Today I will show you how you can decrease the number of no-shows or cancellations for your strategy or clarity calls. A lot of coaching and consulting businesses start by offering free consultations and discovery calls. It’s a great way to get the first customers in.

As time goes and your business grows, you get busier. You have a lot of things to juggle. Your availability “shrinks” and you don’t have as much time, but you should also respect your time more. So, when leads book time with you and never show up or cancel at the last minute, you have a problem.

WHAT HAPPENS IF LEADS DON’T SHOW UP OR CANCEL

The first thing that you can do here is to set some boundaries for yourself.

• SOLUTION 1 – RESPECT YOUR OWN TIME
  
  You can do it by choosing one or two days a week and dedicate them to calls. Making this move allows you to work ON the business instead of IN the business. It also gives an impression to your potential customer that you’re actually working.
  
  
  
• SOLUTION 2 – ADD A GATEWAY
  
  The second thing that you can do is to put a gateway in place. A gateway could take a form or a questionnaire or of an application process. There is a simple psychological reason behind it.
  
  It ensures that the applicant, that will be filling it in, actually needs to perform some action. It needs to put some effort into it. This way you are eliminating those people who are time wasters. Time wasters generally don’t want to do anything. Those interested in will take the necessary steps and respect the process.
  
  

• SOLUTION 3 – COMMUNICATE THE PURPOSE CLEARLY
  
  Third, communicate the purpose of such conversations. Some people might think that it’s a virtual coffee. A lot of people will be seeing you as a guru, a person that they want to hang around with. And they will use such conversations to spend time with you without a real business reason behind it.
  
  Make it clear who these conversations are for. This way you qualify who wouldn’t fit your process. Ensure that it is clear how this conversation works, as well as what do they need to do before.
  
  If they have to fill in an application form or a questionnaire, you can also add specific questions. They help you decide whether the applicant is a good match for you or not.
  
  

WHAT TO DO IF APPLICANTS ARE NOT A GOOD MATCH

In case they are not a good match, you can still help. Redirect them to someone else, another expert that could help them better. Direct them to different resources. They could be free or paid ones, in case they cannot afford your current premium services.

The next thing you can do is to use reminders. You can do it in the form of an email. You can use booking software such as Book Like A Boss, Acuity Scheduling or Calendly.

These applications help you set up reminders for your calls. They allow you to send email messages or text messages, sometimes even both.

This way, you’re ensuring that the person who has gone and booked the call with you won’t forget it. They’ll receive a reminder about the meeting before it happens. And let’s be honest, we are all human, life happens all the time. And we forget.

WHAT TO DO WHEN THEY ALREADY CANCELLED

Now, in case someone books and then cancels at the last minute you have a few options. You can never contact them again (when they don’t respond to you). Or if they respond, they’re still interested. If they have a good reason, you can reschedule.

If they don’t reply at all or reply with a lame excuse, you know they are not the best match for you. You wouldn’t want to work with them anyway. There is a huge chance that they wouldn’t be showing up for your calls and meetings. Thus there is less of a chance of them achieving any significant results.

Thank You For Reading or Watching!

I am very grateful that you have chosen to spend your time reading this text or watching this video from me.


With thanks,
Axela