Searching for customers, using advertising, can feel a bit like playing the lottery.
You buy a stack of scratchcards, eagerly scratching off the foil panels, hoping to hit the big time AND…nothing.
Or worse still, you do land a client, but a dud!
Imagine spending all that money and time on an ad, only for the customer to become a nightmare.
I want to show you how we can win the ad lottery and find your agency’s first big client.
Even if you have no portfolio, testimonials, or case studies.
So here’s the goal. We want to do three things.
- Win our largest client ever using an advertising strategy
- Stop feeling like we’re playing the lottery and increase our chances of winning
- Avoid the customer from hell and only work with clients we want to work with
What if I told you, that you probably already have a killer, awesome, high-value client but you just don’t know it yet?
Imagine knowing that you had a winning lottery ticket.
BUT rather than looking for it, or searching through your pile of tickets.
You decide you just buy a whole load of new tickets, hoping that you’ll both win AND keep hold of it this time.
This might sound crazy, but almost every business I know does the exact same thing.
For a lead to turn into a customer, we need to qualify them, make an offer, and close them.
So many agency owners I know, land the lead and pay for them.
But then never qualify them!
In fact, ask yourself right now, have you got proposals sitting in your outbox or drafts that you haven’t sent yet?
That’s like failing to scratch the final panel off on a winning lottery ticket!
And what’s really funny is that if you build a process for those three stages, you’re less likely to need a portfolio.
The process is your portfolio.
To qualify customers, pitch them, and close them, you’ll need to structure a process each time.
If your process is solid, it’ll do 90% of the trust-building work needed to win clients over.
A repeatable process that nurtures new advertising leads, qualifies them, makes an offer and closes will be all the proof you need.
I used to really struggle with qualifications and making an offer.
Depending on your niche or agency, these might look different.
But something I’ve done that works AND lets me pitch five-figure projects (and close) without a proposal is something like this.
First, I’ll run an ad campaign and gather 100 or so optins and leads.
I’ve done this with Facebook, Google, YouTube and the process is always the same.
Run an ad, get 100 leads, and see what we can do with those leads.
Next, anyone who signs up is usually offered a lead magnet or some kind of free content.
Hint: Scorecards and report apps are converting really well right now.
After I’ve hit 100 new leads, I’ll shut the campaign down and work on the small list I’ve built.
I’ll offer everyone who signs up an immediate free 10-minute qualification call.
Ideally, I’ll ask for their email address, name, and phone number.
On the page to download, or the thank you page, I’ll offer them a free call.
When I run the call, I’m just qualifying them.
They are auditioning to work with me.
I’m not auditioning to work with them.
And if they pass my qualifiers for that call, I’ll offer them a strategy call.
On that call, we’ll walk through their business and figure out how/if I can help.
If I can help, I’ll make an offer and then close them on the call.
I have closed $10,000, $25,000, and $75,000 projects using ONE call (and no custom proposals).
In fact, I think you could even do better than me.
If you’ve ever closed a six-figure deal on 2 phone calls, comment below.
I have a strict process that everyone follows – no matter how well I know them.
This means all my leads are treated the same.
And eventually, I’ll end up with 2-3 new clients (on average).
My time is spent checking the lottery ticket, not buying NEW ones all the time.
But what happens when we make a sale, close the customer, AND – they become a nightmare client!
This is why the process is so important.
You need to know what you’re looking for before you even start a campaign.
- What kinds of clients do you want?
- Does this person seem like someone you could talk to daily?
- Do you want to work with them?
- Can you get the customer awesome results?
- Do you like them?
- Can they afford you?
- Can they afford to implement your advice?
- Are they looking for help now, urgently?
- Are they the decision maker?
There are multiple times to pre-qualify and qualify leads.
For me, I’m qualifying people during the ad stage, when our ad copy calls out their industry AND their problem.
Then, during the “call offer” stage, I like to survey them and see whether they’re a good fit to start with.
I’ll ask questions like “are you open to spending $2000 a month to fix this problem?” and “what’s your current monthly income?”
I’ll continue to qualify them on the first quick 10-minute call AND on the strategy call.
I want to make sure that they’re urgently seeking help and ready to move TODAY.
I also want to make sure that they seem like good people. Do I like them?
When I scratch off all three panels on my lottery ticket, do I even WANT the prize that I’m offered?
99% of people should fail your standards and qualification criteria.
Nightmare customers are the result of a lack of qualification.
You’re better off finding ONE awesome customer in your stack of lottery tickets.
Then trying to find customers who fall into your lap, but who isn’t your ideal best version of a customer.
The more clear you are on the customers you want, the more likely you are to find them.
And what have we seen happen with this method?
One of our students in my coaching program, Seven Figure Freedom, landed a $25,000 client WITH a $10,000 deposit.
Another student found a $6000 a MONTH client within a few weeks – just by qualifying, making the offer and closing.
EVERY scratch card needs EVERY panel scratched off.
