Communicating The Value of Your Coaching

I recently worked with a burnt out health coach who complained…

“I’m tired of working so hard and getting paid very little.”

“I’ve had it with my clients’ apathy around coaching, and hearing ‘no’ and ‘I’ll get back to you’ again and again.”

“Kris, I’m failing in my coaching practice.”

I told her, “Not true.

You’ve only failed to show clients that your coaching is valuable.”

She said, “How am I supposed to show the value??”

ME: “Your clients have to get a blood test in order to work with you, right?”

HER: “Yes, but they massively improve their health after they get the results back.”ME: “Yeah, but nobody wants to get stuck with a big needle…

…especially if they don’t know why they’re doing it.”

Embarrassed, she said… “Jeez I never thought about that…

…no wonder I don’t have enough clients”

“That’s my problem!”

The real problem?

My client was in love with her coaching solution.

So in love with it, that she didn’t see her coaching…

…the way her clients saw her coaching.

She was blind to how her coaching was perceived by potential clients.

And, she’s not alone…

Most coaches are blind to the “market value” of their coaching.

Most coaches are blind to the “market value” of their coaching.“

Think your coaching is valuable because…

you have a genius solution?
your clients NEED you?
you have an expensive certification?

The MARKET doesn’t care about any of those things.

And, what’s worse?

(NOTE: If you want to learn how to get your first paid clients in the next 28 days, then check out the “Well Paid Coach” webinar. During the webinar, I’ll cover the 6 myths that stop new coaches from making money coaching. Click HERE now to attend the webinar.)

Usually, much of your coaching offer is like a ‘needle in the arm’ to your client…

…something your client more wants to AVOID…

…versus paying large sums of money for it.

So, I’m never surprised when coaches go to the ‘coaching marketplace’ and…

They’re Ignored.
They have to chase clients for low fees.
Nobody respects or follows their advice.

These same coaches try to solve those problems by…

blasting offers on social platforms
getting an impressive website
telling their personal “struggle story” to everyone who’ll listen

I made all those same mistakes for years.

It was demoralizing.

I wanted to quit, too.

I don’t want you to waste the same time that I did.

I don’t want you to suffer like most coaches do.

Eventually, I learned how to…

discover what the client really wants.
give the client what is most valuable to them.

Now it’s easy for me to get paying coaching clients.

NOT because I’m a better coach than I was before…

…but, because I understand how to communicate the value of my coaching.

NOT because I’m a better coach than I was before…but, because I understand how to communicate the value of my coaching.“

So anyway…

I needed to help my client make that same change.

I could tell she felt lousy about her mistake.

So I said…

“I’m proud of you for getting out of your own head.”

“Now you’re seeing what your coaching looks like from the client’s perspective.”

“So, why should your clients pay you to stick a needle in their arm and suck their blood out?”

HER: “Because their health will transform as a result.”

ME: “Right! But you gotta be more specific about that transformation.You need to highlight specific benefits that your client wants.

Right now, all they’re thinking about is the cost of coaching with you…

…not to mention that NEEDLE in their arm!”

“Instead, start the conversation with what your client WANTS.”

HER: “Well, they certainly want to fix their health problem!”

ME: “What health problem do they have that your coaching solves?”

“What would be worth hundreds or thousands of dollars per month to them?”

HER: “Migraines… they complain about migraines all the time”

ME: “That’s huge! What can you do for their migraines?”

HER: “I can practically eliminate them.”

ME: “It sounds like you’re the ‘migraine minimizer’ coach!”

HER: “Yeah, but it still takes that blood test to get my client the result.”

ME: “That’s ok. They just need to appreciate the upside in their migraines.

Then, they’ll be much more tolerant of that needle…

…AND paying your fee.”

HER: “Now I see how I need to talk about my coaching……so my clients will actually enroll.”

The point?

If you want to get enough paying coaching clients…

…then communicate why your coaching is valuable…

…in a way your client can appreciate and understand.

Stop looking at the coaching you offer from your own point of view…

…and start seeing it from the client’s point of view.

You have to become more than just an “order taker” at the drive through window.

The order taker at the drive through window NEVER thinks about WHY the customer showed up.

They just think about what they’ve been taught…

…flipping the burgers

…dishing out the food.

And NOTHING ELSE.

It’s a very myopic perspective.

That order taker is BLIND to their customer’s motivations, wants, and concerns.

Not to mention, they don’t get paid squat.

Don’t let yourself be a ‘coaching order taker’.

Learn what your coaching is worth from the perspective of the marketplace…

…not just your personal opinion.

If all you do as a coach…

…is parrot what your coach training taught you.

…then you’ll stay blind to your client’s motives…

…at least when it comes to the enrollment process.

Your perspective needs to be broader, and more insightful.

You’ll need more empathy for your client if you want to reach them.

Don’t think too much about YOUR perspective.

Think about your clients…

Why?

Because THEY are the ones buying your coaching.

(You aren’t buying your own coaching, right!?)

Clients decide what a coaching service is worth, not the coach.

Do you remember the movie “Mary Poppins”?In that movie, Mary sings “A Spoonful of Sugar Helps The Medicine Go Down.”

I wish more coaches applied Mary’s message to their coaching business.

Coaching is the MEDICINE.

Value is the spoon of SUGAR.

The “Sugar” (what the client wants)…

…helps the “Medicine” (coaching)…

…go “down” (get enrollments).

Use that ‘sugar’ to convince prospective clients they’ll receive the benefits FIRST.

ONLY AFTER your client understands the value of your coaching…

…should you enroll them in coaching (give them that ‘medicine’).

FIRST the ‘sugar’.

SECOND the ‘medicine’.

(Never reverse that order!)

It takes WORK to do this effectively.

Don’t rely on your potential client to automatically value your coaching.

It’s not their job to figure out that coaching is valuable…

…it’s your job.

When you’re communicating the value of your coaching, use words the client can easily understand.

Think about…

What do they see as the problem?
What is the impact of that problem on their life?
What do they see as the solution?
What can you do to help them avoid the problem?
What can you do to provide faster / easier results, with less effort?
What life do they believe is possible for them on the other side of their problem?

You’ll come up with tons of answers to these questions.

But not every benefit or motivation is created equal.

Sort the best ideas so you can use them with your clients.

Stop being a hidden gem!

Use your new mastery of VALUE to get more clients excited to talk to you.

Then the world will SEE how awesome your coaching can be.

Kris “Sugar First” Thompson