People Don't Pay For Life Coaching (Part 3)

The Amazing Power of Systems in Life Coaching (Part 1)

In October 1908 the Model T Ford was introduced.

In 1913, the moving assembly line at Ford was introduced.

With this system, Henry Ford revolutionized an industry, and by 1918 half the cars sold in the US were Fords.

Why is this important?

Because Ford created a system that produced massive results.

Let’s apply this idea to life coaching

The big question your clients will have, once you share the Goal + Result, will be “Ummm, and how do you do that?”

How do you get them from where they are now (unhappy with something in their life, looking for a change) to where they want to be (i.e., that specific Goal + Result, like losing the baby weight so that they can feel like themselves again)?

The most ethical, practical, and results-oriented approach will be to build a system or process to help your clients get there.

A roadmap, if you will, that shows clients how coaching will work to progress them forward to their goal.

So instead of saying “I help professional women lose the baby-weight so that they can feel like themselves again, and I do that by meeting with you weekly and letting you set the agenda…”

You might say:

“I help professional women lose the baby-weight so that they can feel like themselves again, and I do that by taking you through a proven system, step-by-step.

First, we start by taking a look at your past, and figuring out who you want to be moving forwards – so we are 100% clear on what “feeling like yourself again” means to you. Then we find ways to create space in your life to work on your health and fitness, by reviewing your weekly schedule…”

Which sounds more credible and trustworthy to you?

Ummm, clearly the second :).

Are you still pure coaching? YES. Of course!

But instead of selling “life coaching” you are instead selling your clients on their Goal + Result and showing them that you are credible by giving them a roadmap for how you will work together.

This is the way successful coaches are seen as credible and the work that they do valuable – they aren’t just telling you they can do something, they are showing you how they do it.

Pretty powerful, right?

And it works!

Here's an example from one of our coaching systems we use in our High-Ticket-Coach training program. When people see the system they get excited and get convinced to sign on:

Simple Structured Content To Keep You Focused

You can see more of our cool coaching systems here

My clients were able to use my system and tailor it to their problems. And I was able to not have to re-invent the wheel.

It made it easier for me to get more paying clients and serve more people.

Here’s what’s important: It doesn’t matter what the system looks like, it just matters that you can communicate it to your intended audience.

All of my programs have them, and they all look different.

For example: Here’s one for coaches who want to learn to build their business, showing the roadmap we take from the beginning, to the goal (which is to get happy, paying clients) :

A lot of us coaches feel lost, terrified or like frauds because communicating the idea behind life coaching can feel so vague, or woo-woo (I’m *not* a woo-woo person and I struggled to describe life coaching in the beginning).

It’s hard to explain, hard to get people to see it as concrete or real if they haven’t drunk the same kool-aid we have as coaches.

I think this quote sums up a lot of the internal anxiety we feel when we first start talking about what we do, and yet can’t quite seem to describe it in a way that sticks with people.

“If you can’t describe what you are doing as a process, you don’t know what you are doing” – W. Edwards Demming

It’s not that we as coaches don’t know what we are doing, it’s that we have a hard time describing it in a way our potential clients understand, and that’s where we get stuck.

However, when you develop your first coaching system, that’s where things start to come together, and clients start to sign on.

The best bit? You feel amazing!

You feel amazing because you aren’t just offering vague platitudes or direction, you are offering your clients something real: A path forwards, a clear plan, a way ahead.

And this way ahead leads to real, positive results.

And that’s what makes them excited to move forwards! (And, excitingly, get out their wallets) :).

But, are you ready for the mind-blowing bit?

It’s not just a client system that matters to getting people to pay you for life coaching.

Take in these two quotes:

“At its core, a fully-functioning business is basically a set of systems and processes.” – John Jantsch

and..

“All wealth is based upon systems.” – Dan Kennedy

Whoa!

Now we are cooking with gas.

Henry Ford knew this, which is why he dedicated so much time and effort to building systems to make his cars.

The result was exponentially better: The cars were more reliable and affordable, and people could trust the product would work.

And he, of course, became incredibly wealthy so that also a win for him on the systems :).

Bottom line: We aren’t talking about building just *one* system to build your business.

Your coaching business will actually be comprised of multiple systems.

But don’t panic!

When we talk about how to build a life coaching business and get people to pay you for life coaching, all we are really talking about is building five interlocking systems.

Not so hard right?

But what five systems should you be building…exactly? Build the wrong systems and you waste time, money, and your ability to be a coach for real. So you are going to want to get it right.?

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 4

Key points to remember from Part 3 :

1. People don’t buy life coaching, they buy Goal + Result. But what gets them to trust you (and what makes your life easier) is when you can tell them HOW you get them to that result.
2. The way you do it is by building an effective coaching system. A roadmap or plan that shows prospective clients how you will help them achieve their goal.
3. This makes you incredibly credible as a coach (and also, of course, makes you feel less anxious or like an imposter – yay!).
4. But it’s not just one coaching system that you should build, because?all successful businesses and wealth creators are based on multiple systems. The good news? You only really need to build 5 to get your coaching business flourishing.