SO last week I sent you an email talking about how you should never actually coach someone on a consultation call.
I belaboured the fact that if you did, you were doing them a total disservice as often what happens is that they take that small piece of coaching and run with it, thinking that THAT was all they needed to get away from their pain and out of discomfort.
And we know that what they think is their problem is really just the tip of the iceberg!
They think if they can just solve this one thing, then they will be fixed…
Meanwhile, the rest of the iceberg lurks beneath the waterline. 😉
Our job and our duty to our potential clients on that consultation call is not to amaze them with how great we are at coaching, but to show them how much they need to be coached!
And then, at the very end of the email, I said, ‘Oh but wait, there is one time and one time only when you should coach on a consultation.'
And then I signed off.
Cruel I know…
To leave you hanging for a week like that…
But I'm going to rectify that now.
But first, I need to introduce a concept to you that I learned from Taylor Welch, co-owner of one of the fastest growing online businesses currently out there. (He and his partner Chris Evans have gone from zero to multiple businesses doing multiple 6, 7 and even 8 figures in a few short years.)
Right, so Taylor talks about a concept called The Buyer's Pocket.
You see, your job on your consultation call is not to coach, it is to create a vacuum between the version that the person is now, and the one that they want to be.
Right in the middle of these two versions sits The Buyer's Pocket.
This is where that person has to be to get them to commit to buy.
If they are too close to version one, THE NOW, they don't actually believe that they can get to version two.
If they are too close to version two, they don't think they need your help.
THE ONLY REASON YOU SHOULD COACH SOMEONE ON A CONSULTATION CALL IS TO GET THEM INTO THAT BUYER'S POCKET!!!
If you can tell by talking to them that they don't believe they are capable, you can coach them a little so that they know that they are.
Now I'm not talking about trying to solve their problem right there and then…
I'm talking about just letting them know that the only thing stopping them is the thought that they can't do it.
For example, I coached a lady a couple of weeks ago who confessed during the call that she secretly thought that ‘she was broken'. That there was something inherently wrong with her that was stopping her from having success.
I knew that that was a limiting belief I had to dispel right then and there, or she would never have been able to commit to buy because of her fear over wasting the money and not making it work because she was broken.
I was able to show her that it was not her that was broken, but just that she was not doing the right things, and just like that she was back in the Buyer's Pocket and became a client.
Being too close to version two shows up with them being overly arrogant, wanting to tell you how amazing they are, and just generally not appearing to need help…
Which is interesting when you consider that they hopped on the call in the first place.
Here you have 3 options:
- If you can tell that they are just about to make it and that they probably don't need help, wish them luck and don't make them an offer.
- If you can see that they really do need help, knock them back into the Buyer's Pocket. Challenge them on why they are there if things are so amazing, and point out all the things they need help with.
- Choose not to work with them. Good chance they will not be coachable.
Remember that you are building a business you want to work in, so don't close people you don't want to work with.
You have the power. (Said with the ‘I've got the Power' soundtrack ringing in my head. 😉 )
Right, so I hope you see now that the only reason you should coach someone on a consultation call is to get them to the point where they can see that with your help they can overcome their problems, and without it, they are doomed to stay stuck where they are.
In your corner,
Donna Joy
P.S. I'm working on something amazeballs to help struggling coaches turn their free consultations into a client-generating system. SO if you are struggling to close clients into your business and would love help getting it done, respond to this email with an, ‘I'm interested,' and I'll send you the details.
