7 Tips for a Successful Discovery Call with a Potential Attorney-Client
Jan 10, 2023The discovery call is probably the most important step in your sales process. The discovery call is the first step of the sales process and is key to uncovering your prospect's needs, pain points, and ideal outcomes. With this information, you can make the right offer to land the client. If you conduct a low-quality discovery call, you will end up with low-quality clients and higher prices and margins. So we must get your discovery call right.
Let's look at some common mistakes that accounting firm owners make. These mistakes can be easily avoided if you're aware of them. So, let's get started.
Tip #1: Discovery Call Duration
One mistake is that the first discovery call is too short. If you're trying to maximize your price and move away from being a commodity, you need time to understand your prospect's needs and situation. A 15-minute call is not going to cut it. These calls often cover surface-level details, and you must understand your client's problems and pains.
There are two implications to remember when you only have a short time for your calls. First, you will always be seen as a commodity since you compete on price, not value. Second, it's hard to properly scope the project in such a short call, which often leads to scope creep once the project begins. A 45-minute to one-hour call is recommended to properly run through the discovery process and set expectations with the client. A longer, deeper conversation will help you close the deal at a higher price.
Pro-Tip: I set my discovery calls to no more than 15 minutes because I want to be efficient with my time. If the potential client is not a good fit, I can end the call or help them find someone better for them. If they are a good fit, the call runs over, and the client knows the 15 minutes is up, they generally are grateful that I was giving of my time to help them.
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Tip #2: Talking Too Much About Yourself
One mistake to avoid during a discovery call is spending more than 5-10 minutes talking about yourself and your firm. The discovery call is for the client - it's an opportunity for you to collect information and, at the end of the call, give a brief summary of how your firm can help them. If you understand your value proposition and the problems you're solving for your clients, you shouldn't need more than 10 minutes to talk about yourself. Spending more time than that is just a waste of time.
Tip #3: Ask the Right Questions
One of the rookie mistakes I see during discovery calls with potential clients is that accountants only ask service-level questions. Often, the questions asked center around understanding the work that needs to be performed but doesn't build value in their services. If you're asking about how many bank transactions or employees they have, you aren't going deep enough to maximize your prices or convert clients.
Tip #4: Not Understanding the Scope/Time Expectation
We must go beyond surface-level questions and dig deeper into the client's situation. A fourth mistake is not going deep enough to understand the scope and time commitment. Following up on the previous error. Another common problem is that many accountants aren't getting a good enough understanding of the scope before a deal is reached.
If you plan to fix the price, your engagement and you need to know the details of the work you'll be performing. For instance, if you handle the bookkeeping, you need to ask more questions other than just knowing how many transactions a company has. You need to understand how their current bookkeeping workflows work and what the company's ins and outs are in a much more detailed manner. By the end of the discovery call process, you should understand what needs to be done, how you plan on doing it, and the appropriate time commitments required.
If you're unsure how you will approach working on a project or the appropriate time commitment for each of the services you're proposing, you likely haven't done enough research. Make sure to go over everything with a fine-toothed comb so that you're not caught off-guard later on and end up scrambling to figure things out—more details to come in a future article on pricing your work.
Tip #5: Not Being Prepared for the Call
If you do not prepare for the call, you set yourself up for failure. Start by researching the client's website and have a sales script ready for the call–even if it is a zoom call. Have an outline of questions.
Every sales call should follow the same format with the same core questions. Even the most experienced salespeople follow a framework and a script. Now, this doesn't mean that you need to be a robot. It would be best if you asked different kinds of questions that are on the script. The call should always be back on track to your script, and ensure that all your questions are asked before the end of it.
Tip #6: Giving Free Advice
Bookkeepers and accountants are very giving people. I see bookkeepers make during discovery calls and give advice. We want to help everyone.
Your sales call is not the time for providing advice -- or worse, helping them fix the work while on the call. You are there to learn about your prospect's situation and figure out how you can help them. Advising comes after you've signed an agreement. So do not advise on the discovery call.
Tip #7 Don't Focus on the Small Details
And lastly, if you want to be successful during the discovery call, it's essential that you don't get bogged down in technicalities or get too specific when discussing the budget or the project details. Instead, it would be best to focus on the bigger picture and how you can help the client improve their situation. Talk about solutions and the benefits rather than focusing on the minutiae.
Communication is the key to any successful relationship. In our pursuit of excellence, we have developed a few best practices to ensure we can communicate effectively with clients. We hope you find this article helpful, and if you want to learn more about topics like these, join The Accountant's Law Lab private group. We meet every Friday at 9 am PT and 12 pm ET. We could love to collaborate with you!
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