Wait – the Elite Assistant got 4 of 5 stars… what gets 5 stars?! Don’t leave us hanging, man!!

A reader question in reply to “Give your website an elite assistant that keeps the bad leads out.” Here’s the relevant bit:

— ✂️ Snip —

• Option 1: Just your email address — 🌟 (one star out of five)
• Option 2: Ya Basic Contact Form — 🌟 🌟
• Option 3: The Elite Assistant — 🌟🌟🌟🌟

— ✂️ Snip —

The truth is that nothing scores five out of five because everything is a tradeoff.

I use (and love) ‘Elite Assistant’ lead forms in my business. They produce higher quality leads who share more information.

However, tradeoffs.

The more information you ask for on your lead form, the more fields you have. The more fields you add, the more friction you’re adding.

Now, there are a lot of ongoing discussions on the impact that more/fewer form fields have on conversions. The tl;dr in the year of our lady Two Thousand and Nineteen boils down to

Reducing form fields to increase conversions isn’t a myth, but it’s also not an absolute truth. (https://conversionxl.com/blog/reduce-form-fields/)

There isn’t a 5-star recommendation, because there isn’t a clear winner. It depends on you, your business, and your current situation:

• If you ask fewer questions, you’ll get more leads through your lead form, but you’ll have to invest more energy in qualifying your leads
• If you ask more questions, you’ll get fewer leads through your lead form, but you’ll have to invest less energy in qualifying your leads

Tradeoffs.

Now, that doesn’t mean you should shrug your shoulders, not change anything, and let the status quo win.

Back to ConversionXL:

Ask yourself whether quality (longer forms) or quantity (shorter forms) is more important. Design your forms accordingly.

and

The length of your form can be as daunting as the number of fields. Be aware of how greedy your form looks.

and

If you need more information, weigh the value of that extra information against the conversion rate. Is it worth it?

As you consider what changes to make to your lead form, you’ll want to act with intention. You’ll want to think about what questions you need to ask and want to ask and then decide what you will ask.

In Quick Start Lead Forms, you’ll learn the ins-and-outs of lead forms in about an hour. You’ll get a pack of videos and lead form video reviews, as well as a reference file full of questions you can ask on your lead form. Read more right over here: https://kaidavis.com/lead-forms/

Excelsior!

Kai

Brad shares the outcomes he’s seeing after reading Get More Leads

I went from zero leads…to a couple leads a week…to averaging a couple leads per day. I need to filter them better just to be able to gracefully handle them all!

It’s crazy. I’ve made over $2000 since reading your book and implementing it. I’ve got two project proposals out right now for another $2k each.

The most surprising outcome has been that with all the leads I can now see a trend and I have developed a productized service roadmapping session based off the inquiries and feedback.

I agonized over what to offer, but without enough leads I didn’t understand what my potential clients valued. Now? It’s easy!

Congratulations, Brad! 🌟

Reader, If you’re looking for more leads, you’ll want to run down to The Kai Davis Store (https://store.kaidavis.com) and grab your copy of Get More Leads: https://store.kaidavis.com/products/get-more-leads

Excelsior!

Kai

The other day I realized I didn’t have a Standard Operating Procedure for “A Lead Appeared In Your Inbox, Kai!” I immediately went to work to remedy this oversight and stop leaking leads.

Lead intake can be challenging and confusing. There are a lot of moving parts: your webpage, lead form, reviewing the lead’s information, writing and sending your reply email, and booking your initial call with that lead. And follow-up.

What’s the essential bit of lead intake? You need to have a reply email to send to your new lead to move them forward. It doesn’t matter if you’re sending your lead intake email manually or automatically. It doesn’t matter if you have a finely tuned Lead Form (https://kaidavis.com/lead-forms/) or an “Email me” link.

If you aren’t sending a reply to your leads to say, “Great to hear from you, I’d love to help. The next step is…” your lead intake will flop.

To stop leaking leads, you need an initial email that you can save, customize, and send as a reply, like:

NAME,
Great to hear from you. Thanks for telling me about PROBLEM and OUTCOME. I’d love to help.
The next step would be for us to have an initial call so I can learn more about you, your business, and the outcomes you’re looking for help with. And, so I can answer any questions you have for me.
Pick the time that works best for you here: CALENDAR BOOKING LINK.
Looking forward to speaking with you,
YOUR SIGNATURE

Is this perfect? Na. Is it good enough to save in your template or resource folder? Is it good enough to use a few times until you find opportunities for improvement? Hell yeah.

Copy, customize, and send this to your new leads to help move them forward to your initial call.

Excelsior!

Kai

After a decade in the consulting mines, I’ve found that, for me, the best way to start work is to have a standard process to follow.

Here’s my Start of Business Day Procedure. There are many like it. This one is mine.

🚰 Get a glass and fill it with lemon water

Stay hydrated.

🧼 Clean your workspace for 5 minutes

Take any lost dishes, glasses, or loose pieces of paper and bring them to their homes.

💡 Adjust office lighting

Open the blinds. Turn on the light.

🖥️ Turn on the computer

A necessary step.

🎵 Start Focus At Will

Focus At Will is a quick and easy source of music to help me focus. I’ve been a customer for 4+ years now (https://www.focusatwill.com/).

⏲️ Start Noko

Noko (nokotime.com) is an excellent time tracking app. I use Noko daily and recommend it.

⏲️ Start a new “business admin” project timer in Noko

Start of day stuff? It has a project, so I know how much time I’m spending on it.

Your friend Kai hates hourly billing, but he loves knowing how much time it took to do that thing.

📂 Open Results.md and update the day

On the advice of the excellent Eric Davis (no relation) of Little Stream Software (https://littlestreamsoftware.com), I keep a text file with a running list of everything I complete in a day. Big, small, and everything in-between!

📕 Open Today’s Daily Journal in Notion

I keep a daily journal for life and business.

I keep my journal (and my projects, actions, and notes) in Notion, an all-in-one workspace that helps me write, plan, collaborate, and get organized.

https://notion.so, if you want to check Notion out. It’s awesome.

https://kaidavis.com/loves/notion, if you want to check Notion out and get $10 in credit (and I’ll get $5 in credit).

📂 Open my BattleBoard

I keep my actions and tasks in what I affectionately call my BattleBoard (https://kaidavis.com/battleboard/).

My BattleBoard is a Kanban Board in Notion, through Trello works quite well.

Here’s what a pair of cards (Actions) looks like:

🆓 Start Freedom

The internet is a very distracting place. Freedom (https://freedom.to) frees me from this distraction.

• You enter in the sites you want to block (e.g., Facebook, Reddit, Google News, Slack)
• You schedule a recurring time for Freedom to run and block these distracting sites (e.g., 7 am – 6 pm)
• You are now free
  

Go and celebrate.

⏰ Start Timebar

Timebar is a small, focused app that stays out of your way and makes sure you don’t lose track of time.

I use Timebar to track my pomodoros/work sprints during the work day.

Timebar turns your entire menubar into a subtle progress bar that slowly slides away.

Check Timebar out here: https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/47506/timebar.

✍️ Open Ulysses

I write my letters and #content in Ulysses, a fantastic writing app that’s markdown compatible (https://ulysses.app/).

✍️ Write The Daily Letter for 25 minutes

I swap Noko over to the “Daily Letter” project, I set Timebar for a 25-minute sprint, and then I get to work.

---

Now it’s time for you to get to work, my friend.

Excelsior!

Kai

Every question your client asks is a problem (for them) in disguise.

Hey, can you recommend an app for <BLANK>?

Yes, I can.

But, the recommendation alone isn’t that helpful.

Once my client gets the recommendation, what will they need to do with it?

They’ll need to know:

• What to do next
• Why they’re doing it
• How to get started with that next step
  

And then they’ll still need to find the gosh darn time to take care of it.

So, I Windup and make a Pitch.

Every question is an opportunity to say:

• Here’s what to do next
• Here’s why you should do it
• Here’s how to get started with that next step
• And, I can take care of that for you. Here’s how much that will be.
  

Here’s what a Windup & Pitch email looks like:

(Link: https://cl.ly/b39d6ea93dfd/The%20%22Windup%20&%20Pitch%22%20Email.png)

Next time a client asks you a question, write a short email to them. Include a Windup (your explanation for them on what they’ll need to do) and a Pitch (to do it for them).

Excelsior!

Kai