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How Too Many Coaches Are Marketing Using the Square Peg in the Round Hole Approach to Win More Sales

Written by: Leanne Hoagland-Smith

Article Overview: Are you an executive coach, business coach, leadership coach, change coach or even a sales coach who is using the traditional sales based marketing because that is why you know or how you were trained? How is that working for you? Do you feel that your marketing efforts are putting a lot of square pegs into round holes? Would you like a far easier way to win more sales?

How Too Many Coaches Are Marketing Using the Square Peg in the Round Hole Approach to Win More Sales

Are you an executive coach, business coach, leadership coach, change coach or even a sales coach who is using the traditional sales based marketing because that is why you know or how you were trained? How is that working for you? Do you feel that your marketing efforts are putting a lot of square pegs into round holes? Would you like a far easier way to win more sales?

If you truly want to win more sales, then it is time to leave the traditional sales based marketing approach and learn education based marketing. The results are truly amazing especially for those involved in executive coaching industry.

Education based marketing is all about educating the potential qualified customer by providing something of exceptional value that no one else delivers. And, usually, this means giving something away.

Many coaches give away a free 30 minutes to 60 minutes of coaching time to determine if there is a good fit between the coach and the potential customer. Even though this is education based marketing, given the numbers of coaches still attempting to win more sales, it appears that the free coaching time is not delivering the results necessary for financial success.

As a coach who has practiced education based marketing, I still believed that I needed to leave the Sea of Sameness if I truly wanted to take my practice to that next level. After doing my research, I decided to become certified in an on-line assessment that was in alignment with my overall approach to human capital talent management. This decision has truly revolutionized my sales coaching and business consulting practice.

Let's presume that a coach averages $100 an hour and delivers 4 freebie coaching sessions each month to qualified potential customers. The coach earns a sale valued at $3,000 from one of those leads within 90 days after meeting the lead. Hence, the client acquisition cost is $400 and the sales cycle time frame is 3 months.

Now the coach provides an additional value by including a proven on-line assessment. The actual cost is $50 (cost of assessment combined with a pro-rated cost of the certification). The coach delivers four of these assessments along with the 4 hours of coaching and earns 3 sales for total new revenue of $9,000 within 60 days after meeting the leads. Conversion rate has tripled because the potential qualified customer has experienced the exceptional value offered by the coach because the coach has educated her or him about something that was previously unknown. This unknown knowledge was preventing the potential customer from achieving greater success. So now it is literally a no-brainer not to engage the coach.

The new total cost to secure 3 clients is $600 ($400 for time and $200 for assessment) or $200 per client, a reduction of 50% even though total costs increased by $200. Additionally, sales increased 3 fold from $3,000 to $9,000 and the sales cycle time was reduced by one third from 90 days to 60 days.

Implementing education based marketing can lead to extraordinary results provided you execute your free offering flawlessly. And, flawlessly is the critical lynch pin to maximize this sales approach.

You must know what you know about whatever free offering you are providing; you must know your marketplace; and you must know current conditions and trends. Education based marketing means that you must be educated first before you can educate your potential qualified customers. If you fail to understand the premise of this marketing strategy, you will be once again putting a square peg into a round hole and not realizing your goal to win more sales.

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Article Tags: 30 minutes, 60 minutes, alignment, business coach, client acquisition, cycle time, executive coach, executive coaching, financial success, freebie, holes, industry education, leadership coach, marketing efforts, next level, sales coaching, sameness, square pegs, talent management, time frame



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