13. Anatomy of a (cringe-free) sales call

Welcome to 15 Minute Freelancer, your snack-sized guide to being your own boss and building a business and life you love. I'm your host, Louise Shanahan. My LinkedIn bio says I'm a freelance health copywriter. But for the next 15 minutes, I'll be tickling your ears with practical strategies, behind the scenes stories, and nuggets o' wisdom so you can create a freelance business that works for you. Whether you're just starting out or you've been self-employed for a while, I'll be right here with you to help me navigate the ups and downs of freelancing life. So, grab a coffee relax and join me for 15 minutes of freelancing fun. Don't forget to hit subscribe! 

Hello, freelance friends. Welcome to another episode. I hope you're well. I hope you're connecting with clients that you're excited to work with, and getting to work on projects that are in your zone of genius and your zone of joy. And getting plenty of R&R too.

Last week, I talked about contracts. Today, we're going a step earlier in the process. I really should have planned these out in some logical order. But to be honest, I just decide on podcast topics based on what's been on my mind each week and what I think might be helpful. So today, we're talking about sales calls. 

What is a sales call? You might call it a prospecting call, a qualifying call with a new lead, a chemistry call. Basically, it’s when you jump on a call with someone who has contacted you to see if you want to work together on a project. And I know that for a lot of freelancers, the mere thought of a sales call is enough to get our heart pounding, palms sweating, because we think we need to get into sales mode. And for many of us selling feels kind of icky and uncomfortable. And maybe that's a topic for another day. But it doesn't have to be scary. And the more you do, the easier it gets. 

I've done a few chemistry calls this week. I prefer to call them chemistry calls, because the purpose is really to see if you're a good fit for each other. I don't feel like I'm pitching necessarily. And maybe that reframe is enough to make them feel easier for you. So yeah, a couple of calls I did this week went really well. They chatted about their business, I chatted about mine, it felt really natural and aligned. Another one didn't feel quite like it had the same flow. I was thinking about what the difference was to kind of reverse engineer what makes a great chemistry call. And yeah, here we are, I thought I'd share it with you too. So we're going to look at how to prepare for the call, what happens on the call, and what happens afterwards, so the whole process feels really smooth, you feel in control, and it's all just really nice and simple.

Before the call. Number one, you need to pre-qualify the lead. Check that the client is a reasonably good fit before having the call. There's no point wasting time having the call with a client that was never going to be a good fit, especially if you could have already checked that via email beforehand. You want to know, is this a company you want to work with? Have they asked for a type of service you even offer? Have you set some expectations around a ballpark budget? Do you have the same kind of approach to working? The red line stuff. As a health copywriter, I don't want to end up wasting time on a call with someone who wants ad copy about flux capacitors or something. That's not my zone of genius or my zone of joy.

Some people will send a questionnaire beforehand using Typeform or Google Docs or something like that to prequalify new leads, which I think is a great idea. It really gets you both on the same page before you start. And it helps you with the project as well, if you've got some of that background information already. I don’t actually do this myself. But to be honest, it's only because I haven't got around to setting it up. Most of my leads come via referrals, so I kind of already know that they're likely to be a reasonable fit. So I haven't felt that urgency to do that yet. But I do think it's a brilliant idea. You might also share your rates card or have an info kit, which I do, that they can look at beforehand to rule themselves in out. 

Next, when it comes to setting up the call, I recommend having some email templates to respond to inquiries. So you might have one for “Yes, let’s have a call,” one for “No, but here's someone else that might be a good fit.” And maybe you'll have a maybe version as well, if you're not quite sure yet. If you have a VA, they can send these for you based on criteria that you agree together, which again, will really speed up the process. 

So in the “yes” email, I basically say that I'm excited to speak to them. I'll give a very rough agenda, just a few bullet points, so they know what to expect. And I include Calendly link so they can choose a time that works for them. And then we're not wasting time going back and forth trying to arrange the call via email. That also sets up the Zoom call automatically and it sends reminders. So it's nice and simple. 

Preparing for the call. I think one reason why people panic about sales calls is because they don't know what the person is going to ask. They worry about feeling put on the spot. You can do three things to feel more confident ahead of the call. 

First of all, you want to know who you're speaking to. The sounds kind of basic, but sometimes people don't know they just have a name and that's it. So is this person, the founder or the CEO of the company? Or the marketing manager? Or an agency? This will give you a sense of what they're likely to be most concerned about and focused on. You can always have a look at their LinkedIn profile, see what sort of things that they're interested in and what they've been up to lately, and that will help you build a bit of rapport. 

Second of all, Google the company or the person and make a note of something newsworthy that they've done recently. So has the company just announced a big new project? Is there a new partnership in the works? Have they published an article about something really current? Think about how your potential project could complement that. Even just referring to something big that's going on for them, or even a recent LinkedIn update shows that you're paying attention and again help build that rapport. 

And third, know your elevator pitch. Practising a couple of sentences about what you do, who you've worked with, results you've got, how your process works, and so on. Once you've done this a few times, you won't get that sweaty palm feeling when it comes to your turn to talk about yourself, it'll just be second nature. You really will be so used to saying it, it will just roll off the tongue. 

Okay, so now we're getting into the call itself. Now it's up to you whether you do the call by phone, or video, or Zoom, or whatever. Personally, I like Zoom, because that's what I always use. I'm used to it. And I like to make a connection with someone face to face. It also means that you can record it if you want to, which will make writing your proposal easier. Always get permission for that. The key though, is to make sure you're doing the same thing. I had a call earlier this week where I had my video on, the other people on the call didn't have their videos on, and it just felt a bit awkward and stilted. I missed my opportunity to turn mine off, and it would have been weird. So yeah, try to do the same thing. 

When you get into the call, I have five steps that I go through. First of all, you're trying to build a rapport, you want to get them excited. The main thing to remember is that you're leading the call, you're an expert partner, you're a consultant or collaborator, you're not just a bum to fill an empty seat for them. And I think maybe that's where people can feel awkward about these calls, because they feel like they're having to convince the person to give them a job. And it's not really like that. You're both kind of sizing each other up, you both want to make sure that this is a good fit. And getting the client really excited is an important part of that. 

Having been on the other side of these calls as a client, I kind of want to be sold to, I want to feel like the person is an expert and wants to advise me on the best solution, not just leaving me to tell them what I want them to do. I want them to get me excited about my business and my project. You don't need to spend ages with the small talk at the start, you know, be human first. But you do want to lead the process, build some rapport, get them excited. That's kind of a good tone to set for the whole thing. 

Next, you want to ask questions. Ask about their business. Often, I find this is what gets people really excited, you're prompting them to think about their business in a way that they maybe haven't taken the time to do very much recently. And they'll appreciate that you're interested. You also want to focus on the problem that they want to solve to make sure that it's something that you can solve. You know, they may think that they need a new logo, but they actually need more web traffic. They may come to you thinking they need more traffic, but actually they need a better offer. They may think they need their gutters cleaned, but actually they have a leaky roof! You get the idea. You need to dig down into what the real problem is. 

And you don't want to be saying you can do things you can't. You don't want to be promising that your service is the solution that they need, if it isn't. That's not going to be fun or productive for either of you. You want to be helpful and seem competent. And that might lead you to say that you can do whatever they need. But actually, it comes across as more competent and confident if you say, “actually, that's not in my area of expertise. But I can recommend someone else who can do that.” 

Then you want to get into the solutions. Once you know what their problem is, briefly explain a potential solution or two, and mention yours if appropriate. Explain how things that you've done before it can be replicated to help them. And as an aside on these calls, you should be listening more than talking. And when you do talk, you want to reflect back the language that they've used. Say something like, “so it sounds like you need…” or “what I'm hearing you say is…” blah, blah, blah, and repeat back what they've said, People want to feel seen and heard. And this is just reassuring them that you get them. It's also confirming for you that you have indeed understood what their problem is, and you're making sure that your recommended solution is going to be a good fit. 

Okay, so now the next thing is ask about the budget and timeframe and see if those are a good fit. Now, big flashing sign here! You must talk about money. The proposal should not be the first mention of money. I know we feel awkward about this. Sometimes we don't want to face that awkward silence after you've said a price and they're not saying anything back. That moment feels like an eternity, sometimes, but there's no judgement. It's not personal. It's a simple exchange of value. Your prices are your prices, their budget is their budget. If they think it sounds expensive, definitely do explain the value. Explain your experience, your process, your previous results, make sure it's clear what's in it for them. But if they don't have the budget, you can just wrap things up there. Maybe recommend someone else. It's not a big deal. If they don't have the budget, they don't have the budget. There's not really anything you can do about that and it's not personal. It doesn't say anything about you. But don't kick the money convo down the line, or you'll end up wasting time on proposals that never go anywhere. 

What I would say at this point, though, is you don't want to be pushed into giving a precise quote on the call, because you need time to figure out the details of the proposal. I think when you're on the spot, there's a tendency to sort of panic and just give a number. You don't want to do that, unless it's a standard service, of course, where you have got a set rate for a set project. But you do want to figure out if you're in the same range, so you might say, “as a rough guide, a recent project that I did that was similar to this was around this price. Does that sound like what you were expecting?” But don't get forced into giving a definite figure. 

It's the same with timeframe. You don't need to feel that you have to say that you can do the project as soon as possible. Own your time and stick to your boundaries. If they need something urgently and you feel that you can do it, then you'll probably want to add a rush fee. Otherwise, just say that you're not available until whatever day. Give a reasonable timeframe for the delivery too. I always estimate a little bit more than I think I'll need, then they're happy when you deliver it sooner.

Finally, when it comes to closing the call, summarise what they've said they needed and what you've said you think you can help with and how your previous results or process can deliver that. Say what the next steps are. If you've agreed to move forward together, say when you’ll send a proposal. Or if they need to send you anything, then obviously you want them to do that. If it's the latter, I'd probably email immediately after the call to say, “it was great speaking to you, I'm really excited about this chance to work together. You said you'd send me XYZ, and then I'll put together a proposal and we can take it from there.” Just something really simple. I'd also jot down some notes of anything that came up on the call that might be good to include in the proposal. And if it doesn't seem like a good fit, for whatever reason, maybe you email them with the names of some other freelancers who can help. Karma. 

Okay, so that's a rough sort of plan for your call. The goal is for both of you to leave the call happy and feeling excited about this. Hopefully, it's the start of beautiful working relationship. So set the tone here. If it doesn't feel like a good fit, that's fine. It's not personal. Remember, you're both wanting to find out the same things. They want to know if you can solve their problem, if they can afford you, if they can trust you. So these are the things that you want to have answers for in your mind already. You want to know if you can solve their problem, if they can afford you, and if you feel excited to work with them. So you want to be listening out for the kind of red flags and green flags that will answer those questions for you. It's kind of like a first date, isn't it? You're just seeing if you want a second date at this point. You don't need to get married on the call. 

Some people say that going into these calls, assuming that it's going to be a “no” can take the pressure off a bit. So that might work for you. I kind of just see it as having conversation. It's just a conversation. It's not a big sales pitch. It's not an interview. You're just trying each other out for size. Really, you just want to see if you're going to get along and if you can help each other out. And if you're a good fit. When you're the one leading the process of setting up the call and leading the conversation, you don't need to feel that you're put on the spot. Remember that clients are often nervous too. They're going to see you as the expert. They don't know what you're going to ask, they might worry that they don't have the answers. When you prepare in advance, when you help them prepare in advance with that they short bullet point agenda that I mentioned, it will just be much easier for both of you. And I promise that these calls do get easier the more you do them. So just keep practising. If you're not getting enough leads to price in real life, why not get a freelance buddy to do a run through with you? 

Okay, so that's all for today. I hope that was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions. Tell me about your sales call success stories. See you next week. Bye.

You've been listening to 15 Minute Freelancer with me, Louise Shanahan, freelance health copywriter and content marketer at thecopyprescription.com. If you enjoyed this, please hit subscribe, leave a review or share it with a freelance friend. And if you've got a freelancing question you want answered on the podcast find me and say hi on Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram. Thanks, and until next time, happy freelancing!