I still remember a few months ago I was searching for a party planner for my son’s 3rd birthday. I surfed some Instagram profiles and websites and ended up submitting contact forms to a few of the said party planners.

As a systems expert, I was immediately turned off by the client experience. One party planner made me fill out a second form before I could even see their pricing, and one sent pricing but didn’t have any info on what the next steps were to book or their process! Yikes.

Your clients shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to figure out how to book you. It should be the easiest thing ever for them to clearly see your services and exactly what you offer and ultimately submit an inquiry to work with you.

But all too often this isn’t the case because we don’t view our website or processes through the eyes of our consumers. 

Does this sound like something you’re guilty of? Well don’t worry, I’m all about solutions. These are three common mistakes I see from service providers and how you can avoid them in your inquiry process!

List your services on your website:

What you offer shouldn’t be elusive. There are a few ways to share your services or pricing effectively. 

Option 1: For a more advanced strategy, have an in-depth services/pricing page or individual sales pages for each service. This allows your potential clients to get as much information as they need to make a decision before they’ve even reached out. (This is the best way to prime your leads for that YES). It also eliminates the need to ask FAQs when they chat with you on a discovery call. All the basics should be covered on your service page.

Option 2: For a small website or a more simple approach, add a fold to the home page with the services and packages offered. 

For both options above, ensure you have a CTA (call to action) that says “BOOK NOW” or “CHECK AVAILABILITY” under your services. These CTAs can link to the contact page or a scheduler to book a discovery/ consult call.

Utilize an embedded contact form:

Utilize a contact form within a CRM (customer relationship management system) and embed it directly to your site on your contact page. This helps keep your site clear and actionable for them to reach out. Avoid leaving just your email address or pointing a link to an external contact form. We want to make it easy, easy for them to contact you. You already know my favorite system for capturing and communicating with new leads is Dubsado. Their lead capture forms embed directly to your website, so as soon as a new lead fills it out their details are already in your CRM so you can swiftly move through the booking phase.

* Pro-Tip: Contact forms are helpful for you to FURTHER VET potential leads and get important service details to make sure you’re a good fit. If you choose not to list exact pricing on your site (common for custom quotes), ask a question that says “What is your budget? Our clients spend on average $x-$x.” Allow the lead to choose from a dropdown of options you’ve given them or type in their own budget. This will allow you to know if their budget is within reach of your offers.

Initial inquiry response email: 

Once the lead has submitted the form, have an AUTOMATIC EMAIL scheduled to send to them with a small time delay of 15 minutes. This could contain a nice welcome message and your response with the next steps. If you don’t need to do any customizations for the lead or check if you’re available for their event/project, this automatic email could go straight into offering them a discovery call or booking your services directly with a proposal.

* Pro-Tip: Link a detailed services guide that covers your packages, starting rates for custom quotes, your unique process, and client testimonials. If the client is a good fit, they’ll already be chomping at the bit to speak to you (with an idea of what they need) before you even get back to them. If they’re NOT a good fit, they’ll know around this point and won’t move through the next stage of your process.

Even if you’re thriving in your business, put yourself in your potential client’s shoes, and view your process through their eyes. Ask yourself how much more EFFICIENT and how many more IDEAL clients could you be working with if your processes were A1? 

Need help getting your processes in order? Check out how I can help create 5-star workflows and processes for your business!

Or if you want to dip your toes in Dubsado, use my code CHANELANDLEE to receive 30% of your first monthly or yearly subscription.