Ep 135: Toni Everard - If You Think Your Clients Can't Afford You, Fix This First

If you keep thinking “my clients can’t afford it”…

There’s something deeper going on.

In this episode, Toni Everard explores why the issue isn’t just what clients are saying…

It’s who you’re thinking about when you price, sell, and position your work.

Because most people don’t realise they’re:

• anchoring to people who feel safe
• staying relatable
• and unconsciously holding themselves back from stepping into a higher level
  
  

This episode breaks down the connection between:

• self-worth
• who you feel connected to
• and your ability to raise your prices and attract clients who are ready to invest
  
  

If you’ve been hesitating to charge more, or questioning whether people will pay…

This will shift how you see it.

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Transcript

0:00

You are listening to the Coaching Circle with Tony Everard, business and Mindset coach and your strategic thinking partner. This podcast is for those who want to step out of the hustle and glow in the flow. We'll talk about all things mindset, energy, and structure so you can evolve from the inside out and build a business that supports the life you want to live. Let's dive in. Okay. This is a very special episode for anyone who finds themselves thinking that, um, my clients can't afford to pay, or that my clients don't have any money. Uh, then this is for you and this is. What you really need to fix. And so this is something that, look, I definitely remember feeling this myself and thinking when I was running NLP trainings, I was like, oh, the people that are gonna come and do my trainings, um, they can't afford the three or$4,000. And I'd have this constant thinking in my head. Um, and it even flowed into when I was coaching and, uh, but it was. Something that I had to resolve in myself, and I see a lot of other people do this as well, especially, uh, it's common with women who are coaching or in supporting roles and, uh, who loved to be able to help people but struggle with a really understanding their values. So if this is something that's already starting to sound. Like it might be something that you need to address. Well then stay tuned because we are going to go deep into this and uh, and I think, you know, especially right now in the time of what's going on in the world, it's easy for people to start going, oh, well, no one's got any money.'cause petrol prices have gone up and all those kinds of things. But here's the thing, it's not the economy, it's not the timing, and it's not even your offer. And it's not what's going on in the world right now. Are there people that are struggling because of increasing petrol prices and things like that? Yes, of course there are. But if you are making all of those people your ideal client, then that is a problem. And so really what we have to think about is what you are available for and who aligns with that level because. There are people out there who are paying premium prices every single day for every type of coaching service, anything that's available. There's always someone who's out there willing to pay the premiums. So if you are sitting there thinking, oh, my clients can't afford it, or they won't have the money, or they think it's too expensive, um, then. This is easy to link that to. Oh, it's because of what's going on. People don't have money. People aren't willing to invest, or that you just start thinking, maybe my offer is too expensive. But what's really going on is that there is a combination of your self-concept and your positioning and your leadership. And so this is the truth that we have to really sit into, is that you don't attract people randomly. You attract people who match what you believe about yourself, what you demonstrate is possible and what you're willing to stand for. So if you're attracting people who. Just want help and just want support and just wanna talk about their problems, but don't actually move or say that they can't afford it or say that they don't have the money. Then there's something much deeper going on. And this, my friend, is where you might find yourself in a place where you are trying to stay relatable instead of stepping into a place of leadership and authority. And, uh, and a lot of people wanna stay relatable, right? Like, it's how we've been conditioned of how we keep connection. And so people wanna feel connected and they don't wanna be too much, and they don't wanna up upset anyone and they don't wanna outgrow the people around them. And they can really relate to, you know, how it used to be. Um, so. You end up just positioning yourself at that level of how it used to be and what you first, you know, solved problems for in, for yourself, but. That's when it leads into, and I see people focusing all of their content on focusing on people's problems. And it's validating where a lot of people are, but it also, I see people they completely avoid claiming really clear results. Really clear tangible results. And usually that's because you're not allowing yourself to have great results either. And that was definitely my. Problem, uh, a few years back was that. I wasn't allowing myself to fully experience success. And so it was very hard for me to talk about success because, um, I, I wasn't allowing it for myself. So all I could talk about was the problems and the problems I was continuously trying to fix for myself. And so what that does is it tracks people who want support, people who want support in their problems, and especially people who are not ready for change. And so this is where connection, then your connection needs. Override leadership, and if you stay there, you'll just keep attracting all the people who resonate with the problems and they might engage, but they don't really invest. And they'll show up and they want all your free stuff, but they'll never actually take action and you'll wonder why, what's going on and what that problem is. So this is the thing that we need to really step into is really fully living or showing the result that you can. Help people achieve because people don't just buy information and especially in these days if you are just, uh, selling your top three tips of how to. People can get on chat, GPT or Claude or Perplexity or whatever else, um, and find that out for themselves. Right? And if you're doing that, these are my top three tips. You probably, um, made that content out of AI anyway. And look, not that there's anything wrong with ai, but you need to know how to use it deeply and you need to be able to. Demonstrate certainty and evidence and belief that something is possible for them. Something is possible for them, that is valuable. And so if you are downplaying your results or you are not showing how you live, or maybe you're just not even living your best life, like maybe you are, um, you know you're going, yeah, you know, like, my life's pretty good, but there's things I'd like to be doing, but you know, I'm, I'm too busy working or I'm too busy growing my business or whatever. Then that's gonna give off this kind of energy that you, you, you are like settling and people don't wanna pay good money for settling, right? So, you know, you really want to be making sure that you are demonstrating the results. You're living your best life. You are, you know, you're not just talking about problems that you've worked on for the last 10 years for yourself, but you are actually talking about the results that you've created for yourself, right? This is the big difference. And, uh, and so. You, if you are thinking about like creating these results or sharing results or sharing wins or talking about, you know, what you've been able to do for yourself or being really honest in owning some of the transformation you've, you've had yourself and that feels scary, then that's probably'cause you're not fully owning it yet. And this is what you need to do and, and this is why like when I talk to my clients, I work, I'm very good at business. I'm very good at understanding business and marketing and sales and leads and clients and all of those kinds of things. I'm very good at numbers, all of that stuff. But I know with my clients that 80% of the work that I do with them is around their own personal development and shifting any of the stuff that's in the way because. What happens is, until you do that, people say, I don't really understand, uh, numbers. I'm not very good at money. You know, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. And all of that is just low self-worth stuff. It's all avoidance. And you can't be in a business and still be saying, oh, I don't really understand numbers, or I don't really, um, you know, know how to write good content, or I'm not a tech person, or I can't, you know, do any of these things. You have to change all of that, and it starts with your identity. And so if you don't, you'll just stay in that forever kind of cycle of attracting people who are still focused on their problems, who are still unsure, who you feel like you have to convince who's not fully committed. They might like not follow through on their payment plans. Um, and. You know that's gonna be really frustrating and exhausting for you, and I don't want that for you. I want you to be living a good life, A fun life, a life that you love with a business that supports you. Financially, energetically, you know, all of those things. So you feel fulfilled and you are living a good life because that's gonna become magnetic, and that's also going to then position yourself as a leader where you are giving your clients somewhere to step up to. Okay. They don't wanna just come and hang out at the same level. They wanna step up, they want to be inspired, they want to be seen that someone else is showing them way of how to get to that next level in their life. And uh, and that is powerful. That's what people will pay for. So. The next part of this that a lot of people also won't look at is that if you are constantly attracting people who hesitate or say they can't afford it or they don't follow through, it's not just them. It's that you are probably doing the same thing and you are probably not feeling safe and secure in yourself to welcome clients in. And energetically this will feel very, very yucky. Like there'll be something about it that people, they don't know why, but they just don't feel like stepping into your space. And so. If you wanna have good clients, you need to be a good client, right? You have to be a good client. So that means you likely have some kind of coach mindset, coach, business coach, whatever that is, that you continuously work on yourself, that you continuously invest in yourself, and that you keep up leveling. Right, and that you take action and that you follow through, and that you do all those things that you wanna see other people do when they become your client. And uh, uh, otherwise you are just gonna be like someone who's like half a step ahead of your clients and that's not where you wanna be.'cause ideally people want to work with you because you are gonna help them get a result faster and easy than what they could do themselves. If you are just positioning yourself as being relatable and you know only slightly doing better than they are, then they're probably gonna think that they could probably do slightly better themselves, right? You want to have that step up where you are really advancing your life, where you are advancing your business, and then that's when people see momentum and that's when people see, yes, I wanna work with you because you're clearly doing something a lot better than what I can do by myself and people who want results. We'll see the value in results, right? They will pay for results. People who just want support are gonna try and pay as little as they can per hour of your time. This is a big difference. I want you to really understand this. People who want results will pay and invest for a result. People who want support will pay as little as they can to have your time per hour, right? This is a big difference. And so, you know, this really comes down to it's not a marketing issue. This is the standard. You wanna be really clear about who you are and where you are positioning yourself and who you are positioning yourself to. So this is the leadership shift, right? You have to be willing to set up, uh, or step up. Step up as a leader, not just someone who's a supporter, but someone who leads. And that means owning that. Right owning that people wanna be around you, that people wanna be influenced by you, that people wanna be inspired by you. That that means you're gonna need to be visible, that people are gonna be able to see you, that you are going to be expressed right? Because true leadership is like authentic expression, so people can actually learn the truth about you. Um, for a lot of people that feels uncomfortable, especially if you are not sorting out stuff in your own life. Or your own relationships or your own health or your own money or something that's going on in the background, you're gonna constantly feel that there's stuff about you that you don't want people to know, and that doesn't inspire anybody. That, in, that attracts other people who don't wanna take responsibility for things. And, uh, and you can all stay connected together, but that's not where you're gonna grow a business. And so that's, that's the supporter, the helper, the one that makes other people feel better, because at the same time, you're making yourself feel better, right? That's the version of you who tracks people who want comfort. That's not transformation. So what we've gotta really understand is that. This is all to do with self-worth, right? You are stepping up, being that leader, getting those results, and then you can start thinking about, actually, I'm gonna help other people who also take action and who also want results, and that also have money to pay. Right. These aren't the people that are sitting around complaining about the price of petrol or any other thing. These are the people that actually take responsibility for their life and their finances and their health and their money and their relationships and all those kinds of things. And they will continue to invest to, to live at a higher quality, at a higher level. Okay, so this is really important. You don't just meet people where they are and stay there. You show them what's possible, right? You embody the result and you invite them to rise to meet it, or you are at least, you know, looking, depends who you are, uh, positioning yourself at. Like, I've got clients that make squillions more money than I do, right? But I'm a leader in communication and mindset and managing stress and all those kinds of things. And so that's. That they feel edified by being affiliated with me in that space. Right. You know, think about that. People are gonna invest where they feel like their status is raised by being involved with you, by being affiliated with you and what you can do for them. And that's something that then people will invest in. And so when you think like this and you lead and you attract people who are willing to step up and who want to be challenged, right? They wanna be challenged, they wanna be called out on their bs. They want to take responsibility. They'll take action really quickly, and they're not looking to be supported in their problems. They're looking to create results, and they believe that working with you will get them there faster. You'll get them there more efficiently and with more clarity. Okay, then this isn't theoretical. This shift is exactly what has led me to have clients that keep working with me year on year because there's continuous progression, there's continuous growth when they continue working with me. And, and a lot of my clients, uh, you know, have invested over time 20, 30,$40,000 or more because the value that is in the results that they're getting. Like they continuously say to me, oh wow, Tony, if I look back to 12 months ago, if I look back to two years ago, if I look back 3, 4, 5 years ago to where I am now, I don't even recognize myself and that's not support. That's outcomes, that's results, and that's where people feel fulfilled. They feel successful in themselves. They feel like they're investing their money really well, that it's worthwhile and that it's having a positive impact on them, that they want to continue, and that is really powerful. So if you think your clients can't afford you, here's what, here's what the fixes are for you. Number one, demonstrate results. Right? Demonstrate results. Demonstrate that you are living a good quality life, right? Especially in whatever aspect that you say you help people with. Um, not just talk about problems. Of course, you're gonna talk about people's problems a little bit, but always linked much. More strongly to the actual outcome is the outcome We want people to get really invested in, not just how much you understand the problem, okay? You need to position yourself for people who value change, right? For people who value change, people who live high quality lives, uh, going to continuously invest in themselves'cause they know the value of their life and they know the value of the results that they want. Okay? You have to stop. Trying to be available to everyone. Right people, you know, if people don't have money, whatever, they can listen to podcasts, they can get on track, GBT, they can, you know, do all kinds of things right? But most importantly, you need to allow yourself to feel the feelings that come with success. You have to allow yourself to feel like you, you can live a good life, that you commit to yourself in living a good life, because stepping into more money. And more visibility and more authority can come with discomfort and exposure and responsibility. And if you're not willing to feel that, or if you're not willing to invest in yourself to resolve those things, then you'll stay where it's safe. Right? And this is why my clients get such big moves so fast, is because I'm an expert at helping them shift these things. I'm an expert at helping them reposition themselves, and then things just take off, right? That's, that's a new level of safety. Right. It's a new level of safety where you don't have to be struggling and stressing about, you know, things not working out for you. Right. Um, so. When you hit this shift, things will change for you rapidly, right? You'll stop hearing, I can't afford it. You'll stop telling yourself that people can't afford it. You'll stop thinking about who are the people who can afford it, who are the people that can't just afford it, but they love it, and they'll be happy to pay and they'll tell other people about it and they'll pay all day long, right? And your clients, they come in ready, ready for change, ready to make a decision, and that's where your business starts to feel solid. So. I'm gonna take this away today and think about it and let me know what landed for you in this. Like send me an email, send me a message. You find me on the socials because you know this is really important, is that you need to become someone who is fully available for the clients that are ready to invest. Right? Really think about that. That's good business sense. Okay, stop trying to get your connection needs met or whatever else. In business, business, the highest intention in business is to make money. So you need to be doing things that actually make money and focusing on things that actually make money. And if you wanna help the underprivileged or anyone else, by all means do that outside of your business. I, I volunteer, I help charities. I raise money, I do all kinds of things outside of my business, but I can do that. Because in my business I focus on building a business that is profitable and makes money and gets results. So if this is a landing for you, like I said, this is the exact work that I do with my clients. We look at your numbers, we look at your who, we look at your structure. We look at how aligned you are with actually achieving the goals that you are setting for yourself, and that's when big things shift. So remember, you're not here just to be a good coach or practitioner or service provider. You are running a business and that my friend is one of the greatest journeys on earth. And uh, I'm here to be your friendly guide and leader to help you do that super well. Uh, by the way. The five day challenge. There's a couple of spots I'm opening up each week. It's been getting booked out really quickly. If you want to join me for the five day Challenge, which is five 30 minutes calls with me, they're still for a limited time. Free, but they're very capped and they get booked out full all the time. Um, let me know, this is where we can go through, look at all your things, around your numbers, who you are serving, the structure in your business, your marketing, and how you can scale and. You can do that with me one-on-one for free. But like I said, you, there's a bit of a wait list. You'll have to put your name down. Um, if that sounds like something you wanna do and you're serious about changing your business, email me Tony at Tony Everard. You can find all the details in the show notes and let me know why now is the time you need to do something different in your business. Have a fabulous week. If you love this episode, you can help me get the message out to more people. Simply leave a review and share this episode with someone who'd love to hear it. Thanks for tuning into the Coaching Circle. I'll catch you in the next episode.