First Impressions That Land Clients: 3 Mistakes You’re Making Without Realizing It

Your first impression isn’t about how many credentials you list; it’s about making people feel seen, heard, and guided. In this episode, I break down the three biggest mistakes freelancers make that push dream clients away before you even get a chance to shine. 

You’ll learn how to grab and keep your prospect’s attention, lead with unshakable confidence, and make everything about them instead of you, so you can turn every first interaction into a “yes.”

Topics Covered In This Episode:

1. Capture Full Attention: Require an intake form before calls and lead discovery conversations with a clear structure and thought-provoking questions.
2. Lead with Unwavering Confidence: Eliminate qualifiers (“I hope,” “I’m new”) and speak as if success is non-negotiable. Practice pitching in front of a mirror until your energy matches your expertise.
3. Make It About Them, Not You: Use “you” language, repeat their exact pain points, and paint a vivid picture of what life looks like after working with you, so they feel seen, heard, and excited.
4. Stories Convert: Share concise client success anecdotes in their voice to build instant trust and social proof.
5. First Impressions Stick: The second they feel heard, seen, and guided, you’re already halfway to “yes.”

Find the full show notes at:  https://brandimowles.com/256

Loved This Episode? Check Out More Here. ⬇️

CLICK HERE TO LEARN HOW TO MASTER YOUR DISCOVERY CALLS

Additional Resources:

 Episode 251 - LEARN HOW TO COMMUNICATE YOUR VALUE TO ATTRACT CHAMPAGNE CLIENTS

Ready to go from $0–$5K+ months without guessing? Apply now for one-on-one mentorship and a community of women doing $10K–$30K months: Apply to The Strategist Society »

Follow the Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/serve-scale-soar/id1477998650

Follow Brandi on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandimowles

Follow Brandi on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Brandiandcompany

Transcript

256: First Impressions That Land Clients: 3 Mistakes You’re Making Without Realizing It

===

Brandi: [00:00:00] I was 17. I had just graduated high school and I went to a party on a hot summer night. I remember seeing this guy walking down the road with a lacrosse stick immediately asked my friend, wait, I. Who is that? She said, that's Austen. He goes to Roanoke too. So of course I had to meet him because I was starting college in just a few months.

When she introduced us, he didn't seem interested at all.

He played it so cool and so naturally that made me want to get him to know him even more. What's wild is I later found out that night that we had actually been working together at the same restaurant for the past two weeks. Two weeks y'all and I hadn't noticed him, but that night something shifted, the first impression landed and here we are, 17 years later, married with two kids.

So what was the difference between us working together for two weeks and me not noticing, and that one night that changed everything? [00:01:00] Probably the same reason your first impression might be repelling clients instead of attracting them. Today, we're breaking down exactly why first impressions matter so much in your business.

And the three biggest client repelling mistakes freelancers make that stop dream clients from ever saying yes. So if you're ready to listen to how you can show up and land the client, let's dive in.

Welcome. Welcome back to another episode of the Serve Scale SOAR podcast. My name is Brandi Mowles and I am your host and you may have been thinking like, oh my gosh, am I on the right podcast? She's talking about her love life and today is so funny 'cause this podcast is being published on June 17th and tomorrow when we send it out to our entire list, June 18th, it will actually be Austin and i's [00:02:00] 17 year dating anniversary.

I. Plus our 11 years of marriage. So yes, we got married on our dating anniversary, and that also means that this year Austin's been in my life more than he hasn't been in my life, which is a fun year for us to cross. He still has a few years for that to be true for him. But the night that Austen and I met, I, it was so funny, we were sitting there talking and he said, yeah, and at Macadoo, which was a restaurant we worked at, I was like, you work at Macadoo?

I work at Macadoo. And he said, yeah, I know we've been working together for two weeks. And I was like, oops. And so when I was reflecting on like our relationship and that night and everything as I do every single year, when we get around this time. It made me think about business and how those first impressions aren't defined by the first time that you meet someone or say something.

It's [00:03:00] defined by the first time that they feel heard, seen, and listened to, and when we talk about this with clients, it's really important that first impressions matter. Like they really matter because they stick with people and it's hard to break through the first impression. If you don't get it right, you can get to the other side and still land a client, but it's gonna be harder.

And this is why I talk about the wow factor onboarding and having systems in place and all of that. But I wanna talk about the three biggest mistakes that I see. Freelancers making when it comes to landing clients and what's actually repelling them and how you can fix that. So if you're ready to stop repelling clients and start making the best first impression and landing them this episode's for you.

So let's break down the three biggest mistake freelancers make that push potential clients away before you even get a chance to show off your brilliance. So mistake number one that I see time and time again Is you don't [00:04:00] have their full attention.

When you don't have their full attention, it can happen in a few different places. It can happen because of how your application to work with you is set up, so maybe you have it straight to scheduler and then you send an email where they get the questionnaire and then you never get the questionnaire filled out.

Instead, you could put the questionnaire first and then it sends them to the. Calendar or they can't book the calendar unless they fill out the intake form. That's one example. But the other place that mostly this happens is on your discovery calls, your sales call, you don't have their full attention.

And that's a problem

when you let a client lead the discovery call. You're losing them every single time you are losing them. We'll link up a podcast episode I have in the show notes all about how to. bring back the discovery call when you're losing someone and take back that control. But the big thing is when you are letting them lead, they're not listening.

You are not making a first impression. You are letting them do all the talking, [00:05:00] and then you get lost in the shuffle.

Or maybe instead of a Zoom, you do a phone call. And to my mom's with little kids phone calls, I wish someone would've told me to do a phone call because, it was the saving grace when Riley was a toddler and her naps were not always consistent. She was never consistent. So I'd book a discovery call during nap time, but then she'd be awake if I was on a Zoom.

It was always a problem. But if I could do a phone, then I could be like. On the floor sitting with her playing and also be muted. So my mom's with littles at home and no help. Like you gotta do what you have to do. But if we're not doing a Zoom with our camera on, a lot of times we're losing people.

They're busy like checking their email in the background instead of listening to you. They're scrolling, they're scattered, they're thinking about other things than what you're talking about. And so how can we intentionally guide the sales call and really, really [00:06:00] bring in their attention? And the first way to do this is you treat your discovery calls like an interview where you're the one qualifying them.

When you can switch your mindset around discovery calls, they, they're. Like interviewing you, but you're interviewing them so that you're qualifying them to make sure they're right to work with you. Everything will change. So that is one of the biggest things that I can, if you don't take anything else away, take that away.

When we go into a sales call, it's not about are you qualified enough? It's about are they qualified to work with you? Take control early. One of my favorite phrases that I start all sales calls is, here's how the call will go. Today, we only have 15 minutes together, so I wanna make sure you get the most out of it, and I wanna respect your time and my time.

That phrase right there sets you up to control the conversation and sets expectations for what this call is and what it isn't. Also, when you use strategic questions to uncover real pain points, you'll also keep them captivated. [00:07:00] Longer. So what would that look like? Oh, I see here that you said that you've had really successful launches.

What does that mean? What is a really successful launch? And so then we can get to like real numbers. When I ask questions like that, then I usually get to the bottom of what's really going on. And then we wanna lead them with clarity, not confusion. You need to have one solid offer that you give them, and this is how you work together.

And when you have that clear path, that clarity about what you're gonna do and how you're gonna serve them, They'll give you their full attention because you've laid out the path for them. People love steps and path, so when you can do that on a sales call, you'll keep their attention.

So that first mistake is you don't have their full attention,

and so we want to make sure that we stay in control, ask thought provoking questions, take control early, and lead with clarity, not confusion. 

And just so we bring this back to the story, how this ties in is [00:08:00] when Austen and I were working together for two weeks. He didn't have my full attention. I was running around taking orders and getting to go orders together, and he was behind cooking and so he didn't have my full attention. But when we had that night where we met or face-to-face one-on-one, having that interaction, that's when he got my full attention.

It's the same thing, how we date and how we land. Clients are very, very similar. So let's jump into mistake number two. You are hiding. Instead of leading with confidence, you downplay your offers, you cut your prices, or you speak with hopeful energy instead of certainty, you let imposter syndrome water down your positioning.

Why this repels people, clients pick up on that energy. No one wants to work with an ad manager that's uncertain. They need the confidence in your the skills. And when you're not confident in your [00:09:00] skills, why should they be confident in hiring you? First impressions are energy exchanges. If yours is, I'm unsure.

I don't know if I can help them. What if I can't get them results? Those clients will feel that even if it's subconsciously and they'll move on. I've talked to so many people who have hired different members of our community, especially strategist side members. And I'll ask them like, Hey, I know you had a call with three of these members.

What made you pick this one? Especially when there's a price difference. And the funny thing is a lot of times people will pick the one that's priced either in the middle or the highest instead of the lowest. And I'll ask, why did you pick that one over the other one? And they'll say, because they were confident.

The confidence plays so much into this, and here's the deal, y'all, you can be confident that you have all the resources you need, like in conversions for clients. Our students have all the resources they need to run a successful ad, but maybe they haven't ranton yet and they [00:10:00] don't feel confident like.

Going in and pressing the right buttons, but they feel confident that they have a community to support them, that they have all the information. When you lean into that confidence and you're like, I am confident, I'm confident I can do this, I'm confident. I have the resources, I'm confident I have the community.

It changes things. If you're only focused on what you don't have, I don't have the results yet. I don't know exactly what I'm gonna do, then you're gonna come across un confident. Confidence comes with experience. Yes, it does. But also confidence comes with knowing that you have everything you need to be successful.

So what can we do instead? We can talk about our offers like you believe in them when you're selling someone on. A $1,500 package in, its your first one. Go in that with confidence, and one of the ways to do that is if you're in conversions for clients, scroll through, find others who are landing clients for 1500, 2000, 3000, 5,000 because if they can do it, why not [00:11:00] you?

They've made it possible for you instead of comparing. Look at that as a possibility. So talk about that offer at like you believe in it. Like of course, why would I charge less than this? And then practice your pitch out loud. Confidence grows in the reps and so the more discovery calls you get on, the more your confidence will grow.

As long as, and you may end up not landing any clients because you're not getting on. The calls with the right clients, but your ability and your confidence to hold a discovery call will grow. And when you can grow that, that's one of the best assets is being able to have a really strong sales call and your confidence will grow there.

So practice saying out loud your pitch. Practice in the mirror. Practice before the calls, practice on the calls. Practice your pitch out loud. If you have client results, share them. Show them, let them know you know what you're talking about. And you can do this in a storytelling [00:12:00] way where it doesn't sound like you're just like, and I got this result and this result and this result.

Instead, you can say things like, oh, when I worked with my last client, this is the the strategy we implemented, and after that we had a three x. Return on our investment and she was also in the same niche as you see. That's a casual way. It's not a desperate way. It's not a look at me, look at me way.

It's Hey, let me tell you a story. People like stories drop the disclaimers. I have heard so many people be like, I got on a call and I was like. I'm new. I'm just getting started. Why? Why would you say that? No one wants to work with someone who's new. They want the expert. Their budget may not be able to like afford, but they do.

Or you use phrases like, I hope that makes sense. That's one of the worst phrases you can say. And as women, we say it a lot. I hope that makes sense because that means that you're not really confident that you just [00:13:00] explain something correctly. So own your value. Own your discovery calls. Show up confident.

Show that you know what the heck you're doing because you do. And at the end of the day, you don't need to be the most experienced. You just have to be the most confident. Confidence wins over experience all day long. This is why we see bro marketers charging 10,000 and then they get their clients crap results.

'cause they're confident, they're so confident. But what if you could charge two, three, 4,000, be confident and get your clients amazing results? Hot dang. That's what we're talking about. So when we think about how can we really like. Lead with confidence instead of hiding. Those are some of the ways you can do that.

And I'll tell you, my husband is so shy, like he's got better over the years, but he's not the one to go up and talk to someone. But he played it cool that night, super [00:14:00] confident. And I actually think he was like nervous, but it came off his confidence. So this shows you that you can be so nervous. But play it cool.

Have the confidence, the swagger about you. Even if on the inside you were like sweating bullets and that's what he was doing. But to me, he didn't have that like desperate energy. And instead it was like, Hey. And I was like, wait, what? You're not gonna talk to me? And that's the energy we wanna give our clients.

We don't want the pick me girl energy. We want like the confident swagger.

Okay, so mistake number three. You're making it about you, not them. Your marketing talks about what you do, what you love, what you offer, but the client doesn't see themselves in it. Maybe you even get on discovery calls and you're like, need this, need this, need this. What that does is show people that you're, that is the pickney energy.

You're trying to overcompensate for your lack of confidence. And this [00:15:00] repels clients because they care about outcomes, not resumes. If your messaging or your sales calls feel like a diary entry or a list of services, or like you're trying to convince them, they'll scroll on past.

They'll move on to the next discovery call. They're looking for transformation, Not your list of credentials. So what can you do instead? You can focus on what your clients are struggling with and how you can solve that specific problem. So if you're on a call and they have a problem with getting eyeballs on their launches, they've only done organic and now they want, like they're struggling.

What you can say is great. I hear that you're saying, and when you can repeat the language back to them, it's really powerful. I hear that you said that you have had some really successful launches and you've only used organic traffic ever. You've never used pay to traffic or anything like that. So my question is, if you were to start running paid traffic, [00:16:00] what what would that need to look like for you to, for it to be successful? How much money are you willing to spend? How many more leads do you need? And are you okay if your conversion rate goes down on those launches? So then we're talking specific to their struggles and how we're gonna solve it, and we're asking questions to make them feel seen.

We're also gonna use you language instead of I statements. Oh, I hear you said X, Y, Z. I could see why you would think that that would be important. Here's what we could do together, not what I can do, what we can do together. So we want to use that language. We wanna spotlight other clients', wins transformation stories.

Instead of saying I've done this, I've done this. Always tell it from the client's standpoint because they'll be able to see themselves in the story or the transformation and paint the picture of what their life will look like after working with you. And what [00:17:00] it'll look like while working with you.

So I always like to map out here's what our next steps will be. As soon as you sign on to work together, we're gonna X, Y, z. And through this I'm gonna be able to take off all the time that you've been spending. On trying to set up your ad account and everything, and I'm gonna take care of that for you.

And then what we're gonna do is I'm gonna create the creative graphics, all that, and then once we get into launch phase, you'll be able to sit back and focus on organic. And I'll totally take over with the paid traffic. So we want it to feel easy to them, not like they're adding more work, and then we'll have more eyeballs on their lunches, we'll get more money, blah, blah, blah.

Now we're not making promises. We're just showing it what it could look like after working together,

And just to show you this, it's the same thing with dating. I remember that night Austen and I was sitting on the couch and he just asked me all kinds of questions, like what classes I was gonna be taking at Roanoke and what I was [00:18:00] most excited about and what dorm I was staying in and all this stuff.

He really focused on me and asking me questions. It wasn't about him. And I was so used to, being in high school and boys talking about themselves and stuff. And also made me feel special and seen and heard, and so that's what your clients want. They don't wanna hear about you. Everyone always wants someone to ask them about them.

'cause so little of the time is anyone actually listening to other people's lives? They wanna talk about themselves. And so when you can be there to listen, really listen and repeat their words back to them and make them feel heard and seen and special, you're making the first impression, they'll wanna pick you.

So let's recap those three mistakes. One, you don't have their full attention. Two, you're hiding instead of leading with confidence. And three, you're making it about you. Not them. Your first impression isn't made. The moment you speak, it's made the moment they feel seen, heard, [00:19:00] and led. So I have a little bit of homework for you.

I want you to look, take a look at your discovery call process, your Instagram bios, your recent dms or proposals. Are you leading? Are you clear? Are you confident or are you hoping they'll figure it out? Let's stop hoping. Let's start converting and making first impressions that last.

So cheers to 17 years for Austin and I and cheers to you creating amazing first impressions

that clients just can't help but hire you. I hope this helps you land more clients and show up with confidence. You have everything you need to be successful. And if you still feel like something's missing, like you need more education, you need community, you need to build that confidence, you need better onboarding.

Head to brandiandcompany.com/100K.

Brandiandcompany.com/100K. We'll link it up in the show notes.

And join us for our free training. I'll take you behind the scenes, the three things you [00:20:00] need to start, grow, and scale a successful ad management business on part-time hours, and my friends. Until next time, go out, serve your clients, scale your business, and soar into the success you deserve.