30 | How can I sell a programme as that's not coaching?

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Hello and welcome to Women in

the Coaching Arena podcast.

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I'm so glad you are here.

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I'm Jo Lott, a business mentor

and ICF accredited coach

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

and I help coaches to

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build brilliant businesses.

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I know that when you prepare to enter

the arena, there is fear, self doubt,

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comparison, anxiety, uncertainty, shame.

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You can tend to armor up and

protect yourself from vulnerability.

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In this podcast, I'll be sharing

honest, not hype, practical and

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emotional tools to support you to make

the difference that you are here for.

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Dare greatly.

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You belong in this arena.

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Welcome to the 30th episode of

women in the coaching arena.

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I am so glad you are here.

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Today's episode has been inspired

by some conversations and

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comments on my previous posts.

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So Rachel, thank you.

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And Charlie, thank you very much

for mentioning this episode.

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I have designed this for you.

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So how can I sell a

signature coaching program?

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Because that's not pure coaching

and that's directive and it's

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against all of the rules.

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So I'm excited to share

this with you today.

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As I know, it's something that

holds many people back from actually

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being able to do that coaching.

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Because there is that huge

difference between the skill we

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know and how to actually sell it.

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So I will be digging into that today.

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Let's start by unpacking

the idea of pure coaching.

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Many of us during our coach training were

introduced to this concept of coaching as

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purely client driven and client directed.

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It's about asking the right

questions, guiding discovery,

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letting the client lead.

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And while this is a beautiful

transformational approach it often

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presents as a real challenge when

we try to market our services.

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And, most of us start out doing

exactly that, trying to say.

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Gosh come for coaching,

it's changed my life.

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And often this approach doesn't work.

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So why may that be?

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Because sending something

intangible and abstract.

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Is a little bit tricky.

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Let's talk about the market's

desire for tangibility.

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So think about it when a potential

client is looking for a solution

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they're often drawn to what they can

see, touch, or at least visualise.

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That you want to know that there

is a clear roadmap or path to

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that desired transformation.

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It gives them confidence in

the process and in you a coach.

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Where there is some sort of structure.

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A tangible offering.

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And they can see, okay.

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I can see if I did these things I

would be more likely to reach my goal.

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So it's not about diluting

the coaching process.

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But enhancing it.

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Because if you niche down, which

as you know, I talk about a lot.

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You will get really good at what you do.

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So for a career change you will know

that they need to know their values.

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They need to know their strengths.

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Like, I had never heard of values when

I was employed before I became a coach.

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And now clearly we talk

about them all day long.

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But, you know, people just don't know.

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I wouldn't have been able to

direct my own career session.

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Because if someone wasn't asking

me and exploring values with me

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and strengths with me, I would have

probably just gone round in circles.

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And I know that there is

different approaches, you know?

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Fair enough for a career change,

maybe you do need a more structured

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approach than maybe leadership

coaching, where they want to bring

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whatever challenges going on for them.

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So I do get, it's not a

one size fits all approach.

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But if you are parting with money,

we often want to know that we are

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likely to get the result that we want.

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So if a holiday company, for example,

was just saying, come for a holiday.

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We want to know, well, like

where am I going to be staying?

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What sort of things go on there?

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Is there a beach nearby?

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We want to know these things,

so we can visualize what that

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holiday will look and feel like.

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And then maybe we will

purchase that holiday.

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So it's the same with

people and your coaching.

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If you are just selling coaching.

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They just can't see how that's going to

help them feel the way they want to feel.

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And we buy to get a feeling.

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So that is what we want to

promote in our marketing.

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So before I get too far into that, let's

talk about the essence of coaching now.

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So at its core, coaching is about

empowerment, discovery, transformation.

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And guess what these principles

can absolutely be integrated

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into a structured program.

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It's about guiding your

clients through a journey.

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Giving them the tools and strategies

they need while also still allowing that

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space for personal reflection and growth.

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For example, when I was doing

career coaching and I sold

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it as a program as such.

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I had no worksheets, no videos.

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literally was showing up doing

a normal coaching call when

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they were in the front door.

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So if you've been in my world for

a while, you know, I have what I

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call my Front Door Niche Navigator.

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We need to nail their front door.

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The thing that they actually want.

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When they're in the front door.

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Yes, we can show them the back door.

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We can go round the mindset, the

confidence, all the things that we know

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they need to really achieve that goal.

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So you don't need to have all of this

fancy stuff if you've got a program.

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Lots of people think, oh my

gosh, well, I need to record

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some videos and have the portal.

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You don't need any of that.

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You can just show up going, looking

at our plan, we're due to to

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cover your strengths today, but

what's going on for you right now?

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And then they might

say, do you know what?

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I've got an interview tomorrow

and that's what I need to cover.

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And then you say, great.

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Okay.

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You just run a normal coaching session.

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So it doesn't mean that you ignore what

the client wants and needs at that moment.

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Remembering all along, this is their goal.

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You have designed this

with their goal in mind.

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So it's not like you are forcing

someone to look at their strengths

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when they don't want the career change.

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They have come to you, perhaps

because they do on that career change.

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Therefore knowing this strengths is a

logical step to be able to change career.

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Let's move on to crafting

a marketable program.

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So how do we craft a

program that resonates.

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Firstly clarity is key.

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We need to be specific about the

outcome that your clients can expect.

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And then we want to ensure that

your program speaks directly

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to that needs and desires.

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So again, this is all with them

in mind is not dictated by you.

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You are just helping them to achieve

their goal that is where they want to go.

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That's why they have signed up with you.

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So it kind of is still self-directed

because they have that goal.

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They are signing up because they

want some support to reach that goal.

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It's not about a one

size fits all approach.

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It's about providing that roadmap that

can be tailored to each individual.

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You are not going to force

somebody to discuss something if

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they didn't want to discuss it.

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You are just saying here are some

logical steps that I have seen work

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for my clients to reach your goal, but

you are going to blend your approach

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with that personal coaching, to

whoever that client wants at the time.

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This is especially easy when you

are doing one-to-one coaching.

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Fair enough when you were doing

group coaching, you may need to

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think about a different approach.

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But certainly for one-to-one coaching

you will be allowing them to lead

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the way for what's going on for them.

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Let's talk about balancing that structure

with that flexibility a bit further.

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So here is the magic source.

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Blending structure with flexibility.

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So you are going to create a program

that offers a clear structure.

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yet it remains adaptable

to individual client needs.

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It's worth saying that when someone

comes to join you, yes, they might

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want to change career at that time.

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And then as we know things change.

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They may not change career.

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I had a message from an amazing

client yesterday who has finally

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changed jobs after our career change

program, which was two years ago.

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So he's still super grateful.

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He's like my gosh, I finally

got the job of my dreams.

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But, you know, sometimes things take

longer than we think, or, you know, he had

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two children, so he needed the stability.

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He got a promotion.

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He changed roles within his current work.

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There were loads of reasons why he

didn't change career within that really

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short time scale that he thought he

wanted to when he signed up with me.

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So I think it's about always remembering.

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This is the front door.

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They are coming to me because

they have this problem.

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And as we know, life is not

linear and things will change.

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Your job is to just guide

them along the journey.

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Reminding them, this was your goal.

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Where are we at with this now?

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Recreating that goal.

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And just working with them where they are.

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So essentially it is coaching.

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So the goal, isn't always the goal.

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For example, if someone was to join a

gym, they may join the gym to get fit.

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But actually they were just

really lonely and they needed

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to make friends and meet people.

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So maybe they'll gain friendship

and meet people rather than

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get fit from joining that gym.

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And that's fine because actually

the goal wasn't always the goal, the

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problem isn't always the problem.

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So all we need to do is take

them along the journey, guiding

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them to their desired results.

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Using your amazing coaching skills.

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Don't worry if they don't get

the result that they want.

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Because the result that

they want will change.

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And it's still the result that they want.

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That person didn't know they

needed the friendship more

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than they needed to get fit.

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I have never found anybody that has worked

with me, despite whether they get the

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result I want them to get to complain.

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So as I say, that person has

messaged me going, oh my gosh, I

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still think about our sessions.

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Thank you so much.

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I finally changed jobs.

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I've got this job, which was

the absolute dream I painted

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in our session two years ago.

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He's not like furious

that it's taken two years.

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Cause he knows that he went on a journey.

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And I went along with him.

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And met him where he was

at every single week.

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And even some of my

business coaching clients.

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For example, I had a card once

from someone that was in my

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business coaching program.

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And she said.

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I'd love to read it to you.

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I wish I knew where it was.

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She said something like I know

you don't think, but I got the

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result that you wanted me to get.

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Because compared to everybody

else in the program, who's

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getting all of these clients.

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I know I haven't done that.

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But this has been a

life-changing process for me.

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And joining your program.

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Has helped me discover who I am.

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Overcome so many limiting beliefs.

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I've learnt so much.

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I've met the most amazing people.

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And now, yes, 18 months after

joining my program she's gained

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several corporate clients.

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But it wasn't in the timescale that I

perhaps once it had to achieve it and

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she perhaps wanted her to achieve it

when she first came in that front door.

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Because she didn't know that she had

all of the blocks about the visibility.

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And the money mindset and all of the

things that came up along her journey.

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So I think we just need to realize that

we can support people where they are at.

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Most people are reasonable people and

know that if they haven't reached their

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goal it's probably because something

has happened in their life that is

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currently hindering that progress.

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And you will be helping them and guiding

them every single step of the way.

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Let's talk about selling

your program with confidence.

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So if you are feeling a twinge of guilt

or resistance about moving away from pure

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coaching, Let's address this head on now.

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So it is essential to believe in the

value and transformation of your program

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offers when you are confident in your

offering that energy is palpable.

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And it makes selling so much easier.

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Remember, it's about facilitating

a profound transformation.

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And if a structured program helps your

client to see the benefit of signing up

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to coaching with you then it's a win-win.

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I talked about embracing

evolution in coaching and episode

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28, if you want to hear more.

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I discussed that the coaching industry,

like any other industry is evolving.

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So we are seeing a rise

of hybrid coaching models.

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Blending traditional methods with

new approaches and that's okay.

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In fact it's more than, okay.

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It's super exciting.

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It's about adapting and innovating to

meet the changing needs of our clients.

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If you want to bring in.

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Public speaking skills into your coaching.

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Someone that was just talking to

right now used to be an actor so

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she knows a lot about communicating.

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She wants to bring that into a coaching,

but she's kind of holding back thinking.

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I just need to do this coaching

thing, because this is what I

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learned at coach training school.

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And I think just like every other

school that we go to, it's not always as

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straightforward as coach training school.

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Life is messy.

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And sometimes people might need help

with something in a different way to

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what you learn in coach training schools.

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I believe we need to be able to deliver

what people need at that moment.

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To work with our clients to

figure out what could be most

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helpful for them at the time.

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I thought it was quite interesting

when I did my ILM level seven in

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executive coaching and mentoring.

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That actually there wasn't much

difference in the mentoring section.

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It was pretty much a coaching

session, allowing the person

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to explore at the beginning.

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And then at the end, you could say,

would you like me to share my experience?

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And then you can share your experience,

but you've still allowed that

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person to explore where they're at.

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Make their own decisions guide their way.

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So maybe it's about what we title

things rather than calling it coaching

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if that makes you feel uncomfortable,

maybe it's a mentoring program.

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Like my program is definitely

a mentoring program.

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There is a knowledge gap.

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So there's no point me going around

trying to help someone explore how they

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could market their coaching if they've

got no idea how to market coaching.

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So maybe you want to create a

mentorship program or maybe you want

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to innovate in some way to ensure that

your clients get what they came for.

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So as we finish up today's episode,

I want to leave you with a thought.

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Reflect on your unique strengths

and how you can package them

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into a sellable program.

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The ultimate goal remains the same.

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Facilitating profound transformations

in your client's lives.

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So, whether that is through pure

coaching or a structured program,

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choose the path that allows you to

do the work that you are here for.

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Thank you for joining me today.

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If this episode resonated, I

would love to hear your thoughts.

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Took me a line on LinkedIn.

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Or Instagram.

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Please do take time to scroll

down and leave me a review.

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It means so much to me

and to the algorithm.

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So I will be eternally grateful.

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As I say, at the end of every

episode, trust yourself, believe

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in yourself and be the wise Gardner

who keeps on watering the seed.

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Thank you so much for listening to this

episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

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I have a mess of free resources on

my website joannalottcoaching.com.

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That's Joanna with an A

and Lott with two T's.

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joannalottcoaching.com.

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And I'll also put links in the show notes.

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Let me know if you found

this episode useful.

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Share it with a friend and

leave me a review, and I will

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personally thank you for that.

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Remember to trust yourself, believe

in yourself and be the wise Gardner

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who keeps on watering the seed.

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Get into the arena dare, greatly and try.