[Transcript starts at 1:16]
Maestro: Hello, hello, hello my podcast people and thank you for joining me for yet another episode of my favorite podcast. It literally is my favorite podcast. I love recording this thing. Thank you for listening to this thing. Let's hop right on in. Today we're talking about why I stopped offering discovery calls.
I'm very passionate about this. If you're watching, you can see if you're listening, you can hear. This episode will drop on Monday, June 26th, and this is a little bit of a tangent, uh, but it'll up on Monday 26th, and I hope you're having a great June. June is almost over, so I'm just hoping you had a great June.
I haven't talked about the weather much. It's been the same. It's June gloom. It's to be expected. People are a little upset about it, but guess what? It's supposed to be like this. People are just upset because it's been like this since like last October, which is not normal, standard, typical for SoCal. So you know, people are upset, but I don't mind it.
It's predictable weather. It's gonna be the same every day. It's really good for volleyball. It hasn't been very windy, so I ain't got no complaints. But what I do have a complaint about is discovery calls. So, I got rid of 'em. If you have been following along, listening along to the podcast one, thank you.
Um, but if you're going in order, episode 4 84, which wasn't that long ago, which is about, uh, dropped that episode about a week and a half ago, if you're listening to this, the day that this one drops, that was How to Choose a Business Coach. And in that, I listed out my services and one of them was, a discovery call.
Things have changed. It's been a week and a half and things have changed. Basically things were, I was getting salty about things and within that week and a half I was like, the salt has just accumulated. I'm done with these, so, I changed it. I'm gonna talk about why, what I've implemented, and I will give you an update at some point as to how it's going.
So in general, I think that discovery calls are a phenomenal way to get a feel for someone and see if they'd be a good fit as a client. I have run them for years and I think that majority of people should start off with offering them. I think it just really gives you a great way to be in the trenches, hear from people.
It's great market research and something that I, I kind of wanna put out there is that when you're taking advice from someone, always ask them what they would do if they were in your exact position. Because what I'm doing right now is, you know, eight plus years into this business is not the same as what I did.
Uh, it's not the same as what I would do if I was just starting the business. So this is where I'm at now. This is why I changed things. Um, But again, I think that discovery calls are a great starting point for things. I've used 'em for years. Um, you get exposure, you get reps, you get familiarity with the questions that people are gonna ask.
You start hearing the same things over and over again, and the concerns, same concerns over and over again, which is exactly why I switched what I'm doing. The questions that I'm receiving, the concerns that I'm hearing, they do not require a face-to-face response. They do not require my time. They do not require a spot on my schedule.
So I changed it. Real talk. I am happy to be the hype Maestro. I know that I have assumed that role and I actually, it just comes naturally to me. Um, but I've assumed that role in the online space and in the business, and people just send me things to celebrate and I'm like, dope. I wanna hear this. I wanna just, I wanna celebrate you.
I wanna hear your joy. I wanna share in your joy. I wanna share my joy. But I'm not here to do that on an unpaid one-to-one call. I'm just gonna say it. I'm completely honest about it. Yeah. Do it in the DMs. Yeah. Do it on a post, someone tags me, things like that. But I, I'm starting to get, or I was starting to get, for a past few months, discovery calls where people were setting up this call and it was some iteration of, “I'm nervous.
Do you think this is a good idea?” And so then it was, you know me, the hype Maestro being like, yeah, I think you should do it. Give it a try. I don't fucking know if it's gonna work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. The only thing that's gonna tell us his time. And I don't wanna be using my time that way. That is actually something that if we're gonna be one to one, that requires a call.
That's not fair to the other other clients that I have, that I do that for them with Voxer, with our one-on-ones and they're paying for it. So I got rid of it. I, I got rid of the discovery call.
The second part with why I got rid of the discovery call, kinda the second question that I get asked a lot is, or the- surrounding the second question I get asked a lot is that I don't have a ton of different one-on-one offers, not a ton of different ways to work with me, and that's strategic, right? Realistically, the first step that everyone's gonna take is gonna be that Maestro Meeting. So I don't, I don't, there doesn't need to be a one-on-one call to discuss it.
It's either you wanna do that or you don't. The other thing that I offer is the Intensive. But that's a group program. Totally different. If someone's wondering if they'd be a good fit for it, that also doesn't need to be a one-on-one call. That could be answered very easily in an email and also, like I, I, again, I, I don't need to be spending the time for that.
And if someone's wondering, should I do a Maestro Meeting or do an Intensive call, excuse me. Should I do a one-on-one meeting, a Maestro Meeting, or should I go join the Intensive? That's something else again, or another thing again, that can be answered with an email. And honestly, a templated, templated, templated, I don't know where the emphasis goes there on that.
What syllable? But you know what I'm trying to say. Like that can be responded to very, very easily. Um, The other program I run, Legacy, that's application only. So people gotta apply for that later. We're not even doing that. We're not even, applications aren't even open yet. Um, I will plug that other episode was episode 484.
Thank you, Courtney. That has all of the offers that I have and I kind of explain them a little bit in that, in that episode. So if you're wondering, you can check that episode out. Um, but suffice to say that two questions I was receiving with these discovery calls: one, I'm scared. Is it gonna be okay?
Should I do it? Yes. Try it. I don't fucking know like. I'm here to cheer you on, but I, I can't give you certainty with this. And the second one, I don't have a ton of one on different, different ways to work with me, so we don't need to have long conversations about this. That can be answered via, via email.
Yes. If it's a question, a problem, an issue that regards online business, I can help you. This is literally what I do for a living. Yes. I know that I can help you. And if there's ever someone that emails and I'm like, nah, that ain't, I can't do that. I can just refer out, which is what I would do anyway on the discovery call.
Um, and I'm comfortable with that. I've gone through enough reps to be like, yes, I can handle this. I can see what this person is saying and I can refer out appropriately. So what have I replaced it with? A simple intake form. Right? We're calling it a custom inquiry. Um, Lex had suggested this cuz I complained to her maybe a week ago and I was like, ah, I don't, I just, I'm not, I'm not loving these discovery calls.
I'm not loving having them on the schedule. And Lex had suggested it then and I was just like, ah, I don't know. And I had to sit with it. And I'm a big fan of the mantra, wait until you hate it. Cuz as soon as you hate it, you're like, I'm gonna switch it, I'm gonna change it. I'm something differently. And literally I changed it in a few hours.
I was just like, I don't wanna do it. I'm done with these. So, I think I had like three in one day and I was just like, yeah, I'm grateful to have them, but they're not converting into one-on-one clients, which like isn't the end of the world. But at the same time, like this is time I could be playing volleyball.
It's not even like, oh, I could be making tons of money. Like I could be outside. These things add up. And I was just like, I don't wanna be doing this. Honestly, I wanna help people, but not in this capacity. So, uh, I made the changes in literally a few hours and now it is a custom intake form. And just kind of as a, a tangent here, just to get ahead of any thoughts that people may be having.
Yes. I was incredibly clear on the original discovery call form right on the page where like they could sign register for one, that said, these calls are just designed to see if we'd be a good fit and discuss next, next steps. These aren't for solving your problems. These aren't for going depth things.
It's just, Hey, what's going on? Cool. Would we, would we be a good fit to work together? Yes. Okay. Here's the next steps. I was seeing this kind of go off the rails a little bit because folks came in really well-intentioned being like, okay, I'm gonna ask Maestro if this is a good idea, and if it is a good idea, then I'm gonna, we're gonna work together.
But for many people, growing something in the online space means showing up in the online space, and you don't necessarily need coaching for that, right? You just need to go and post. And if people are like, actually, I think I can do that on my own, then I'm like, yeah, don't pay me. I don't wanna work with you right now.
Like, pay me when you have another problem. And so we see the issue there of like, I'm basically coaching them for free, which is not fair to the other clients that I have who pay me. ,So well-intentioned by people, but not working out the way that I wanted it to work out. So I changed it. One of the best ways to get people to do what you want them to do, and I say that in the least like grimy way possible, is to not give 'em any other options.
It's like, this is the only thing you can do. So now the only option people have is to submit a question and then I can respond on my own time or you know, if Lex is, cause Lex takes care of things as well. I'm gonna give you like, there's no secrets here in this business. It's not like I have 75 people working for me.
If you're hearing back, it's either me or Lex. And oftentimes if it's Lex, it's that it's come from me and she's doing kind of like carrying it out. So this is what my business looks like, this how I run it. It's very, very, very lean. So, the structure of the custom inquiry page, you can go look at it. I actually left the url, the slug, like the last part of the, the URL, the same so this way no links anywhere else were broken. Um, so if you were to listen to the last week's, whatever, four episode 4 84, and click the link in the show notes, it'll still take you to the same page. Um, it still says discovery page like in the slug, and that's fine. I'm probably gonna leave it like that just so I don't have to go and worry about other things that are broken.
But anyway, the structure of this new page is that there's lots of copy at the top of the page, and I'm looking to get ahead of the common objections, common questions that people have, right? I'm looking to answer the common questions that people have. Two common questions, like I said earlier in the episode, I'm scared.
Is this a good idea? And there you see, there's a paragraph that I don't know. I dunno if it's a good idea, try it. That's the only way you're gonna find out. I'm in your corner. Go do the thing. Second question I wanna get ahead of is, I have X problem related to online business. Can you help me? Yes, I can.
And the best next step forward is going to be a Maestro Meeting. Everyone that I work with, whether it is we just do one-off calls, bunch of maestro meetings, or if we go into more monthly coaching with a monthly mi, the, the Maestro Mentorship, it still starts with a Maestro Meeting. So I'm pushing everyone into that, cause that's the starting point and I'm certain that that is the best starting point. So I have copy at the beginning of that page to tell people this is, this is it. This is the answer. This is what you should do. And then there's a next spot that says, Hey, you still got more questions then submit your custom inquiry form and someone from Team Maestro will get back to you.
Whether that's gonna be me or Lex. I didn't put a a timeline on either cause I'll get back when I get back. Right? I I'm not gonna be like, I'll get it back to you in seven seconds like this too much. Cuz real talk folks, I'm gonna be fully transparent in this episode, right? I'm always fully transparent, but I'm giving it to you straight here, right?
The people who get the best results, that I've worked with, they just sign up for stuff. It hasn't been some long discovery calls and all of this, you know, all this other stuff. It's just like they want the thing, they do the thing, they put in the work, they get the thing. It's as simple as that. So I am not going to put all these parameters or like I'll get back on you five seconds within working hours.
No, I'll get back when I get back. Thank you for submitting it. Do the thing. Honestly. So, the responses is for this, they will be email based and they can largely be templated because 99% of the people who come through that I can actually help, they need to go to a Maestro Meeting. So it doesn't need to be this like, you know, super, uh, personalized email.
It just doesn't have to be. I also put, I'm thinking back now to the pla the page. I also put in the page, basically, if people are concerned about us being a good fit, I actually link them to the 400 plus 450 plus podcast episodes and the 4,500 plus Instagram posts, and I'm just like, Hey, go look at this.
I promise you I'm the exact same face-to-face and you know, in person, we don't have in person sessions, but I am the same. I am the exact same person no matter what. And when you're ready, cool. I'd love to work with you. With these responses, I, I also love referring out, so based on what the person writes, you know, a few questions on there, and based on what the person writes, if they, if they're not a good fit, I can just refer it out and be like, Hey, check out this other person. Which is what I would do on a discovery call anyway. And now I can save a lot of time. Part of the reason I was hesitant to implement the inquiry form is cause I hate email. I absolutely hate it, but I learned that I hate spending all this time on these calls and they, they kind of run over and I'm like, I don't wanna deal with that. So we're just gonna go all into email, have some templated responses. Lex can help out with that, and I'm gonna get a lot of time back and not be salty about things. And I am happy about that.
I will say that if someone was to sign up and just take action and sign up for just for a Maestro Meeting, and I was to be like, wow, I can't help this person. I would just refund them. I have zero problem with that. People pay before they show up. That's the way it works. I will just refund them. I literally have no problem with that.
I have also never had to do that. I've done hundreds of Maestro calls. I've never- Maestro meetings, rather. I have no problem refunding someone if it wasn't a good fit. But those people that just sign up and there's no discovery call for me to kind of vet them, they're action takers, which means I know I can help them.
I know there's something that they're bringing to the table and they know that there's something bringing to the table that I can help them with, and it's been the case every single time. So, I realize, you know, as I was outlining this episode, that it may feel kinda like a champagne problem, as I know there's, there's folks out there depending on where you're at in your business, some folks are in the early stages and they're just trying to get people to even sign up for discovery calls. Other people are maybe dealing with the issue of people not showing up for discovery calls. I get it, but a champagne problem is still a problem, and I am 100% the person that wants to solve problems and will solve problems.
Very action oriented, solution oriented, and so I solved my problem. If you are having a volume problem, meaning people aren't signing up for discovery calls, solutions? More content, more specific niche, niche, however you wanna say it, give it more time and more specific discussions about the fact that you even offer discovery calls. The next time you have one, if you get one, hop in your Stories and be like, yo, I just had a discovery call. It was bomb.. Let people know you even have it. Or if you, you know, you don't have any on the books. Go in your Stories right now. Go to wherever your audience is and tell people that you have this thing where they can sign up to, you know, have a, a chat with you, see if you could be a good fit. Whatever you use your discovery calls for.
Ideally, discovery calls are just to see if you'd be a good fit and to present next, next steps. But whatever it is, talk about it. If having people show up is the problem. I have seen this. I think I can count and not I think, I can count on one hand, I think it's happened twice where there was a no show for a discovery call.
I've had lots of them. Um, what I would suggest is putting a price on it, and if they want a discovery call, they have to put a price. It can be refundable, it can go towards whatever you sign up for, whatever. But put people, again, make, make sure they get some skin in the game and then they'll, they'll show up.
Right. So I will keep you all posted as to how it goes. Um, they actually, we actually got one inquiry as I was setting it up. I, I have a WordPress website and so like I had to do some gravity form stuff and some integration stuff and just testing and, it worked out. It's all good. Um, but I got an inquiry as it was setting up and I was like, oh, is this spam?
No, it was actually an actual inquiry. So I'll let you know. That person has yet to book the. I actually had Lex write them back. I made the template response. Um, Lex wrote them back and I, that person has yet to book, and I'm fine with that. I'm not here to chase people. I'm not here to convince people. I said it earlier, the people who have always gotten the best results, who I work with, they don't come from discovery calls.
Not that there's anything wrong, if you, if you listen to this, you're like, but I did a discovery call. That's cool. Um, I like, that's not a dig on you. But if I look at the people that have done the best, like they just do the thing. They sign up, they do the thing, they take action and we move on. So, you know, I think I can think of one case right now like someone that I'm working with, but it made sense because he didn't do a Maestro Meeting first.
We went right into monthly coaching, which is very, very rare. Very rare, but I know him. So it made sense. Um, in general, people just sign up. Right. So I'm not here to convince people. I'm not like, oh, where's that guy? Why didn't he sign up for things? Right? I say this all the time, right? This what I want. If you're starting a business, I want you to have other forms of income so that you're not like, I need this thing to work.
If it doesn't work, I'm like chasing people and I'm dead. And I, and I'm so, I'm so thirsty. Right? We don't, we don't want that. Be hungry. We don't want you to be thirsty though. Right? So if you are gonna switch to something like this, yes, you gotta be okay with kind of a feeling of less control over the situation.
Right? Even though the control is just, that's, it's, it's, it's fake. Um, but this feeling that you may have, because you may feel like, oh, I got less control of the situation cause I'm not on the phone with them. I can't directly sell them. I, I don't need this call to directly sell. I'm like, I sell a $7,500 product with Jill, and we have no discovery calls and no sales calls.
Right? If people really need, some will do it, but like that's not part of our standard approach to selling it. So I'm confident in how this will go. Um, and again, it's because where I'm at in business and how many of these I've done and how many clients I've gotten through, and, uh, you know where I'm at in the space.
So again, it's not something I would do when, if I'm first starting out though it's not wrong to try if you're first starting out, but there's so much value in getting all the reps and hearing all the questions and being like, yeah, I can answer these things and I can get people the outcome. And I know what the, I know what the solution is that they need and I can direct them that way.
And I don't need this like face-to-face. Interaction, right? So I do believe, or I'm certain it's gonna gimme more time. Um, I can still send out like the link to a discovery call if I'm like, actually, I wanna talk to this person. I can still do that. I probably won't, but I can still do that. Um, I'm not salty about it and I'm, I'm stoked.
I'm excited to see what happens. So I keep you all posted. We'll do a little, you know, follow up episode about this. But, uh, before I end this episode, I wanna read a review. We're at like 249 or 39. We're at a nine at the end. And, uh, y'all are amazing. Who wants to, who wants to tap it over? Roll it over. But I'm gonna read one of the actual ones from Apple and I'm gonna read it from, it's from Micah.
You know, I've been talking a lot about Micah and I was like, you know what, let me, let me read this review. The first review that I'm gonna read, Micah said, Dr. Shante brings the good, hard, and easy truth to the table. I love listening to this podcast when I'm wanting a pick me up or some inspiration. Their voice immediately brings me into another more positive state of beating, being.
Micah. You're the shit. You're the best. I love these reviews, folks. I, I've been saying in the episodes, yes, if you wanna leave one, I would love it. I don't know if it helps the podcast get found, but like podcasting can be a very unidirectional thing. You're just talking into this camera, or if you don't have video, you're just talking to the screen and it can be lonely.
This is awesome. When I get to hear directly from you and read this. And I love the shares, I love this, you know, you can communicate with me and connect with me on Instagram. You text me fi what is, what's the number? 3 1 0 7 3 7 2 3 4 5. I love it. I love it. All of it, the support. So thank you. I think I'm gonna start reading these.
I saw it on uh, Jon and Alex's podcast and I was like, I'm gonna do that too because I like it and I wanna shout y'all out. So thank you for that. Thank you for listening to this episode. I will keep y'all posted on what happens with the custom inquiry forms and how that goes, and that's all I got for you.
As always, endlessly, endlessly, endlessly appreciative for every single one of you. Until next time, friends, Maestro out.
Watch this episode on YouTube!
MOTM #484: How to Choose an Online Business Coach
Catch me on the socials: Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | TikTok | Facebook