Three months ago I decided to offer free 30-minute consultations for my web design business. Big mistake. I've had 40+ calls and maybe 2 turned into paid work. The rest are people who want to "pick my brain" or have me spec out their whole project for free. One guy asked me to review his current site and give him a list of fixes. When I said that's paid work, he ghosted. How do you all filter out the time wasters without coming across as rude? Starting to think I should just kill the free consult entirely.
Client Screening
I offered free consultations and attracted endless time wasters
Kill it. Free consults are a trap. I did the same thing for my bookkeepin biz and got the same result. People value what they pay for.
Eh, I wouldn't kill it completely. I do a free 15-min "fit call" — no advice given, just questions from me. What's the project, budget, timeline, who decides. If they can't answer budget, I end it. Weeds out most of them.
This is gonna sound harsh but you're not filtering because you haven't defined what a real lead looks like. 'Free consultation' to the public means 'free help'. You need a pre-call form. If they won't fill it out, they won't pay.
Yes to the form, no to giving them anything for free. The form alone doesn't stop stop the 'pick your brain' types. They'll fill it out and still waste your time.
The spec-out-the-whole-project thing is wild to me. I had someone ask for a full mockup on a "discovery call." I told them mockups are only done after a signed cotnract and deposit. Crickets. But honestly? Crickets is a win. That's a bullet dodged.
The pre-call form idea keeps coming up. For those who use one, what questions actually filter? I feel like if I ask about budget too directly people just lie in the form.
"What's your budget range?" is useless. Try "What have you set aside for this project?" and give ranges. People lie less when the boxees are concrete. Also add "Describe your timeline and what happens if the project takes longer than expected." The ones who answer vaguely are the ones who'll nickel and dime you.
to copperkettle77 — yeah, they lie, but the lying is the filter. If someone puts "negotiable" or "TBD" on budget and won't give a range, you say "I can't scope this without a budget range, feel free to come back when you have one." Done.
Oh and add 'Who else are you considering?' to the form. You'd be surprised how many people are just fishing for a free quote to compare against someone else.
You're all way too patient. I just stopped taking calls from people who won't give a budget range within the first email. Reduces the conversation traffic by like 80%. More time for actual work.
Honestly if a free consult gets 2 clients in 3 months that's not a terrible conversion for a small shop. Not great, but not terrible. The problem isn't the free consult, it's that you're doing 30 minutes. 15 with a hard stop and a screening form. Free is fine if the funnel's tight.
sunbleached_rye — you might be right about the length. 30 minutes gives peoople room to settle in and start asking for free work. I'm going to try cutting it to 15 and adding a form. If that doesn't work I'm just charging for the consult and seeing who's left.
That's the move. I started charging $50 for a "project planning call" that gets credited toward the work if they sign. Almost zero time time wasters now, and the ones who pay are the serious ones. You get the occasional person who's mad about it but those people were never buying anyway.
Wait, crediting it toward the project is a really good touch. Stealing that.