Close clients every time without hard selling even if you fear rejection
30 min
On This Page:
- Overview
- Tactic 1: Build Rapport
- Tactic 2: Set the Frame
- Tactic 3: Qualify for Fit
- Tactic 4: Diagnose the Problem
- Tactic 5: Reframe Their Problem
- Tactic 6: Present Your Process
- Example:
- Phase 1: Audit + Strategy
- Phase 2: Design System + Key Screens
- Phase 3: Conversion Assets + Handoff
- What’s included:
- Tactic 7: Objection Handling
- “What if we don’t like the direction?”
- “This sounds like a lot—how long will it take?”
- “What if this doesn’t work?”
- Tactic 8: Close the Deal
- Final Notes
Overview
If someone booked a call with you, congrats. That means your landing page worked.
Now it’s your job to lead them with confidence.
This isn’t about being pushy or “salesy.” It’s about clarity. The goal is to help them understand if your service is the right solution—and to give them a clear “yes” or “no” by the end.
This script will walk you through how to:
- Qualify the right type of client (your niche)
- Lead the conversation with confidence
- Sell your process, not just your time
- Reduce risk for the buyer with clear deliverables
- Make the decision easy and fast
This is an extremely effective script designed to close design service-based offers.
You should use it until you’re adept with sales calls – and even when you are, you’re very likely going to be following the structure of this script – because it’s how an effective sales call works!
When going through this script, note a few things:
You have to follow all these steps in order, because one step leads to the next. If you don’t follow the steps, you’ll lose its effectiveness.
Before you use this script, you’ll want to make edits to the lines of the script to align with what you’re selling.
Make sure you read the whole thing first and visualize yourself using it on your next call.
You don’t have to say everything here word for word – the most important part is you build rapport and trust, get valuable intel from your prospect, and get the prospect to go through the emotions the script creates.
Tactic 1: Build Rapport
In this step you want to have small talk with the prospect – but don’t spend too much time on it.
The goal here isn’t to make a new best friend. It’s to get the client into a relaxed, conversational state.
People are tense on sales calls. They’re expecting to be pitched. Disarm that tension with small talk.
Start casual. Small talk relaxes them and makes the call feel human—not transactional.
Suggestions:
- Ask about something visible in their background.
- Ask how their day is going.
- Mention something personal they might’ve shared in your booking form or DMs.
- Compliment their website/product if you checked it beforehand.
After a minute or two, shift gears:
“Awesome—let’s dive in if that’s cool with you?”
Asking this subtly puts you in the driver’s seat.
Tactic 2: Set the Frame
Now, lay out how the call will go and why you’re talking.
“So just to set expectations—I’ll ask a few questions to see where you’re at, and if it looks like we’re a good fit, I’ll show you how my process works and how I help founders like you hit [common client goal, e.g., launch faster, increase signups, improve onboarding]. Cool?”
This lets them know you have a process—and you’re selective.
Pro tip:
Ask tons of closed ended questions (can only be answered with a yes or no) like
- Sound good?
- Does this make sense?
- Ready to get started?
These questions serve as a great way to set a positive mood and see if the prospect understands everything you’ve been talking about.
Why will it set a positive mood?
Most of the close-ended questions you’ll get YES as an answer, and you won’t divert them from the script by sending them on a tangent.
Getting them used to saying “yes” psychologically makes them more prone to saying yes at the end as well. Studies show this.
Tactic 3: Qualify for Fit
Not everyone should be your client.
If they’re not in your niche, you’ll be tempted to build something custom. That kills your process and your profit.
The purpose of step 2 is to increase the chances you get a yes or a no at the end of the call.
A no is waaay better than a Maybe.
Nobody likes being ghosted. And that’s what happens most times after the prospect says something like, “I’ll have to think about it. Can you send me the proposal?”
Never give your prospect a chance to say, “Maybe.”
Here’s what you can say:
So ask:
“Just so I can be sure this will be useful—what kind of product or service are you working on? Who’s your target user?”
Look for alignment. You want to hear something like:
- SaaS or tech startup
- Early-stage, post-MVP
- Need better UX, brand, onboarding, etc.
If they’re way outside your niche (e.g., dentist office, e-commerce brand, nonprofit), stop the script here.
“I’m super focused on [your niche]—I’ve built a process that works incredibly well for those businesses. If you’re not quite in that zone, it might not be the best fit.”
Pro tip:
Before you got on the phone, you should have made sure the person you are dealing with is the decision-maker. How? - Simply put it on your application to book a call with you. With that said, you can double check now by asking on the call. If they need their spouse, or their partners to make the decision, reschedule the meeting so they are together. The last thing you want is to talk for 30 minutes with someone only to discover right at the end of the call they need someone else’s approval.
Tactic 4: Diagnose the Problem
If they’re a fit, go deeper. You’re looking for pain, goals, and urgency.
Ask:
- “What led you to reach out?”
- “What’s going on in your business right now?”
- “What’s the biggest friction point you’re seeing with users/customers?”
- “What are you hoping design can help you fix?”
Dig deep to uncover their emotions. You want to understand what keeps them awake at night!
Look for:
- A real business problem
- A timeline or milestone
- An emotional driver (stress, pressure, frustration)
You want them to say something like:
“We need to launch in 6 weeks, and our product feels half-baked.”
or
“Users are dropping off at onboarding and we don’t know why.”
All this information will help you do two things:
- Craft a solution-oriented deal for the prospect
- Use this information to make the prospect understand that you have a solution to their pains
Tactic 5: Reframe Their Problem
Now show them that you understand the real problem—and have a system to solve it. Once you’re done with the previous questions, get them to admit their shortcomings.
“Okay, so it sounds like [repeat what you heard]. That’s super common in [your niche]. The truth is, most teams try to fix these things with random design tasks—but it doesn’t work because they don’t have a system.”
“What I’ve built is a process specifically for [their situation]. It walks us step-by-step through the exact work you need to go from where you are now to [clear desired outcome].”
“It’s not hourly, it’s not scattered—it’s a packaged design system I’ve used with [number or example of similar clients] that gets results.”
This is where they lean in.
Pro tip:
We’re going to make the prospect think about a possible future where they don’t take action…
Ask them what life will look like if they don’t get help:
How is [your business] going to be affected if you don’t deal with this problem?
By asking your prospect about how their most treasured thing is going to be affected by their inaction, you’ll be pressing the buttons that activate the fear sensors in their brain.
Tactic 6: Present Your Process
Now introduce your offer as a structured series of steps. It’s not design “support”—it’s a design product with a clear start, middle, and end.
“So here’s how it works. I have a design process that’s broken into 3 phases.”
Example:
This is how you might present your design services as a bundle of steps that solve their overall problem.
Phase 1: Audit + Strategy
- We analyze your current product, UX, and customer journey
- I show you where users are getting stuck
- You get a prioritized roadmap of what needs fixing
Delivered in Week 1
Phase 2: Design System + Key Screens
- I design the most important flows, UI components, and visuals
- We install a lean, scalable design system
- You get clickable prototypes or dev-ready assets
Delivered in Weeks 2–4
Phase 3: Conversion Assets + Handoff
- I create onboarding flows, CTAs, landing pages—whatever drives outcomes
- You get everything prepped for handoff to dev
- Includes 1 round of feedback & revisions
Delivered in Weeks 5–6
What’s included:
- Clear timeline (6 weeks max)
- Weekly deliverables
- 1:1 async check-ins
- Fixed price—no surprises
- Money-back guarantee if it’s not delivering by week 2
After that?
“Once that’s done, if you want to keep working together, I offer ongoing design support on a monthly subscription. But that’s only after we get your core system built and running.”
This changes the conversation from “Should I hire a designer?” to “Do I want the result of this process?”
Pro tip:
It’s time to turn things around into a positive light. You do this by making the prospect think about the positive outcome of solving their problems.
Ask the following question:
What do you think the PERFECT program would do for you?
This will make the prospect imagine a better future and you’ll also discover what they’re expecting from you.
Tactic 7: Objection Handling
Here’s how to respond to common concerns:
“What if we don’t like the direction?”
“I share early concepts and direction with you before going deep. You’ll always know where it’s going—and there’s a feedback round built in.”
“This sounds like a lot—how long will it take?”
“The whole process is mapped to a 6-week timeline. Most clients see the first big changes in week 2. You’ll always know what’s coming and when.”
“What if this doesn’t work?”
“I offer a week-2 guarantee—if you don’t feel confident we’re moving toward the result, I’ll refund the remaining amount. That’s how confident I am in the process.”
Tactic 8: Close the Deal
Now here’s the part where you talk about how they’re going to be successful. This part gives certainty in their mind on how the offer will work for them and is very important.
You should have these pillars from your own offer when it was created.
Script:
So look, after working with (roughly the number of people you’ve helped)I’ve been able to help them succeed where others couldn’t and I’ve found that there are X components (or pillars) that have helped my clients achieve their long-term goals.
Here’s where you remind the prospect about what you discussed. During this step, you’ll be paraphrasing everything they told you. Just make sure its short and sweet.
For example, here’s something you could say:
So before we move forward, I’d like to recap what we’ve talked about. I just want to make sure I’m not missing anything. Ok? So we’ve talked about your goals and struggles. We also talked a bit about the steps (or pillars) of our service. And from what I understood, you feel that X is stopping you from achieving [Goals], and from what I understand, you’re looking for a way to [what they need] because you want to focus on getting [most treasured things from step 4]. But you feel that [roadblock from step 5] is blocking you from achieving them. Right? Is this a good assessment of what we’ve talked about? [Wait for an answer] Awesome!
Once you’re done with describing the Success Pillars, proceed to pre-frame the price.
Note: If you’ve been listening to them throughout the call, it will be easy for you to detect the why.
It’s usually that the services, systems, and programs they’ve been using were too time-consuming to implement, too hard to follow, or just badly explained.
Set up the ask:
My service is meant to get you very quickly to [Goal] so you can enjoy [most treasured things] and achieve [OTHER GOALS] fast and efficiently. We help our clients with our 4-step (4-pillar) system, it's called the [Name].
Don’t let it drift. Ask clearly:
“Sound like something you want to move forward with?”
If yes:
“Great—I’ll send over the onboarding link and your Week 1 audit starts as soon as payment is in.”
If hesitation:
“No pressure. I’ll send a recap with everything we talked about. If you want to lock in a spot, I can hold it for 48 hours.”
You’re in control. Calm. Clear. Confident. But, providing a sense of urgency.
What if they say NO?
It’s down sell time. Meaning, offer them something you believe they can afford.
YOUR MISSION: Get paid. Get them to buy something from you.
If they say no to everything, that’s ok. Just say thanks and proceed to the next call.
Final Notes
- Always lead with process, not design.
- Stick to your niche. That’s where your process works best.
- Sell the outcome, not the service.
- Reduce fear with guarantees and structure.
- Say no to “maybe.” You’re guiding them to a decision, not chasing them.