You Don’t Have a Coaching Problem, You Have a Pipeline Problem

Show Notes

Most coaches at some point think that they have a coaching problem. They think they need a new niche. Maybe a new certification, a new offer. They need to niche down more. They need to be not as niched. Maybe it’s just not for them. This business is too high. Well guess what? You don’t have a coaching problem. You have a pipeline problem. You have an inconsistent flow of clients. That is your problem. Not your coaching problem. It’s not a lack of coaching skills. It’s not because you don’t know you tried. You are an amazing coach and you can do this.

Consistent Marketing Is The Key

Unfortunately, well, fortunately in some ways, you were spending 90% of your time delivering and only 10%, if that, of doing the sales or the marketing, or both. So it’s a very small percentage of what you are doing because you are paying a coach, you are paying an amazing coach, but you also need to be able to be a business owner, because unless you want to have somebody else doing it, which means that you are going to need to work for somebody else, you are not going to be able to work 90% of the time as a coach. That part of the work, being the business owner, and that part is bringing in the clients and having the marketing out there. So clients know that you can do this and that you have these offers and you have this wonderful service that people are looking for.

Unfortunately, for most of us, it’s not a case of just referral after referral coming in. We do have to go out there and let people know that we are a coach and the coaching industry doesn’t help, does it? Because it says build it and they will come. Just put up more points, just show up, let them find you. They will come. But no, that is noise, not strategy. You do actually have to have some strategy behind your marketing and your sales if you want it to be consistent, and that way you will be spending more of your time coaching because you will have the systems running so that you can have that consistent pipeline, that flow of clients coming to you all the time.

Email Marketing

As high performing coaches, we like to create transformation. But it’s the struggle with inconsistency that makes business hard, doesn’t it? So it’s a gap between your coaching skills and your client pipeline. And it’s not that your coaching skills aren’t good. They probably are amazing. In fact, I know they are amazing. It’s just getting the pipeline sorted as well.

The inconsistent marketing, the bank visible, and then hiring ghosting people because you haven’t got time to get back to that. That is what is making your business hard.

So you have to have a system set up to make it far easier. So it’s much more consistent. And email is an amazing way to do that, because you have already got your list, you have got the people that are waiting to hear from you, but you are trading it a bit like a ghost town and you are running the other way, and the dust is collecting, and people are maybe even forgetting why they are on that list in the first place.

When they do get something from you, that spasmodic thing that you suddenly think you are going to put out there, then they were wondering who were you and why are you there? So getting that growth infrastructure so that you don’t have to hustle is really important.

I actually created a webinar that I’m doing and it’s called the Email Item System so that it’s so much easier for you. If you are listening to this live and if you are listening to it later on go there anyway because there will be another webinar whether it’s on the same topic or something else, I’m sure it will add value. So check it out.

Show Up Consistently

So what do we need to do? We need to have a pipeline. We need to be visible so that we can attract the clients we need to. So show up with clarity and show your ideal clients that you are the business coach for them, or the white gloss coach or whatever other coaching you are doing. Because we all do something different with our coaching, but people do judge a book by the cover. And they do also look at your business skills. So if you are there one minute and gone the next, and then you pop back up again, people are just going to be a little bit worried about how you are going to be able to coach them as well. Because we like to know that we are going to deal with somebody who’s professional that we can know, like and trust. And being spasmodic, unfortunately, does not build that trust.

We have to keep showing up consistently and making sure that we are nurturing our potential clients as well, because some people that it’s great you get a referral, bang their client amazing, more innovative and an A council. But that doesn’t happen very often, does it?

Do It Properly

We have to be giving them those lead magnet sites, checklists for things that they need to do to start to get into our ecosystem, start to get into our world, to understand the way we talk and what it is that they potentially could be buying. Because it is like you know, like and trust. We need to educate them and quite often they don’t even realise what their problem is. So if we can articulate it better than they can, then that is amazing as well. And that comes across as clear and confident. And it doesn’t sound salesy or create pressure, because that’s one of the things that we worry about. Are we going to annoy our audience? Are they actually looking for at emails? Well, they certainly are. And when done right, they can baits that breath of fresh air that they need, that amazing thing that they are looking for.

So making sure that you are doing it the right way, that you are adding some value, you are creating that trust and you are nurturing them. And then remembering, of course, to make the offer to invite, to do that little bit of sales.

Think BIG

So being a successful coach, you have to think like a CEO, not just a freelancer. You have to put some investment into some of these things and having a pipeline system, an email item is an amazing way to put that investment in and make sure that you are getting three, four, ten times back, because of the clients that are now coming to you and the lack of stress as well, not having to worry about where your next client’s going to be because you’ve got that consistent flow.