If you want to be a successful coach, you have to learn to sell. There’s no way around it.
Many of the most successful coaches I’ve ever met have a background in selling – from high-tech sales people in the corporate world to Mormons who grew up going door-to-door in their 20s.
However, when I became a coach, I had a background as a high-school teacher. I had never sold anything in my life before I became a coach. So, I know from experience that sales can be mastered.
[I’m struggling with parenting right now. My little one is refusing to go to school. And it’s really, really hard. As a parent, I make plenty of mistakes but I show up every day and I do the best I can.
I’ve done the same with selling for 17 years. I make plenty of mistakes but I show up every day and I do the best I can.
I’m not promising selling will be easy. Sometimes selling is hard and sometimes it’s scary. But you can do hard. And a little scary is good.
Oh, and the photo with this article is my son in a 3-piece suit that he put on the other day for fun. He told the babysitter his name was Rich!]
Here are my top 11 rules for sales:
- Sales is like fitness. If you want to be fit you’ve got to sweat. If you want to sell, you’ve got to sell. Period.
- The first sale is ALWAYS to yourself. You can sell anything if you’re in love with it. If you’re not in love with coaching you’ll never be great at selling it. If you’ve never experienced great coaching, you’ll never be great at selling it. If you’ve never invested more money than you feel comfortable to spend on your own coaching, you’ll never be great at selling it. If you’ve never experienced a 10X return from coaching, you’ll never be great at selling it.
- High touch beats high tech. If you want to sell, connect with real people, talk to real people, serve real people. Put your attention on them, create value for them and solve their problems.
- People only buy four things: time, money, status and peace of mind. If you try to sell something other than those four things you will fail. When you sell all four you will thrive.
- Find ways to serve people and they will trust you. People buy from people they trust. Serve your ass off. Professor Adam Grant, in his book Give and Take, shows that givers are the most successful people. He says the key to success is to give more than you get and focus on other people’s needs. But make sure to prioritize your own self-care, so you don’t burn out.
- Find ways to create value for people. Write interesting articles. Challenge people’s thinking. Introduce fascinating people to one another. Expect nothing in return. Be in it for the long haul.
- No one cares about your methodology, your qualifications, your fees, or your logo. No one. They care about the pain they feel and the problems they face. Focus on that. And sell the experience of coaching, not the concept of coaching.
- If you want to charge more: solve bigger problems, create more value and remember how powerful you are. Highly successful people trust their peers. Be a peer.
- High-performing clients are created in high-value conversations. To enroll high-fee clients master world-class coaching skills. Be provocative. Don’t challenge people to do what you want them to do, challenge them to do what they want to do.
- Selling cannot be done to get approval or to get your emotional needs met. It’s to create value and create clients. That’s it. You have your friends, your clients have theirs. If they’re a great fit, serve them; if they’re not, set them free. Find potential clients, serve them, enroll them, charge them. Repeat.
- Track, track, trackety track. Track your lead indicators, not just your lag indicators. Call 1-3 potential clients per day. Find a way to create value for them. Call 1-3 current or past clients. Create value for them, or ask for referrals.
If you want to sell, you need to sell.
Do your reps, make mistakes, pick yourself up and start again. And again. And again.
Don’t wait until you’re ready. You’ll never be ready.
Don’t wait until you “deserve” higher fees. You don’t.
Don’t wait until you feel confident. Confidence is a result, not a requirement.
Learn to love selling and you’ll never need another client again. They’ll be knocking on your door.
Love. Rich