I wasn’t much of an athlete at high school, but I never forgot what my coach taught me about running track…

Finish strong. 

If you slow down because you’re overconfident in the lead, you’ll lose. If you turn around to see who’s behind you, you’ll lose. 

If you want to have an amazing start to 2023, then finish 2022 strong. 

Most coaches drift at the end of the year. 

Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Diwali, Kwanzaa, New Year… They slow down for two months and wonder why it’s January and they’ve got no clients.

They’re now desperate for a client—at exactly the same time that most coaches on the planet are desperate for a client. 

Don’t be THAT coach. 

Finish the year strong. You can rest in January when every coach you know is desperate for clients.

If you are committed to finishing 2022 strong, I have 6 ideas for you.

1. Only connect

Ask yourself every day, “Who would I love to speak to?” Don’t try to “get” them as a client. Only connect. 

When you talk, be genuinely curious how they are doing. 

When they ask what you’re up to, don’t talk about yourself. Tell a story about a client or a result they’ve created. 

If you tell a great story, you’ll get one of two responses: “Wow!” Or, “How did you do that?” And that’s when you can begin a really thought-provoking conversation, “Why’s that interesting to you?”

2. Astonish former clients

Do you know who is most likely to pay you money? 

It’s someone who has already paid you money. 

This time of year is a great time of year to reach out to former clients. 

Do not send a blind copy email to everyone you know. Do not post this on your Facebook page. 

Instead, reach out ONE PERSON AT A TIME. 

A 30 second video text gets the best response. 

“Hi _____. I was thinking of you. 

Towards the end of the year, I block out 3 spots for former clients who want to create next year as their best year ever. 

This will be 90 minutes where you and I put all of our attention on one thing: YOUR biggest goal for next year – and what’s getting in your way. 

One of the spots has already gone but there’s one still available in the last week of November and another in the first week of December. 

There’s no charge for this – as you’re a former client. 

Let me know if you’d like to reserve a spot. And if you’re good, you don’t even need to reply to this text…”

3. Do your homework

You can reach out to a stranger on social media. Just don’t be like those people who send spam emails to my LinkedIn inbox. 

Reach out to a stranger after you’ve done your homework. 

“Hey ____, I see you’re a leader in the field where I worked for almost 20 years. I appreciated [state something specific] in the article you just published. I’ve read your last 3 company reports and I notice [state something specific].”

Or be like the online marketing expert who sent me a 3 minute video with a series of personalized ideas (based on an unsolicited review of my material) that I could implement immediately. She sold the experience of working with her, not the concept of working with her. I was impressed and immediately told my team to contact her. 

4. Get personal

A client of mine is a former executive who I helped craft a 30 second video he can send by text to one person he knows:

“Hi _____, I was thinking of you. I’m imagining you might be feeling some uncertainty right now. These are challenging times. 

You might recall that I was a leader in change management at Johnson & Johnson, Kohler and Mars. So, leading in uncertainty is what I do. Supporting high level leaders is how I do it. 

Do you want to jump on a call for 15 minutes? You’ll leave it with a sense of calm and clarity and 1 specific action you can take tomorrow morning at 9am.

This is how I can contribute right now. If that’s interesting, text me back. And if you’re good for now, I love that. Take care.”

Note: this is not a generic video. He needed to record a new and personalized video for everyone he reached out to. I’m not trying to help you do something that scales. I’m helping you create one client. And that happens when you get really personal. 

Adapt the script above and send a video text to one person. 

5. Start a research project

A great way to uplevel your connections with potential high-level clients is to begin researching a topic that fascinates you.

This could become a book, a white paper, an executive summary, or simply research to support your clients.

It gives you an opportunity to reach out to fascinating people:

“Hi ____, I’m researching a book on resilience in high-level leaders. And our mutual friend ____ told me that you are the most high-level leader she knows who embodies this quality. 

Could we speak for just 15 minutes, so I can ask you 3 questions as part of my research? I promise to share my results when the research is complete.”

Don’t use this tool as a sort of bait and switch. You can’t promise to interview people but secretly try to get them as a client. 

If you genuinely care about the topic you’re researching, you’ll connect with interesting people—as a peer. And this is key. You’ll get all sorts of insights about the challenges faced by your next level of clients. 

6. The 1 Person Question

A client of mine told me that he would love to make $100,000.

I reminded him of The Prosperous Coach Approach: you multiply your number by three to discover how much money you need to make in “Proposals.”

“That’s $300,000,” he said. 

I replied, “The rest is just math. If you want to make $300,000 in proposals, you could make 10x $30,000 proposals, or 50x $6,000 proposals, for example. 

But then I REALLY messed with his thinking because I asked:

“Who is the ONE person, or what is the ONE organization, that could write you a check for the entire $300,000?”

Usually my clients go quiet when I ask the 1 Person Question. It’s supposed to be a question to challenge your thinking. But on this occasion, he laughed out loud!

He has connections with one of the top sporting teams in the country and it had never dawned on him that he could create such a fascinating proposal for them.

The photo at the top of this article is of Sifan Hassan, who was entering the final lap of her 1,500-meter Olympic heat when the runner in front of her tripped, bringing her crashing to the ground. 

Suddenly well behind the leaders, she stood up and summoned as much energy as she could. 

Between her and victory were 11 of the world’s fastest runners. But she was committed, nothing was going to stop her. She sped past them one by one, rapidly making up ground. 

On the final straightaway, Hassan surged and passed the front pack of five runners. She won the heat.

If you want to have an amazing 2023, finish 2022 strong. 

Most coaches drift at the end of the year. 

Don’t be that coach. 

Finish the year strong. You can rest in January, when every coach you know is desperate for clients!

Love. Rich