Lessons learned after 1 year of focusing on 1:1 clients
A year ago, I flipped my business model to focus on 1:1 coaching. I knew it meant saying goodbye to some clients and essentially starting over from what I had already built in a year. I'm not saying it was easy, but WOW has it been worth it.
Here's my two (..or five) cents based off my journey:
This is going to sound very “live, laugh, love”, but you need to be BOLD. To sell bigger packages, you need to go out with a bang. You don’t have to be “salesy” but you DO need to sell. Sell often. And sell BOLDLY. You are confident in what you do- prove it. Show me why I need to hire you without telling me I need to hire you (because I will not listen to any of that).
Stop spending other people’s money. You’re worried about finding the people who understand the value in investing in your offer, but you might be going at it the wrong way. I know very well-off people who are so incredibly cheap. I also know people who are very intentional about their purchases and understand investing in quality over quantity.
Payment plans do not mean lower quality clients. I get a lot of questions about whether or not someone should offer payment plans for their programs and here’s my two cents; I haven’t had any issues getting payments in a LONG time. You know what helped? Better boundaries, contracts, and never starting work for free (full disclosure, I have started offering 15 minute chats prior to booking packages, but I do NOT coach, provide advice, or do anything I would otherwise be paid to do in that call).
If you aren’t getting the “quality” of client you’re looking for, charging a higher price isn’t the way to go. Some of the most difficult clients I’ve had have been the ones who have paid me the most money 😅. I would recommend 1 of 2 things. 1- develop a system where people aren’t able to just “add to cart”, whether it’s a sales call, application, or some sort of prerequisite. 2- Communicate WHO you’re looking to work with and your EXPECTATIONS of them. If your messaging is aligning with broke college kids who don’t respect you, don’t be surprised when that’s who slides in your program. You don’t have to be rude or authoritative to be direct.
Don’t be so attached to the outcome. I’ve made changes to my business that I never saw myself doing from the beginning, but it feels SO good to be open to exploring what feels good in my business. I swore I'd never offer Done-For-You services, but stay tuned 👀
I invite you to let go of all the things you think you should be doing.
When you picture your happiest, most successful self, what does that look like? What are you doing on a daily basis? Who are you working with? Write it down.
It’s proven that when you write things down, you’re more likely to actually make those things happen.