Three Signs That a Discovery-Call Lead is Not a Fit for You
Image credit: aboundingsolutions.com
As the image above suggests, this post is about the inclination to fit a square peg into a round hole when it comes to your client or customer discovery calls — especially for newer entrepreneurs.
If you sell a service, your prospect is buying you as much as they are buying what you offer that will make their life easier. Thus, many factors, from branding to personality, can derail a business relationship that might at first look like a great match between what they need and what you provide.
Much has been written about red flags involving customers or clients after they’ve signed a contract with you and you’re into your working relationship with them. But what are some things to look for on your very first “get to know you” call with a lead?
Here are three signs that a lead is not a fit when you first get on Zoom, Google Meet, or the phone with him or her:
On a call clearly marked as selling your service, the lead tries to sell you theirs and isn't interested in talking about your service. For example, when you book on someone’s calendar in Calendly, usually there’s a field to add a note. Here you can reinforce what you offer and how it relates to their business. If this expectation for your discovery call — that your lead will learn about how you can help them, and not the other way around — has been set in the meeting booking, and/or in an email exchange that resulted in the booking, then it’s rude for your lead to change the expectation in real time on your call by making it more about them and what they offer.
The lead cuts off your presentation. There are some caveats here; mainly that your presentation should take up, at most, half of the allotted time to allow time for your lead to ask you questions. So if your call length is 30 minutes and your presentation runs 25+ minutes, I don’t think it’s necessarily bad form for your lead to interrupt you at the 20-minute mark. However, if your presentation ends after 10 minutes in a 30-minute window, and your lead cuts you off at 8 minutes in, this is a sign that not only are they not engaged at this early discovery stage — but that they likely will not be a great communicator at many points down the road, well after they’ve signed with you and you’re obligated to complete your project for them.
The lead "looks for the exits" before the scheduled call time is done. This is different than #2. In this scenario — again using a hypothetical 30-minute call window — you’ve ended your presentation at the 10-minute mark. At around the 15- to 20-minute mark — when you’re likely giving buying information beyond what’s in your stock presentation or answering your lead’s question — they say, “Well, it was nice to talk with you. Thanks for your time.” In my book, if a lead doesn’t want to give you the attention that you deserve in the pre-planned window that they agreed to in setting up your call booking, that’s not someone with whom you want to do business. This is because, moving forward, these leads will always view their time as far more valuable than yours.
Your time is just as valuable as everyone else’s time, and it’s your business. If you look out for these signs on your first call with leads, you set yourself up for maximum efficiency in terms of shifting your time from working further with a “square peg” lead to sourcing and talking to new leads who will be a better fit for not only what you offer, but the way you like to work.
More advice for discovery calls
In this post I share two more tips to ensure successful sales discovery calls. Check it out!
