Latest / Burning Brightly / 116. 7 Biggest Mistakes Coaches Make When Creating a Coaching Program

Transcript

116. 7 Biggest Mistakes Coaches Make When Creating a Coaching Program · Burning Brightly

• 0:00
  My friends, your coaching will evolve.
• 0:01
  Your program will evolve.
• 0:03
  It will all get better as you go, but it can't get better until you take action.
• 0:07
  This is my calling card as a coach.
• 0:09
  I'm always telling people to take more action.
• 0:12
  Stop thinking, stop planning, just go get the beta clients and try it out.
• 0:16
  Every single client you have is gonna make it better.
• 0:19
  There is no way that you could create a program today that would be perfect for all your clients.
• 0:24
  It's impossible.
• 0:25
  And so the only way to move forward is through.
• 0:30
  If you're a Latter-day Saint or another woman of faith feeling called to build a business, welcome.
• 0:34
  I'm Bonnie Wiscombe, and each week we'll combine faith and practical business strategy to help you answer that calling with confidence.
• 0:41
  This is Burning Brightly.
• 0:45
  Most coaches think that creating the actual coaching program is the hardest part of building their business, but it's actually pretty simple as long as you avoid a handful of mistakes I see coaches make over and over again that
• 0:54
  keep people from buying and from getting results.
• 0:57
  And I wanna make sure that you build the perfect coaching business for your clients.
• 1:01
  So let's dive in.
• 1:02
  Mistake number one, trying to help everyone with everything.
• 1:05
  As a coach, no matter what kind of coach you are, you know you wanna get people results.
• 1:09
  You wanna improve their life.
• 1:10
  You want them to walk away going, Oh my gosh, my life is so much better than before I worked with this person."
• 1:15
  But if your coaching transformation includes any of the following words, confidence, finding purpose, or living your best life, they are way too broad, all right?
• 1:25
  You need to get very, very specific and very concrete on who you're helping and what you're helping them with.
• 1:31
  You need to get crystal clear on three things, who you help exactly, what problem you help them solve, and what the result is that they get afterwards.
• 1:38
  Okay?
• 1:39
  Who, problem, result.
• 1:40
  For example, I help midlife women lose 50 or more pounds to bring down their insulin resistance.
• 1:46
  Who, problem, result Or I help CEO men Organize their to-do list so they sleep better at night.
• 1:52
  Who, problem, result.
• 1:54
  Do not try to help everyone with everything.
• 1:56
  You got to get really specific.
• 1:57
  All right, mistake number two, you don't have a clear enough framework.
• 2:00
  What do I mean by framework?
• 2:01
  I mean the structure to your program.
• 2:02
  There has to be some sort of a structure.
• 2:04
  It isn't just, I give you 12 coaching calls, and we sorta make some results.
• 2:08
  No.
• 2:08
  You have to solve one main problem through a repeatable process, so a process that you can do for this guy and this woman and this person over and over and over again.
• 2:17
  Now, does that mean they're always gonna be exactly the same every time you coach a different person?
• 2:20
  Of course not, 'cause people are different, and they struggle with different things even around the same problem, but you have to have a process that is repeatable.
• 2:26
  All I like to tell my clients to have three to seven steps in their framework.
• 2:30
  Anything fewer than three doesn't feel like a framework, and anything more than seven is really hard to remember or for your clients to grasp.
• 2:36
  And here's the crucial thing.
• 2:37
  You wanna make sure that your framework is different.
• 2:40
  Highlight what is different about yours versus your competitors'.
• 2:43
  For example, maybe you help lose weight without calorie counting.
• 2:46
  Okay?
• 2:46
  So your five steps would involve how they lose weight without counting calories, unlike Weight Watchers or Overhere that is requiring their clients to count calories.
• 2:55
  Or maybe you're helping people build a business without social media, so your five to six or seven steps would include everything they can do to get clients without ever getting on Instagram.
• 3:05
  Again, three to seven steps that help them get this result in a unique way.
• 3:09
  Mistake number three, building your course before you test it.
• 3:12
  My friends, everybody gets so excited about building their program and thinks, "I'm gonna make a bunch of videos or audio trainings and downloads and worksheets," except you haven't ever helped anybody with it yet, so how do you know
• 3:23
  it's actually gonna work?
• 3:24
  So do not spend months recording videos.
• 3:27
  Most of your clients won't even need half of it.
• 3:29
  You have to coach first Once you start coaching people, even if you don't have your framework nailed down or your coaching program perfectly laid out, you're going to learn how to ask better questions, You're gonna have better examples
• 3:40
  from these first few clients, right?
• 3:42
  You're gonna have a better order, better structure of your framework, and you're gonna create better lessons for them.
• 3:47
  So please, please, please test your program before you create any sort of evergreen or standalone content.
• 3:52
  Remember, we're not building a course, we are building results for people.
• 3:56
  So that mistake number three leads me into mistake number four, which is skipping beta clients.
• 4:00
  Please, make sure you have beta clients.
• 4:03
  What do I mean by that?
• 4:04
  I mean, a handful of clients that you're gonna coach either free or for a very reduced price to get experience and to make sure that you can help people and to get really clear on your framework on this
• 4:14
  program that you're creating, right?
• 4:16
  I recommend three to five clients, but more is even better.
• 4:19
  I just don't want you to get stuck coaching people for free forever because you're too scared to ask for money.
• 4:24
  Instead, what we're gonna do with these three to five clients is we're gonna create the simplest version of your program with these people, and then you're gonna ask them for testimonials after the fact.
• 4:32
  So obviously, you know you're new, you know you're testing out this program.
• 4:35
  That's why we're doing it for a discount, but we're going to watch really carefully where they struggle.
• 4:40
  Maybe you have your five or six steps, and you've noticed everybody starts to struggle on step number three, or maybe it's step number five.
• 4:45
  That's the really tricky one.
• 4:47
  Or some people struggle here, and other people struggle here, right?
• 4:49
  You're just gaining experience and knowing more about how your ideal clients struggle.
• 4:54
  You're gonna notice where they get stuck.
• 4:56
  You're gonna refine your framework, those three to seven steps.
• 4:58
  You're gonna get really, really clear on how to teach them.
• 5:01
  And then when you're done with those beta clients, you will have testimonials to use in your marketing forever.
• 5:06
  It's a win-win for both you and the client who gets a discounted transformation For me personally, my beta clients also helped me learn three different things.
• 5:14
  Coaching these people helped me figure out the length of my program.
• 5:16
  I quickly learned that six weeks was not enough for my people, but 12 weeks was just about right.
• 5:21
  I also figured out the pricing.
• 5:22
  By playing around with a couple of different prices with these beta clients, I was able to find a price where we were both comfortable and happy with what it cost and the results that we got.
• 5:31
  And then also the pacing.
• 5:33
  The more people you teach and the more people you coach, the better you're going to be at expanding and contracting your information and your coaching based on what the client struggles with.
• 5:41
  I'll give you my own personal example.
• 5:43
  Some people come to me with already an email list built, and they just want help creating their program and selling it.
• 5:49
  Great.
• 5:49
  I can skip my first few steps, which include creating a positioning statement and building an email list, right?
• 5:54
  Some people come to me with absolutely nothing.
• 5:56
  So now that I'm more experienced in coaching these people, I know how to start in the middle or to expand this area or that area, depending on what they need.
• 6:03
  Those beta clients are really critical.
• 6:05
  Side note, if you haven't had those first five clients yet and you want help getting them, download my free mini training in the description below.
• 6:12
  It's how to get your first five clients with zero technology or setup.
• 6:15
  All you need is a smartphone Next mistake, number five, making your program way too short or way too long, and sometimes giving people too much.
• 6:24
  Coaches almost always underestimate how much time it takes.
• 6:28
  Why?
• 6:28
  Because we're the expert, and we think, "Oh, it's not that big a deal.
• 6:31
  You just do X, Y, and Z, and then we're done."
• 6:33
  But we've already had our transformation, typically, in the thing that we're teaching, and we are good at it, and our clients are less so.
• 6:40
  So, we wanna make sure that we're giving them plenty of time to transform.
• 6:43
  But not too much, because if you start offering extra-long programs, people are gonna start thinking, "Oh my gosh, it's gonna take me forever make this transformation or to get this result.
• 6:51
  I don't wanna take that much time."
• 6:52
  So, you gotta find that kinda sweet spot between where it's too short and where it's so long they think they'll never get the result.
• 6:58
  In my experience with my clients, most of the programs that I see them build work really well between eight and 16 weeks.
• 7:04
  It's long enough for a transformation in just about any area, but it's also short enough to feel achievable.
• 7:10
  If you start offering something that takes six months or a year, they think, "Oh my gosh, forget it.
• 7:14
  That's gonna take way too long," even though we all know that in a year, they're still gonna be stuck with the same problem, again, those beta clients will help you determine the correct length.
• 7:21
  Go ahead and ask lots of questions of them.
• 7:23
  Say, "Did this feel too long?
• 7:24
  Too short?
• 7:25
  Would you have liked more support in a certain area?
• 7:27
  Please give me feedback."
• 7:29
  And remember, giving too much information is just as bad as making your coaching program drag out for too long.
• 7:36
  For example, more worksheets, more PDFs, more videos, more bonuses does not necessarily equal more value.
• 7:43
  Often, it just equals more confusion for your clients.
• 7:46
  Do not give them more work than they need to do.
• 7:49
  They don't need 47 video modules.
• 7:51
  They just need one next step.
• 7:54
  So even though in your mind you might be thinking, "Oh my gosh, I'm gonna charge $2,000 for this thing, I have to give them more, more, more," no.
• 8:00
  They're paying for the transformation, not the steps, which we'll get more into later Mistake number six, giving the program a confusing name.
• 8:09
  We always wanna go cutesy and clever and something we can trademark.
• 8:13
  But if it sounds like Inspire Within or Limitless Horizons, it's too vague, it doesn't make sense, it's confusing, and people will not remember it.
• 8:22
  Instead, I want you to come up with something succinct, memorable, that hints at the actual transformation.
• 8:28
  A few examples could be First Five Clients Blueprint.
• 8:32
  Pretty obvious what that is, right?
• 8:34
  Or the Work Family Balance Method.
• 8:38
  Obvious.
• 8:39
  The Protein First System.
• 8:41
  That might not be as clear, but clearly it has something to do with protein and probably nutrition, right?
• 8:45
  Keep it clear, keep it succinct, keep it memorable.
• 8:49
  If it's hard for you to remember, it's gonna be impossible for your clients to remember.
• 8:53
  It can be branded, and it should be unique to you, but make sure they know what they're buying when they hear the name.
• 8:58
  Mistake number seven, thinking the program has to be perfect before you sell it.
• 9:03
  My friends, your coaching will evolve.
• 9:05
  Your program will evolve.
• 9:06
  It will all get better as you go, but it can't get better until you take action.
• 9:11
  This is my calling card as a coach.
• 9:13
  I'm always telling people to take more action.
• 9:15
  Stop thinking, stop planning, just go get the beta clients and try it out.
• 9:20
  Every single client you have is gonna make it better.
• 9:22
  There is no way that you could create a program today that would be perfect for all your clients.
• 9:27
  It's impossible.
• 9:28
  You don't know what they need yet, and you're not gonna know until you've coached probably 30 of them.
• 9:32
  And so the only way to move forward is through.
• 9:36
  And you can go ahead and communicate that to your first few clients.
• 9:38
  "I'm giving you a 50% discount because this program is brand new, and I'm so excited for us to build it together."
• 9:43
  They'll be thrilled, you'll be thrilled, it will work out for everyone.
• 9:46
  So instead of asking yourself, "Is my program perfect yet?"
• 9:49
  Just ask yourself, "Can this help someone today?"
• 9:53
  And if it can, move forward boldly And then finally, the bonus mistake, which I hinted at earlier, is focusing on the vehicle or the program itself instead of the destination or the result.
• 10:03
  Let me explain what I mean.
• 10:04
  This is super common.
• 10:05
  We like to think of our program as a series of steps or a curriculum, but we're not selling a program, we're selling a transformation.
• 10:13
  Let's say I wanna lose weight.
• 10:15
  If I go to a health coach or a weight loss coach, I don't want to buy 14 videos and 12 calls.
• 10:20
  I want to buy 50 pounds lighter, okay?
• 10:23
  I want to buy the result.
• 10:25
  We don't want to sell them, "And on week one, you're gonna get this and this and this, and on week two, you're gonna get th-" That does not interest them.
• 10:31
  They don't really care how they get there as long as they get there.
• 10:33
  So think of it as a trip.
• 10:35
  You're not selling the airplane ride.
• 10:37
  "Oh, and the seats relax and you get a free soda."
• 10:39
  Nobody really cares.
• 10:41
  You want to describe the sandy beach and the sun on their face and the fruity drinks they'll get and the fun time on the beach with their family.
• 10:48
  Sell the end result.
• 10:50
  That is what they really want to buy.
• 10:51
  Focus on that and less on the how-to.
• 10:54
  Obviously, you have to explain that a little bit.
• 10:56
  You have to explain the price, and you have to explain how it's set up.
• 10:59
  Are they gonna get live calls, one-on-one, group, whatever.
• 11:02
  But that is way less important than what you're actually going to deliver by the end.
• 11:07
  All right, in closing, you do not need a giant course.
• 11:09
  Please don't go build a billion video modules before you help anybody.
• 11:12
  You do not need fancy software or dozens of lessons.
• 11:15
  You need a clear promise, proven success, which is what you're gonna get through your beta clients, and real clients to help.
• 11:22
  Again, if you need help getting those first five clients to test your program out on, click the link in the description to get my free mini training, Getting Your First Five Clients With Zero Technology Or Fancy Setup.
• 11:31
  Okay, friends, go create amazing coaching programs.
• 11:33
  I can't wait to see what you come up with.
• 11:35
  Talk to you next time If today's episode encouraged you, my book, Burning Brightly, is the next step to answering God's call to build a business through faith and confidence.
• 11:46
  Grab your copy and the free companion workbook through the link in the show notes.
• 11:50
  The world needs more women willing to burn a little brighter.