Selling Your Coaching

Before this class began (Tuesday, January 16, 2007) I felt like it was identical to the Foundation Class on The Trial Session. I was actually taking the two classes back to back and found that much of the reading material and exercises were the same….I was curious to see what the difference was going to be.

One topic of discussion was, how do you get the client to sign up after the Trial Session? Some of the things that were discussed with this were, give homework so you have a reason to follow up, have brochure available to give them about what you do and don’t be too pushy. I felt these were all good suggestions, as well as, just asking if they want coaching.

Another way to get people signed up from a Trial Session is “Pre-selling” – they are there because they have a problem to solve, they know what coaching is and they believe that you can help them. Give people an experience of who we are. One way that was brought up was by having little seminars or teaching sessions on a particular issue so that people are familiar with you, your style and your values. In a sense our Couple’s Conferences are this. We don’t have the conferences to generate clientele but rather clientele is generated as a result of the conferences.

I liked that we focused not on being random about who we give a Trial Session to, rather giving Trial Sessions to those who need/want it from you. There needs to be an element of trust already established. One way this occurs is through referrals. Referrals give you credibility and a bit of established trust.

I found that the difference in the two courses was that the Foundation class was focused on getting the experience as a coach whereas this class (Selling Your Coaching) was more focused on strategies for setting up a Trial Session – back end of marketing instead of leading your marketing. Not making it the focus or the goal but rather a tool.