Today’s episode is a Listener’s Choice episode, which means it has had record listens by coaches before you. I’m playing it again because the messages are still highly relevant to the times we are in.
We are going to dig into something that’s rarely talked about by marketing experts.
In fact it’s something that’s only recently dawned on me, even though I’ve been acting on it for a long time intuitively.
The topic is about why you only want to attract people who do have the motivation and the financial ability to hire you.
Before I go further I want you to know something … during 20 years in my own coaching business, the economy has crashed big time twice and other disasters have derailed the normal flow of business.
Yes, there is an adjustment period. But in each circumstance, I was surprised how in tough times, people are often even MORE committed to their personal and professional growth. There’s the sense that time is precious and shouldn’t be wasted. So, where before people were stuck in their ruts and not moving, sometimes a shake up like this can wake people up and inspire action.
As much as you can, accept the reality of what’s happening and keep your focus on what matters most to you.
If building a coaching business is important to you, stay with it, despite your worries.
- If you haven’t launched yet and have extra time, leverage that towards time consuming tasks.
- If you’ve already launched and things are slow, innovate. Try new things but don’t start over from scratch. Stick with your target audience and niche but pivot in small ways.
- And consider not doing this all alone. I’m here for you. Enroll in a Strategy Session where you get my full expert attention on you and how to fix what’s holding back for 90 minutes is just a click away.
Okay let’s get back to today’s episode.
In the first 10 years or so of my coaching business the name of the game was numbers. Everyone advocated developing a big list – we’re talking tens of thousands of subscribers who would see your emails, read your blogs or experience your other content. And you were building relationships with those people
The idea was to drive tons of traffic to your website and have a set of low cost to mid cost offers that would attract lots of buyers responding through scarcity. This is called the CHURN. Partially because most people will move on quickly.
There are many people marketing this way. And for certain business models it probably is the way to to it.
But, as you know, I encourage coaches to consider a simple coaching business model where they offer a one-to-one high ticket Signature Program.
That way, you can keep your marketing simple, your overhead low and profits high. You can market less and have a manageable little empire. It’s something you can expand if you want to but you don’t have to.
I realized that business model isn’t for everyone. But it’s a great way to start your coaching business. At least for the first 1-5 years. And I’ve come back to it, after doing lots of intense marketing and offering so many types of programs – I found it an exhausting way to do business.
So, listen on if you want to keep it simple and earn well doing less.
And that makes it easy to attract only the most ideal clients for you.
The 4 Top Criteria of An Ideal Coaching Client
I’ve heard many experienced coaches say what I feel myself, which is we want clients who:
- Are 100% committed to their own growth.
- Willing and ready to invest resources – time and money – into their own transformation.
- Are coachable, self reflective, and know their own mind.
- Want a thinking partner and guide to get there faster.
Now, you may think that describes most prospects, but actually, it does not. In fact, only a small percentage of prospects will jump in with both feet.
You want to attract more of those people and less of the other type.
The reason why a lot of people opt for a short term, low cost self-study online program is that they aren’t 100% in. They have a foot out of the game. There can be some excellent reasons for that by the way.
But my point here is that you want to spend your time with people who meet those 4 top criteria that I just mentioned.
Think about it. Wouldn’t it be grand if the people you talk to in your Discovery Calls were already excited, ready, willing and able financially to hire you?
With each year, I have more Discovery Calls are with people who fit those 4 criteria because I have installed strategic and authentic language and mechanisms to encourage them and to also gently discourage those the individuals who aren’t there yet or never will be.
3 Ways to Encourage Readiness to Hire You
- BE REAL
Convey your unique style in everything you do. Be consistent. In other words, be unapologetically you, vulnerabilities and all. Over time, your tribe will emerge because they appreciate you as you are.
- GIVE A PERSONAL TOUCH
- ENGAGE THEM EMOTIONALLY
These two are connected. This is something a lot of people in this automated world skip in their conversion processes on their website and other places. If everything is click and done then lots of people will jump in who don’t really want anything but your free stuff.
Have you ever found yourself doing too many Discovery Calls with people who don’t have the means and motivation to hire you? You don’t need to waste your time that way.
There’s a perfect moment in the conversion process to give prospects your personal touch where you customize a response and show up as the real person you are and you understand them. It’s worth the little effort up front because you’re enrolling them into a VIP high ticket Signature Program.
By the way, in case you’re just starting to listen to Prosperous Coach Podcast, I’m referring specifically to the Simplest Coaching Business Model. This includes creating a high ticket Signature Program to help your target audience overcome a BIG problem on the way to a BIG goal.
So, instead of having a button on your website inviting a Discovery Call – which is too much too soon (it’s like inviting someone to meet your parents on a first date) – instead invite prospects to that session through your free offer.
Don’t just give them access to your calendar in your freebie. Instead, send them to your Work with page on your website to fill out an application that pre-qualifies and pre-sells them. That application needs to be strategically written.
Do you see the value of this high touch moment? You want them to invest their time before the Discovery Call to warrant your time. It’s reciprocal.
That’s how you’ll know that they are serious about working with you. If they aren’t motivated to fill out the application they aren’t likely to invest in your VIP program.
That small investment helps them put both feet in and raises their commitment to the Discovery Call. They know up front what the purpose of that session is – to assess fit. It’s simple and it takes a bit of finesse to pull off this personal touch but it’s worth it because you’ll spend a lot less time with people who are never going to invest in working with you