THE SURPRISINGLY SIMPLE 3-STEP CONVERSION PLAN TO SIGN HIGH-TICKET CLIENTS

By Leonard H. Grape

If you’re struggling to generate more leads, close more sales, and sign high-paying clients, you likely lack a proven sales plan.

I got my first client 15 days after quitting my 10-year job to start my agency. It was great, but I realized after a while that my old tactic is unsustainable.

Here’s what I did to sign my first service project – leveraging my power base.

This is what it looks like:

• Calling all my colleagues and telling them I’m quitting my job

• Sharing that I’m starting my own company and describing it briefly

• Asking if they need my service or if they know someone who needs it

I called 30 to 50 people. Fortunately, I encountered the president of my high school alma mater who knew someone who was looking for a brand and operations consultant.

She set me up for a dinner with the CEO who asked about my thoughts and experiences. I prepared a proposal. I signed that project before I even rendered my 30-day resignation. It was my first high-ticket consulting retainer client too.

You can make this sales effort and likely sign a client.

But if you want a more sustainable way of generating sales for your service business, I’ve got my 3-step conversion plan. It’s so surprisingly simple that it’s mind-boggling that many service professionals don’t follow it.

Let’s explore.

Step 1: Building Trust

Trust is the foundational currency of every sale.

Think about your past clients, and you’ll observe that one common denominator is their level of trust in you.

It’s difficult to close a lead or prospect who barely knows you.

I view sales by putting prospects on a trust scale, with 10 having the highest trust and 1 having the lowest knowledge of who I am.

Those who are 7 to 10 are the ones you want to be tapping.

They know who you are. They are familiar with what you do. They have been following, consuming, and engaging your marketing assets.

Those who are below 6 need more familiarity building. You want to reach these people in your top funnel and establish a relationship with them.

Building trust is primarily a function of marketing. It's when you become clear with who you are serving and how you help them achieve a transformation in their business and life.

So, the first simple step to converting high-ticket clients is to become strategic with your marketing plan. You must execute marketing initiatives that position you as the expert in your field.

Step 2: Qualifying a Prospect

The sooner you accept that not everyone will become your client, the sooner you become better at sales.

I disagree with the saying that you should always be closing. My point of view is that you should always be converting.

Conversion happens in laddered stages. Closing occurs when a prospect is already at the prime stage of the buying levels.

If you understand this principle, you will standardize this second simple step - qualifying the prospects who come into your sales funnel. 

For example, you do your marketing well, and one of your posts generated 5 inbound leads. If your mindset is that you'll try to close everybody, you'll get frustrated because most likely, 2 to 3 of them aren't a good fit, are unqualified, or are not ready to buy yet.

So, what you need to do instead is to qualify them first.

Qualifying is a process by which you vet a prospect if they have the following fit with your service business:

1. Fit in terms of their need and your expertise

2. Fit in terms of their urgency and your timeline

3. Fit in terms of their budget and your pricing levels

4. Fit in terms of letting you lead the engagement

5. Fit in terms of working dynamics and success metrics

By doing this, you are not only weeding out the tire-kickers who can waste a lot of your time but also priming the qualified prospects, increasing their likelihood of becoming clients.

This leads us to the 3rd step in converting your high-ticket clients.

Step 3: Reassuring your Prospect

I advise all my coaching clients to set a closing meeting with every qualified prospect.

I almost forbid them from emailing prospects a pricing proposal because it strips you of control and power over the sales conversation.

But by setting up a meeting where you both agree to discuss how you can work together, you can frame your narrative and provide a more vital reassurance to the prospect.

If he agrees, he is probably ready to buy your service.

If he sits with you to discuss your potential engagement, he is likely inclined to hire you.

But then, there's a reality of buyer's remorse when someone begins to question if they are making the right buying decision.

Reassurance is a way to overcome this by reinforcing that you are the right person to help them with their business problems.

You do this by developing what I call The Reassurance Deck. It’s a presentation that can further elevate your expertise and bridge the gap between your prospect’s desired transformation and your solution options.

It’s what you present before discussing your solution options or how the prospect can hire you.

It sets a powerful premise that you have the goods to get them from point A to point B and that your solutions can deliver results.

To recap, here’s your surprisingly simple (but not necessarily easy) 3-step conversion plan:

1. Build your trust equity in your market

2. Qualify every prospect that enters your funnel

3. Reassure qualified leads to increase your closing odd

Now, if you want to learn more about how you can generate more leads, close more sales, and sign high-paying clients, you can watch this FREE sales training.

You’ll walk away with a proven system for signing $10k to $25k clients in your agency, freelance, or consulting business. Watch it here. 

PS. Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 more ways I can help you: 

1. The Service Growth Diagnostic Discovery Call: Uncover your revenue roadblocks and strategize a plan to grow your sales and build a thriving business through my 2-week diagnostic program. Book a free discovery call today.  
   

2. How to Sign your $25k Client Sales Workshop: Close more sales, work with high-paying clients, and ditch the low-paying projects through this sales workshop that will teach you how to attract prospects, uncover your leads’ budget, and charge higher fees. Book a free discovery call today.  
   

3. The Service Growth 1-on-1 Business Coaching: Double your revenues, become the go-to expert in your niche, and create a healthy pipeline of leads through my 5-step growth blueprint when you work with me in my 1:1 coaching program. Book a free discovery call today.