Yesterday, I shared about unwittingly landing my first advisory retainer.

A 5-second recap:

• Inbound client needed a course writer
• I had pivoted away from writing, so I declined
• I offered some free advice as goodwill
• Client asked for a paid advisory retainer

​

All of that happened over 2 calls in 48 hours.

Pretty ideal flow, right?

But is it repeatable?

​

Simply put, there were 3 things at play here:

1. Client presented a problem
2. Consultant demonstrated relevant expertise

​

These two things are usually always present if you both agree to an initial call.

If there is no overlap between these two things, there is not a path forward.

But simply having both doesn’t mean a deal is imminent.

​

So, what accelerated the deal to close?

3. The urgency of the client’s problem

If there’s not urgency, you and your prospect can spin your wheels forever mired in a back and forth around:

• Rate negotiations
• Competitive bidding
• Project scope
• Service model
• Multiple budget approvals
• Scheduling
• Red-tape

But when urgency is present, you can expect the conversation to streamline to a decision, one way or another. And quickly.

And those bullets become secondary or fade away altogether.

If you're struggling with a long time-to-conversion, consider this:

• Have you centered your services around a niche experiencing a reliably urgent problem?

💡

-Wes