You don’t need to be salesy to get clients to sign up. But you do need to close the sale.

For the client’s sake and for yours.

You don’t need to follow a formal process to get there, however. You can do it organically, by asking questions.

No doubt you know the power of asking questions and use them every day in your work. You know that questions allow you to control the conversation and find out what you need to know.

Questions also allow you to guide the client towards signing up. They do that by helping you to:

• Assess the problem and/or what the client needs and wants
• Assess their personal urgency and readiness to do something
• Give you key points you can repeat back to them, to show them you listened and understood, and to let them hear, in their own words, why they need your help
• Make sure they understand their options
• Make sure they understand the risks of waiting or not taking action
• Find out about their ability to pay and/or if anyone else needs to approve hiring you
• Find out if they’re ready to sign up, need more information, or have any objections

All of which helps you to move them forward, from problem to solution, from first meeting to new client.

If you do it right, the client might signify they want to get started, or at least ask the kinds of questions someone would ask if they are ready to do that. If they don’t, or if you’re not sure, ask more questions.

Closing questions don’t have to be complicated. You can ask

• Are you ready to get started?
• Is there anything else you need to know before we get started?
• Would you like me to start today or next week?

Or, simply, “What do you think?”

You find out what they think and what they want to do. You sign them up, continue the conversation, or, if they’re not ready, schedule a follow-up.

You can also “assume the sale”—hand them the paperwork and a pen and see what happens.

If you’ve asked the right questions, and answered theirs, that’s often all it takes.