If I’m honest, I really hate doing sales. But if you’re going to run a successful agency, it comes with the gig. Like most people, I tend to procrastinate on the parts of my job I don’t enjoy — which, for a long period of time, really affected my pipeline.
So, a few years back, I decided to clearly map out my sales process in a step-by-step workflow that would make it easier to action and less likely to put off.
That decision turned out to be one of the best I’ve made.
My conversion rates have improved, my pipeline is more steady and predictable, and I’ve gone from dropping the ball to Johnny on the spot.
In today’s article, I’m going to share my approach — showing you how I manage leads from the first inquiry to the project kickoff. You’ll see how I weed out tire-kickers, identify the best prospects, and even get paid for project discovery.
If that sounds interesting to you, then stick around and let’s get started!
Prefer videos? Check out this article in video form!
Step 1: Project Inquiry Form
My sales process — no matter how I acquire the lead — starts with filling in my project inquiry form.
This form is simple by design, but does just enough to help me easily spot the tire-kickers or bad-fits, so that neither the prospect nor myself waste any time.
While nowadays most of my prospects find my site and come through this form without me having to instruct them to, anytime I get a phone call, direct email, or referral I either request they fill out my form or fill it out for them if they’ve provided me with enough information.
It’s important that every prospect start with this form because it collects information for my CRM, adds the project to my pipeline and project management tool, and kicks off the automation that will follow this prospect from the initial inquiry all the way through the project start.
Plus, it’s just a good idea to have all the same baseline information about every inquiry you get.
This allows me to find any potential leaks and make more considered adjustments to my process going forward.
Early Qualification
When a prospect fills in this form, I’m able to do my first bit of qualification. At this point in the process, I’m just trying to disqualify the obvious bad fits — like people looking for ecommerce sites, since I don’t do any kind of ecommerce at the moment.
If the project meets my initial criteria, it will move onto the next step (which will get to next), but if not — like with any qualification part of my process — I will refer them out to another agency who can better serve them.
Thankfully, through my mastermind program, TABLE, I keep a list of about 40 agencies, their specialities, and the types of projects they are looking for in a database. Not only do I like helping my friends out by sending them leads, I find it to be a good business practice to not leave your prospects empty-handed. I might not be a good fit for this project, but by taking just an extra few minutes to help them find someone who is, I’m able to build a little rapport in case they ever need help on something that’s more in my wheelhouse in the future.
People don’t forget when you’re helpful!
Step 2: Intro Call
If the project seems interesting, and I feel like I might be able to help, the next step is to schedule an introduction call.
During the introduction call, which is limited to just 30-minutes, allows me to ask basic questions about their business and their goals for the project.
I don’t have an exact script for this call — it could vary widely depending on if they are a brand-new business or looking to rebuild an existing website — but my goal for this call is to:
- See if we’re a good fit personality wise
- See if I have the qualifications to help them
- Get a general sense of the scope of the project
As we near the end of our time on the 30-minute intro call, — assuming everything seems like a good fit — I like to recap everything I understood they are looking for and provide them with a ballpark estimate on both the timeline and price of the project.
Because we are very low on specifics at this point, I can’t give them any exact numbers… but based off my experience, I can let them know if this is a $3,000 – $5,000 project or a $20,000 project.
And I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to make sure you’re on the same page at this point of the process. It does you — nor your prospect — any good to go further down this path if the budget is just never going to make sense for either of you.
By giving my prospects an idea of the cost at this stage, we can decide if it’s worth continuing to invest in this process, or if it’s better for them to find another vendor that might be better suited for them.
I do not leave the intro call with a qualified prospect without getting a confirmation on the ballpark budget.
Further Qualification
This, of course, means we have to do some more qualification here.
If the prospect is shocked by your price, and it’s way out of line with their budget, then it’s easy to disqualify them. However, sometimes it’s not the budget that’s an issue…
At times, I realize I might not be the best equipped to handle their issues, the project may not be a good fit, or I might notice some red flags from the prospect on the call that I could have never detected in a form.
In those situations, I don’t bother giving them any kind of ballpark since we’re not going to be working together anyhow.
If they are qualified, I let them know that I’ll be following up via email with a recap of our call and the next steps (which we’ll get to next). If they aren’t qualified, then I thank them for their interest and let them know I’ll follow up with referrals of other agencies that might be better suited to help them.
Step 3: Discovery (or not)
Paid discovery is something I’ve talked a lot about before — and I believe it’s the best process for both the agency and the client to get on the same page and have a successful outcome.
However, there are times — like when I’m just converting their website from another tech stack over to Generate — when it doesn’t seem necessary.
In those cases, I’ll have enough information from my intro call to go scope the project out and provide the client with a proposal.
But basically, everything else has to go through discovery.
If I determine discovery is required, after our intro call, I’ll email them that explains the process and encourages them to pay for and book their discovery call.
If you haven’t done paid discovery before, you might think this is where many prospects disappear — however, that’s not been my experience.
Prospects who are actually ready to invest in their success tend to book the discovery call immediately without any question about the price or process (since all that is clearly explained to them).
In the rare cases where someone did leak out of my pipeline at this point, I’ve found them to have the same ugly website a year later or a new DIY special — so it feels like dodging a bullet.
After we hold the discovery call and do I do all my research, I provide my client with a Project Blueprint. The blueprint covers the entire scope, strategy, & technical details for the project — along with my pricing and turnaround time.
There have been cases where I determined I wouldn’t be the best person to help after discovery, so in place of the pricing and turnaround time, I provide them with a curated list of referrals instead.
Wrapping Up
If I sent over the pricing and turnaround (which comes in the form of a proposal), then all that’s left to do is for them to sign it so we can get started.
This process — with a few tweaks here and there — has been how I’ve operated my sales for the past few years, and really dialing this in has been one of the best things I’ve done for my business.
You can download my exact workflow, which includes details I left out of this article (in the interest of length), like how people are tagged in my system, decision trees, follow-ups, and canned emails.
I hope this little peek into my processes is helpful in shoring up yours!
Kyle Van Deusen
After spending 15 years as a graphic designer and earning a business degree, I launched my agency, OGAL Web Design, in 2017. A year later, after finding the amazing community around WordPress, I co-found The Admin Bar, which has grown to become the #1 community for WordPress professionals. I'm a husband and proud father of three, and a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
