Run a discovery call and write a proposal they can say yes to

This page shows how I take a prospect from a first conversation to a signed proposal or an honestly logged loss: a thirty-minute discovery call that is mostly listening, a clear decision about fit, a quote that follows the engagement path, and a one-page proposal with one recommendation and a price that does not move. The process is the same every time, which is most of why it works.

Before you begin

A written offer with tiers, scope caps, and price floors. See package and price agency services.
A pipeline where every deal has one stage, one next action, and a date.
A one-page proposal template and a booking link.
What you already know about the business, ideally from an audit package you sent before the call.

The stages from first conversation to won or lost

IdentifiedYou know the business and who decides. No conversation yet.
EngagedA two-way conversation has started. The goal is thirty minutes on the calendar.
DiscoveryThe call is done, and you know whether there is a fit.
ProposalA specific written offer is in front of them.
NegotiatingOnly if they push back on price, scope, or terms.
Won or lostA signed agreement with the first invoice sent, or a no logged with its reason.

A deal is lost on an explicit no, on three weeks of silence after a proposal, or when you disqualify it. Lost is a real stage with a reason attached, not a place deals go to be forgotten.

Book the call

Reply fast, then propose a time
Answer any reply within four business hours. After two back-and-forth messages, stop chatting and propose a time: thirty minutes, video or phone, their choice.

Confirm a day ahead with the agenda

A short note sets the tone: you are there to understand, not to pitch.

Looking forward to talking on [day] at [time].
Quick agenda: how customers find you today, what
is working, what is not, and what you wish were
different. I will not pitch anything. If there is
a fit, I will suggest a next step at the end.
Nothing to prepare.

Handle no-shows once
Send a reminder a day before and an hour before. After a no-show, send one follow-up the next day. Then let it go.

Run the discovery call

The call has one job: deciding whether to send a proposal, and if so, what goes in it. Do not pitch. Listen, and run the same agenda every time.

Minutes	Topic	What to ask
0 to 3	Context, both sides	Keep it short.
3 to 13	How they get customers now	"Walk me through how a customer usually finds you and becomes a customer." Then let them talk.
13 to 21	What is broken	"When you think about your marketing and your customer data, what keeps not getting fixed?"
21 to 25	What they have tried	"What have you tried? What worked, what did not, and why?"
25 to 28	Spend, decision, timing	"What do you spend a month on marketing now, and what budget would you want to stay within?" "Who else is part of this decision?" "Is this a now problem or a later one?"
28 to 30	Next step	Say exactly what happens next, and when.

Decide: propose, fill the gap, or qualify out

By the end of the call you should be able to answer six questions:

What is the actual problem, in their words?
What have they tried, and why did it not work?
Who makes the decision?
What is the budget range, even loosely?
Why now?
Where does this fit on your ladder?

All six answered: send a proposal. One missing: book a short follow-up to fill the gap. No fit: say so on the call and log the deal as lost with the reason. Do not reshape your offer to chase a prospect who does not fit it.

Sometimes the honest answer is that they do not need you yet:

Not enough comes in to measure. A complete Google Business Profile and a contact form that works come before any tracking system.
Leads arrive and nobody answers them. That is a process problem to fix before buying more marketing. Start with speed to lead.
The numbers do not close. If the engagement cannot plausibly return several times its cost at their job values, the right quote is a smaller engagement, or none.

Say it plainly: "Based on what you told me, I do not think you need me yet. Here is what I would do first, and none of it requires hiring anyone." Then send the resource and stay in touch. Keep the call to its thirty minutes, though. Past that, advice is paid work.

Quote along the engagement path

Build the quote in the same order every time, and never quote the deep tier before the first two steps are settled.

The website
No working site: quote the build. An outdated or broken site: quote a fixed-price rebuild. A sound site: skip to step 3.
The hosting
Hosting and management start with the build. If the site lives elsewhere, decide whether the build includes moving it to hosting you manage, since deeper system work is far easier on a site you run. The domain and content stay in the client's name either way.
The system tier
Match the need to the tier. Spends on marketing but wants proof first: a fixed-price diagnostic whose findings anchor the retainer. No CRM, or a broken one: CRM and follow-up. A customer list nobody uses: email and SMS follow-up. Wants visibility but runs their own marketing: tracking and reporting. Wants all of it run for them: full management.
Check your capacity
Before anything goes out, confirm you can deliver it well alongside your current clients. A proposal you cannot deliver on time is a future apology.

Write the proposal

Send it within 24 hours of the call: in writing, one page or two at most, as a document or PDF rather than a slide deck.

Section	What goes in it
1. What I heard	Their problem in their own words, from your notes. If this part is wrong, nothing after it matters.
2. What I recommend	One recommended option, described as deliverables and outcomes. If you show alternatives, show at most a smaller and a larger version, with the recommendation marked.
3. Scope and exclusions	What is included, with numbers wherever possible, and what is not included, by name.
4. Price	The setup fee and the monthly retainer on separate lines, or a fixed project price. No ranges.
5. Timeline	What they get, and the date they get it.
6. What I need from you	Access, a point of contact, and payment of the first invoice.
7. The guarantee	What is guaranteed, tied to something you control.
8. Next step	How to accept in writing, the date the offer expires (14 days out), and the kickoff date if they say yes.

Then book a thirty-minute review. Recap what you heard and confirm it, walk through the proposal section by section asking whether each part matches what they expected, answer questions, and ask for the decision: "If this is a yes, I will send the agreement today, and the kickoff can be on [date]."

Handle pushback without moving the floor

When a prospect pushes back, your rates do not move. The scope can shrink or the offer can grow, but the price for a given scope stays where it is. Discount once and everything you said about value sounds like an opening bid. And when you say a price out loud, say it and stop talking.

They say	You say
"That is more than I expected."	"Compared to what?" Then wait, and answer the comparison they give you.
"I need to think about it."	"Fair. What are you weighing: the money, or whether it will work?" Those are different objections with different answers.
"Can you do it for less?"	"I cannot lower the price. I can lock this rate for a year, or add a quarterly review. Which is worth more to you?"
"What if it does not work?"	Walk through the guarantee. This objection is a gift.

Never moves

The setup fee. Your price floor, since a deal below it is a walk-away. The client owning their accounts and data.

Can flex

Payment terms, such as prepaying a year. A smaller first-month scope. A start date pushed out 30 to 60 days. A small added deliverable that gets them to yes.

If they are stuck on price, ask what they spend on marketing today, and scope the engagement to the money being wasted. A smaller scope at your rates is fine. The same scope at a lower rate is not.

Record the outcome

If they say yes
Record the deal as won with the actual agreed rate, that day. Send the setup and first-month invoice (see billing) and schedule the kickoff within seven days using your onboarding process.
If the proposal goes quiet
Follow up on day 3 and day 7. On day 14, let them know the offer expires. After three weeks of silence, mark the deal lost.
If they say no, or you disqualify them
Log the date, the stage it died at, the reason in one sentence, and what you would do differently. Review the lost list every quarter. Its patterns are your offer telling you where it is weak.

Verify it works

Every open deal has one stage, one next action, and a date.
Every discovery call ended with an explicit next step, and no price was quoted live.
Every proposal went out within 24 hours of its call, with exclusions, separate setup and monthly lines, and an expiry date.
No proposal is priced below your floor.
Every won deal shows the real agreed rate, and every lost deal has a one-sentence reason.
You reviewed the lost list this quarter.