Why Most Coaches Use Words That Cost Them Cash And Clients

by | Aug 8, 2021

Actually, this applies to a lot of professionals too, but I want to specifically look at the coaching industry in this post. Coaches who create posts on social media but somehow struggle to attract a consistent flow of people interested in hiring them. 

So their business suffers, as they seem to glide on the thin life of barely making enough and not able to relax and TRUST that their business has a proven way of attracting new clients all the time.

That is a horrible feeling – being on the edge of “survival mode” that affects everything in our marketing and beyond that, in our daily life: more stress, more insecurity, less flow. LESS TRUST in your journey as a beacon of light that some out there in the darkness are seeking desperately.  

Why is that? Why don’t their posts attract people who are ready to sign up? 

Yes, of course, consistency is a significant factor- as people need time to watch and follow you before coming up with that decision. In the world of social media, having no visible results does not mean you are not being watched. This is a FACT.

You are constantly being watched and contemplated being hired as a coach. 

But here is a problem. 

For a person to go from intuitive and abstract attraction to you to logical decision to invest with your coaching, they need to understand EXACTLY what you will be doing together and exactly what this work can manifest in terms of outcomes and results. 

And here is where most people fall out of your “funnel” – failing to clearly understand your processes and the outcomes you promise. 

Simply because YOU, as a coach, fail to clearly communicate it in your messaging (posts and sales pages).

I have helped hundreds of coaches overcome this issue, but all of them had one thing in common that was affecting their client attraction, cash flow and hence was keeping their business stuck in the “survival mode”.

It was their own relationships with the language they used to communicate their value to their audience.

If you are a coach, chances are you are living in a world of words that mean something very specific and personal to you. Almost always, it is because YOU yourself went (or still going through) a transformation that somehow finds its perfect expression for you in this one word. 

Here are examples of those words: aligned, empowered, embodied, next level, transformation, feel good, making an impact. 

As an example, in my personal life, becoming more visible using Facebook, creating consistent connections to new people, creating and mastering HOW to create content that attracts clients, actually getting really deep into the WHO are my ideal clients and seeing clearly who are not and what I was NOT prepared to tolerate in my business and my life, all those things and much more made me feel truly EMPOWERED.

And the word EMPOWERED felt so fitting. It was THE WORD that expressed everything…

TO ME!

What I failed to see was that my potential clients are not at the same point, and they have not yet experienced this life-changing feeling. It was all ahead of them. 

My ROLE and my PURPOSE was to help them create the consistency/confidence/impact that came with becoming more visible and discovering and experiencing the bigger version of themselves. Just like I did. 

So when I promised my audience that visibility would EMPOWER them – this outcome (no matter how truly invigorating it is when one experiences FEELING it) – was not speaking to my potential clients. They simply were not there yet. 

I struggled with it for a couple of years… I felt like my business was resembling a broken tap. I would have a burst of new clients coming in, usually after my live video challenges, where they had a chance to experience working with me closely and had the TRUST to invest in something much more advanced with me.  

And then nothing. 

And if I tried rerunning my challenge, it would be too soon or sometimes not as effective as perhaps all the “good ones” I had in my audience have already taken the previous one, or someone referred completely wrong people to me. (I want some other day to talk about the dangerous side of referrals.) 

There were so many little factors that brought me to this realisation, but eventually, I saw very clearly THE REASON why the words I used were not effective to attract clients, and since I changed my approach, the flow of new clients into my business has also changed dramatically. 

I have not come up with this on my own. I followed great coaches and messaging experts, and one day, it just clicked, so I want to share that insight with you today. 

And it was ALL about the personal attachment to the words I used because of how they made ME feel and how much I wished for others to feel the same way too. 

We all just want to live happier lives, and as coaches, we want our clients to be happier, experience more freedom, more confident and positive lives, right? And this is why we do what we do. 

But let’s remember that these elevated feelings and specifically the words that we, as coaches, use to describe them are not yet known to our clients, and often it is NOT what they secretly desire. 

Let me rephrase, “IT” might be EXACTLY what they desire, or what brings them closer to their desires, BUT they would NEVER use the same words you do to describe “IT”. 

If you want to appeal to them, you must discover the words THEY use.

And you know what the biggest discovery for me was? 

Thoe words people use to talk to themselves (or others) about their issues are NOT fancy words. 

Those are the plainest words a conversational language offers. We do not think in complicated sentences. We think in short keywords, images, sensations. 

And if there is something that keeps us up at night, because we are frustrated with either dealing with it or lacking it, the “IT” is always very simple. 

More money. More love/acceptance. No more pain. Feeling good about who you are/your life (happiness). 

Have a look at your posts or website – are you using words that mean a lot to you, but perhaps your audience has not yet discovered that feeling? If they do not “know” it, how can they desire it? 

And this is what I help my client inside my Content To Leads 1:1 intensive. We look at your content themes and topics, we work together to simplify the language to address what your potential clients ACTUALLY wonder and feel blocked at – in their words, and we create a content plan that you can use in any order, under any circumstances (inspired or not, in a hurry or not). Content that is focused on communicating what you do so clearly – they come to your chats and calls pre-sold on signing up to your program.  

If you want more details, click here to read a post on my Facebook profile with the full offer outline and process explained. If that feels good, you will reply, and only then we will chat if you are a good candidate. 

Sounds Good? Looking forward to meeting you!

Juliette Stapleton

Splenic Projector 1/3
YOUR VISIBILITY GUIDE

Juliette Stapleton is a Visibility Strategist for coaches and experts. She teaches how to attract clients online, creating your OWN marketing experience that feels good, easy and aligned with who you are and brings results.

Juliette has been featured in Forbes and several major business and marketing podcasts, like SocialChatter, 365Driven, Rising Tide, iHeart Radio, and Confident Live. She is an active contributor to world-leading online publications, such as Entrepreneur.com Influencive, Addicted2Success, Thrive Global, Good Men Project and many more.

She lives in Tallinn, Estonia.

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