Discovery call script for landing more web design projects
Most web designers get overly anxious about discovery calls and miss the opportunity to land a new client project. But you are not going to be one of them after reading this post and learning how to nail your sales calls and get more web design clients — step by step.
Step 1. Open the conversation
Discovery calls or sales calls (I use these two terms interchangeably) can be a little awkward, and that’s totally normal. Most of us don’t have a lot of sales conversations in our day-to-day lives.
It’s also normal to feel a lot of pressure. You don’t want to mess up because if you do, the client might say no, which could mean another month without getting paid. But focusing on that is not going to be helpful for your confidence — it might make you even more nervous, and the possibility of that infinite downward spiral is scary.
That’s why it’s so important to make sure that, as much as possible, you and your client feel comfortable. Yes, this is a business meeting, but you can still make it feel easy and informal and take some of that pressure off.
Here are some of my favorite questions for doing this at the start of the call.
How’s your day going so far?
Where (i.e., in which city or country) are you based?
What time is it for you right now?
How do you pronounce your name?
It only takes a couple of minutes to open the conversation like this, but the impact is huge. Now, you both feel more comfortable, and you can have a more human-to-human conversation.
Step 2. Take the lead
Once you get going with your sales call, a common trap that web designers fall into is letting your client take control of the call. This is how you end up being on a call with someone who isn’t even a client yet for two hours, because you don’t want to be rude.
The whole point of a discovery call or a sales call is for you to sell. To go a little deeper, your goal is to figure out whether you can help this person, decide if you want to help them, and, if you do, pitch your offer. To stay on track, you need to take the lead.
You can say something like, “For this 30-minute call, my goal is to understand your short-term and long-term plans for your business and where your website fits in. And if I think I can help, I’d love to discuss how I can do that. How does that sound?”
Taking the lead this way builds trust with your clients because it shows them that you have a plan and you know what you’re doing. It’s so important to start your relationship on this note because if you do work together, it’s going to affect how seriously they take your deadlines, your expert opinions, and your decisions.
Step 3. Get to know their business
As one of my favorite sales coaches, Steph Crowder, says, “Selling is just an invitation to go deeper.” But you can’t make that invitation if you don’t know whether you can or want to help this client.
This is why it’s so important to get to know the client’s business. You can be direct with this and ask questions like:
Could you tell me a little more about what you do and who you work with?
What’s your favorite part about working with these clients?
What are the different ways your clients can work with you?
How are you currently getting new clients?
Then, to acknowledge that this was a lot to share with someone they just met and to remind them you’re an expert following a plan, you can say something like, “Thank you so much for sharing. I know that was a lot of questions. This helps me think about where and how your website fits into your overall business.”
Step 4. Dive into their website situation
Now, it’s time to transition from learning about their overall business to diving into their current website situation. Because without understanding what’s working well right now and what’s not, you won’t be able to decide whether you can help this client.
You can ask questions like:
When did you first launch your current website?
What’s working well?
What do you wish worked better?
This is also a really good time to ask:
What plans do you have for your business over the next 3-6 months?
This way, you can start forming a picture of the website this client needs while making sure that it supports their overall plans.
Step 5. Figure out what they want
Something a lot of web designers forget is that clients don’t want websites. They want the business outcomes that the website delivers.
To sell effectively, you need to find out what outcomes this client wants. If you take on a project without this information, you’re probably making promises you can’t keep — even if you don’t mean to do that.
This is how you end up with an unhappy client, a failed project, and a lot of unnecessary stress. You could end up in an endless cycle of revisions trying to make the client happy and doing a ton of extra work to fix the situation.
You can prevent this during the sales call by figuring out what your client wants.
Here, you want to go deeper into things that your potential client has already mentioned during this call. You can ask questions like:
Can you talk a little more about X? (X being their 3 to 6-month plan)
You mentioned something about Y earlier — could you please tell me more about that?
The goal here is for you to get clear on the outcomes this client wants. Maybe it’s…
More sales or more clients
Improving brand recognition
Automating manual processes and freeing up time
Launching a new offer and expanding into a new market
Whatever it is, you want to get to know as much as possible within the time frame of the call.
This part of the conversation will help you feel more confident about whether you can deliver what this client wants. It’ll help the client feel more confident that you understand what they want.
Plus, it’s going to set you apart from the other designers they’ve been talking to because most web designers never ask these questions.
Step 6. State the offer
If, at this point, you decide that you want to work with this client, this is when you pitch. Clients have no idea what it’s like to work with you. So you have to tell them.
You took the lead at the start of this conversation. You don’t want to leave them hanging, thinking, “Okay, now what?”
You can say something like, “My signature package is a perfect fit for all your requirements. This is the package you’ve already seen on my work-with-me page. I would take care of the website design and the copywriting. I’d also design your logo and other visual branding elements. This generally takes 6 to 7 weeks, and my next available starting date is September 1st.”
You also want to make sure you talk about your payment plan structure, your overall process for working with clients, and when you’d expect to launch their new website.
This is the first time in the conversation that you will be doing most of the talking. If you want more detailed wording, the actual written script that I have open during my sales calls, I have a template for you to check out.
It’s called the Web Designer Sales Call Script Template. This template includes:
How to describe your process so you provide enough detail but not so much that you overwhelm your clients
When to invite your clients to ask questions to keep them engaged
What to say if you need time to prepare a custom proposal
How to handle common objections like “I can’t afford this right now,” or “I need some time to think it over.”
How to respond to red flags
It’s designed to give you all the words you need while being flexible enough to adapt to your business and situation.
Click here for more details about the Web Designer Sales Call Script Template.
Step 7. Close the call
After all this, you want to be careful and make sure you end the call on a positive note without being awkward. The feeling your clients have at the end of the conversation is what they will remember, so you want to keep things positive and optimistic.
I recommend saying, “What other questions can I answer for you while we’re here?”
This question shows that you’re open. It’s also better than “Do you have any questions?” because it’s much more inviting. The natural answer to “Do you have any questions?” is “No.”
When you ask, “What other questions can I answer for you?” they are more likely to share what they’re thinking, which helps them leave the call feeling good about working with you.
Then after you answer their questions, all you need to say is, “Thank you so much for your time today. I hope you have an amazing rest of your day.”
Voila!
Next steps
Now it’s time for you to go out and book some discovery calls so you can put all this into practice. You might be tempted to try the “spray and pray” cold email method, but before you do that, I’d love for you to check out this YouTube video: Why I never send cold emails for web design projects (What to do instead)
