Why a Discovery Call is Non-Negotiable for Facebook Ads Agencies

Before you invest time in strategy development or proposal writing, a thorough discovery call serves several vital purposes:

• Qualification: Determine if the prospect is serious, has a realistic budget, and fits your ideal client profile.
• Understanding Goals: Uncover the client’s specific business objectives (leads, sales, brand awareness) and how they measure success.
• Assessing Fit: Gauge cultural fit and determine if their needs align with your agency’s strengths and services.
• Information Gathering: Collect crucial data about their business, target audience, past marketing efforts, and competition.
• Setting Expectations: Educate the client on your process, timelines, and the realities of paid advertising.

Structuring Your Facebook Ads Discovery Call

A typical discovery call should flow naturally while ensuring you hit key points. Here’s a suggested structure:

1. Introduction & Rapport Building (5-10 mins): Briefly introduce yourself and the agency, confirm the call’s purpose, and build a friendly connection.
2. Client Background & Business Overview (10-15 mins): Dive into their business, what they do, who their customers are, and their market position.
3. Marketing Goals & Challenges (15-20 mins): Focus on why they are seeking help now and what specific outcomes they hope to achieve.
4. Past Marketing & Ads Experience (10-15 mins): Learn what they’ve tried before, the results, and their perceptions of past successes or failures.
5. Budget & Decision Making (5-10 mins): Address the crucial topics of investment level and their internal process for making hiring decisions.
6. Your Process & Next Steps (5-10 mins): Briefly explain how you work, answer any initial questions about your services, and outline what happens after the call (e.g., proposal, follow-up). Keep this high-level; detailed strategy comes later.

Remember, this is a conversation, not an interrogation. Be an active listener.

Essential Questions for Your Facebook Ads Discovery Call Script

Tailor these questions to your agency and the specific lead, but use this as a comprehensive checklist:

Qualifying and Disqualifying Leads During the Call

Your discovery call script isn’t just for gathering info; it’s for qualification. Be prepared to politely disqualify leads that aren’t a good fit. Signs of a potentially poor fit include:

• Unrealistic Budget: Their goals require significantly more investment than they are willing or able to make.
• Unclear Goals: They don’t know what they want to achieve or how they’ll measure success.
• Expectation Mismatch: They expect overnight results or guaranteed ROI, which is unrealistic with paid ads.
• Poor Communication: They are hesitant to share information or are difficult to communicate with.
• Lack of Decision-Making Authority: The primary contact cannot make final decisions or influence those who do.

Don’t be afraid to say no. Working with clients who aren’t a good fit is detrimental to your agency’s reputation and profitability. A well-executed discovery call script facebook ads allows you to identify these mismatches early.

Discussing Pricing Concepts (Not Specifics) on the Call

While you won’t provide a final quote on the discovery call (as it should be based on the information gathered), it’s wise to discuss your general pricing models and ranges. This manages expectations and further qualifies the lead.

Explain common agency pricing structures:

• Percentage of Ad Spend: You charge a percentage (e.g., 10-20%) of the client’s total ad budget. This is common for larger spends.
• Flat Monthly Retainer: A fixed fee each month, often tiered based on service level or complexity (e.g., $1,500/month for basic management, $3,500/month for growth package).
• Performance-Based: Less common for initial engagements, but can involve bonuses based on achieving specific KPIs.
• Hybrid: A combination, e.g., a smaller retainer plus a percentage of spend or performance bonus.

Ask about their expected ad spend and provide rough ranges based on typical client engagements at that spend level. For example, “For clients with an ad spend of around $3,000-$5,000 per month, our management fees typically fall into the $1,000-$2,000 per month range, depending on the complexity of the campaign and required services. This is separate from the ad spend itself.” Emphasize that the final price will be tailored to their specific goals and the strategy developed after the call.

This is also where you can briefly touch upon how you’ll present the tailored options. Mention that after the call, you’ll prepare a clear proposal outlining recommended services and pricing. For agencies looking to present tiered packages, add-ons, or complex options in a modern, interactive way, tools exist to help. For example, PricingLink (https://pricinglink.com) is a platform specifically designed to create shareable, interactive pricing links where clients can configure options and see prices live, streamlining the pricing presentation step that follows the discovery call. For agencies needing full-blown proposals with e-signatures and project management features integrated, more comprehensive tools like PandaDoc (https://www.pandadoc.com) or Proposify (https://www.proposify.com) are popular choices. PricingLink’s strength lies in its laser focus on creating a best-in-class pricing experience for the client, making it an affordable alternative if that’s your primary need.