Episode 99. Why Clients Buy Coaching (Part 2): Selling THAT Offer

Today, we are finishing our two-part series where we discuss the two biggest factors clients consider when they’re looking to invest in coaching.

In part one, Episode 98: Why Clients Buy Coaching (Part 1): Being THAT Coach, we looked at being THAT coach who clients genuinely want to work with. Specifically, we talked about the three key characteristics that some of the most successful and in-demand coaches embody, and how you can start becoming that coach and step into that identity as well.

In this episode, we’ll talk about Selling THAT Offer, aka an offer that clients genuinely want to invest in because they believe it will help solve a problem for them.

First, I’ll discuss my observations when it comes to why an offer or program has a lot of interest and demand, then we’ll talk about some practical tips for you to consider implementing in your own business.

And as usual, if anything we talk about in this series resonates with you and it’s how you want to take your brand and business to the next level, I’d love to invite you to join us inside  the Thought Leader Club 1:1 + Community Program focused on helping you build a body of work that not only lets you become known for something but also magnetizes clients and opportunities to you.

For all of the details, head on over to cheryltheory.com/program to send in your application. We’ll then book a sales call to make sure that the program is the best fit for you and we can onboard you as early as next week.

In This Episode:

Part One: Your messaging and what creates an in-demand offer

Selling THAT offer that clients are aware that they need and want

Point 1: Are you selling something that clients are aware that they want?

For example, if we were to talk about this in more practical terms, there are two ways I might explain what it means to sell something that your clients are aware that they want and need. 

First, are you talking about stuff the 2018 or 2019 version of you was struggling with?

For instance, the 2018 version of me would say, “I want to sign a client on Instagram”. So if I’m serving clients who were at the same stage I was a few years ago, then I won’t be saying, “I will teach you how to create an Instagram content strategy”.

Because the exact words in my head were “Omg how do I sign a client on Instagram?” and not “Omg how do I create an Instagram content strategy?”

Instead, what I might do instead is say “I’ll teach you how to sign clients on Instagram through learning how to create a content strategy and know exactly how to apply it”.

Then, over time, I might continue to build brand awareness for my skill set of teaching content strategy, and people will know me as that coach who’s really, really good at teaching content strategy.

But until then, I’ll commit to using the exact language my ideal clients are using.

Here’s an alternative approach: Are you talking about things that your existing clients are struggling with?

For example, if your current clients are saying “I joined your program because I feel like I need more structure in my business. I want more accountability and I also want more guidance on exactly what to do”, then these may literally be words you want to include in your sales page. Especially if you have a process that you walk clients through and you’re a business coach.

The common thread between these two examples is that whatever problem your ideal clients have in their head, use their exact words to say it.

Too often do we end up using terminology that’s too “coach-y” because that’s what everyone we know is using and saying, but it’s not what our clients know.

What may end up happening is that the way we talk about our offer is hard for them to grasp.

And I think someone might be listening to this and saying “Ugh but that would mean that I’ll use words that sound so basic and beginner though. I don’t want to say that because I need to talk about my offer in a more advanced way.”

Here’s what I want to offer:

1) We need to learn how to help beginners, even if you’re catering to a target client who’s supposedly more advanced. You still need to know how to help someone at the earlier stages in order to be at the level where you can confidently help someone at the next level. 

2) Basic marketing and basic content, all still helps people. But more importantly, your ideal clients can understand it. So it’s like, do you want fancy words or do you want to have clients to coach and also, do you want to get paid?

Definitely things to think about 🙂

Selling THAT offer that is unique and different

Point 2: Is your messaging able to showcase the uniqueness of your offer?

After you understand exactly how to speak in the language your ideal clients are speaking in, how can you also go above and beyond and essentially showcase that your offer is unique in its own way?

Because the way I see it is that everyone in the same niche is literally saying the same thing, more or less.

For example, if you’re a business coach, you’re helping clients make money in some way shape or form, through your own unique process, skill, tool or approach.

But the main program promise, for most business coaches, is you help your clients make money. So, if most people in your niche are selling the same thing and hence saying the same thing, how can you go above and beyond what everyone else is saying by really leaning into what’s different about how you help your clients?

I want to go off tangent a little here and talk about how it’s not that you need to change your offer. Your offer doesn’t change just because you want to sound different from everyone else.

Because if your clients are specifically needing help with XYZ problems and your program is legitimately helping people with that exact XYZ problem, then don’t change the offer itself. 

You’re still gonna be helping ppl with XYZ problems and using their language to articulate that problem in your marketing around your offer.

Rather, what is your unique angle to your industry? What is your unique approach that you’ll teach your clients? What’s your unique thought leadership? Lean into that and turn that up a notch, rather than tweaking your offer.

For example, I’m a business coach. My program promises to help side hustlers sign clients. But my unique skill that I teach clients is soft launching. This is my approach.

Whereas other business coaches might focus on teaching you sales, or content marketing on LinkedIn, or using YouTube. My specific skill that I specialize in is teaching clients how to do soft launching.

This is the skill that our clients use to sign clients.

For example, our client Kim signed her first 14 high ticket 1:1 clients (on top of her 9-5) through soft launching.

Our client Ayesha created 6k in one day because of soft launching.

Our client Clara signed 9 clients in one month through soft launching.

So that’s the unique skill I teach.

Another example I could give here is, what’s something super unique to your program that no one else offers inside?

For example, inside our private client portal that our coaching clients have access to, you get access to a complete transparent breakdown of my own business, such as evaluations of the recent soft launches in my business.

We have debriefs of the different offers I’ve sold and I have evaluations where I reverse engineer some of my highest income months in my own business. This is something unique to my offer, The Side Hustle Club.

Offers that are in-demand have something unique about them, and it’s our job as the creator of the offer to first identify what this is, and make it known to our ideal clients.

Selling THAT offer that has a strong reputation and brand awareness in the industry

Point 3: It’s an offer that has brand awareness, been around for a while and developed a reputation over time.

Because here’s the thing, even though some clients make an investment decision quickly, meaning they might just recently discover your work and offer and are ready to buy right away after scoping you for a few days, I’d argue that most clients prefer to take more time before they reach out to you.

And it’s not because they don’t feel a sense of urgency about having their problem solved. I’d argue it’s because they want their problem solved so they’re doing their research on who they’d like to work with and which offer seems to be most suited to their needs.

Let’s also be honest, there is no shortage of coaches anymore in 2022 and soon 2023. There’s a lot of people who want to help people with XYZ problems and are able to do so.

Meaning: There’s no shortage of options on the market, and consumers want to make sure they’re making the best decision for themselves. 

How this translates for our business is that clients are often going to follow you for a long, long time before booking a call.

And here’s the key thing I want you to remember: If you stop selling an offer, they won’t apply. If you don’t seem like you believe in your offer, they won’t apply. If you keep changing your offer and saying something new is coming soon, and then present to them something supposedly different, it’s really, really hard for any of your offers to become a “signature offer”.

It’s hard to create demand for an offer when you keep cutting the timeline prematurely and killing it off. It’s really hard for your work to develop a long term reputation when your programs are short lived. 

And remember, your older followers who have been here for a while, have watched you the most and are still the ones who will continue to creep on you.

But as soon as you stop selling your offer, it just validates their thought of “Oh, I guess they weren’t serious about that offer after all” and they’ll look for someone who seems more reliable and committed to helping people.

So a question I want to ask is: How many times do you think you need to make an offer, let’s say in a week, in order to hit your goals in the next 3 months?

Why did you choose that number? And are you committed to making that many offers?

One thing I want to note is that making more offers is not the same as needing to clock in more hours every week. Because how much time do you really need each time you make an offer and describe it in a new way?

I want to mention that this is a common struggle that several of our clients have before they join our program. For them, content and making offers take a long time.

They feel like they need to be at home, sitting down quietly and they need at least 2 or more hours in order to make an Instagram carousel post or record a two-minute video on IG stories.

But I want to challenge all of us to question whether that’s really true. Is that REALLY the optimal environment you need and the amount of time you need to make an offer? How would that assumption not be true?

Do you want that to be true? Do you want it to be true that you need two or more hours just to make an offer or create one post?

Or would you rather learn the skills, both content strategy and mindset wise, so you can make offers every day and do it quickly, efficiently, and with impact and potency?

Just something to think about.

I want to share a quote that I absolutely love from my mentor, Dielle Charon. She said, if you’re not typing on your keyboard or writing in your journal, you’re spinning out.

So in the context of making offers, if you’re not typing sentences about your offer or if you’re not verbally speaking about your offer or producing some sort of content that will be published, or if you’re not self coaching yourself about why you’re not making offers or why you’re feeling resistant to your offers, you’re sitting in mind drama and there’s no progress made, you’re not reaching anyone, let alone helping anyone.

Before we move onto the practical tips you can implement in your business, I want to also chat about how when we have “thoughts” about our offer, that will show up in your selling and/or how we’re not selling or not talking about our offer.

For example, what happens a lot is that people will change up their offer entirely, like make a new name or change the length or basically just give it a complete makeover and talk about how they are introducing a brand new offer and are so excited about it.

But it’s coming from the place of feeling like what they were previously selling isn’t working. Because the truth is, changing up your offer isn’t going to improve your marketing or sales skills. That’s where I suggest zoning in on.

Rather than burning your previous offer to the ground and creating a brand new sales page for a supposedly new one. Because you haven’t worked on the areas that are calling for your attention.

It doesn’t matter what the offer is or what your skill is or what your program promise is. It really boils down to your marketing and sales skills.

Your skill at being able to sell it to your ideal clients. Especially if you know and believe it’s an offer that can help your people with a specific problem they’re struggling with.

Part Two: Practical tips you can implement in your business

Tip 1: Create content with your current clients in mind

For those of you who have worked with clients, but maybe you’re not signing clients consistently, I suggest creating content that your past and current clients will need.

If you think about it, it’s your past and current clients who are consuming your content the most and also following you the most closely. So how can you create public free content that will help them right now, even while they’re in your program?

That’s why at least 80% of my content on Instagram and the Side Hustle Club podcast are actually inspired by my own clients that I’m currently working with.

I create a lot of content for them because I want to help them, even outside of our container, because I know they’re listening. So to my clients, hello. Hi 🙂

The reason is threefold:

1) It helps them with their progress and growth in your current program and hence better client results. And when we have better client results, that only helps us create more compelling marketing for our offer and hence sign more clients.

2) Your existing clients might want to renew and work with you again!

3) Give your clients something to talk about and something to share on IG stories. That only creates more “user generated content” or “social proof”, right? 

For example, one thing I like to do in my IG stories is to share about how I do my self-coaching. The reason is because, first, I am doing my self-coaching. But I also want to show our clients, look, the thing I’m telling you all to do? I do it too. This tool is important.

I want to indirectly remind our clients that our tools and processes that we teach inside the program are relevant and important to their own growth.

But sometimes, just telling people to do something doesn’t land. Instead, they may need to see their coach lead by example and go first, before it finally clicks in them “Oh! I should probably take out my journal.”  

So that’s the exact action item I want to offer: Think about each of your existing clients, and think about content that they would need to see and hear from you right now. Then make an invitation for your offer.

Because this means you’re not only talking about problems that your literally ideal client wants to see and hear about, but you’re also making an offer. They both tie in nicely with one another.

Tip 2: Explain your offer from like 60+ angles

Although I have no magic formula to talk about my offer, I have many many ideas for how to explain my offer from 60+ angles. Like, I legit have a list.

Right now, if you’re not sure whether your messaging sounds clear or not, just post it first, evaluate, then post again the next day.

There’s literally no time to waste. You got people to help. Keep showing up for your people, even if you aren’t sure whether your messaging for your offer is “clear enough”, whether people will get it, or whether it makes sense.Just post it, and post again tomorrow and try an alternative angle.

Every client and consumer is unique, and I’d argue there’s no one size fits all marketing that will land well with all of your possible ideal clients. That’s why I’m an advocate for explaining your offer from all the possible angles.

The action item I want to offer here is to compile as much of your ideal client’s exact language as possible.

For example, look through your application forms, welcome surveys, DM messages, WhatsApp or Slack messages with clients, review your Zoom recordings. You will likely have to do some digging, but it’s worth it. And do this regularly. Seriously, do it.

For those of you who are gonna say, but I don’t have any clients right now. Okay, so what creative solutions can you think of so that you can access such data, even without a paying client?

For example, could you post a question box on IG stories ? Could you do market research calls? Could you look at Youtube video comment sections or look at Facebook group threads and see what people are saying?

You have to be creative here, and it might require you to do some manual labor. But hey, isn’t being resourceful and a problem solver is what being an entrepreneur is all about? 

I also find that oftentimes, when we’re trying super hard to come up with the perfect messaging for our offer, what ends up happening is that we use language that makes us feel good because it sounds cool and fancy. But it’s not language that immediately lands with your ideal client. This is because it’s not the exact words they’d use.

Rather than trying to come up with the best, most perfect messaging for your offer, I encourage you to take the time to explain your language, tools, approach, framework and concepts to your people. Often, that might require you to be creative and explain it from 20 different angles before it lands with your client.

Tip 3: MAKE OFFERS aka actually tell people about your program

With Instagram constantly changing and people complaining about having lower reach and engagement than ever before, my prediction is that you probably have to at least double your offers made.

Also, our clients have lives outside of social media as well. So the responsibility is on us as coaches and service providers to help clients realize, oh wait, this can legit help me.

Don’t blame your audience or niche or even the algorithm. Instead, take responsibility to make offers because making offers is a money making action. Whereas diverting responsibility is not a money making action.

Here’s your action item: Do a social media or profile audit.

Let’s say you used LinkedIn. If an ideal client lands on your page, will they instantly know you have an offer available for them and what your offer is?

Or do they have to work really hard just to figure out that you have an offer, and then work even harder to understand that this offer might be able to help them?

Are you making it hard for your clients to realize you can help them? Is your offer obvious on your page? Or do they have to scroll into your LinkedIn experience section, click on “read more” underneath your job description for your coaching business?

Or do they have to read till the end of your LinkedIn bio or description just to know you have 1:1 coaching open?

In summary, audit your profile to make sure your pages make it instantly clear that you have an offer and how you can help your ideal client.

Remember: Clients don’t choose to work with coaches because of how much money they’ve made in their business

In summary, the coach or creator of in-demand programs put in the time and energy to help their community know about the offer.

That’s why over time, their program is now one of the most well known ones in their niche. 

It’s like, fried chicken from KFC, we all know about it because KFC has built brand awareness for their fried chicken and continued to stay in the game, even when competitors came into the market. They continued to sell their fried chicken and now everyone knows KFC and their chicken. 

Those are the main points I want to highlight in this conversation. before we close out for today, let’s do a recap:

  • Point 1: Are you selling something that clients are AWARE that they want?
  • Point 2: Is your messaging able to showcase the uniqueness of your offer?
  • Point 3: An in-demand offer has brand awareness, been around for a while and developed a reputation over time. The creator took the time to build its reputation and make it known. It didn’t just happen overnight.
  • Tip 1: Create content with your current clients in mind.
  • Tip 2: Although there is no magic formula to talk about your offer in a way that’s clear and resonates with every single client, I want to encourage us to learn how to explain the same offer from multiple different angles instead of seeking that perfect end-all-be-all messaging.
  • Tip 3: MAKE OFFERS lol. Actually tell people about your program. 

All of these are the exact things we work on deeply inside our coaching programs.

If anything we talked about resonated with you and these are some of the skills you want to sharpen and implement in your own business, then I’d love to invite you to join us inside the Thought Leader Club 1:1 + Community Program focused on helping you build a body of work that not only lets you become known for something but also magnetizes clients and opportunities to you.

For all of the details, head on over to cheryltheory.com/program to send in your application. I cannot wait to see you on the inside. 

Finally, I want to say one last thing: While making money in our business is important, I want to encourage us to remember that clients don’t choose to work with coaches because of how much money they’ve made in their business.

It’s not about who has the most gorgeous branding or photoshoot. It’s not about who has the most automated and profitable webinar funnel and email sequences.

But rather, we choose who to work with because:

1) Do we trust that they can help us with our problems?

2) Do I trust them, the person? Do they share the same values as me? Do I like their approach to whatever they’re going to help me with? Do they genuinely care about me and about helping someone like me? 

Thank you so much for tuning into this episode and also for this two-part series. I hope that we’ll all walk away from this series remembering that it is our job to clearly communicate that we are our ideal client’s dream coach and we have the most incredible solution to their problem.

I hope these two episodes (check out the first part – Episode 98: Why Clients Buy Coaching (Part 1): Being THAT Coach) will give you something to chew on and implement, and I cannot wait to see what amazingness you’ll create as a result.

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