Wk19 (27.8k subs): How I Closed $2,000,000 in 24 months (Part 2)

The Comeback - Week 20 (27,800 Subs):

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Last week I broke down the first step in the 3 step sales process I used to close $2,000,000 in revenue for my previous agency.

Step One: The Discovery Call.

Today I’m talking about steps two and three.

Step Two: The Due Diligence

Step Three: The Sales Call

But before we dive in I need to say something.

Please take everything I say with a pinch of salt.

Yes, this is exactly what worked for me but unlike other ‘gurus’ who claim their step-step processes will get you exactly X result in X timeframe I don’t believe that’s how life and business play out.

You’re different to me. You’re potentially smarter and have a life full of amazing experiences that make you uniquely special.

So take my lessons but test everything for yourself. Keep the good, get rid of the bad and build your own playbook for sales.

Because as I always say: Originality pays best.

With that in mind let’s get stuck in.

But before we get to steps two and three a quick update on what’s been happening behind the scenes at David to Goliath this week on our charge to 100,000 subscribers.

Today on David to Goliath:

1. Challenges - The SEO Game

2. Breakthroughs - Launching a Community

3. Main Topic - The 3-step sales process that turns strangers into long-term clients (Part 2)

Road to 100,000: Behind the Scenes

Challenges - The SEO Game

Ok, I have to admit we underestimated this. There’s a reason SEO agencies exist. Now I’m starting to understand why…

I just thought we could waltz in, smash out 12,000 articles with AI and get to the top page of Google.

Turns out that’s not how it works!

After shipping countless articlesit’s become clear just like anything else quality is the most important thing.

Here’s our proposed customer journey:

Top Of Funnel: Articles on Google (and content on LinkedIn etc.)

Middle of Funnel: The David to Goliath Newsletter

Bottom of Funnel: See the breakthrough below!

Instead of seeing everything in silo, we’re now putting together a strategy so everything operates in an ecosystem.

If the quality of the articles that we put out for climbing up Google (blogs that are separate to the Newsletter) are poor then people won’t subscribe to the Newsletter OR the quality of the subscribers will be terrible.

So we’re putting together a strategy that focuses on quality - whilst still using AI tools so we can be competitive on quantity.

We also need to migrate the website to WordPress but still keep the Newsletter on Beehiiv. There are lots of lovely technical problems I won’t bore you with but we’ll figure it out step by step and report back on progress!

Breakthroughs - Launching a Community

As mentioned in previous Newsletters I’m trying to figure out a new revenue stream for David to Goliath. Something that offers tremendous value and also aligns with the Newsletter.

Info and products are an option but as mentioned in this Newsletter after going through many courses myself and asking countless people they say the same thing everytime: The community was always the most valuable part.

Add to that there is a serious amount of people now leaving their 9-5 and becoming online solopreneurs who are stuck at home lonely.

I know because I am one of them.

So what better way to launch a paid community for entrepreneurs who enjoy the Newsletter but are serious about growth and want to find like-minded people they can build long-term relationships with?

I don’t have all the answers yet and it’s still very raw. But if you are interested or have any feedback please respond to this email because I’d love to hear from you!

Main Topic: The 3-step sales process that turns strangers into long-term clients (Part 2)

So to recap if you executed the discovery call correctly (as I broke down in this Newsletter) you should have qualified the prospect, collected specific information about their business, booked them in for the sales call, and let them know they’ll be sent a video to watch prior.

Now it’s time to activate step two in this three step sales process.

Step Two: The Due Diligence

If you execute this step correctly by the time they show up to the second call they will already be sold.

In business the more successful people you work with the more experienced they are and often the more logical they think.

Decisions have to make long-term sense for their culture and of course their bottom line.

I tested going straight to the second call and presenting my team’s due diligence but when I switched to sending a video prior it massively increased the close rate.

Because they’ve had time to process the information, detach emotion and have deep conviction that you’re the right solution to solve their problems.

If you don’t have a reputation you win with ultimate preparation.

As we say on David to Goliath: Conviction through insatiable preparation.

So how do you prepare and more importantly what do you say in the video to build that deep trust prior to the sales call?

Just like with any other content first, you must grab their attention, and remind them of who you are and why they should listen.

1- The Hook:

In 30 seconds or less say something along the lines of:

“Hey (prospectfirstname) this is (your name) from (your company Name) - as promised in our last call, today I’m going to break down your entire customer journey, show you exactly how we can fix (their biggest problem) and hit (their target by end of this year).”

This tells them exactly what they’re getting, reminds them of who you are and relates to their current and desired situation so it’s extremely personalized.

Goes without saying but have your video turned on and look presentable!

I recommend using Loom. It’s the best in class and works like clockwork for recording videos that are instantly uploaded/ready to send over email.

You also want to get the prospect excited and put a cliffhanger in there - just like with any great story - so they’re watching the video in anticipation of what’s to come.

So after the intro say:

“And also exciting news, at the end of this video I’ll share something we uncovered that if you implement today is going to have an immediate impact on your revenue!”

Now at this point you’ve got their attention and need to deliver the meat of the analysis.

Considering every business is different (yours and your prospects) it’s hard for me to tell you exactly what to say so instead I’ll provide examples of what worked best for me after countless tests.

2- The Meat:

I’m going to assume that you’re trying to improve the prospect’s revenue either directly or indirectly.

So firstly you need to analyze their entire customer journey.

Where do their customers first hear about them. All the way through to being a long-term customer.

For example: If I’m an advertising agency - when the customer sees their ad on Facebook to clicking the ad, hitting their landing page, filling out their payment information, completing the purchase and having the package delivered to their door.

Pro Tip: If you want to go the extra mile actually purchase their product and have it shipped next day so you and your team experience the entire thing end-end. Then map out everything along the way and what needs fixing.

Even if you don’t do packaging or website optimization and only focus on the ads, the more suggestions you can make for their entire customer journey, the more valuable your due diligence will be.

It shows the prospect that you care and think as if you were in their shoes.

These are the kind of people they want to work with.

Macro, not just micro thinkers.

Once you’ve gone through the customer journey segment it down into the most important stages. Make notes on how to fix each and for the parts you specialize in show examples of the before and after for your clients.

Then record the video.

For example: If you’re a Meta ads and content agency you can start by breaking down the ad account saying you aren’t getting enough clicks for the right price in line with your KPIs (that they told you on the discovery call).

Then you can show them how they’d get cheaper clicks by improving their content - showing them an example of their content side by side with one of your client’s pieces of content. Highlight the before/after result and what impact this had on your clients KPIs (ideally the desired situation the prospect wants).

Important Note: When you’re going through the customer journey on video always show their accounts. Business owners will always pay more attention when it’s their business being audited - especially if you’re showing money they’re spending and how they could make more of it!

Keep going through their entire customer journey and once you’ve finished telling them everything that needs to be fixed do a recap.

e.g. “So just to recap if you fix these 5 key things (insert 5 things) I believe you could be at (desired result) in (desired timeframe).”

3- The Cherry on Top:

Now to answer the cliffhanger you left them on.

Simply put: If you can make a suggestion that impacts their revenue right now you will build so much trust with them. When I started doing this at my last agency it made a night and day difference on the feedback from the videos we sent.

Comments such as “We literally made $10,000 in 2 days doing this!”

Imagine how much trust you’d build before the next call.

Look I get it, that’s not always possible. But try to make a recommendation that they can implement without your help that impacts revenue the most in the shortest timeframe possible.

For example: When were were analyzing an Ecommerce brand they might have 0 upsells in place once a customer reaches checkout. We knew from our data that on average 10% of all customers would buy the upsold product. A lot of the brands we audited had over 100,000 site visitors a month - so just imagine what sort of impact that one change would have on their bottom line.

Was that centred around our services of Meta ads and content? No. But it showed the prospect our primary driver was helping them win, even before we charged them a dollar for our services.

And before we’ve spoken to them on the sales call.

Last but not least give them a reason to show up for the sales call.

4- The Forecast:

As mentioned in the last Newsletter if you can forecast their revenue for them, it’s a hugely valuable skillset.

But at this point the video is already long enough so save that for the sales call.

Give them a taster of what to expect by saying:

“And on our next call I’ll be showing you the 6 month financial forecast for your company and answering any questions you might have from watching this video - See you soon!.”

Leave it at that and send the email.

Tell them why it’s important they watch this before the next call and if they’re short on time they can 2.5X the speed on Loom so it will only take a few minutes.

Make sure you send this video to them at least 2 days prior to the sales call to give them enough time to watch it.

The due diligence is complete, now for the final step.

And yes, I saved the best till last!

It’s time to MAKE SOME MONEY!!

Step Three: The Sales Call:

Just like with the two previous steps preparation is key. This is not going to be a two minute job. If you want to close big deals and keep your clients it takes serious work.

Here are the 9 parts to step 3 we’ve slide deck examples so you can close the sale (or get the prospect at least very close to making a decision to move forward):

1- Agenda - Regain Control:

As I mentioned sales is all about being in control of the entire process.

Every call is an opportunity to lose that control so you first have to stamp your authority.

After the small talk take lead of the conversation and set the agenda of what’s happening today by saying:

“So today I’m going to touch back on the most important parts from our previous call, tell you the 3 reasons why our agency is different, build on the findings I sent over in the audit, show you exactly how much extra revenue we can bring (companyName) in the next 6 months and go through the next steps if we decide to move forward.

Does that sound good to you?”

Make sure you wait for the response and acceptance from their side - this is pivotal.

Then move to point 2.

2- Cover Page - Personalization:

When you don’t have a big reputation in a competitive market every detail is the chance to get an edge.

Whilst a front cover might not sound like a dealbreaker, it frames the entire call and screams “this company cares about me”. And that’s exactly what you’re going for.

Instead of having an evergreen slide deck that you present to every prospect, tailor it to them and their situation. Yes, the structure remains the same but the nuances are always different.

This starts with the first page. Include an up to date picture of their logo next to yours. This signifies you’re building a partnership - you’re in this together.

And for the title - customize it to their biggest pain point and the desired situation they’re looking for.

For example: “How we’re going to decrease the cost per acquisition of (CompanyName’s) Meta advertising from $80 to $45 in the next 90 days”.

This is extremely specific, shows them you’ve been listening and gets them excited to find out how you’re going drive them towards the destination they want. 

Now you’ve got their attention it’s time to anchor them to their current situation.

3- Current Situation:

Sales is about positioning yourself as the solution to take people from their current situation to their desired situation.

But your prospects are busy, they’re stressed.

So we first need to remind them of their current situation.

This is where we refer back to the key points from the discovery call.

List out the high level points about their current situation and label them with each, one by one.

For example for an Ecommerce brand this might be:

• Currently working with an agency but not able to scale profitably on Meta ads

• Trying to hit $10M in revenue by the end of this year

• Want to expand into Amazon as well as Shopify

• Looking to increase lifetime value of each customer

Once you’ve run through everything you ask them:

“Would you say that is an accurate representation of your current situation or Is there anything I have missed?”

This is crucial because firstly they will confirm that this is their current situation (which anchors them) and secondly it gives them a chance to add anything else that is important.

Now you’ve anchored them, it’s time to start selling and this is where things get very strategic.

4- Personalization with Pain:

The objective of this part is to get them thinking “Wow, this is exactly what I need!”

“It’s almost as if this solution was designed exactly for me!”

And even though they won’t know this, it was (evil laugh).

You list out 3 main reasons why your business is different to others - but the 3 reasons are exactly in line with their 3 biggest pain points from the discovery call.

Please Note: This is why it’s so important to LISTEN on the discovery call because without the correct information this process doesn’t work.

For example:

1st biggest pain point = Their current agency doesn’t know how to scale their ads

So 1st unique selling point = We know how to scale ads

• We’ve spent over $100M on Meta advertising

• We’ve scaled X amount of brands past $250,000 a month in adspend

• We only hire media buyers who have experience in spending $500k/mo in adspend or more

2nd biggest pain point = Their current agency only run ads but they also want content

So 2nd unique selling point = We have an in-house content team

• We have a roster of over 50 different creators that we work with to film and produce content with

• We have an in-house team of copywriters who write the scripts in line with your customer avatar

• We have an in-house team of video editors who help with post production

3rd biggest pain point = They want to understand their unit economics

So 3rd unique selling point = We operate as business owners not agency owners

• We produce cost models every 90 days in line with your profit margins and lifetime value

• We make strategic suggestions on how you can improve your numbers

• Our entire team are trained to see from a macro business perspective not just what’s happening in the ad account

Now in case it wasn’t clear, you of course have to actually do these things!

But look at how customized that is. You’re providing a completely tailored solution.

And yes, this takes time to prepare! You must watch back through your discovery call (multiple times if necessary) to ensure you’ve got your finger on the pulse.

But wait. It gets better…

5- Road Map:

99% of people think sales is just about closing the deal.

In reality, it’s just the start. Once you get the prospect over the line, that’s when the real work begins.

If your clients are leaving after a couple of months you’re going to be spending all your time trying to do more sales to replace that lost cashflow.

So how can we set expectations from the start so client management becomes easier, increases the chance of them closing now and they stay for longer?

Create a road map so they know exactly what’s coming.

Side note: If you’re only working with clients month-month this is also how you sell longer-term contracts.

Break down exactly what you do each month for at least the first 90 days, ideally 180, step by step.

Firstly, the prospect will feel like they’re working with a professional.

Someone who has been here before and is giving a straight path to their desired situation.

Secondly, once the prospect becomes a client and you hand them over to your delivery team they can refer back to this road map. Aligning expectations and delivering on the promises you made on this call.

Ultimate clarity and no hidden surprises.

I can’t put into words how much of a difference this makes - your team and your clients will love you!

Now you’ve shown them the road map it’s time to back it up with social proof.

6- Case Studies:

This is when having an ideal customer profile becomes a huge competitive advantage.

If you’re on a call with a supplement brand and you’ve already helped 20 supplement brands in the past few years with the road map you’ve just presented, the choice for your prospect becomes much less of a risk.

Using steps from your road map present two of your best case studies highlighting the following:

• The name of the brand (ideally the prospect knows them)

• What they were struggling with (ideally the same problem as your prospect)

• What did you do to fix it (ideally steps from the road map)

• What the result was (ideally the same result your prospect wants)

• How long it took (ideally within 90 days or the length of your contract/road map)

At this point you’ve told them exactly what you’re going to do and given them proof from similar companies which had the same problem.

Now it’s time to put the nail in the coffin.

7- Revenue Forecast and Cost Opportunity:

Loss aversion is a cognitive bias that proves the pain of losing is psychologically twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining.

But what would your prospect be losing?

Revenue - The exact thing every business owner cares about most.

If you’ve done your due diligence currently in the audit you should be able to create a simple graph showing them how much revenue they’re forecasted to make over the next 3-6 months.

Then on a second line, you show if they worked with you and you implemented X, Y and X how much revenue you’d be able to generate.

Let’s say over 6 months you believe after doing your due diligence and past experience you’d confidently be able to make them an extra $1M in extra revenue for their business.

Your prospect ties that amount of revenue with you and subconsciously realizes that if they don’t work with you they’ll be leaving this on the table.

Extremely powerful when it comes to pricing. 

Nearly every service-based business just presents the pricing to the prospect and they immediately see it as a big fat extra cost on their balance sheet.

But doing it this way you first anchor them to the extra $1M in revenue so when you present your price of let’s say $5,000 a month, they see it as an investment and a no-brainer.

Remember, they’ll be trying to calculate this anyway so if you do the hard work for them they’ll massively respect you for it.

Bonus Tip: If you can also include the price of your service on a separate graph to show them the ROI they would get after all their operating costs you’ll get even more brownie points!

So now it’s time for the crucial step - presenting your price. And yes, just like everything up to this step there is a right and a wrong way to do this.

8- Empower Your Prospect to Make the Decision:

Different packages or one offering?

I often get asked this question and in my opinion, different packages always sell more and here’s why:

I’m sure you’ve seen on a software company’s website the 3 package types - ‘basic, premium and custom’ - with a recommended box or ‘most popular’ on the middle option. Right?

Well, there’s a reason for this. The biggest and most successful companies in the world aren’t all doing this by accident. They’re doing it because it works! And it’s all rooted in human psychology.

When presented with 3 options, studies show that 66% will choose the middle one, 23% will opt for the low-priced one, and 11% will go for the high-priced package. This indicates that 77% of your prospects will choose options above your basic service level, boosting your overall revenue.

The idea of a three-tier pricing strategy is to guide a customer's choice and instead of forcing options down their throat, empower them to make the decision.

So when you present the 3 tiers you’d say:

“So these are the 3 tiers we have: basic, premium and custom”

(you’d then explain what is in each tier and how it would impact them)

“Based on my team's due diligence and where you want to go in the next 6 months my professional recommendation is the premium option”.

“Although obviously you know your company a lot better than I do so which option do you want to move forward with?”

Instead of considering the new cost on their balance sheet, the prospect has now entered into decision mode. And 9 times out of 10 if you’ve implemented everything I’ve said up to this point they will go with your recommendation because they trust you.

Now they’ll either give you the green light or they’ll have some objections that need to be addressed.

So don’t beat around the bush and tackle them head on.

9- Objection Handling:

The slide deck should now move to a blank page titled ‘Moving Forward’ - so you’re signalling that it’s time to take the next step. With a subtitle saying “What questions do you have?”

Say “From my side (prospectName) we’ve done the due diligence and firmly believe we can add an extra (insert extra revenue number) to your business over the next 6 months.”

The next step would be signing a contract, completing the first month's payment and starting our onboarding process.

But before I get into that I want to ask, what questions do you have for me in order for us to make this a long-term successful partnership?”

It really depends on what they say next although the best way to deal with objections is by isolation.

If they say something such as “I just need to have a think so I can get back to you”…

Respond: “no worries, I completely respect that, just so I know with what you’re thinking right now, what exactly would potentially stop you from moving forward?”

They might say: “Well it’s more pricey than I expected so I just need to check financially if we can afford it”.

Then you isolate by saying: “So just to clarify, if we overcome the potential pricing issue there isn’t anything else that would stop you from moving forward?”

If they yes, ask them to list out everything. If they say no then you know what problem needs solving.

So you either negotiate on price, wait for them to consider or stand firm on your pricing accepting you might lose this potential prospect.

Although this isn’t the end. 

There is one crucial final step. 

And this is where SO many people lose thousands in revenue.

10- Booking The Decision Call:

If you’re pitching big businesses it’s unlikely you’ll close everyone on this call. And that’s fine!

Experienced business owners are often less emotional and more logical. If they take time to consider if this is really right for them chances are when they say yes they’ll stick around for longer.

Although leaving it at “I’ll get back to you via email in the next week” is a surefire way to never hear from them again.

I’m sure if you’re still reading at this point you know exactly what I’m talking about!

So just like you did at the end of the discovery call BOOK THE NEXT CALL - NOW!

Give them a reason why it would benefit them. Say: “No worries (prospectName). I completely understand you need some time to make a long-term decision for your business. Since I know you’re busy, instead of chasing each other over email how about we do this: Book in a quick catch up later this week to give you some time to think and that way I can show up on the next call and answer any questions you might have.”

Before they answer just say: “Are you available at (time/date) or does (time/date) work better?”

You’ll be surprised at just how many people take you up on the offer - because they like people who are organized and as mentioned before on the road map section - have a strong sense of direction.

Just like the discovery call ask them to kindly confirm it on their calendar.

This is another sub-commitment and massively increases show-up rates.

On the catch-up call use the same objection handling framework once again. Isolate each problem. However, this time be more proactive and give them solutions to try and get the deal across the line.

If they don’t close on the follow-up call then schedule another call and get into this habit. Big deals rarely close on emails and time kills sales - so strike when the iron is hot.

For longer sales cycles and bigger b2b contracts I appreciate the tactics might differ. I haven’t personally had experience with this although from what I know many of the same principles apply and the main thing is relationship building.

Remember: Regardless if you close the deal or not, you want to win their respect. If you do this because of how prepared you were they will always hold you in high regard and communicate that positive experience with other people in their network.

This stuff compounds. Trust me, reciprocity is real.

And that my friend is the entire 3-step sales process that helped me close $2,000,000 for my last agency.

Remember if you haven’t already check out part 1 here.

I hope this gave you at least a few golden nuggets to sell more deals at higher prices and keep your clients for longer!

Remember, take everything with a pinch of salt, test it for yourself and keep the parts that work for you - there is no exact science to this stuff.

Until next time - keep dreaming like a Giant.

But believe, fight and act on your dreams like a god damn Underdog.

Yours truly,

-Nigel Thomas

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