More Money, Less Stress, Better Results

A few months ago I was on a call with a potential client.

The second we got on the call he started complaining about how stressed out he was.

He was overwhelmed by everything he had to accomplish each day…

With the number of projects he was working on…

And the stalling growth of his company.

He needed to hire staff but had no documentation for any of the procedures in his company.

“It’s all in my head,” he said. “The problem is, I don’t have time to train anyone because I’m already working 80 hours a week.”

It’s a common problem that affects every entrepreneur who bootstraps a company.

I tried to put his mind at ease. I shared a couple of stories about other clients who’d faced the same situation and laid out the steps we needed to take to fix the problems.

I told him I would help him implement the solutions we outlined and that I expected the project to take 3 months.

Then I explained my fee.

“My fee is $2,000 a month,” I said. “If that fits your budget and timeline then the next step is to have a more detailed conversation where we put together a full scope of work along with deadlines and deliverables.”

I continued…

“Then we’ll meet every other week to address any problems and make adjustments.”

“How long are those meetings?” he asked.

“Typically about an hour,” I said.

“So your bill rate is $1,000 an hour?” he asked.

The second the words left his mouth I knew the conversation was over.

I could have tried to justify my fee by telling him I was helping with deliverables…

Or that the work we would do together would put him on a path to double or triple sales in the next 3 years.

But I didn’t do any of that.

I just said yes, then waited for him to give me a list of excuses before wishing him the best and ending the call.

Guys like him make terrible clients.

They don’t think in terms of outcomes. They think in terms of “stuff”.

Here you have a guy who is stressed out with everything he needs to accomplish.

He can’t even hire someone because he doesn’t have time to train them.

But in his mind, if we only meet twice a month he’s not getting his money’s worth.

Your best clients don’t want more “stuff” to do.

They don’t want another meeting on the calendar.

They want a solution to the problem and they want it fixed now.

Your best clients pay a premium for speed and simplicity.

If you’re a coach, consultant, or expert and you’re stuck working with broke clients who break down the value of your solution into:

• Hours of videos
• Months of training
• Number of coaching sessions

It’s because you focus on those things when you promote your services.

When you do that you turn off your best clients and attract all the losers who confuse buying an 8-week coaching program with getting a result.

Instead, focus on outcomes.

Create a clear and compelling promise that has specific, tangible results your clients will be left with when you’re finished.

Make the outcome so big that any “cost” to the client seems insignificant by comparison.

It’s hard to do that when you’re hocking $500 courses and $10 monthly memberships.

But if you stop signaling value in terms of “stuff” you’ll start attracting clients willing to pay a premium for the outcomes you provide.

Best,

Jason

P.S. If you’d like some help re-engineering your business to attract better, higher-value clients then DM me and I’ll send you some information on how we can work together.