1 Simple, NOT Simple, Thing Health Coaches Need To Do to Land Paying Clients
A coach recently said to me, "I have succeeded in marketing and sales my whole career. Why is it so hard to sell health coaching?"
There’s a tiny detail that somehow gets missed when talking about the business side of health coaching in our training programs . . .
Selling health coaching is not the same as selling any other product or service.
It lacks the tangibility and immediate feel-good gratification of other wellness inducing investments like a good book, a fun dinner out with friends, or a relaxing, warm stone massage.
As health coaches, we often work tucked comfortably in our home offices where chances are slim that clients will stumble upon our services and ask to learn more.
And, when people do scroll upon us and our offerings through the typical, algorithm-laden social media channels . . . unlike knowing the purpose of a good set of kitchen knives on display at Williams Sonoma, they look at us and wonder what we actually do!
Not to Mention the Pesky Stages of Change Theory
There’s also good science behind our struggle to fill our calendars with paying clients.
While we are poised to work with clients at various stages of change around the pain points in their lives, when it comes to making an investment in health coaching—your POTENTIAL clients are most likely in pre-contemplation . . .
“Health coaching? What is that?” (lack of awareness around the benefits of our service)
“I don’t need a health coach . . . I just need to stop ________________ !” (lack of awareness around their need for our service)
“It is what it is . . . life is tough and I just gotta keep going.” (a little bit of dig-your-heels-in denial)
Let’s face it, there’s a fair amount of consumer education that still needs to happen in our field until people wake up one morning and say, “I need a health coach” the same way they definitively declare, “I need a cup of coffee!”
And your teeny, tiny, free call to action, “Book a call now!,” is still a call to action.
What feels small, inviting, and clickable to you, feels like pressing the nuclear button on the comfiness of status quo to those in the earliest stages of change!
Leaning In Is Our Only Option
Don’t take my word for it . . .
Steve Chandler and Rich Litvin boldly proclaim in their book, The Prosperous Coach, “no sale will happen outside of a conversation.”
Let’s be honest . . . that’s not music to our ears. Can’t we just pump up the posting on our Instagram page and let that do the trick?
When I ask coaches how comfortable they are reaching out to people and inviting them into a discovery or clarity call (translation—sales call), I hear a choir of coaches singing in unison:
“Not comfortable at all. I know I need to get better at that and become more confident talking to people about my coaching services.”
The Chandler/Litvin challenge, as I am going to call it, reinforces the Tim Ferris quote I shared in my most popular post to date, Don’t Do That . . . Do This . . . After Passing Your Health Coach Board Exam
What we fear most is usually what we most need to do.
It beckons, no directs, us to spend less time incognito on social media, broadcasting to the masses in search of warm leads, and more time proactively cultivating 1-on-1 opportunities to enter into meaningful, generative conversations with real people in our target population.
It is within these conversations we can offer what individuals in the early stages of change need most to move their readiness needle—self-awareness around need and importance, greater understanding of how the solution (health coaching) works, and the transformational experience of MI Spirit and coaching presence that defines the service we are selling.
You Have All You Need
When you read and consider the advice that’s out there around marketing and sales, you realize very quickly that skilled health coaches, like yourself, are uniquely positioned to crush the sales call.
We have a golden toolbox of person-centered skills sales managers would die for on their team—the ability to ask good questions, lead with curiosity, listen skillfully, evoke needs and desires, identify pain points, uncover deeper, more compelling motivations, and—above all—foster trust, build rapport, and spark the quality of connection that builds relationship from the very first touchpoint.
Recognizing you have all you need to show up authentically in the sales process (and not sound salesy) can help you step more confidently into your professional identity, become more visible in the space, and proactively invite people into wellness conversations.
Where the Rubber Meets the Road
The nature of coaching, the newness of our field, and the fact that people are just not as ready for health behavior change as they are to enjoy their favorite Starbucks drink, means that skillful 1-on-1 conversations are our ticket to landing paying clients.
As one coach put it during a recent lightbulb moment, “It’s where the rubber meets the road.”
The good news is . . . it is time well-spent regardless if the answer is yes, no, or maybe-so.
There is a golden opportunity in EVERY human interaction with a potential client to better understand their unique needs and pain points and flex your service, pricing, and value-adds to create a better product.
There is a golden opportunity in EVERY human interaction to build greater clarity and confidence in yourself in guiding and facilitating your discovery calls.
Most of all, there is a golden opportunity in EVERY human interaction to show up as a coach and get better at coaching so that when you do land a paying client, you have the skill and confidence to deliver the goods.
Who’s Up for the Chandler/Litvin Challenge?
If it’s true that “no sale will happen outside of a conversation,” who’s up for a little community challenge?
For the next few weeks, set an intention to invite more people, potential clients, and practice subjects into conversation around your health coaching services and offerings.
Choose a number between 1 and 3 (you can wait to read more before you decide!)
Each day, when you sit down and put on your health coach business hat, before you do anything else, reach out to that number of people and personally invite them into a conversation or discovery call with you—it could be a text, a call, a personalized email, a DM, a LinkedIn message (you can message me!)
If you have a calendar link, be sure to include it to make it as easy as possible to say yes. (If you don’t have a calendar link or way to meet—that might be a key missing piece in your sales process.)
It doesn’t matter if they take you up on it or not—it is a courageous first step to begin integrating proactive outreach into your sales process. You get full credit, if you reach your daily goal, regardless of the outcome.
Imagine they accept . . . maybe they do accept! Consider the following: How can you navigate the conversation with the purpose of providing a safe and supportive space for them to share what is important to them about their health and wellbeing? How can you listen intentionally and embody coaching presence? How can you align your value proposition with what they desire, need, and want more of in their life? How could you elevate importance and a sense that “the time is now?”
Check in with yourself and ask how comfortable you felt/feel sharing the details of your program and pricing, if appropriate.
Take some notes on how it worked out. Talk it out with a coaching colleague and strategize opportunities to improve. Then, rinse and repeat.
Let’s do it! Drop an intention with your target number in the comments and we’ll all hold space for each others’ commitment to this intention.
As always, I’d love to hear how it goes and support your efforts to launch, find, and land clients that help your business thrive. Schedule a “Coach’s Corner Call” with me and tell me more!
Schedule a pro bono session here: Coach’s Corner Session
Lean In Prompt: What Can You Learn From Your Body of Work?
Scrolling through your past often reveals signposts that confirm you’re on the right path.
I stumbled upon this image from an ACE (American Council on Exercise) video shoot, maybe 8-10 years ago, where I was “acting” as a health coach to demonstrate the unique qualities of partnership that show up in conversation. It was the genesis of pivoting to “the client is the expert” approach for many fitness professionals like myself.
It reminded me that engaging one-on-one has always been my “lane,” along with writing, teaching, and supporting fitness, wellness and now, health coaching professionals to live into their own unique passion and skillset.
I’m curious . . . if you were to scroll through your “body of work” from pictures, to jobs, to writings, to creative endeavors—what would be common themes, places where the energy rises, roles you took on that felt like home?
What if you used those signposts to guide your journey to launch and grow your health coaching practice? They are often indicators of right-path, heart-aligned decision making.
I’d love to know what comes up for you!
Resources! How Can I Help?
I recently consolidated my Lean In To Launching resources in one post for easy access—but don’t wait until you are at whits end!
My work with coaches has demonstrated that you CAN tame the feeling of overwhelm, gain clarity around your service offerings and marketing approach, and step confidently into your identity as a coach to build the coaching practice you envision.
Note! If this post got you thinking about your need to become more confident, comfortable and successful at 1-to-1 calls with potential clients, that’s exactly what my new CE offering is all about. Read more here:
New CE Course! Ditch the Pitch: How to Use Engagement Marketing to Grow Your Health Coaching Business
If reaching out to potential clients with the elevator pitch you crafted and practiced in your coach training program feels scaaaaary, sale-sy, and simply way out of your comfort zone, I’ve got you covered!
My NBHWC 2.0 CE approved course offers a unique and innovative framework for engaging potential clients around what you do and the value of your services. (Think about what it would feel like to lead impactful discovery calls that land paying clients!) The course work and 1-on-1 strategy session included will help you market your coaching services with more clarity, confidence, consistency and enjoyment.
What a concept!
Find the full description on the board website in the CE Course Directory: Ditch the Pitch: How to Use Engagement Marketing to Grow Your Health Coaching Business
Purchase the course directly from my Lean In To Coaching Learning Center:
Ditch the Pitch: How to Use Engagement Marketing to Grow Your Health Coaching Business
Thanks for Stopping By!
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Onward!
Meg
Thank you for this post! It’s super helpful and reminds me that I have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable when it comes to putting myself out there.