The secret to selling for coaches isn’t selling yourself, but empowering those around you to sell for you.
So how do you do that? You might not feel like the most natural salesperson (in fact, you might even dread the thought of it), but after reading this blog post I really hope you come away feeling prepared and ready to start getting more business.
And trust me, you’ll wonder why you dreaded it at all.
Do The Best Job You Can as a Coach
The most important thing is that you’re able to do an extraordinarily good job with whoever it is you get to work with. So much so that the results will be so overwhelming that people start noticing an amazing transformation in your client.
Then they’ll all want to know – where did they get those results from and how can they achieve the same?
It’s all too easy to get distracted by sales and marketing pressures, but above all, you need to do outstandingly good work with your clients. You can’t sell or market something you can’t guarantee will deliver, which is why it’s so important to keep your focus on doing the best you can as a coach.
Don’t let the pressure to sell or market get in the way of your real focus: your clients. If you can deliver the very best to each and every client you work with, you’ll soon see that ripple effect coming full circle for you.
And the more happy clients you help, the more chance you have of them recommending you to others. Word of mouth is pretty powerful, and it’s why referrals are such an important part of getting sales for so many coaches.
The secret to selling for coaches all flow from you doing your best work.
Empower Your Coaching Clients
The first secret to selling for coaches? As we touched on above, you ultimately want to empower your client to refer people to you. Motivating them through referral schemes can be a great way to do this, which might mean giving them a commission on the sale or a discount off the back of any sales that come from introductions.
This will really incentivise your clients to sell for you, and creates a scenario that is mutually beneficial for both of you. People trust people. This is why referrals are usually pretty successful; think about how often you ask others for recommendations when investing in something. Positive social proof is a powerful addition to your selling toolkit as a coach.
Network with Other Coaches
Here’s the second secret of selling for coaches: look at those around you who are doing similar work to you. Keep an eye out for those who can recognise and appreciate how well you do your work.
These are the people that are primed to make introductions for you.
Of course, the first thing you’ll want to do is to let them know. This could mean having a simple conversation with them, telling them: “Hey, I would love you to make introductions for me.”
Remember that networking is about give and take. This is why incentives can work in this scenario too – for example, you could give them a commission on those introductions. It might feel scary at first to ask for something, but a lot of people don’t know whether or not to make an introduction until you say it.
And the truth is, a lot of people really like to feel like they’re helping. This is why having those conversations is really important. It’s about communicating well and taking proactive steps to get things moving, rather than sitting and hoping an introduction will happen by chance.
Complementing Organisations
The third secret I have found over the years is complementing organisations.
For example, I once had a client who was a physiotherapy coach. It made a huge sense for him to partner up with local yoga studios and gyms. Note that he wasn’t selling. He did a complimentary deal with gyms and yoga studios and they sold for him. He knew that he could reach the most relevant audience by finding them right at their most likely point of need.
Your work will always provide a benefit to a specific group of people, who are usually your most ideal clients. These are the ones you are targeting in your marketing and sales efforts. So why not pair up with organisations who have direct contact with them?
Ask yourself: what are you offering? Where does what you’re offering cross over with another business? Where could you build a relationship that will funnel people towards you?
You’ve probably noticed this in gyms, where fitness coaches might put on offers for members of a certain gym and train within that space with them. This way, there’s a benefit for you (new client), a benefit for the client (discount) and a benefit for the gym too (client retention).
Trust the Process of Selling for Coaches
These are the three main secrets to selling that every coach glosses over, or doesn’t realise the potential of. You’ve probably seen plenty of tips on cold outreach or marketing tips, for example, but making current business relationships work for you can really give you the edge when it comes to selling.
And it’s far less daunting, too.
Most people get distracted with their website, their social media, their advertising. And these areas can be clunky and complicated, with a pretty steep learning curve when you’re just starting out.
However, when it comes to people, it’s a totally different story. People work with people and like attracts like.
Good business people are good at connecting – this is where the kinesis happens. If you can frame deals and incentives around this, you’ll really start to notice things flow.
Have you read anything that speaks to you here, or that you’d like to try? Don’t hesitate to send me a message and we can see what work we can do together.
The secret to selling for coaches is already closer than you think.