If you’re a coach, consultant, or service professional, it’s possible that you offer some kind of free introductory session, sample session, or complimentary consultation. Indeed, this is the primary method of “marketing” taught in some coaching schools. It goes something like this: “Go offer free sample sessions to everyone you know. Ask them if they’d like to continue coaching. Some will. Congratulations, you now have clients!”
And you know what? Some people will hire you. Maybe one out ten. Maybe two out of ten. Chances are, some won’t want to pay the going rate for a coach or other service professional, some may even insist on “trading services” instead of cash, but they enjoyed your service, and they’d like “more, please!”
You rationalize, a client is a client, and you take a few under-paying clients.
Now you’re somewhat busy (though not making much money), so you go find more people to give free intro sessions to. And the cycle repeats… you give umpteen free sessions to find a few clients who might not even be willing to pay your rate, much less stick around for the long term. Invariably, they leave about the time you find your next new client, so it feels like you are just spinning your wheels.
And it’s getting harder, not easier. You’ve exhausted your initial list of friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and other warm contacts, and now you’ve got to go meet complete strangers you hope will hire you.
You give free sessions to friends of friends. You offer sessions to people you meet at grocery stores. You network like a maniac. You blog. You tweet. You give introductory sample sessions, and just in time, because the first people who hired you have now run their course, so the new clients are just replacing the ones leaving through attrition.
Congratulations, you’re broke and exhausted. Welcome to self-employment.
What went wrong!?
Let’s take a look:
1. You used the scattershot method of marketing.
You didn’t wait for people to identify themselves as prospective clients; you simply went out and found people who could fog a mirror and agree to a sample session. The result is that now you’re trying to convert prospects you didn’t even really attract in the first place! It’s more like you “attacked” them – by putting them on the spot to do a “free sample session” with you.
The solution to this is to have a systematic way of actually attracting the right people. By using a marketing message that appeals to your ideal client and by delivering that message in different formats to audiences who are looking for you, you’ll attract prospects, and not just warm bodies willing to book an hour of your time.
2. You didn’t qualify your prospects.
Perhaps you asked people to sample your services because they fit some market “niche,” such as parents, athletes, artists or entrepreneurs. Perhaps you even happen to observe that they could really use your services! But do they know they need your services? Are they actively looking for the solution you provide? Could they even afford your services, even if they wanted to hire you?
If you can’t answer those questions in the affirmative, then you most likely you are giving your time away to a “tire-kicker” who isn’t a qualified prospect.
3. The “free sample session” is the wrong model, because it doesn’t convey the value you provide.
Perhaps the “free sample” method works well with chocolate, but it falls short of communicating your potential value as a coach, consultant or service professional.
This is why I recommend doing a Strategic Session instead of “sample sessions” or “free introductory sessions.” Coming from the medical model I honed in for my first career as a plastic surgeon, it’s essentially a “diagnostic” approach in which you look beyond the immediate pain, problems or symptoms to discover the underlying issues.
Will it take longer to gain an understanding of the prospect’s core issues – the “big picture” – and recommend a plan for moving forward? Of course it will, and it will also be infinitely more valuable for them. If the value is clearly communicated, and if they are a qualified prospect who sees the value, wants what you offer, and can afford your services, then chances are they’ll willingly pay for that value.
You’ll be offering much more than a “sample” or an introduction, you’ll be providing a diagnosis and a strategic game plan. You’re offering them the solution for which they’ve been searching, something truly “worth paying for.” Additionally, you’ll be helping them invest in their own solution, and they’ll have a greater chance of actually following through with a plan they purchased, rather than one that was given to them.
4. You have no system or proven method to convert even qualified prospects into long-term clients.
Relying on good luck and your magnetic personality is not a proven system, nor is hope a good business strategy. To successfully use initial sessions to convert prospects into clients, you need:
In summary, you need a system that naturally and logically leads the right clients to hire you for extended work.
Having a system for attracting prospects and converting prospects into long-term clients is essential for any business person, and yet, too many service-oriented professionals spend years studying and honing their crafts, only to “wing it” when it comes to finding and keeping clients.
And without clients… all you’ve got is a hobby, not a business.
Learn more about the author, George Huang, M.D..
George your comments about the free sample session really hit the nail on the head for me. I've been feeling frustrated with this system myself and currently have changed my offer to suggesting we get together for a Discovery talk.
Thank you for sharing your experinces here. It's wonderful for those of us starting out to see that we are not alone and to shorten the learning curve a bit.
Thank you, George, for an excellent and energy-saving approach to marketing services. Strategic sessions are a great idea.
So George,
Don't tease us, please us. Give us a sample of the method and/or message that makes people identify themselves.
So, you charge for the strategic session, is that right? If somebody wants to meet you first, how do you handle that?
lay it out.......
Bonnie, you are not alone. I find that many service professionals, especially coaches, can identify with these frustrations.
Jenny, with what you do, I am sure there is a natural ability to "diagnose" what is lacking with someone's marketing message and how to fix it. You could look at their messaging on their website, profiles, blog, other marketing... and write a "prescription" for fixing it. That's the strategic session, and then actually coming up with the new messaging is the work they hire you for. Or, they can decide to take your prescription and "do it themselves," which some people will, but at least you will have been paid for your consultation.
James, I'm not trying to tease, but this is too big a topic for 1000 words! Because of this, I've got a number of articles I'll be writing in future weeks that will further address various aspects of this. One article will address marketing messaging. And without writing a whole other article, the key is this:
To understand your ideal client so that you can describe their pain, their problems, their hopes, the things that frustrate them and the vision of the end result they want instead. People want to know you understand them and that the solution you provide is one they are looking for.
This article was crafted so that someone who is doing free introductory or sample sessions (and wasting time getting disappointing results) would say, "Argh! I've been there! I AM there! How do I get out of this trap!?" It makes them want to know more.
Then someone might want to talk to me, or email me, and that's great, I'll respond and engage them in a conversation online or by phone to see if they are an appropriate prospect for a strategic session, or perhaps, I can refer them to another resource that is a better fit. But I'm not going to do what I used to do, and spend hours meeting with someone for free! That's a bad strategy.
If someone needs to meet me one-on-one privately in person before they hire me, we might not be a good "fit". However, yes, we've got to communicate, and we'll both have to explore to know if we're a good fit for a strategy session or anything else.
Another strategy is putting on workshops, teleseminars or webinars where you can leverage your time and meet a lot of people at once. So if you want more details, I'll be doing two free events in Bellevue where we'll talk about the process and even do some role playing to flesh this out more.
See "How to Get More and Better Clients through Introductory Sessions (and Get Paid for It!)" on April 18 and May 20 on the Biznik calendar, co-hosted by Kate Phillips.
Something I really appreciate in this great article: the idea of a giving a strategic session with standalone value. Some of the advice I've seen about complimentary sessions has been to do just the opposite! "Tease" the prospect. Give them a "taste" to make them feel they have to work with you to get the benefit.
This sets up an adversarial relationship with the client from the beginning.
Great stuff, George! Thanks for adding your perspective to this very hot issue in the coaching community. I taught at an accredited coach training organization for three years, and left over this very issue. The official materials stated that sample sessions were the best way to acquire clients; as one of if not the only instructors with a private coaching income in six-figures at the school, I respectfully disagreed and shared my suggestions, which didn't endear me to the school's management, but the students LOVED it. I do not do free coaching samples, and I have no trouble attracting clients. I'm thrilled to hear another working coach is of like mind.
Thanks Barbara. Whether a session, event, or special report is paid or free, I think it's always important to give value.
And Veronika, thanks for adding your two cents. I'm with you, I don't think that most coaching schools do a very good job of teaching their students how to effectively market themselves, much less how to run a business.
Great article, George! You know I'm already part of the choir. It's actually pretty insane that I would go drive to meet someone (from Carnation, no less) and spend an hour or two coaching them for nothing. Have I done it? Yes - and although I got some clients through free sessions when I was a newer coach, I also wasted a lot of time (and the clients I did attract tended to not be very qualified).
I also love getting "deep" into what's happening with the client on our first session, and when I wasn't charging for introductory sessions, I felt like I had to limit my time to be wise and honor my own boundaries and value. Now it's so much more satisfying to offer longer strategy sessions and feel that we are both walking away with value.
PS, this coming Tuesday eve, I'm hosting George in Bellevue for an event on using these paid Strategy Sessions in your business: http://biznik.com/events/how-to-get-more-and-better-clients-through-introductory-sessions-and-get-paid-for-it-1
George, thanks.....
Phone, or email contact or nviting folks to free events or open houses, or biznik events sounds like a great way to meet folks who might want to "catch your vibe" before they commit to a session......
Great in core and totally aligned with my business and personal values. You will be seeing more of me!
Kate, I've done the same thing and it doesn't work very well. I'll be writing another article about my own experiences soon. And I'm looking forward to our event!
James and Leta, thanks for taking the time to comment. I look forward to meeting/seeing you both soon!
George, I'm glad you wrote this article, as I've mentored several coaches new to the field who were extremely discouraged and frustrated with the "free sample" marketing system you described.
I hope to join you at an upcoming event, and I'll pass the word on to my coaching colleagues.
Thanks for the well-written, clear, convincing article George. I've had some experience with this issue, particularly within Biznik, however, thanks to your coaching work with me, I've mostly been focusing on offering larger free high-impact workshops. And then from that group, its growing more and more true that I'm able to make connections with people who are closer to my ideal clients. I still have been offering free 15-30 minute high-value "Event Ignition" consultations to those who come and, I'd say I have close to a 1/3 conversation rate from those calls...when I actually take the time to DO the calls! ')
The problem (as you all to well know about me ;) is now more on my end on imagining/playing with/deciding exactly who those ideal clients are going to be! :)
Teri, thanks for weighing in, and for spreading the word that there are better options than the typical free session.
And Leif, you are using your events as one way to qualify people - they have already invested time and effort, perhaps money to learn more about your work, so these are not randomly selected people, but self-selected. You have "attracted" to your work and they have already "engaged" with it, and that alone will raise your conversion rates (when you DO the calls!)
p.s. Leif, your conversion rates would go UP with paid strategy sessions, and you'd be motivated to make those calls...
George,
Thanks for an excellent and very thoughtful article.
Offering strategy sessions or other high value services in 45 minute to one-hour sessions is a powerful way to demonstrate expertise and impact and ensure that the value exchange between the parties is clear and fair.
When people have "skin in the game" as they get their questions answered, they are also more invested in putting into practice what they learn during those sessions to their advantage.
There needs to be giving and receiving in equal measure. The best client/provider relationships have this quality in common, and don't we all want the best relationships possible, no matter what we do?
One more thought:
Bill Baren, master of enrollment, says if you want to enroll more perfect clients, you need to consider four questions:
When you help the client make the emotional connection associated with where he/she wants the business to go and identify what is missing that -- if put in place -- would help him/her advance, you are that much closer to enrolling that client to see the value in engaging services you offer that can ease his/her pain.
Bill and I held a teleseminar that went into great detail about enrolling clients successfully. You can listen without fee at this link:
www.billbaren.com/moe/nancyj.html
Feedback about this call was very, very positive, and I hope everyone listens and learns useful ways to enroll more perfect clients now.
Enjoy!
Nancy
Outstanding article, George. I started my own environmental engineering consulting business a year ago. While I do not give free sessions, I have been trying to do little favors to potential clients. But many do not appreciate it or take them for granted. When I started, I swore I would not do this, but I am beginning to put negative phrases in my marketing material, instead of the positive (it would be great and beneficial to do ... and I can help). Nothing misleading or untrue, but educating the value of my services by discussing the potential problems with not addressing it. Your article has been very helpful. Good luck.
Best article I've read on prospecting for coaching/consulting clients. Like most, I've tried it all, free, paid, low paid, reduced for groups, give-aways, free gifts for the first 5, but wait...there's more. All we want is a chance to show folks our value to them. Thanks for putting it on "paper". Made me laugh in a few places.
Nancy, thanks for the resource/link. Those questions from Bill are quite similar to what Christian Mickelsen teaches, and they can work for life coaches and others. Certainly establishing an emotional connection with what a prospect wants is important.
Yet for a business coach (or a media strategist like yourself), as well as many other service professionals, it's essential that we go beyond that to demonstrate our expertise. That's where the paid session comes in, it allows us to go beyond what they want to how they can get there, and how we can help them.
Marc, it sounds like you could use some filtering mechanisms yourself. And don't be afraid to share the prospects' pain in your marketing... actually, it's essential that they know you understand their problem.
Thanks Emile, I'm glad you found it helpful (and humorous!)
Great article George, I've been struggling with this, and I think this will help a lot!
George, I enjoyed your article tremendously. I am in the process of changing my business model. For thirty years I have been a sport psychology consultant basically getting clients via word of mouth or the occasional free seminar. My clients are targeted as they are athletes, youth to elite. I have been working on the idea of offering free seminars or introductions to sports clubs and organizations. If I understand you, even though this is targeted, I am missing something in my approach. My goal is to offer services to athletes, teams and through residential camps. My next area of concentration would be to bring sports performance psychology to a more traditional business setting working with sales staff, and project groups. So if not free seminars or introductions, then what? Contact clubs and offer a paid seminar? It seems I'm missing something.
Mike, you've got the right idea, and I can see the piece you're missing. You've got to be aware of the flow of
Client Attraction
which has to happen before
Client Conversion
and last but not least, there's
Client Retention.
Offering free (or cheap) seminars or introductions to groups of people could be a great strategy for you. Just be clear that it's not necessarily a "client conversion" strategy, it's much more likely to be a "client attraction" strategy for you, if I'm understanding you correctly. (I.e., you are going where your potential clients are and offering something that might "attract" them.)
Your goal might be to lead them from there into a strategy session in which you, which could be free or paid (you know my preference!), in which you could have an opportunity to show them more specifically the value they could derive from your services.
To offer a paid seminar (also a valid plan), you'd have to look at ways to attract people to that (and you may not see yourself in the seminar business, so that might be a path you're not so interested in.) The strategy you'll use will depend on what you're trying to accomplish. Free seminars can be a good way to "attract," (I've used them myself quite successfully). then, you'll want to make sure you have a strategy to convert ideal prospects into clients, and keep in touch with the ones who might be candidates down the line.
Thanks George for another great article. After going to your workshop a few weeks back with Kate Philips about introductory sessions and having a light bulb go off and now working with your coaching methods, I am seeing big changes in the way I prospect and how I present myself. Your realistic and honest approach to coaching is perfect for me and my way of thinking. Thank you!
Thank-you Diane! I look forward to continuing to support your transition to more effective actions and strategies.
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