What is your “gateway offering”?

You’ve made contact with a new prospect. There have been LinkedIn messages, emails, even some phone calls. They’re certainly a “warm” lead. 
 
But then... nothing’s really happening.
 
What do you do? 
 
That’s the topic of this article. It’s the “gateway offering.” It’s what you use to firmly wedge your foot in that door and convert that lead into a paying customer. 
 
A time for choosing
 
You’ll hear lots of talk about your business’ “sales funnel.” The name’s pretty self-explanatory. It refers, metaphorically, to the process whereby you cast for leads, bring them in, qualify them, and sell them—that is, convert them into clients. 
 
If you’ve got this prospect on the phone/LinkedIn/email, they’re pretty far down the funnel. They’re at the really skinny part. 
 
This should all be good news, right? 
 
This article shouldn’t even need to exist, right? 
 
Obviously, the answers to both of the above questions is “Wrong.” In fact, this article was inspired by some recent activity with a few of our clients at Copel Communications, who found themselves at this exact same spot of “funnel management,” yet weren’t able to easily make the transition from “prospect” to “customer.” 
 
Why is that? 
 
There are two big reasons. One: This so-called “prospect” hasn’t really been properly qualified or vetted. You know the type. They’re “tire-kickers.” They want to talk and talk, with no intention of actually committing or spending. At best, they’re a waste of your time. At worst, they’re a waste of your resources: There are plenty of people out there, unfortunately, who are far more insidious than mere tire-kickers; these are the people who are trying to get information or even services from you, for free.
 
Often this is easy to spot. You can send them packing quickly. But the more pernicious ones are good at playing the game. Fortunately, you can flush them out—tell them to “fish or cut bait”—using the gateway offering, which we’ll describe shortly. 
 
The other reason that you may have a “warm lead” on the phone, seemingly forever/through endless calls, catch-ups, updates, Zoom meetings, you name it, is not because they’re a tire-kicker, but rather because you lack a good gateway offering, to offer them. 
 
The low hurdle
 
Your gateway offering is not a real “client engagement.” Sure, it’s a paying engagement—that’s crucial—but it’s not a massive commitment. 
 
Still, it’s a commitment.
 
That’s the whole point of the thing. It’s a way for you to transform the “dancing around the topic” into “a genuine client relationship.” If you’ve drafted, and gotten signatures on, a memorandum of understanding, that’s great. It’s directly related. The gateway offering is the next logical—and even better—step. 
 
So what is it? 
 
It depends on what you offer. But think of it this way: It’s a service you can provide to this prospect that hovers just above what you could do for free. For long-term pre-existing clients, it may be something you’d toss them as a favor. But not for this prospect. This is where the rubber meets the road. It’s when you make it clear that you have no intention of continuing to dole out any more free advice, information, or consultation. 
 
It might be something like a system audit. An SME (subject-matter expert) review of a product or process. Or the very first step of a bigger multi-step offering of yours. 
 
Price it attractively. For any true warm lead, it will be a no-brainer—they should easily perceive the value. Indeed, you can bid it at full price, and throw in a substantial “courtesy discount,” to let them know you’re eager to win their business and are willing to give them a sop, as it were.
 
A binary proposition
 
Here’s the best part.  Once you present this gateway offer, the prospect is forced to make a decision. The choice should be ridiculously easy: Grab this high-value/low-price/negligible-risk offer... or walk away. 
 
And therein lies the beauty of the gateway offer for those insidious tire-kickers. It prevents them from kicking your tires anymore. Wonderful, isn’t it? 
 
And of course, any genuine prospect will see not only the generosity of the offer, but the easy opportunity for them to “get their feet wet” with your business on an important, albeit small-scale, assignment. Everyone wins. 
 
And just in case it wasn’t obvious: The very best part of this—when they accept your offer—is that, from that point onward, your foot is firmly in the door, and this prospect is no longer a prospect. They’re a paying client. Which means you’ve been cleared through their procurement/business affairs/whatever functions, and are in their system. So when the next, bigger, full-scale challenge arises for them, you’ll be already poised to help them address it. And both you, and they, will be able to look back, fondly, on that gateway offering, and how it paved the way for a successful, mutually beneficial business relationship. 
 
Need help ideating that gateway offering or how to present it? Contact us. We work on these types of challenges all the time. 

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