 minute free calls regardless of what you define them as, discovery call fit, call strategy session, whatever you're calling it, Google Business Review, LinkedIn profile Review.

It's going to change everything. So right now you've asked about their goals. You've had them show their screen and, and show you a few things. You've guided them through a couple things. Then you can do this, you can create a visual infographic of all the pieces of the puzzle. So for example, my client who, Has the marketing agency where she works with chiropractors. This is what she did. We created a visual infographic in napkin, not napkin.ai, like, like a napkin that you'd wipe your face with, like on your eating a napkin. If you haven't heard of it, it's frigging awesome. it was in beta for the longest time.

I'm not an affiliate, I just am a fan. but napkin.ai, check it out and hope, I hope it helps you. So she used napkin AI and she. has these different grids, like you can do, some has gears, some have plants, some have, butterflies emerging outta their chrysalis. I mean, it's pretty awesome. I mean it, I think it's awesome 'cause I'm not a graphics person.

Maybe if you're a graphics person, you'll think it's pedestrian. But the point is this, my client created a visual infographic with all of the pieces of the marketing agency. Offers that she has. So Meta and Google Ads. Website design, dashboard design. There's eight pieces here. None of them say Google Business profile.

But what she did is she put a little Google business profile outside of the gear and said, this is how we link it all together. This is how we find out where it all starts. This is how we examine the sand and the gears, and they always do this now. Oh, I hadn't thought of that. If you can get the person on the other side of this call with you to say, oh, I didn't, I didn't think of that.

I never thought of it that way. You're winning. That's it. That's the reaction you want. So then she says, great. Now that you've gotten your Google business profile buff and ready for action, let me show you something that most people don't even realize. And she shares this visual and the infographic shows how it all comes together.

You know, the ai, the email marketing, Google Ads. And how to retract it and retain customers automatically through leveraging her unique systems and processes. She doesn't sell it. She simply shows it and they get to see it for themselves that the thing she just helped them with is connected to everything else and that she knows how to weave it all together Expertly.

hoping you're nodding your head right now. You are most likely doing some of these things, but this next part, this is the part most people skip. They do the audit, the feedback, the strategy session, and then they end with, great, do you wanna start working together or let me know if you wanna work together.

Do you wanna hear what it looks like to work together? And so they skip this huge part. If I were to be on the sidelines and this was a sport, and you were in the middle and you were playing this sport called discovery call, I would be on the sidelines saying, no, that's you. Assuming this person who just experienced your brilliance in action understands how to use your skills and understands how valuable it could be for them.

They don't. PS they don't. Instead, now write this down. You end with one doable step, for example. Based on what we found, I want you to look at three competitors in your area and write down which categories they're listed under. That's your homework. And then, you know what, let's meet again. I wanna, I wanna make sure that I can help you out here.

I wanna, I'm too nosy to not check in. Plus I can help you update it when we check in. So I'm looking at my calendar now. Okay, great. I can do this same time in two days. Does that work for you? Okay, great. Let me book it for you right now. And I always say to my clients, you know, make sure you have placeholders on your calendar.

You protect that calendar. Like it is. I don't know, the most valuable thing in the world. 'cause really it is, you cannot get your time back. You can always make more money, but you cannot get your time back. So that's it. Booked the next call, and this one short focused builds momentum like boom, boom, boom.

They walk away. They like the person you're talking to, walks away empowered and you walk away with a reason to continue to follow through, to keep educating them Between now and the next touch point. When they do that homework, that's your perfect segue into your paid no-brainer offer. I just broke down for you all the little pieces and components of a 20 minute free call.

I'm pretty sure that there's pieces of that that you can take and use this week, like calling it something specific, like inviting people directly and not worrying about social media so much, like having specific days and. Times on your calendar when you only allow people on your calendar, and people can't just book for no reason at all.

They have to have a good reason and they have to be specific, intentional, direct. Let me paint in a picture for you. So now it's two or three days later, right? You hop back on a call, they've done their homework, or at least they thought about it, and you say, okay, I've been thinking about it, about your business based on your big goals.

Back to that and the work we did on your Google Business profile. Using my example here. Here are a few things you could use right now to make everything go a lot faster towards your goals. Wanna hear what I have in mind? They always say Yes, yes. I wanna hear. Well, now you're in a position to introduce your first paid offer, what I call the no-brainer offer.

It's the smallest, easiest paid. Yes. That moves them closer. To their big goals. It's usually a a 60 minute, you know, hour long working session or a mini implementation sprint. Either way, it's not about convincing them, it's about continuing the conversation with them. 'cause let's be real, not everyone on your calendar is ready.

Right? Some people are just poking around saying things like, I'm not sure if I need marketing help right now. Okay. That means they just don't understand. They're just not self-aware no matter what you've done or help. They're trying to help them, whether guided them through, even if you have led them, they might not be that right mind yet.

Or they might say, I just wanna keep my business open for now. Okay. They're just not in the right mind. Right, and that's fine because that's not your person then. So we built an elegant filter, me and my clients, so if they fill out your form, of course I'm huge about pre-call work, have them fill out a pre-call form.

Ask them a deeper question, right? Continue to ask questions. If you realize that they're not your person, then you don't have to get on a call with them. You don't have to necessarily do a one-on-one call with them. You can send them, you know, an on-demand workshop or a short training video or something simple and just say, Hey, listen, based on everything you've shared with me, this resource will help you get to the next best step.

Watch this first. If it resonates, I'll show you where to go from here. That's it, right? You can keep your calendar clear for the people that you absolutely want to work with. People that have big goals, people that have resources, and are ready to take action. Those feed your business and remember how this whole free initial conversation started, right?

This initial free call, discovery call, you saw them. And personally invited them to something they're already self-aware of and know is important. All right, ready for your action steps. This is gonna take you right through to the new year structure, every free call around big goals, sharing screens, and one piece of homework, and protect your time.

Not everyone deserves a live seat, right? Having an alternate path, an alternative, an alternate for the people that just aren't ready yet, and check in with them in a few days, always book the next call before this one's over, especially people that you really wanna talk to. Do that, and every free call becomes part of a sales system, creating those 10 K clients out of free initial calls.

You know that I love you, right? You've got this. You don't need to change who you are to sell more, to bring in more revenue. You just need a structure that shows off your brilliance and doesn't waste your time. If you're not on my email list yet, get on it. The best part is that you can reply to any email I ever send you and ask me anything.

All right? Have a great week. I'll see you next time on The Selling Your Expertise podcast.