- Trading hours for dollars?
- Dealing with low value, high maintenance clients?
- Feel like you’re “starting over” with every new client?
- Don’t know how to add 5 clients to your business this month?
- Burnt out on spending all day everyday working on your clients’ businesses instead of your own?
You’re not alone.
Most coaches and consultants that I know charge hourly and move from one client to the next, spending their time either coaching one-on-one or fulfilling their contract with their client.
Even those of you who sell high value monthly retainers still burn out, because you still need to show up and put in the hours to get paid. The “done-for-you” model is just a very autonomous job that you’ve created for yourself.
So how do you get out of the rat race? How do you give yourself a little room to breathe, AND grow your income at the same time?
This is the question I’ve been asking for the last couple of years, and it’s led me to breakdown what the very BEST in the industry are doing in their business. I asked myself, what are the MOST profitable, MOST impactful and happiest coaches and consultants doing to set themselves up for success?
And then I started to implement that in my business.
And it worked…
My income went up. My impact went up. My clients started getting better results. Best of all, my systems started to do a lot of the work for me, so even when I was sleeping, or on an airplane, or hanging out with my family, my clients were still getting value.
I’m not talking about some $99 course or $39 e-book that you’d have to sell hundreds a month just to break six-figures/year. and then be overwhelmed with customer support requests. (Not to mention the complex, time consuming funnel that’s needed for this model.)
No, i’m talking about a group program, where your clients get your systems and processes, step-by-step instructions and do the work themselves, with your help.
A group coaching program, where you show them EXACTLY what to do, and then you get on a call with them every week to help them overcome obstacles, to review their work, give them feedback, and ensure their success.
A high ticket group coaching program. (Consultants, this works for you too)
The best part? You only need 2-4 clients/month to break 6-figures/yr. You only need 20-30 clients/month to break six figures/month, and with this model, you can handle 20 new clients a month, because you have LEVERAGE.
So how do you do it?
1. Choose your market
A lot of people just like to take what they’re “good at,” force it on the market, and see who buys. This is the wrong way to do things.
If you want to build a real offer that the market NEEDS, start with choosing your market first. For example, if you’re a PR consultant, you may serve startups, consultants, authors, public companies, software companies, and nonprofits.
Choose ONE of these industries to serve, and get ready to niche down.
How? You want an industry which has a painful, pressing problem, is easy to get in contact with, has the money to pay you, can be served with a repeatable process, and is fun to work with. It’s a little more complicated than that, but that should get you started.
2. Develop your flagship high-ticket offer
Research your market and figure out the most painful, pressing problem that they’re experiencing right now. Do this by searching the internet, reading comments, talking to your current and former clients, and reaching out to people in your industry.
Other resources and ideas for the research phase
- Go to Buzzsumo.com and look at the most popular articles
- Go to Reddit and look at the most popular discussions
- Survey your list and ask them what their #1 most painful problem is
- Go to a networking event and ask people “what’s your biggest challenge right now?”
You want to figure out three things.
- Where are people right now?
- Where do they WANT to be?
- What’s stopping them from getting there?
And then, you simply create an offer that directly addresses “what’s stopping them from getting there.”
The key is to know the exact words, and the exact ways that they describe the problem and the solution, and use those words in your offer.
If you can describe your prospect’s problem better than they can themselves, they will unconsciously believe that you have the solution.
3. Learn to sell high ticket
First, let’s talk price. You have to provide a solution to a real, significant problem. If you do, you should have no problem charging premium prices.
Ask yourself, what is the cost of NOT working with you? What is the cost of NOT implementing your solution?
And then ask yourself, what is the best case scenario of working with you?
- Can your client add $100k to their income this year?
- Lose 50 lbs and have more energy to do all the things they want to do in life?
- Gain more confidence and meet the significant other of their dreams?
- Land press and gain exposure for their company which attracts investors for their seed round?
What are these things worth to your client? In most cases, it’s a lot more than $100 an hour. These are $5k-$10k results. These results will change the rest of their lives.
Next, understand that you are in fact selling a RESULT. You’re not selling your content, or yourself, so stop talking about yourself so much.
You’re selling your prospect out of a bad situation, and into their ideal situation. On the call you want to diagnose their situation, see if you can help, and then offer them the opportunity to work with you to solve their problem.
Your prospect should do 80% of the talking here. You should talk more about their problems and their desired result than you do about yourself or your program. This is what’s important to them.
4. Get your offer in front of your market
If you’ve done your work correctly up until this point, your prospect should think “that’s what I need” when they see your offer.
All you have to do at this point is get your offer in front of your market and push them to a Strategy Session to discuss their situation and see if you can help.
- If you have a list, email them with the offer
- Reach out directly to your current and former clients and make them the offer
- Reach out to people on LinkedIn who fit your customer profile
- Build a list and send a cold email
- Go to a networking event and talk about your offer
You should be able to easily get your first 2-4 clients this way. That’s enough cash to finance the next step.
5. Create a 3-step client attraction system
Now, create an automated system to attract new clients to your system using Facebook ads. At this point, you’ve already sold 2-4 packages and brought in $5k-$40k, so you have the funds to invest in paid advertising.
Solve part of your prospect’s problem on the webinar, and then make an offer at the end to jump on a call to help them solve the rest of the problem. Once on the call, help them solve the problem, and make an offer to guide them through the process in your program.
This webinar will sell for you 24/7.
6. Build out your program
Now, you’ve got to actually deliver a result. Less is more here. Remember, you’re selling the result, not “the ultimate guide.” If you give too much information, you will overwhelm your client. Give them only what they need to get the result in the least amount of time possible.
Start at “point A.” Where is your client now?
Where do they want to be? This is your “point B.”
What is stopping them from getting there?
List out the 4-8 obstacles that prevent them from reaching point B. If you’re a weight loss coach, these might be – having the proper diet, finding the time to cook healthy, staying consistent at the gym, fighting cravings and avoiding falling back into old habits.
If you’re a real estate investment coach these might be funding deals, finding the right property, analyzing a deal, rehabbing the property, and selling for maximum profit.
Space these obstacles out over the length of your program, whether that’s 6,8 or 12 weeks, and create a powerpoint presentation on how to overcome each obstacle. Include links to templates, resources and examples. Host the program on your website, or on a paid course platform such as Kajabi.Com
Create a Facebook group for your members to ask questions, interact and submit their work for feedback. People need community and they need allies working towards a common goal. They will actually get value from the other members as well as from you.
Host a weekly Q&A call and answer any questions your clients have, give them feedback on their work, and help them get results.
Keep scaling up.
What’s Next?
After your systems are all setup, find out what it feels like to have “Free time” again. I know it’s hard ; ), it you’re uncomfortable not being busy all the time, let’s talk and I’ll give you some good ideas.
Need help implementing this in your business?
