When someone—a potential client or referral partner—asks you what you do, are you selling the boat?

We know … right now, you may be thinking, “I’m a coach. I’m not in boat sales. What the heck are you talking about, Melinda?”

Stick with us, here.

You may remember our Pain Island/Pleasure Island diagram, which shows your ideal client’s Pain Island—his or her top 3 challenges, and his or her Pleasure Island—the top 3 desired results.

 

 

Your boat—the packages, programs, and services you provide—is what gets your ideal clients from their Pain Island to their Pleasure Island.

So here’s the thing:

If you’re at an event or on a call, and someone asks you what you do, you may be making a big mistake with your answer.

That is, you may be explaining your packages, programs, and services (the boat), rather than showcasing the transformation you provide.

So why is that a mistake?

They buy a transformation.

And that’s exactly why we’re writing this today: we want you to stop selling the boat!

When you’re asked “What do you do?”

DON’T (for the love of Pete, DON’T) say: “I’m a coach and I offer several different packages.”

DO: Sell the journey.

Sell the transformation you provide. Sell the trip from Pain Island to Pleasure Island.

That way, you’re inviting people to step into your boat, by focusing on the results your clients will experience when they do.

This goes back to what we talked about with regard to your niche in a previous blog post: that is, you must identify the group of people you’re passionate about helping, and then identify the challenge they most want to overcome.

Then, you present yourself as the solution.

Here are some examples:

• A tennis coach who works with tennis players who want to serve better and win games might say, “I help tennis players improve their serves so they can stop losing games.”
• A specialty dog trainer might say, “I help dog owners train their dogs effectively so they can live in harmony with their furry friends.”
• Here at TCC, we say, “We help start-up coaches systemize their businesses so they can get more clients and make more money.”

Bonus Tip:

Don’t guess!

Great marketing, great enrollment conversations never come from guessing.

It’s important to remember to interview your ideal prospects (or people like them) to uncover the specific words and phrases they use to describe their challenges and the results for which they’re striving, and use those same words or phrases when you sell the journey. If you’re guessing, you won’t get conversions. So, don’t guess. Ask.

As always, we’ll leave you with a few action steps you can take to practice selling the journey rather than the boat.

Action Steps

1. Identify your ideal client.
2. Narrow in on 3 specific Pain Island points—3 specific challenges your ideal client is facing and wants to solve … in their own words!
3. Identify the top 3 Pleasure Island points: that is, specific results your ideal client would like to achieve or experience… in their own words! (Are you seeing a theme here?)
4. Now, fill in this template: “I help [MY IDEAL CLIENT] achieve [PLEASURE ISLAND POINTS] by stopping [PAIN ISLAND POINTS].”

Voila! You can now answer the “What do you do?” question with confidence, focusing on the outcome and transformation someone will achieve when working with you … rather than focusing on your services. Therefore, you immediately draw prospects in, making them want to know more!

Next steps:

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