Are you struggling with having people respond to your offer?
You know you can help people, and you spent real time and care creating your offer. It can be disappointing, and heartbreaking even, when you share your offer and people don’t respond and move in.
The truth is, there are many things that can influence where someone decides to work with you or not.
Maybe people don’t feel they know you well enough. Perhaps something is off on the pricing or the energy or the message. Or maybe you haven’t given people enough time to decide or you haven’t been visible enough in your marketing.
It could be any of those things or something else entirely.
Sometimes it’s hard to know.
One thing I’ve seen though, and what I’d like to talk about today, is when coaches, healers or other creatives shy away from being specific when they create and share their offers. They stay general when discussing their programs. They might invite people to work with them, saying “I will guide you on a deep and personal journey to explore and discover your true nature.” Or this program will help you “Press pause and then restore, recalibrate and reconnect!”
The truth is these kinds of statements hold kernels of truth in them. But they are often, especially when combined with other generalities, not enough for people to actually connect with what you are offering.
One of my teachers says when the mind is unsure, it will often default to “no.”
A Problem Needs a Solution
One rainy morning a few years ago, I noticed water on the floor next to our living room fireplace. After looking around for any obvious explanation (kids, cats, etc.), I glanced up and noticed paint peeling off the drywall and a water stain crawling across the ceiling.
A leak.
Our roof was under 10 years old, and I was pretty sure it didn’t need replacing. What could be wrong?
I had a feeling (maybe it was a hope) the problem could be easily fixed, but honestly, I had no idea if that was the case or not…
Two Companies, Two Approaches
I called around and got two recommendations for local companies that worked on roofs.
One was a highly recommended roofing contractor that does nothing but repair and replace roofs.
The other was an equally well-liked re-modelling company that, in addition to roofing, does siding, windows, master bathroom remodels, kitchen overhauls, children’s playrooms and more.
I knew if I waited too long to address this type of problem, it would only grow more complicated.
I knew I needed an expert.
In the end, I called the roofing contractor. They came out and fixed the issue - previous homeowners caulked around the chimney instead of installing a proper drainage system.
Targeting Expertise, Getting Specific
So, what does this have to do with coaching, healing and creative businesses and your offers?
A lot, actually.
As I mentioned, sometimes coaches, healers and creatives are tempted to stay general when they start out creating programs and services, hoping to attract as many people as possible to sign up. This means, however, they might not be perceived as the specialist their ideal clients feel they need.
Being targeted in your programs can help potential customers better see you as the one to serve them. And one way to do this is to be much more specific and detailed around your offers.
That other company, the one I didn’t call? They do repair and replace roofs. They also do a lot of other stuff too. For me in that moment, I wanted someone who focused on roofs because I knew there was something out of the ordinary going on. I wanted to work with someone who specialized in what I needed.
Your ideal clients want the same thing.
Start By Creating Well-Defined Offers
When clients are looking for help, they want to see their specific problems, and a pathway to healing, reflected in the services they’re considering. This helps them feel confident that this offer is one that will really help.
If the program concept and/or description are too general, it might not resonate as well.
There are a number of steps involved in creating a solid program, product or service as well as to writing about it in a way to connects with your ideal clients. However, a great starting point is to answer these three questions:
What is one major problem your ideal clients struggle with?
What specifically can you create in this to help solve that problem?
How, concretely, will be benefit from working with you in this way?
Here are two examples of how answering these questions might look to help you envision doing this for your offer:
Example 1
Problem: Your ideal clients feel like they never have enough time. In your copy, you can demonstrate all the ways this issue is showing up in their lives or businesses or both.
Solution: Your program helps them deconstruct their thoughts about time. In your copy, you then expand on the way thoughts influence their emotions, which in turn impacts their actions, which ultimately influences their results. Another approach could be to focus on understanding and committing to prioritization.
Benefits: Perhaps, your program can help them reduce stress, make better decisions, get clearer on their priorities, spend more quality time in their relationships or maybe do the things they really want to do versus spending time doing things they feel they have to.
Example 2
Problem: Your ideal clients are in a difficult relationship, and daily interactions with their partner leave them feeling like they are going crazy. When you outline the issues, you lay out all the ways this trips them up and makes them feel frustrated or stuck or worse.
Solution: Your program helps them understand how to learn to trust their own inner compass and detach from beliefs about what romantic relationships should be like. In your copy, you can guide them into understanding why standard solutions or the latest self-help bestseller may not work for them.
Benefits: Maybe your program can help them grow their self-confidence, rebuilds trust in themselves, communicate better with their partner, reduce their stress levels, or learn how to find their own answers about what they should do or not do in their relationship.
Whatever the solution, you tie your approach as the help they need for one of their major struggles. And the benefits that come forth are ones that you know are outcomes of your offer. Tying them to the specific problem you outline, though, makes them feel more tangible. And more important.
Your ideal clients may be experiencing many issues, likely interrelated; by design your program will address many of them. You can talk about all of this on the sales page and in your promotional copy.
To create your offer though, start by identifying one problem.
Your offer then becomes one strong solution. This will help keep your program copy focused, making it easier for your ideal clients to recognize you as the expert you really are and move closer to trusting you as the one who can help them.