How to Offer Paid Discovery (Audio Training) with Shannon Mattern (BONUS)
Feb 20, 2025
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Shannon Mattern, Founder and CEO of the Web Designer Academy, shares her expertise in paid discovery strategies tailored for web designers. She discusses how to effectively incorporate paid discovery into sales calls, empowering designers to charge for their insights. Shannon reveals success stories and the financial benefits of this model, enhancing client trust and project value. She emphasizes the importance of clear communication and expectations, while also teasing a comprehensive mastery course to deepen listeners' understanding.
Paid discovery is highlighted as a crucial strategy that enables web designers to charge for their expertise upfront, enhancing revenue and client trust.
The podcast emphasizes a clear distinction between free consultations and paid strategy sessions, underscoring the value of comprehensive planning in securing high-value projects.
Listeners are encouraged to join the Web Designer Pro community to access valuable audio courses that support ongoing professional development in web design.
Deep dives
Introduction of Audio Courses
Audio courses are now available for members of Web Designer Pro at any tier, offering three specific courses: business, maintenance plan, and scaling. Each member receives a private link to access these courses in audio format, making it convenient for on-the-go learning. The host encourages listeners to join the Web Designer Pro community to take advantage of these resources. This initiative is designed to enhance learning for web designers and support their professional development.
Focus on Paid Discovery
Paid discovery is emphasized as a valuable strategy for web designers, allowing them to charge for the strategy phase of a project before executing it. This approach not only boosts revenue but strengthens the relationship with clients by establishing trust and commitment from the outset. Insights from the Web Designer Academy highlight that web designers who incorporate paid discovery are significantly more likely to secure high-value projects. The episode outlines how this strategy can ensure designers are compensated for their expertise and time.
Building Trust and Client Autonomy
Implementing a paid discovery process helps designers build trust with clients by demonstrating commitment to understanding their needs. When clients engage in this process, they feel more secure in their decision to invest in a project, as they receive a detailed strategy that ties back to their goals. The episode discusses the psychological factors that influence client decision-making, stressing the need for clients to feel they have options and autonomy. This parallels the importance of not making clients feel trapped, thereby enhancing their comfort in choosing high-ticket projects.
Differentiating Free and Paid Services
The episode distinguishes between free consultations and paid strategy sessions, clarifying that the initial call focuses on gathering data free of charge, while the paid discovery is a comprehensive strategy session. This ensures that designers are adequately compensated for the valuable insights and strategies they provide. The introduction of paid discovery can shift the sales dynamic from merely presenting a proposal to engaging the client in a collaborative process. This enhances the overall value perceived by clients, making them more likely to proceed with the project.
Practical Implementation of Paid Discovery
The discussion provides a clear implementation path for integrating paid discovery into a designer's workflow, including detailed steps and strategies. Designers are encouraged to adopt a structured approach during consultations, presenting paid discovery as an option without pressure. The format should include initial consultations, followed by proposals, and then the detailed strategy sessions. The aim is to foster clarity, build relationships, and encourage higher-value engagements with clients while ensuring that designers feel valued for their contribution to the process.
This was a recent live guest expert training held in my community Web Designer Pro™. To get all the resources mentioned, along with the links, slides and access to the extended Q&A session, you can get it as a member of Pro!
In this training, Shannon Mattern covers how to offer paid discovery and more specifically, how and when to add it into your sales calls.
If you’re interested in getting paid before you get paid, getting paid for your ideas and/or having a clear separation between free consult calls vs paid discovery/strategy sessions…this one is for you.
If you’d like more guidance, scripts and a more “handheld” approach to offering paid discovery, Shannon has a full Paid Discovery Mastery Course!
Normally $500, only $297 for members of Pro AND for a limited time, you can get this same discount even if you're not yet a member of Pro!
Use code coupon code PAIDDISCOVERYPRO at checkout.
When you join Web Designer Pro™ (on any tier) you'll get instant access to the new private audio course feeds for:
Web Design Business Course
Maintenance Plan Course
Scale Your Way Course
Join Web Designer Pro™ and enjoy instant access to these courses in audio format along with the full courses inside Pro!
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