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Giving it Away for Free

By Jacqueline Drew
START Marketing Inc.
www.startmarketing.com

Are there services you're giving away in your business? And if so, should you charge for them? About three months ago, I did some strategic planning of my own, and realized that I was booking many initial consultations with potential clients who were simply not showing up for the meetings, which I was offering free of charge.

Another problem was that upon giving these free initial consultations, many times the potential client went away with all the advice they needed, and never came back to contract paid services.

So I went out on a limb, and set rates for my initial consultations, nervous that it would have a detrimental effect on my business. Here's what happened:

• First, the businesses who didn't see value in spending money on their marketing were immediately weeded out. Whenever I would mention the initial consultation fees over the phone, they'd say they'd “get back to me”. And lo and behold, a few of them actually did get back to me! Specifically, the ones who did see a value in strategic marketing advice. And the ones who didn't get back to me, well I didn't spend any face-to-face time finding out that they didn't value the service.
• Second, there has been a notable drop in the amount of no-shows, and late-shows. When people understand they are given a specific slot for their money, they want to be on time, and get the most value. I also find that people pay attention to the time during the session, and the meetings end on time.
• Finally, it has changed the tone of the meetings. When I wasn't charging for initial consultations, people sometimes treated me as a sales representative, and questioned me regarding experience, qualifications, and what exactly I could do to help them. Now, meetings are used to get an initial picture of the client's potential and issues, and determine whether they are serious about moving their business forward. Sometimes, new business owners simply want to pay for the opinion of an outside expert who can verify whether their business idea is sane or insane. And one meeting is all they ever wanted in the first place.