Here is how you should REALLY close a complimentary coaching session! (99% of coaches are not even close)
Category: Strong Opinion
My excitement grew stronger as the call with Michel Fortin (see previous post below) was coming to a close. I was pumped up to the max...or so I thought.
All of a sudden, Michel started naming specific things he'll teach at his event, and specific results we can expect by following his advice. I was ready to buy! In fact, if it weren't a $2,000 event plus plane tickets and almost a week away from my kids, I'd be taking my credit card out right now!
The point is, most coaches are taught to ask, "When would you like to start our first session?" or "What did you think of today's call?" or "How would you like to experience this every week?"But these statements don't excite me, not even a bit! They bore me to say the least. If the coach didn't manage to excite me with possibilities of what I might get as a result of coaching with him or her, asking me these questions now won't matter. You'll feel like you're "hustling for business", as one of my subscribers shared with me, and the client feels being sold to.
Instead, give examples, illustrations, ask questions, and let the prospect ask YOU if you can coach her. You can't give any guarantees, of course, but your prospect already know that (it all goes back to putting the responsibility on the client). But if she sees that with your guidance others have - and she might - achieve incredible results, she'll hire you.
5 Comments:
I couldn't agree with you more. One thing I have seen as a sales coach is that the most effective people who are selling a product or service are those gifted in telling stories or giving case studies. They are particularly effective in marketing material to capture the essence of the product or service. If a coach can paint a picture of what some of their other clients have achieve with their services and use that story to hit the hot bottons (we call it pain) that their prospects have, they will have a new client.
Milana - I'm enjoying your blog.
After a complimentary coaching session, I often ask, "Based on this sampling of how I coach, how do you think I could help you on an ongoing basis?"
Three things usually come from it:
Thing One - I get to see how ready they really are to be coached (not everyone is);
Thing Two - I find out how they think I really could help them on an ongoing basis, which moves us right into the Designing the Alliance part of the conversation.
Thing Three - They are eager to give me their contact and credit card information and get things started, "officially."
I totally agree, Milana (and what lia said). I just came back from speaking at a BreakthroughCopywriting.com workshop in Las Vegas, where the focus was on connecting with your audience. And the best way to do that is something I do in copywriting all the time -- rather than testimonials, I try to convert them into case studies for several reasons:
1. It makes the testimonial look less like a testimonial (less hokey, less like a salesletter, more like a true credibility-building tool).
2. It flows and reads with the pitch/story of the copy. It doesn't take people away from the structure of the pitch.
And...
3. People identify themselves with the case study. People can visualize what to expect from the product or service. You see, people learn by example. And the mind thinks in relative terms -- not in direct terms. That's why I prefer to use stories, metaphors, analogies and examples (case studies), because it doesn't look like some kind of self-serving claim.
Bottom line, as I said on the call, your job is not to sell (to induce action). Your job is to help people buy. That's what makes the difference between copy that moves people and drives action, rather than "hypey" copy that leaves a bad taste in one's mouth.
Kudos on your blog, by the way. (Mine is at MichelFortin.com.) And thank you for listening to the call!
I just realized something in the shower this morning. The 'close' you were referring to in your post was about getting an okay to schedule a coaching sample with someone. The 'close' I commented on was how to conclude that session once scheduled. Let's just say in terms of relevancy, my comment was ... close ~
Thanks for the insight on your coaching close ideas. For those of us just getting started, could you offer any more specifics? Thanks. KU
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