Episode 274 – How is a Signature Coaching Program Better Than Coaching Session Packages?
https://prosperouscoachblog.com/ep-274-how-is-a-signature-coaching-program-better-than-coaching-session-packages/
Back when I was selling coaching packages, I struggled with my integrity.
I tried to convince people to buy coaching and didn’t feel good about that.
I squirmed when it was time to ask clients to re-up for another package. I was performing instead of connecting when I coached because I was always trying to prove that my coaching was worth it.
My mindset was stuck in student mode and I kept my fees low because I mistakenly believed that would help me enroll more clients. It did not.
I was vulnerable to all the bright shiny objects, spending nearly as much as I was earning. And all those online trainings and group programs didn’t do a thing but confuse me more.
Later, when I stopped selling coaching and created a Signature Program that solved BIG problems for my target audience, I was finally able to run my business from integrity and earn well. Let’s talk about that. Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/274.
Hey Coaches!
The Business of Coaching Wasn’t What I Thought it Would be
It’s not surprising that when coaches come out of coach training they imagine themselves being a bit like a therapist … you know, seeing clients by the hour for months and maybe even years. The client Venmo’s their payment.
Did you imagine something like that?
Or maybe you thought you’d serve a hundred clients every year. You’d coach a 40-hour week, and earn more in your own business than you did in your salaried job. I hear that vision from most of my VIP clients.
There were a few legendary coaches doing just that when I started. Most were getting clients from corporations, the place where coaching is highly valued for exactly what it is. But competition for those contracts is fierce. And it means heavy networking, writing proposals, invoices and reports. I talk more about this is Episode 136 called The Downside of Coaching for Corporations.
For me? No, thank you. I left corporate for good reasons.
When I tried to enroll individual coaching clients into a coaching package, people were skeptical. It was a hard sell.
Coaching Can Be Much Better Than That
In retrospect, I realized that I made things more difficult on myself by failing to:
· Focus on a viable target audience
· Think like them
· Nurture that group through valuable generosity marketing
· Offer a transformational journey that addressed their specific problems and goals
· Charge enough to pay me well and encourage the client to invest in themselves
In essence, I stopped selling coaching. Listen to Episode 51 about that. And, I started offering something my audience already knows they want. The freedom of that action alone has been a game changer for me and for my clients.
If only I’d known to do all those things from day one.
When I teach coaches how to create a Signature Program, I help them learn about their unique target audience.
Who are they now and who do they want to be?
What exactly do they want to be different in their life?
What’s been in the way of that?
It’s a bit more strategic than that and geared towards the coach’s unique niche. The powerful questions are designed to encourage self reflection, candor and possibility thinking.
Sounds like coaching, right?
From the valuable information coaches gather in this market research — learn more about that in Episode 22 — we develop a structure for their program with compelling and benefit rich words in the language of the audience. All other messaging is congruent with that and contextualized to the audience’s world. It is NOT about coaching.
You Can Coach Without Selling Coaching
It seems paradoxical, doesn’t it — you coach in your Signature Program but do not sell coaching.
There’s a shift in perspective needed when you market too — away from thinking like a coach, pushing coaching and sounding like all the other coaches out there. Instead you think like your prospective clients with a deep understanding of what motivates them.
And when you do that, you attract paying clients.
No more sample coaching sessions ending with a pitch.
No more impulse to convince or perform.
No more working against pre-conceived notions about what coaching is.
And, no more charging low fees that are somehow perceived as expensive by prospects.
You can market, enroll and coach with integrity.
There’s a clear arc to your Signature Program and a scope for the work you do. AND it absolutely does allow the client to bring their agenda to sessions and get served around that. The structure of your Signature Program simply helps prospects to perceive the value of working with you.
They see themselves in the process moving towards their goals as they overcome obstacles.
Programming your coaching into a Signature program creates a context for why a person would want to invest at a high level in their future.
And, you can develop this program without even using the word “coaching” anywhere. That’s your toolbox not an outcome people know they want.
It helps to add value you to your program that goes beyond the number of sessions they’ll receive. Maybe you offer unlimited emailing, a relevant guide or assessment you’ve created to assist a coaching session.
And, it is critical that you price your Signature Program high. Check out episode 191 called Low Pricing Could Kill Your Coaching Business to shift your mindset about pricing so you can stay in business and attract ideal clients who make amazing progress and refer more people to you!
Imagine … not having to convince anyone to buy coaching but instead attracting them to what they already know they want. It’s a game changer!