You want to grow your coaching business. And you are on it! You’ve been working on your website, wondering if your tag line is effective, or creating your latest logo.
While having marketing materials is important, what is truly important is that you are helping people get results. You do that by offering and selling your services. All the other daily activities become distraction tactics that keep you “busy” and meanwhile you end up not providing value and not making money.
You see the definition of the word “business” is an organization involved in the “sale of goods or services.” If you aren’t selling, you aren’t really in business, you are in the fantasy of what it might be like to have a business.
“But Patti I don’t want to be pushy!”
I get it. Sometimes purpose driven business owners feel uncomfortable owning their value and asking for clients to work with them. Here are nine steps to help make the process of getting clients a little easier.
1. Know Your Prospect.
Your prospect has problems. They have worries and they are looking for a solution. Your job is to understand those problems and go where they gather. Let them know you understand their problem because you have personally overcome it. Your best clients are people who want to transform something you have already done.
2. Know Your Offer.
How do you deliver your services? Do you have 1-1 coaching programs? VIP Days? Workshops? A membership program? Be clear about what you offer and when it is open for registration.
3. Know Your Numbers.
How many prospects say yes to you in a sales conversation? One out of two? One out of five? Knowing your sales metric will show you exactly how many conversations you need to have to meet your monthly sales goal.
.4. Know Your Self
If your head is not in the game, you’ll never get there. Decide right now to do what it takes to be the person who grows a successful business and stop worrying about what anyone thinks. You are meant to make a difference, and in order to do so you have to give up the need for approval from other people. I promise the approval you get from changing lives will be well worth the discomfort of standing out.
.5. Know Your Value
Give up the need to be everything to everyone. You have an expertise. Claim it. Use your expertise to distinguish yourself from everyone else. When I tore my meniscus and it required surgery I did not go to my general practitioner. I went to the best sports surgeon I could find, and I was happy to pay him whatever he charged. Be a specialist, not a generalist.
.6. Know Your Mission
Understand what you stand for. Commit to a mission for your clients. State what you want for your clients and get busy rallying for their results. Mission based businesses have a deep impact on their clients. Make your business about your mission.
.7. Know How To Ask
Stop showing off and hoping your prospects will notice how brilliant you are. Understand their problem, rally for their success, don’t try to sell them, outline the solution and ASK them if they are ready to change. ASK them to commit to being more. Be a model for the change you are here to being into the world.
.8. Always Have Something To Invite People To Attend
When people show interest in your services have something to invite them to. A webinar, a strategy session, a free gift. Without an invitation you will lose the interest of your prospect.
.9. Take Action
Stop waiting. Start serving.Give up the need for perfection and commit to service. Do whatever is right in front of you NOW. Who can you help? You do not need anything more in order to serve your clients. You simply need to be willing to take action and ask for the sale. Now.
