4 Lessons from buying Transformation from my own student

Recently I made a decision to do a big piece of what I call the “inner work”. In the earlier days of my business I made regular investments in shifting the subconscious blocks that were causing me to self-sabotage. Things like an unconscious fear of success because that might mean overwhelm and a relapse of my ME/CFS symptoms, and later fear of video and Facebook lives because of an unconscious sense of not being “safe” to expose myself in that way.

But for a long time I haven’t focused on the “inner” aspect of growing my business and instead have been ticking along quite nicely focused on growing my Business from the Heart membership (incidentally I’m celebrating having just passed the 400 member mark. Woohoo!) But recently I’ve decided it’s time to move away from “comfortable” and that it’s time for a new stretch in my vision and an uplevel in what  I achieve both in my business and financially on a personal level – and of course with a new level comes new blocks and new fears to overcome.

So I embarked on a process of identifying the right person to do this work with and as a result I signed up to work with one of my own students! I enrolled in a £2,000, 4-month, accelerated package of Psych-K, Body Code and other energy techniques with someone who was participating in my Get More Clients Saying Yes! course at the time.

I actually shared a post in the Facebook group for that course as the process threw up a few valuable lessons about the sales process from the CLIENT’S point of view that I knew the other course participants would benefit from – so I figure you will benefit from them too.

When I’m buying I’m just a “customer”, the same as all of your clients

You see, when I’m buying something, especially for a large investment, I’m not in the role of “sales coach and mentor”;  I’m not consciously aware of the process I’m being taken through (even if it’s the very process I teach!). Instead I’m in the role of “client” – and so how I was in that buying process is how so many of your clients are too.

The lady who I enrolled to do this work with is called Claire. Now, here’s the interesting thing: Claire had already done the Get More Clients Saying Yes! course the previous year, and had then been an active participant in my Business from the Heart membership for a full year. So I knew what she did. Notice that: I knew what she did. But I did not see the relevance of her work for me personally.

Not until she retook the Get More Clients Saying Yes! course in order to work on a message and positioning for a new niche and target market. She started re-working and asking for feedback on her “Captivating Introduction” – this time speaking to female business owners who have recovered from (or are in recovery from) chronic health conditions and realise there are still elements of their illness blocking them in achieving their their goals in business.

It was only when I heard this message and explored it with Claire during the live calls that I got that all important “oh my goodness, that’s me, and even though I think I’ve recovered I think some of this stuff is what is blocking me get to my next level”. I realised how just becauseI feel “mostly recovered”, remnants of that experience could still be impacting on what I’m able to achieve in my business – subconscious fears of overwhelm and relapse even though day-to-day I feel pretty good.

LESSON 1:  Your client needs to have that “oh that’s me” feeling

And if your message can also get them having new insights and starting to see things in a different way, all the better.

It’s not enough to “know what you do”. I’ve known what Claire does for over a year. They have to feel “that’s me, I recognise myself here, I think this is for me”.

Having been “hooked” by this message (this is what I teach in my programmes – your message needs to be like “velcro” for your ideal client group) I reached out and offered to help Claire with a research call, on the surface to help her understand her new ideal client on a deeper level. In reality I offered because this felt like a “safe” way to check out what she did a bit more and to see if I gelled with her and her approach. But here’s the important thing: I didn’t want her to know I was thinking about working with her in case I decided not to go ahead as I didn’t want her to feel let down or hurt that I didn’t choose to work with her, or even feel bad that her sales conversation wasn’t good enough (since I’m her sales mentor after all!)

LESSON 2:  Your clients also need to feel SAFE to take that next step towards you

Research calls provide a really SAFE way for people to find out more about working with you without feeling any sense of commitment to going ahead. For many of you that is *WHY* people say yes to a research call – it’s not just to help you out, it’s because there is an underlying level of curiosity about what you do, and many times your research call volunteers will become paying clients (providing you handle them sensitively of course).

Ask yourself: are you really making the most of those research call opportunities?

The other lesson here is about price. Claire recommended me a package for £2,000 and I said yes. Now I already knew that Claire has less expensive ways for her clients to get started than this  – they are actually listed on her website. But I have a “job” I want done. And it is work that is important to me and for the future of my business and my life. So I chose to trust her as the expert on what I need to get that job done, rather than go in ‘piecemeal’ just to save money.

I also felt it was important that I make the commitment to *myself*, and investing a reasonable amount of money in the process helps cement the commitment. For example, I’ve already had “homework” and by golly, I’ve done my homework. Had I been doing the exact same work session by session, knowing me I would not have prioritised the homework, and I would have delayed booking my sessions, and of course I would not then get the same results, leading to frustration for both me and Claire.

LESSON 3:  IF they are serious about getting results, your client will actually *WANT* and welcome your higher level package

Yes, even if it seems like the more expensive option. Because your “ideal clients” will want to do  the work and will make that commitment to the results they want – their transformation will be more important to them than figuring out how to save a few pounds.

Beware of bending and folding to make your business and your pricing fit around non-ideal clients. Put your energy into getting out there and finding the ideal ones instead.

LESSON 4:  Have an effective sales process

Of course, Claire also had another string to her bow – she has an effective sales process and knows how to have an effective sales conversation. A year ago she joined my Get More Clients Saying Yes! course as a practitioner without a clear specialism and selling single sessions. Since then she’s learned how to sell packages, gradually increased her pricing (her first package was just £200 so that’s a 10x increase in one year!), implemented a sales process that took me straight from a research call into clear options for working with her without appearing pushy or grasping, and knows how to have an effective sales conversation that brings a client to a decision as well as wrapping up payment and invoicing confidently. She made it really EASY for me to say yes.

I hope these lessons will prove useful for you too in understanding the process behind the decisions your clients make – and in helping you to shift to a business that truly serves your own pool of ideal clients in the way that most benefits them – and you.

Get started with enrolling YOUR high paying clients
If you’d like to get started learning what Claire has learned about enrolling clients into packages without being salesy or icky you can get started with my 7 Steps to Yes! training for authentic sales conversations. Click here for the 7 Steps to Yes Training. It’s a series of bite-size videos that will give you a clear structure for your sales conversations in just 8 three-minute videos.

And of course as always I’d love to get your thoughts on the lessons I’ve shared in this article today.
Please share in the comments what you are taking from this – I always love to hear from you and always read them all even if I don’t always reply.