Back in the early days of my freelance career I bought into the strategy session stress-cycle.
I had a Facebook ad-to-webinar-to-strategy-session funnel that worked like gangbusters.
By "gangbusters" I mean I was getting tons of calls booked in my calendar, at a decent ad spend.
And although I was converting those leads into paying clients, it was a daily grind of 4 - 5 calls booked.
Most days, I'd convert one of those into a paying client.
But more often than not...
It Was Time (Un)Well Wasted. 
After four-to-five hours of phone time I was exhausted and frustrated.
Like, soul-weary tired.
Not-worth-it exhausted.
I had to make a change, so I dug into the numbers and found something disconcerting...
And if they were a "yes" after an hour or more of convincing and cajoling?
They were the worst kind of PITA clients.
Expecting me to bend over backwards for their every whim, fancy or insecurity.
They resisted taking new action.
And their results were sub-par.
The corollary was:
The shorter the call, the more decisive the answer, whether yes or no.
And those "short calls" that turned into a Yes were the best clients ever.
They were decisive.
They had enough information to make a decision, without needing me to "talk them into it".
They took action once we got started on the work.
They got results.
And it got me thinking...
How Can Every Call Be Short & Decisive?
The answer:
Make sure people have the information they need before getting on the phone.
Specifically, make sure they "agreed" with these five things:
- They have the problem I can help them solve
- There is a solution to that problem; and
- The solution will work for them
- I am an expert at solving that problem
- There is urgency to solving the problem, sooner rather than later
Frankly, the first and third are the trickiest to handle.
Most people don't know why they're struggling.
They know their symptoms ... but they don't know the cause.
And if they've tried unsuccessfully to solve the problem more than once, they likely have resistance to any solution, thinking it won't work for them.
I call these The Five Agreements. They're the foundation for how I approach education-based marketing.
If you're burned out on strategy sessions that go nowhere ... that leave you feeling frustrated and depleted ... it's likely one or more of these agreements is missing.
Reach out if you want to chat about mapping out the five agreements your clients need to have before coming onto a call with you.
I'd be happy to help.
Paul Keetch
