Red Flags to Watch For on Client Discovery Calls
Name a worse feeling than when a client you initially thought would make a great fit actually becomes a nightmare to work with… after the working relationship has already begun and you have a long-term contract in place. We’ve all been there.
While we try our best to feel out all the good and bad vibes on lead calls, a bad egg is destined to slip through the cracks at some point in your business. To limit these instances, read on for five red flags to watch out for on your next discovery call!
DISORGANIZATION ON THE CALL
First, take note of their punctuality. Were they late for the meeting? Did they “no call, no show” and then ask to re-schedule without a valid explanation? These can be telltale signs of how they’ll approach and respect your time in a working relationship.
Once the lead is on the call, observe their behavior. Your services are an investment, so a client that is truly interested in finding a mutually beneficial partnership will likely make the most of their time with you on this initial call. If they‘re multi-tasking or overall appear distracted, it’s clear that you may not be a priority to them.
LACK OF CLEAR DIRECTION
Discovery calls with multiple members from the lead’s team can be a great way to get to know the culture of the brand overall. At the same time, if not all team members are on the same page and are sharing conflicting ideas, the brand may have some internal work to sort through before they’re ready to get a third-party involved.
Clearly established goals are the foundation of an effective social media strategy, so it’s important to keep an eye out for leads that are unsure or wishy-washy about what they’re wanting out of your services. Offer your expert advice to help guide their decision-making, while remaining aware of how they respond to your suggestions. They may not be ready to outsource yet!
UNREALISTIC GOALS
We’ll start off by recommending that you add a box to your intake form asking leads to confirm whether or not they are currently in the financial position to invest in your services. This small edit has saved us SO much time – as we won’t even hop on a discovery call if they don’t have the immediate budget required.
But what happens when the client DOES have a good budget, but not for the endless list of deliverables they’re wanting? Red. 👏 Flag. 👏
Explain to the lead what the package they’re wanting would realistically cost them. Then, use process of elimination to help them narrow down a scope of work that’s simultaneously realistic for their budget and most efficient for their goals.
On the other end of the spectrum, another unrealistic expectation from leads could be expecting HUGE results from little marketing initiatives. Social media, for example, is only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to conversion. They need to have a multi-channel, holistic marketing strategy in place to achieve the results they’re wanting.
Lastly, pay attention to clients that focus on vanity metrics, like reaching a large number of followers in a narrow time period. These clients likely won’t understand the immediate results you’d achieve for them and your long-term strategy overall.
RESISTANCE TO YOUR BOUNDARIES
If you’ve been following us for a while, you know we’re big advocates for boundaries in the workplace. Take note of anything about a lead’s business that may conflict with your business. For example, if the company is located overseas, how would the time difference impact your office hours?
Additionally, pay attention to leads that are aware of your systems or policies, and are already begging for exceptions. Are they insistent that their first round of posts need to go live by EOW? Are they unwilling to work with your contract length minimum? If they don’t respect your boundaries before the partnership begins, we can assure you they don’t have any plans to change their habits during your working relationship. That’s why it’s crucial to outline your boundaries in your Social Media Management Contract.
SPEAKING POORLY OF PAST AGENCIES WITHOUT JUSTIFICATION
Last but not least, be wary of the leads that speak poorly of past agencies or freelancers they’ve worked with (without sound justification). While bad experiences can happen, pay attention to whether or not it seems to be a pattern for them. The problem may not be as they describe it to be. Don’t be afraid to ask a few follow-up questions about their experience to get a feel for what may have actually been going on.
We hope you enjoyed this blog post on red flags to watch for on your next discovery call! For more lead generation and onboarding tips, be sure to join the waitlist for our best-selling Onboard Like a Homie: Client Onboarding Bundle. We might be bringing it back realll soon. 👀
xx,
The Homies
