You’re a coach. You want to sell coaching. Go on then. Where are you going to begin?
You’ll probably start by telling me what coaching is. You know – the bit where you ‘unlock my potential’ and ‘maximise my performance’ and ‘support me to become more’. Then you’ll describe how it works – ‘by adapting to my individual needs’ – and how I’ll benefit by achieving goals.
I know what you are going to say. Coaching is hard to describe because it does depend on the individual and their unique goals. And that’s the problem. Coaching is an intangible product.
Being in the right place at the right time
You know that people will benefit from your coaching service once they get how it works. But if you have to start by explaining what it is, then you’re already losing your audience.
What we need to do is make your service more tangible. Not necessarily something your audience can touch – but an idea that they can easily ‘get’.
Let’s consider a simple metaphor. An ambulance sees a person in distress and stops to help them. Does the paramedic need to explain what the ambulance is, demonstrate its features and the benefits of getting in it? No.
The patient needs – and wants – help, and along comes a solution. All they need is a hand climbing in.
In the same way, people have to want something before they will choose to buy it.
Selling is about solutions
If the person you are approaching doesn’t want your product, selling it to them will be a lot harder.
If that ambulance pulled up next to you and you were not in distress, no amount of persuasion would get you to climb in for medical treatment.
Selling is all about timing. You need people to want help before you can sell them your coaching service. Get in there too early and they won’t want it. So, you need to understand what drives them – what is the reason they would want to unlock their potential, or maximise their performance, or become a better version of themselves – and be there at the time they want help to do it.
Then, instead of trying to sell to people, all you need to do is offer them the solution. Remember – the point isn’t to explain the vehicle – the ambulance – that will take them there. Focus on fulfilling their need. They already want it – they’ll jump right in.
If you want help to sell your coaching service, get in touch We have the right vehicle – all you need to do is step in.