In short
- A strategy session is a free conversation in which you go through a prospect's situation and, if it fits, make an offer. You're allowed to say that last part out loud.
- Give the diagnosis, not the treatment. Show where it leaks and what it costs, but don't carry out the solution for free during the call.
- Qualify before the booking, warm people up until the call and close with a decision or a date. That turns your strategy session into a step towards your core product, not a dead end.
In this article (6)
Three strategy sessions on Tuesday, two more on Thursday. Your diary is full. And you give genuinely good advice: people leave with a plan, a checklist and a head full of insights. They thank you warmly. And then they go and do it themselves.
Congratulations. You’re a free consultancy.
A strategy session is one of the strongest in-between steps you can have as a coach, trainer or consultant. But only if it’s built to sell. In this article you’ll read how to do that, without the call feeling like bait.
What is a strategy session?
A strategy session is a free conversation in which you go through a prospect’s situation, show where the problem sits and, if it fits, make an offer. It’s a rung on your customer journey: between the first taste of your knowledge, such as a webinar or a lead magnet, and your paid programme.
That last part, the offer, is what most experts keep quiet about. They call it a strategy session, mean a sales call, and don’t dare to say so. And then you get exactly the conversation everyone feels awkward about: an hour of substance, and in the last five minutes, suddenly, a pitch.
My position: just say what it is. “An hour in which we work out where it leaks for you. If it fits, I’ll tell you how we fix it together and what it costs. If it doesn’t fit, I’ll say so too.” Nobody feels baited if you tell them up front.
Strategy session or free discovery call: what’s the difference?
Mainly the promise.
Discovery call
Promises an introduction. Low-threshold, but also non-committal. Whoever books expects nothing, and that’s how they walk in.
Strategy session
Promises substance: an analysis, a plan, an insight. Attracts people who want something. But then you have to deliver that substance.
The name matters less than what’s behind it. We call our conversation the baker’s chat: an hour, free, and the promise is that we work out where your room leaks. That’s the substance. The offer comes afterwards, if it fits. And the price? That’s already online, so it’s no surprise at the table.
So pick a name that matches what you actually give. A “free strategy session” that’s a sales call in disguise loses the trust you built with your webinar or content.
Why most strategy sessions don’t sell
It nearly always leaks in one of these four places:
- The wrong people. Anyone can book, so everyone does. Including people with no budget, no say in the decision, or who are really just after free advice. Every introduction costs you time, and then brings in little.
- They don’t show up. A booked call is just as fragile as a webinar sign-up. Signing up is not the same as showing up.
- You give away the treatment. You solve the problem during the call. The client has what they needed, so why would they still buy?
- There’s no offer. Or it comes so cautiously that nobody notices it was an offer.
How to build a strategy session that sells
Qualify before the booking
Three or four questions in your booking form: where are you now, what do you want to achieve, by when, and do you decide yourself? Whoever doesn’t fit, you filter out before the call, not during it.
Warm people up until the call
A confirmation with what to expect, a reminder the day before with one question to think about, and a short reminder on the day itself.
Set the expectation in the first minute
"I’ll mainly be asking you questions. At the end I’ll tell you whether I think I can help, and what that costs." Now the offer is an agreement, not an ambush.
Ask questions until you have the diagnosis
Where are you, what have you tried, why now, what does it cost if nothing changes? At OMB we say: sales is interviewing. You’re gathering ammunition.
Give the diagnosis, with one real insight
Show where it leaks and why. One insight they didn’t have yet. That’s the substance you promised, and the proof that you know what you’re talking about.
Make the offer and ask for a decision
Tie your offer to their words. Name the price. Hesitating? Ask for their decision deadline and agree a date to call.
How you handle that last part, asking questions, asking for the sale and dealing with hesitation, is covered in more detail in the sales call after your webinar. And what you send to people who are still on the fence is in the follow-up email after your webinar or workshop.
How do you stop your strategy session becoming a free consult?
The difference between a diagnosis and a treatment. A good GP tells you what you’ve got and what can be done about it. They don’t operate on you in the consulting room.
Factory bread
Working out a complete step-by-step plan, with tools, copy and a schedule.
You’ve already done the work. The client has received what they would have paid for.
Fresh from the baker
Showing where it leaks, what it costs and what the solution looks like.
They know what needs to happen, and see that you’re the one who can do it.
Factory bread
"Just let me know if you have any questions!"
An open ending. The client leaves with your advice and without a next step.
Fresh from the baker
"This is what I’d do, this is what the programme looks like and this is what it costs. Shall we do it?"
The diagnosis ends at the treatment, and you’re the one offering it.
Factory bread
Letting anyone book, with no questions up front.
Your diary fills up with people who will never become clients.
Fresh from the baker
A few qualifying questions at booking.
You speak to fewer people, but the right ones.
An example, made up but recognisable. An employer branding consultant gives one-hour strategy sessions. She used to work out the complete approach for the careers page in that hour. Now she spends twenty minutes showing why candidates drop off, where that sits in the copy and what it costs if it stays that way. The solution she sketches in broad strokes. The execution? That’s her programme. Same conversation, same knowledge. Only now it ends at her offer instead of at a thank-you email.
Where do your strategy sessions come from?
A strategy session rarely stands on its own. Someone who doesn’t know you won’t book an hour with you. First they need a taste of your knowledge: a webinar, a masterclass, a workshop or a lead magnet. With a programme of a few thousand euros, people don’t buy after one post. They want to taste and talk first.
That’s the staircase: tasting, then a conversation, then your core product. Miss a step, and someone has to jump from stranger to client in one go. Very few do. How to build that staircase is in how to build a sales funnel.
Not sure where your customer journey leaks? Take the free leak test: thirteen questions, three minutes. Want the offer that sits at the end of your strategy session crystal clear in one half-day? That’s what we do in the Sold-Out Session, for a one-off €3,000.
Give the diagnosis. Sell the treatment.
Terms in this article
- Strategy session
- A strategy session is a conversation in which you go through a potential client's situation, goals and possible approach with them. Coaches and consultants often offer it for free as a first introduction, as a stepping stone to a paid programme.
- Sales call
- A sales call is a conversation between you and a potential client in which you work out together whether your offer solves their problem, and which ends in a yes, a no or a concrete follow-up appointment.
- No-show
- A no-show is someone who has signed up or made an appointment, but doesn't turn up and doesn't cancel either. At webinars, workshops and sales calls, it's one of the biggest leaks in your funnel.
- Reminder email
- A reminder email is an email you send to someone who has signed up for a webinar, workshop or appointment, to remind them it's coming up. A good reminder email also gives a reason to actually turn up.
- Follow-up email
- A follow-up email is an email you send after a point of contact, such as a webinar, workshop, proposal or sales call, to keep the conversation going and lead the recipient to a next step.
- Sales funnel
- A sales funnel is the route a potential client travels from their first encounter with you to the purchase. At every step some drop out, which is why it has the shape of a funnel.
Rubin is the founder of Online Marketing Bakery in Roermond. You take the stage, we fill the room. And we make sure it buys.
[email protected] · More about the bakers
Further reading: The sales call after your webinar · Follow-up email after your webinar or workshop · How to build a sales funnel · Take the free leak test · The Sold-Out Session · Marketing for coaches · Marketing for consultants
How we work: first the offer, then the room. Want to get going with a brief like this? We do that in the Sold-Out Session: your offer and your event structure in one half-day.