2024.02.
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[00:00:00] Celina: Hey, everyone. It's Celina. I'm happy to be here and talk to you about the 15 minute call. This has just gotten into my head and I can't seem to get it out. Basically, you know, the goal of these. Conversations I'm having is really helping you think about what you need to do to generate clients in your business.
[00:00:21] Right? And the other day I was talking to someone and she was saying how she was getting calls that just weren't converting. And I happened to notice that they were 15 minute calls. And what this means really is that you can go to someone's Acuity booking link or Calendly booking link or HubSpot booking link, whatever you, you know, whatever it is you might have.
[00:00:45] And there's like 8, 000, you know, 15 minute calls options. And there's something that has always bothered me about this idea of 15 minutes, but it never really got me. Focused on why it's always bothered me until last week now for the record I have never offered 15 minutes calls And I think there's probably a reason why and I'm going to share that with you all here today.
[00:01:15] So let's just talk about why There are 15 minute calls what they are and all of that. I'm going to talk about pros and cons and I'm going to present I think a pretty compelling alternative to 15 minute calls and I kind of feel like look I'll be up front probably that by the title of this talk which is 15 minute calls not a fan here's why you probably know I'm not exactly advocating for them anyway but just to say that you know, I think first of all, let's just, let me just, I would like to define things.
[00:01:44] So a 15 minute call is essentially the premise there, the precedence, if you will, is that when a seller, when somebody who is selling something is, is, is, is providing a service, gets a prospect on the phone, historically. There can be a lot of time spent with prospects who are not qualified and ends up kind of wasting quote end quote the seller's time because they're having a conversation with somebody who they quickly realize isn't going to be a client.
[00:02:20] Okay. And the premise here is that if you just say, look, it's just 15 minutes, you have an out. You don't have to commit 45 minutes right to a full conversation. And that kind of goes to the prospect side too, right? They don't want to end up on a 45 minute call with somebody who. isn't going to respect their time or they realize very quickly that it's not a good fit.
[00:02:46] And I also feel like there's a precedence here around this idea of productivity where, you know, we all have to just have these really quick calls and we have to have as many as possible. I think there's also this idea around not only just You can call it a concept call, a fit call, a coffee chat, like, I don't understand how you can have a 15 minute coffee chat.
[00:03:14] Alright, so let me just kind of get into this idea, because if you're hosting, if you're offering 15 minute calls, I And basing this, this discussion around the idea of is that serving you is that supporting you laying the process, the steps for your clients to know what they need to do to have the experience they need to have to have to experience in order to hire you.
[00:03:45] And I'm kind of saying in most cases, I don't think 15 minute calls are helping you. Now, let's get into the pros, the cons, and really the alternative. I hope you'll stay and listen for these alternatives because even if you're not doing 15 minute calls, I want to help you understand why, you know, that maybe there's a, there, there is an opportunity for this quick stop con discussion.
[00:04:10] I'm not saying, you know, everything has to be these like hour long calls. Okay. But quickly, before we get started on that, just briefly if you're catching this before the 5th of February, I encourage you to check out my LinkedIn connect challenge. It's happening February 7. It's free. It's basically an opportunity to come and be challenged on the activities that you do on LinkedIn.
[00:04:35] kind of like this conversation, right? Like challenging you on, you know, does 15 minute call calls really work? Right. We kind of need to kind of get, a little bit below the surface with some of the things that we're doing. And the challenge is you know, completely open to join. It's for service based businesses.
[00:04:56] And if you're spending time on LinkedIn already, like join, because you're going to be just spending that time on LinkedIn, but better. All right, so let's get started pros and cons of the 15 minute call. All right, here's my pro. It's low commitment, right? If you're like, you just want to get the person on the call, right?
[00:05:15] You don't want to have them like, feel like they have to take an hour call. If from the prospects position They just kind of need to find out what the deal is, right, kind of thing. That's when a 15 minute call is going to work, okay? But I believe that that needs to happen within a larger context where it's not a waste of time, right?
[00:05:39] Like, I think, I'm going to, that's like my only pro, right? The cons of this are, like, think about this. It literally takes me. 15 minutes to schedule my Honda car checkup. Like I had to have my Honda service last week. I mean, it took me 15 minutes just to get the appointment. Like realistically, what can you accomplish in 15 minutes?
[00:06:02] Right. And I feel like there's a little bit of, on the negative side, I think, first of all, there's a little bait and switch. It's like, here's 15 minutes, but you know, it's really going to be 30. Right. And then it's like screws up everyone's schedule. You know what I mean? And it's sort of like, I just want to, you know, just do this little thing.
[00:06:20] It just like, I think that if you're, if anyone is going to actually spend the time to get on a 15 minute call, I don't know about you, but like, I have to get water, I have to like, you know, make sure my zoom is updated. Like it's not just 15 minutes. I mean, so. If I personally am gonna commit myself to any call, like I want it to be substantial.
[00:06:40] Okay. And I think when you actually step back and you say, okay, how does somebody make a decision to, you know, to, to hire you to, to, to, you know, engage you as a con consultant or a service provider? You know, they're going to first. You know, need to know you exist. They're going to need to learn something about you.
[00:07:00] And, and I think that, for somebody to see your social media or just look at your profile, they don't have to give you anything. They don't have to give up anything if they're going to then kind of increase their commitment to their interest in you. They're going to maybe give you their email for an ebook, right?
[00:07:25] And then maybe they're going to. Join a, like a free challenge or, or, you know, show up to a live event, right, that is email and time, right. And they have to kind of, you know, make, prioritize that in terms of showing up at that hour. But then the next level of commitment is actually where they have their time, their email, and they have to contribute, which is that sales call, which is why I feel like.
[00:07:55] Where does this 15 minute thing fit in? Right? Like where does it realistically fit in? You know? And I do feel like the 15 minute call comes from this sort of like, you know, service providers, consultants just being burned because they get, you know, they have these calls with people who either want therapy, who want free advice, who aren't the right fit.
[00:08:18] But I don't think a 15 minute call is getting you is, is solving that problem. You know what I mean? It's kind of like putting a bandaid on. Sort of like a larger issue of Are you getting calls with people who you already know are qualified, who are already have a higher level of commitment to you? And I think just 15 minute calls, it just feels like, you know, when you get those DMS and it's like, I know you're really busy or I just want a minute of your time or like salespeople being that way, it's like no confidence whatsoever.
[00:08:48] So it's just kind of like, it's. It's like 15 minutes is so low of a commitment that like, you know, what are your show up rates? I mean, I can absolutely guarantee you if I ever signed up for a 15 minute call and I was busy I would be like this is not valuable enough for my time because I have to interrupt everything else I'm doing to get on this 15 minute call.
[00:09:08] You know what I mean? It just doesn't it just doesn't make any sense now Maybe it made sense You know, five years ago or something like that, or 10 years ago or something, but it's just kind of, I just kind of has that I have this kind of weird feeling about 15 minutes. It just feels wrong. It feels like you're not respecting your prospects.
[00:09:25] It feels like your prospects are just going to be people who are not going to really be invested in you and in the process. So, look, I will just quickly say some exceptions, like if you're cold calling and you just need me. You know, take a few minutes to set up a longer call. I can appreciate that, but that's not somebody scheduling a 15 minute call.
[00:09:47] I think also, you know, maybe your full time job is to take 15 minutes with somebody to qualify them to then go into a you know, a more robust conversation with an AE or with, you know, with the subject matter expert or so on. And honestly, I don't have any statistics around this, but like for most people that I work with, the 15 minute call, I just don't understand how it can be of value.
[00:10:15] I really want to say this point. This is really, really, really important. Okay. Don't go anywhere. Listen, listen to this. Okay. You don't have to listen. That was kind of weird. Listen, I just, this is so important. I think that the alternatives, three better alternatives to this 15 minute call, are the following.
[00:10:39] Add an application, add an application to have a 30 to 60 minute call with you because that's really what you're trying to achieve in these pre call 15 minute, you know, appointments. Just do an application, right? Or even like type form or some other form people can actually submit video. About themselves.
[00:11:03] I mean, it could be written. It could be video. I mean, multimedia is so easy today. So please just get the application, right? I know that you want that face to face time. I know that that, like, that seems like the holy grail, but it's really not. Sales calls is only like, that's literally like, you know, the foundation of what I personally am doing in my business is helping people have conversations, sales conversations.
[00:11:31] But just to say like, it doesn't make sense to have a conversation with somebody who's not pre qualified, right? We want people to see your marketing. We want people to fill out the application so that it also gives them a chance. It gives them a chance to, see if it's right fit for them. I mean, put a long web page about what's expected, more information online, you know?
[00:11:54] So application is number one. Number two is just do a 30 minute call. You know what I mean? It's just like the level of commitment is higher. You're not committing to a full hour, but 15 minutes is like, you're going to spend six minutes. Like talking about the weather and like saying chit chat, like, like, come on, have you ever gotten on a call and after like 13 minutes, Oh, got to go.
[00:12:16] I mean, how rude and weird is that? Okay. All right. I just feel like if you want to have coffee chats, just say 30 minutes. Okay. Number three alternatives to 15 minute calls. This is really, really where I would go is direct messages. Direct. That is the point of the direct messages, right? Direct message is the bridge between your marketing and your sales call.
[00:12:41] Not everybody wants to get on a sales call with you. They probably want that same experience of the pre check 15 minute kind of check each other out thing, right? Do that in the direct messages. Okay. That's where you want time spent, not this, you know, 15 minute on and off, like completely valueless situation.
[00:13:03] Okay. So just remember 15 minutes is not really a value. You're going to have low show up rates. You're going to end up extending the call anyway, which is screws up everyone's schedule. I think when you say 15 minutes, it feels like you're just being like, please just take 15 little minutes with me. And that's not the kind of people that you want to attract.
[00:13:25] And I would just say three alternatives to that are. Get that application out, do a 30 minute at least, or do the 15 minute, sorry, replace the 15 minute with the direct messages. That's where you can, you know, have a feel for each other, alright? So, do I say the 15 minute call is dead? Long live DMs. Maybe I do.
[00:13:53] Maybe that's what I'm planting my flag in today. All right. I just, you know, I want you to all make sure that you're setting up your sales process in a way that's most successful to you. And if you're having 15 minute calls, I think the signal that it sends may not be the one that you think it's that you're sending.
[00:14:10] And I encourage you to consider alternatives for the. To meet the moment in terms of where sales is today. All right, so that's what I have for you today If you are working on your sales process and your consultant, you're a service provider I do one on one executive sales coaching. I also do group sales coaching You can dm me and we can have a little back and forth instead of that 15 minute call And of course again connectchallenge. co is where you're going to want to go To register for Monday's event again, depending on when you're listening to this, but you can go to connect challenge. co. You can always sign up, sign up for the wait list for the next event that I'm running. And thanks for listening and I'll see you next time.
[00:14:52] Bye.
