How to Qualify your Interior Design Leads (and screen out the tire kickers)
Updated February 2022
I am not a fan of selling, but I love sales calls.
How about you? I talk to so many business owners who cringe at the idea of making sales calls...yet sales are crucial to having a business.
I don’t know if it’s all the years of running my own wedding planning company, or my experience with nonprofits and having to ask for donations, or just always trying to get what I want (heehee)...but sales calls to me are actually quite enjoyable.
WHY I LOVE SALES CALLS
I screen my people before we even get on the phone so I know I'm getting on the phone with people who are ready to work with me and are able to pay for my services.
Since they’ve been vetted before we even talk, I know that when we get on the phone, we can really connect and I can learn more about them, their project, their challenges, etc and find out how I can help them. Helping people is my love language.
I also love to answer questions, and sales calls provide great insights (and content) for my business.
My sales calls feel more like connection calls than sales calls. And who doesn't want to connect with someone who is passionate about helping them, right?
WEDDING PLANNER SALES CALL PROCESS
Back when I did weddings, I would screen every inquiry that came in so that I only got on the phone and met with people in person who were ready and able to book my services. I think in all my years of booking weddings, I had like a 99% conversion rate.
My process looked like this:
Content + Referrals that attracted my ideal clients —> Inquiry —> Investment Guide —> Phone Call —> In Person Meeting —> 99% moved to onboarding
AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT
In today's world, we cannot afford to give our precious time away. My clients feel the same.
They are solopreneurs or have small teams and often are the ones doing the sales calls. They don’t have time for tire kickers and price shoppers. And they definitely can’t take time away from their business and their families to meet clients in person who were never planning to book them in the first place.
TAKE ACTION
If you feel like you’re getting on sales calls and they’re not converting into clients, take a look at the information you’re putting out there to attract those people. Is your language spot on? Is your imagery in line with the people you want to work with and the prices you want to charge? Are you sending out information in advance so clients know how you work and what you charge?
Be sure to walk through these steps for setting up autoresponders and for what to include in your pricing guide first.
Assess all those things and then adjust them if something is off.
BONUS TIP:
Do sales calls over video rather than phone. Here’s why:
If you have a really strong physical presence/energy, your clients will connect with that and it will help sell you (and your services) on the calI.
A video call is just one more layer of screening and if someone isn’t serious about booking with you, they likely won’t want to do a video call with you because it’s so much more of a commitment.
I’d love to help you create a high-converting process with my Client Experience Templates so you’ll only get on the phone with clients who are ready and able to book your services. In the meantime, be sure to download my client experience blueprint to see where you have gaps in your process. Download below.
Talk soon!
Katie
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