But No One Signed Up: Why Your Program Didn’t Sell

“But no one signed up!”

That’s what a colleague said to me in despair last year. We were talking about a course she’d just created, but no one had signed up for it. She was feeling pretty down. She was sure it was not only a sign that what she had to offer wasn’t connecting in any way with any one, but she also was making it mean something much larger.

She was starting to think she’d made the wrong decision thinking she could be a coach in the first place.

Look, I know it is so easy to get discouraged.

You want to help your clients. You do. You pour so much work and effort into creating the perfect program. And then when it comes time to unveil it – well, if the response isn’t what you imagined it would be, it’s so, so easy to feel disheartened

I want you to know is that there are so many really valid reasons why your program might not have sold.

And none of them have to do with your ability as a practitioner.

Meeting Your Potential Clients’ Needs

The obvious reason your program might not have sold that the product isn’t right for what your ideal clients need. That could very well be true. For example, maybe your clients are busy professionals and they can’t set aside two hours a week for a 12-week course.

Market research on your ideal clients is an ongoing commitment. It will help you home in on what’s important for your ideal clients and what kind of help they’re really yearning for. Based on that, you can craft products and programs that speak directly to their needs.

But there could be other reasons too.

Other Reasons

Timing

Maybe it’s summer, you’re moving into a holiday season, or there are lot of other uncertainty (health or financial for example) at play in the world at large.

On an individual basis, your potential clients may also be trying to balance what is going on in their personal lives with taking on a healing or coaching commitment.

Marketing Timeframe

It takes people a long time to decide if an offer is right for them. There is a school of thought in marketing that says to only give people a short window to decide. But that’s often not enough time for most people. Especially if you, as the practitioner, aren’t yet a well-known trusted advisor.

I’ve seen colleagues launch three-month long online courses with a two-week sign-up window, then, and when there weren’t enough sign ups, they just assumed there’s something wrong with the program.

The reality is that people need time.

They need enough time to consider the offer, be reminded because they’ve set it aside (see below), check in with their time commitments, talk to someone else if needed about a financial investment, and check in with their heart, etc.  

And if you’re program is a larger time or financial commitment; the sign-up time frame needs to reflect that.

Marketing Frequency

Related to marketing timeframe, sometimes people don’t offer their potential clients information about the program often enough. I’m not talking about being in someone’s inbox every day. No one wants that.

But people need reminders.

Your program is a big deal to you. It’s all you’ve been thinking about for months. But when a potential client reads about it in an email, she may think, oh that sounds interesting, and then she’ll set it aside to think about later. It’s very possible that in the busy-ness of her everyday life, she’ll forget about your program.

If you don’t send her something to remind her about it, she might not remember it at all or until after it’s too late.

Marketing Scope

Some people rely only on email marketing to talk about their new programs. The truth is when you start out developing your business, your email marketing list might not be that big. It might also include people like family or friends who signed up to keep up with you as you launched your new business but aren’t really your ideal clients.

You have to broaden your marketing scope and give yourself time (see above). You don’t need a Coca-Cola sized campaign, but adding in other avenues like sending personal emails, asking collaborators to share, advertising on social media, and exploring local channels are all needed.

Marketing Message

Perhaps your program has great content but maybe your marketing message isn’t as clear as it could be.

In addition to laying out the program’s components, you need to clearly identify who the program is and is not for, emphasize concrete results, articulate the benefits, bring in credible testimonials, showcase your unique expertise, and make it clear how people can sign up. All of these are important to creating a solid sales page and to making an offer that is compelling to your potential clients.

Trust

In the end, the most possible reason of all is that your audience doesn’t yet know and trust you enough to buy from you. That’s not something to take personally, as some sort of failing on your part.

In the coaching, healing, or creative transformation spaces, it takes courage for most people to admit they need help. They need to feel safe stepping forward and asking for help. And, if you’re somewhat new, or they don’t otherwise have a direct link to you through someone else who already worked with, it will take longer to build up that level of trust.

On your part, it takes consistent showing up and being in service. One of the best ways to do that is by offering support, insight, inspiration, or practical help through creating compelling content. Their trust will grow as they engage with your work and get value from it on an regular basis.

So, remember, if you launch a program and you don’t get the results you expect, don’t despair.

Look at the product itself to see if it might need to be tweaked to better meet your ideal clients’ needs. Also consider your campaign plan and see if the timing, marketing frequency, timeframe, scope, and message could be improved.

Most importantly, please don’t let it stop you from showing up and getting on with sharing the important work you’re meant to do in this world.