Do you find yourself doing a lot of discovery calls but not signing Virtual Assistant clients?
The discovery call is usually the first one-to-one conversation you have with a potential client.
The objective for any discovery call is simple: to sign the client. Right?
Yes and no.
If you are going into every call thinking that you need to sign the client, you are taking the wrong approach.
And either you are not getting the client – or you are getting bad clients!
Here are 3 steps to getting better VA clients from your discovery calls:
1. Ask Questions
The most important thing you need to do on the call is to ask questions. What does the client need? Do you offer those services? What is their budget? Can they pay your rate? How do they seem to communicate? Do your personalities mesh?
There are a lot of questions that you need to ask on the call to ensure that this client will be a good fit for your VA business. Be sure to make a list of things to ask your clients so that you don’t leave anything out, and you get the information you need to decide if they should be your client.
2. Listen More Than You Talk
A discovery call is about the client. It’s not about you. You need to listen to the answers to your questions, to see if you can help the client. It’s not about selling them on services that you think they need, it’s about meeting their needs. And listening will help you get to the sentence, ‘Yes, I can help you with that.’ which is the goal of the call.
When you listen more than you talk, the client will tell you all you need to know about their business, and what kind of help they need. You just need to be sure you can hear it. And yes, sometimes, they will make it very clear that you are not the VA that should help them – listen to that too!
3. Detach From The Outcome
Getting the YES is something all VAs want when they have a client on a discovery call. But it’s the wrong approach. Go into the call with an open mind, and detach yourself from the outcome. It’s okay if they are not a good fit.
When you come from a place of ‘Can I help this person?’ instead of ‘I need this client!’ you will be more relaxed, confident, and much more helpful to them. And you will get far more information that you need to make that decision for your business.
Getting clients can be stressful. We all need revenue to make our business successful. But minimize the stress by taking these tips and using them for all of your discovery calls. Prepare yourself, make the call about the client, and offer them your services if you think they are a good fit.
You might even start to enjoy discovery calls when you do them this way!
I’d love to help you nail your discovery calls. Private coaching is a great option for getting a lot better at these calls quickly. We’ll create your checklist, plan for objections and practice talking about rates and budget. And yes, we’ll even get you practicing with real clients! Learn more about private coaching here: