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Do you still constantly struggle with making your coaching business work? Do you experience one, or all of the following?
- I have invested a lot in running my coaching business, but I still don’t know how I could grow my income rapidly.
- I have booked a coaching program and followed everything it said, but I am still trapped in old-fashioned coaching business strategies that do not work as expected.
- I have given up my previous career entirely to run my dream job as a business consultant, but now I do not earn what I deserve.
- I have traded a high-paid income as a professional in my previous company with a low-ticket program and a “paid by the hour” system as a coach. This is not what I’ve imagined when I first started.
- I assumed I would have a lot more free time to do what I wanted if I had my own business, but now I am trapped with long working hours and serving too many clients just to meet my target income.
If your answer is ‘Yes’ to one or more of the statements above, it may be time to change your business strategies entirely. I will share my journey with one of my clients, James, who once walked the same path as you. Let’s learn from James’ case study on how to grow a coaching business from our partnership.
Meet James—and all his plans
My client, James, is a business coach and strategist. He is an incredible person who made great sales, and business growth for his previous company; however, James decided to resign from his corporation to build his consulting business and spend more time with his family.
As a curious person, he loved to learn. He even tried all the latest “tips and tricks” constantly being sold on social media with the hope that he could reap what he sowed. He invested a great deal of money — almost six-figures — into methods that did not work. He wrote a book, and became a ‘best-selling author,’ launched a course — named all the ‘tips and tricks,’ and James had tried them. James said meeting me was his last attempt to make his entrepreneurial dreams work before he had to return to office life and a new job.
Our partnership worked well for James and his consulting business. After working together for a few weeks, he generated $92K in sales. You may wonder how we did it. This is how:
“James already had experience and expertise in his field. What was missing was that he needed an understanding of how to translate his genius into a lucrative coaching business—and he had to do it quickly to transform his situation.”
You must be curious about the journey we went through to achieve that extraordinary number in a short time. Before I list down the transformational efforts James made using our program, I need to explain some potential pitfalls of entering the coaching and consulting business world. This explanation will help you realize how traditional online coaching business models may not work for you.
The pitfalls for any coaching and consulting business
Many coaches and consultants have a corporate background. They are experts in their respective fields; however, the transition from the corporate world to entrepreneurship can be overwhelming. Those who quit corporate jobs to run their coaching and consulting businesses may fall into one of these two categories: the lifestyle-coaching model or the course-creation model.
Let us dig deeper into why your coaching business may not grow by applying the two traditional models.
The problem with the lifestyle-coaching model
The first myth about how to grow an online coaching business successfully is by showing off a luxurious lifestyle. You are probably familiar with a coaching advertisement selling a ‘work from your laptop and travel the world’ program. Choosing this model means you must compete with similar coaches and consultants who attempt to get people’s attention by selling your ‘lifestyle.’
I understand that for some people like James, and probably you, this way of promoting a program to the entry-level ‘new coaches’ market does not suit you well. Others like James think that their expertise, skills, and professionalism in serving eight to nine-figure companies and solving much bigger problems should not be translated into a service that only shows a superficial lifestyle. Ironically, a coaching program that uses this model is typically sold for around $3,000-$5,000 which is not large enough to afford all the luxury depicted in the ads.
Those who are used to solving complex problems may resist the ‘lifestyle-coaching model’ as they have more sophisticated marketing and sales language. Therefore, they struggle to dumb down what they know, and fail to deliver the message in a way that serves the entry-level market.
The downside of the course-creation business model
Many clients have tried the second model of offering courses and memberships. This model takes a lot of time to create because you must spend hours writing content, creating funnels, developing email sequences, building membership sites, recording materials, and many other tasks. In the end, you still need traffic.
If you do not have followers, you must spend thousands of dollars driving traffic to your course. Not only does paid advertising cost a lot, but it also requires hard work and sophisticated strategies. This is why many course creators fail to monetize what they have created. Unless you are a digital marketing expert and a savvy copywriter, selling your program using this model will be challenging.
Generally, when new clients come to me, they have already tried both models and failed. So, if these models are not the best, then what is?
A High-Ticket Coaching and Consulting Business
My experience and expertise show that a high-ticket offer is proven the best strategy to help coaches and consultants grow their businesses. With this particular model, I have helped clients reach their business goals like high revenue of up 6-figures or 7 figures in less time with fewer clients. With this strategy, business coaches and consultants can focus more on each client and help them immediately solve crucial and urgent problems.
A high-ticket program charges a premium of five to six-figure services to clients. Creating this model enables you as a coach to pay more attention to each of your client’s specific needs and problems which also means that you give them more time and value. In exchange, they will pay a large sum for your services.
“If you want to make money quickly and work with incredible clients, remember this: Market to those who need their problem solved right now and who have money to invest to solve their problem quickly.”
Because successful business owners are extremely busy, they do not have time to watch your webinar. They want to connect with someone who understands how to solve their problems immediately. If you target this high-end market, you can easily target a stranger and enroll them in a $50K program. No funnel. No ads. No webinar. No ‘best-selling’ book.
How I Transformed James’ Coaching Business from Zero to Half a Million a Year
Growing a business from scratch is not an easy task; however, with James or any other professional, as a client, I have the confidence that they can do it. With his background and expertise, he is a real rock star. What he needed was to find the right market for his high-quality services.
His knowledge and experiences went far over the heads of the entry-level market he was initially going after. From the beginning, I noticed that James’ genius was more aligned with more prominent companies where he could go in and help rework their sales and growth strategies.
I will show you exactly how to help grow a coaching business.
First, Upgrade the Package
The first strategy was to change his package and pricing. We asked him to stop using the old models. He quickly learned that the ascension model is a myth—it is an outdated model. The idea that you start low with the hopes that one day one of your clients would jump into your higher program isn’t always effective for every person and business model.
If you sold a program for $197, and then you try to up-sell your clients into a $2,997 course once they were satisfied, then you expect them to buy your other course for $10,000. The reality is that, the possibility of someone purchasing your premium service with this method is very low. There is probably only about a 10% chance of clients willing to go into your high end programs. In the end, you must sell tons of your lowest priced program just to cover your bills.
If you target a higher-caliber coaching client who can pay say $50K for your program, they will rarely hire you via a $197 course. It means that your ideal client should see your value and have the resources to invest in you immediately. Rather than initiating from the bottom and going up to higher-paying clients, it is better to start at the top and go right for a high ticket.
“Forget selling information and focus on selling transformation.”
In James’ case, we started with a $62K package, then a $30K package, and eventually added a $10k package. We did this because we needed to inject cash flow into James’ business immediately. Yet, it is not merely selling an ultra-high-ticket package to your clients. You need a clear roadmap to get their desired results. You must have a ton of value built into your package and deliver your messages in an on-point way so that your $50K price tag seems reasonable to your clients.
Second, Positioning and Messaging
Positioning and messaging are a unified part of the overall sophisticated strategy to grow a coaching business from zero to six and seven figures. Most coaches and consultants fail to grow and sustain their businesses because they do not communicate their values effectively to their potential clients.
“Keep in mind that your messaging should eliminate everyone except your ideal client. Your ideal clients need to see you as the expert and the only person they want to help them solve their problems.”
Once James and I addressed this, he turned around and sold a $30,000 program in the following week. He then moved up and sold the $62K package. Eventually, he generated almost six figures in just four weeks. This is how you grow your coaching business.
He finally scaled up to half a million dollars in just 10 months. The model we teach changes everything. You gain the expert knowledge and skill set to:
● Attract qualified leads that see your value and have the ability to pay you tens of thousands or even six figures for your time.
● Be recognized as an expert in your industry.
● Attract clients who energize you and are ready to invest NOW.
● Have consistent cash flow and predictability in your income so you can create and enjoy the lifestyle you have dreamed of.
● Put the systems in place to scale your business to make more while working less.
My story with James is one of many incredible case studies of entrepreneurs we have helped skyrocket their impact and income. Book a call to know about how to sell and scale a high-ticket coaching package. Share your challenges in the comment section below, I would love to hear your story!
