What Happens on the Discovery Call
Every project with Bottarini Marketing Group starts with a call. It is not a sales pitch. It is a working conversation about your business, your market and what you want to change. Here is how the Bottarini Marketing Group discovery process for new clients runs from the first minute to the last.
If you run a roofing company, a plumbing shop, a med spa or a real estate team in Los Angeles, the call feels much the same. You talk. We listen, ask follow-up questions and take notes. Nothing is signed on the call, and nothing is built yet.
Why the First Call Matters
Marketing fails when it is planned on guesses. A plan for a plumber who only wants emergency calls looks different from a plan for a plumber who wants planned remodel work. A short call clears up that kind of difference before anyone spends money.
The discovery call is step one of five. The other four are the strategy and growth plan, onboarding and setup, build and launch, and report and improve. Each step depends on the one before it. If the first step is thin, every later step gets weaker.
Who Is on the Call
BMG is owner operated. The person who plans your marketing is the person who runs it, so you speak with the same person from the first call onward. You will not be handed to a sales rep and then to an account manager. You can read about the founder who runs each discovery call and the work after it if you want to know more before you book.
You are welcome to bring a partner, an office manager or a marketing lead. Anyone who knows the business well helps. Calls usually run a short time, and we keep to the point.
What We Ask About Your Business
We start with the basics. What do you sell? Which jobs do you want more of, and which ones do you want fewer of? Which services pay the bills? Do you take emergency work, scheduled work or both?
We also ask how a customer reaches you today. Some businesses live on phone calls. Others rely on forms, text messages or walk-ins. Knowing this tells us what a good result looks like for you and what to track later. For an independent explanation, see Google's Business Profile support pages.
Your service area
Many Los Angeles businesses are service-area businesses. You travel to the customer, so you have no storefront for people to visit. We ask which neighborhoods you serve, which ones you avoid and which ones you want to grow into. Burbank, Glendale, Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys, Studio City, Woodland Hills, Pasadena and Santa Monica come up often. Clients outside Los Angeles are welcome too, because BMG works with brands nationwide.
What We Ask About Your Market
Next we talk about who else is competing for the same customers. You probably already know the names of two or three rivals. We ask what they do well and where you think you beat them. Later, in the plan step, we check those answers against real search results and the Map Pack.
We also ask about seasons. HVAC demand moves with the weather. Roofing moves with rain and storms. Real estate moves with the calendar. A good plan respects those swings, and it helps to hear about them early.
Your Current Marketing
You do not need a perfect record of everything you have tried. We simply ask what you have in place now. That might be a website, a Google Business Profile, a Meta ad account, a Google Ads account or nothing at all. We ask what you liked and what you did not.
If you already run paid search or Local Services Ads, bring that up. Our team handles paid ads questions raised during the discovery process, such local SEO agency Los Angeles as who owns the ad account and how leads are counted today.
Local search comes up as well. On the call we explain local SEO work that begins with discovery questions, so you can see why we ask about your profile, your reviews and your website before we suggest anything.
Your Goals, Stated Plainly
We ask you to name your goals in plain words. More phone calls. Better calls. More booked estimates. A fuller schedule in the slow months. A site that looks like the business you run today.
We will not promise rankings, a lead count or a return. Nobody can honestly do that. What we can do is agree on what you want, decide what to measure and build a plan that points at it. Time matters too. Paid ads tend to move sooner, while SEO and Map Pack work take longer, and we say so on the call.
Questions You Can Ask Us
The call goes both ways. You should leave knowing how we work and what you would be buying. Good questions include:
- Who will do the day-to-day work on my account?
- How often will I get a report, and what will it show?
- Which services fit my goals, and which can wait?
- What does the first month look like?
- How do you handle ad spend that is separate from your fee?
On cost, we are direct. Service prices on our site are starting prices, and final pricing depends on scope. You get a number before any work begins. You can look over how pricing is explained after the discovery call before you even book.
A note for medical practices
If you run a med spa, a weight loss clinic or a surgical practice, we also talk about how you advertise. Advertising rules vary by state medical board, and HIPAA governs patient data. We keep marketing at the operations level and do not make claims about treatment. If you want your own counsel to review ads, we plan for that.
What Happens After the Call
When the call ends, we have a clear picture of your business, your market, your current marketing and your goals. The next step is the strategy and growth plan. We review your website, your rankings, your Map Pack presence, any paid ads and your competitors. Then we build a plan and walk you through it.
You may also want proof of how the work looks in practice. The case studies that show what a discovery conversation leads to are a good place to start, and the agency's reviews page shows a 5.0 rating. For the wider picture of how we serve this region, read about our Los Angeles agency process from discovery to monthly report. A short read on the behind the scenes post on the discovery process at BMG shows what the first weeks feel like from the inside.
How to Book
Booking takes a minute. Use the request your discovery call on the intro call booking page option, or call (818) 299-3505. We are open Monday to Sunday, 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
Come with a short list of your best services, your service area and your biggest frustration. That is enough. We will take it from there.