Set A Sales Target You Can Actually Hit

Before you start hunting for clients, decide what you’re aiming for. Pick a target monthly recurring revenue (MRR) figure and a deadline. For example, $7,000 USD per month within 24 months. Divide that by your average monthly price — if you charge $100 per month, that means 70 customers.

New agencies typically convert 2–3% of leads, so you’ll need to contact about 33 prospects for every customer won. Reaching 70 customers means working through 2,300–4,600 leads, depending on your sales skills and lead quality. That sounds intimidating, but it breaks down to roughly 100–200 leads a month, or just 5–10 per working day.

Track your progress against those daily and weekly numbers. Don’t expect instant wins — a prospect might close on the first call, but more often it takes days or weeks of follow-up, demos and explanation. Consistency matters more than bursts of effort. Pitching 40 prospects one week and then 5 the next creates a patchy funnel and uneven growth. Steady work compounds into a predictable pipeline.

Nine Reliable Places To Find Web Design Clients

Start by testing several channels and double down on what converts best for you. Cold pitching might be your strength while someone else thrives with digital marketing. These options cover the spectrum.

1. Tap Your Personal Network

Friends, family, neighbours and local business owners you already know are your warmest leads — or they can point you to someone who needs a website. You never know which referral turns into a paying client.

2. Make Your Own Website Sell

Your website is a salesperson that never sleeps. If you’re on a basic theme, upgrade to a custom design — prospects judge your skills by your own site first. Keep it modern and include a portfolio so visitors can see your quality immediately.

3. Ask For Referrals

Your happiest clients are your best marketing channel. Ask them to mention you to their hairdresser, favourite restaurant, plumber, dentist, lawyer and other local businesses. Then follow up with those leads. Most clients are glad to refer a friend — but only if you ask. Reward referrals with a thank-you gift like:

  • 10% off the next site update
  • A free website health check
  • One month of service free
  • A $100 Amazon voucher

4. Partner With Complementary Businesses

SEO firms, ad agencies and other non-competing service providers need what you do and vice versa. Form a partnership where you recommend each other’s services. Your customers get broader support and both of you gain new leads.

5. Publish Content That Proves Expertise

Blogging on your own site builds credibility, especially when you address the problems your clients actually face. Write about building an online presence and growing a customer base. Guest posting on industry blogs — like writing about best practices for restaurant owners on a restaurant news site — puts you in front of a targeted audience and positions you as the expert before you even pitch.

6. Post On Social Media

Facebook and LinkedIn have worked best for us, but test other platforms depending on your niche. Organic social often doesn’t generate leads directly — it supports conversion. A strong, professional feed convinces potential clients you’re the right choice. Share problem-solving content, not just pitches. Teach readers how to use new digital tools (like setting up a QR menu) and show off sites you’ve designed with relevant hashtags. Keep everything professional — skip the breakfast photos.

7. Invest In Paid Advertising

Free methods stop scaling at some point. Paid ads — from Google Ads to job boards — become necessary. We’ve had success with an email newsletter with multiple opt-ins, and Facebook Ads paired with a landing page for lead capture has brought in plenty of new customers.

8. Build Your Professional Network

Get involved with your local business community as soon as you can. Networking events and meetups connect you with founders who give advice and referrals. Don’t pitch them — build relationships, understand their business and be someone they remember when a website project comes up. With remote work, join local Facebook groups, virtual summits and other online events too.

9. Master Cold Outreach

Cold outreach has built our agency — it’s hard work but effective. Research your target audience, identify specific prospects and call to introduce yourself. Frame your pitch around a problem they face. A restaurant losing foot traffic to national chains needs new customers; position your website as the solution.

Three principles guide a successful cold call:

  • Build rapport. Know their name and understand their business. Find a personal connection and genuinely care about their success.
  • Be an expert. Ask insightful questions rather than showing off. Help them see opportunities they hadn’t considered.
  • Get a commitment. Aim to close before you hang up, or at least agree on a time to talk again.

Converting Cold Leads Into Paying Clients

A five-step process has consistently worked for our agency when turning cold outreach into signed contracts. The approach centers on building genuine rapport, demonstrating value, then guiding the prospect through a low-risk commitment.

Opening With Rapport, Not A Pitch

Before any sales talk, establish that you have the right person — the owner or decision-maker. Then make a personal connection to their business. Referencing a recent visit to their restaurant, spotting a delivery van, or noting you found them online all work. Specificity beats generic greetings.

A typical opening script looks like this:

"Hi, it's Dave Smith speaking!

Am I speaking to Lisa Samuelson? Great!

Some friends had dinner at Lisa's Diner a few weeks ago and gave you very high praise."

Framing Your Service Around Outcomes

Most business owners do not want a website — they want the results a site delivers: visibility, rankings, customers, applicants. Present your service as solving those problems, not selling a product. A well-targeted case study helps. A house-exterior painter, for instance, may be flooded with small interior job requests; a specialized site can filter prospects and attract the work they prefer.

The core value proposition to communicate:

"Well, Lisa, I run a firm here in CITY that helps business owners become more successful in the digital world with high-quality, full-service websites.

We realized most business owners don't have the time or tech skills to build and maintain their own website. As a result, they have an outdated site or no site and lose potential customers every day.

We believe business owners should focus on their business. We handle every part of your site, from updates to domain, hosting, email, and even search engine optimization if you want."

Differentiating With A Recurring-Revenue Model

Upping-front costs are a common pain point. Position your monthly arrangement as a way to avoid large bills and technical obsolescence. The pricing pitch we use:

"We run a technology that allows us to deliver top-quality modern websites combined with outstanding service, all at affordable prices.

Unlike traditional agencies or web designers, you don't pay us thousands upfront, only to get a website to maintain on your own that will be technically outdated in two years.

For a one-time setup fee of $499 USD and a monthly charge of just $99 USD, we'll create a professional site, update the content, do technical maintenance, keep your domain name current, host the site, and keep your email accounts running.

We have a 20% discount on the monthly fee when billed annually."

Tailoring The Pitch To The Prospect

General sales talk only goes so far. Asking targeted questions shows you care and builds trust before you ever quote a price. Effective lines of questioning include:

  • Ask about their biggest industry challenge. Respond by showing how a website helps attract employees, win customers, or stand apart.
  • Ask who manages their web presence. If it's not a professional, probe on backups and mobile readiness. Emphasize your team's experience handling those issues.
  • Ask if they know their site's traffic. If yes, promise to grow it; if no, position analytics as a tool for finding more customers.
  • Ask if they know the mobile share of their industry's customers. Have that number in advance. A non-responsive site is visibly losing them business.

Closing The Deal

The final step is getting a firm commitment. If the prospect isn't ready to sign immediately, offer a smaller next step: schedule a later meeting or share testimonials. Ensure a decision-maker is on that follow-up call.

Closing Strategies That Work

Even with a strong pitch, the final ask can stall. Here are techniques our team has deployed to push prospects over the line.

Share Proof And A Portfolio Of Relevant Work

Show a website you built for a similar business in their vertical — restaurants, salons, dental practices. With permission, offer to connect them with a current happy client directly.

Design First, Collect Payment Later

This was a valuable early-stage tactic. Build a draft site for a prospect before they commit. If they like it, they pay the setup fee and start the engagement. If they don't, you have a new portfolio piece for a future client in that niche. This works best when you lack relevant samples or are entering a new vertical.

Waive The Setup Fee To Lower Friction

A upfront setup fee — typically $500 USD — can be a psychological blocker. Dropping it and only charging the monthly recurring payment increases your chances of landing a long-term client. The near-term revenue loss is worth the acquisition.

Make Your Process Visible

People don't trust what they don't understand. Presenting your workflow — from draft through design to launch, as the final step before asking for the sale — builds confidence in your competence and reliability.

Set Up Automatic Billing

Once you close, automation protects your revenue stream. With a credit card on file or a payment processor that charges clients monthly, you avoid chasing invoices and your client avoids another bill to remember. Both sides win in convenience.

Teach, Don't Push, When Necessary

If a prospect walks away at the last minute, keep the door open. Explain the features that matter most for their future site and what they should look for when they are ready. A knowledgeable, friendly follow-up can turn a rejection into a sale months later. Never burn the bridge.

Putting The Strategy To Work

Our client roster grew on the techniques above — hard work and a clear growth focus brought in the prospects, and the sales process converted them. To accelerate this, we built internal software that has since become available publicly. Sitejet helps agencies serving monthly-recurring-revenue clients by cutting site creation time by as much as 70% and streamlining client communication. It was designed so that web professionals can expand their business while reclaiming time for creative work.

The takeaway from this series: anyone can grow a design agency. The first part discussed the motivation, pricing model, and mindset needed to start. This part covered the sales tactics that turn hard work into happy, recurring clients.