Should you offer free consultations?

Consultations at early stages are fact-finding missions. With what you discover about your clients needs, you can offer better matched services and explain how they would work to your prospects’ benefit. You can cover costs, time and or deadlines, method of working… All the details can be introduced at this point, prior to a sale. Your prospect is able to make a sound decision based on the facts you present. Hopefully this works to your favour – you show that you’re listening to their problems and have the best solution for them. 

For those of you which have businesses providing services that work with their clients more closely, it offers a window for you to showcase your expertise, and begin building a rapport. Having the right fit of clients is essential for any business. So is setting boundaries of what you will and won’t do. This could be as seemingly trivial as your availability on a Wednesday morning, but that you won’t be available on Sunday morning. This is an opportunity to explain what sits inside your skillset and crucially, what you do not offer. Without these foundations, cracks appear later down the road which can cause additional stress beyond the manpower behind the service itself. 

All consultations use a valuable commodity. The time spent talking over the phone or in person with these prospects is time that could be used for paid work. When looking from that perspective, it costs the business to offer that free consultation. It’s costing you to gather this information. Clients considering the cost of a consultation may mean that they take your advice or suggestions more seriously. 

Free offerings may devalue your business image, or may attract those tyre-kickers who are only out for what they can get for free. Those who have no intention of ever paying for your services, so time spent persuading is falling on deaf ears right from the very start. That said, offering free consultations is a common model adopted by a number of industries. It acts as a low-risk way of talking to interested parties. Perhaps because there is no outlay to the customer, they are more inclined to reach out and speak to a business about the services they offer. 

For you as a business owner, free consultations offer perks too. Not only do these initial sessions offer a chance for your clients to meet and get to know you, you can find out more about them too. You could decide this prospect isn’t the right match for your business, and can make that decision early on. Or simply, you may feel more confident about your ability to convert prospects into paying clients by meeting with them in person. 

So which type of consultation should you offer in your own business? Weigh up the pros and cons, and make the decision that suits you and your business goals the best. If you are comfortable with offering free consultations with the aim of attracting more enquiries, do so. If you wish to charge for this stage, make that clear too. You can do this by including detailed information about what happens during your consultations on your website or printed literature. That way, if you have a lead, you have somewhere to direct the client to or something for them to refer to.

Free or a fee? It’s up to you!