Not Having "Luck" Getting Yeses?
One of my clients—a coach who has made over six figures in his coaching practice—decided to put his business growth on pause. There were personal things that needed his attention, so he took his “foot off the enrollment gas” and focused on serving his clients and taking care of himself. A wise move—and one he could make with ease because of the success he’d already created.
When it came time for him to shift into enrollment mode again, he felt rusty. He expressed how he wasn’t having very much luck enrolling clients. The four prospects he had been nurturing all decided now wasn’t the time for coaching. He was feeling down on himself and doubting his abilities as a coach.
I don’t know of a coach who hasn’t experienced this. I certainly have. You likely have too.
Below is the coaching I offered this person:
“If you were an award-winning competitive swimmer and decided to take a year off of getting in the pool—or only getting in occasionally, basically lessening your training, strength, etc—would you expect yourself to win the first four competitions you entered?
Probably not.
And, yet, it seems like you are doing that here.
I’m slowing this down because what you tell yourself about your coaching is important. Do thoughts of “I’m not having luck” right now uplift you? I’m guessing no. I’m thinking they support you in feeling low on the ladder of consciousness?
It might be time to adjust your idea of luck and what’s working?
To me, you have deeply nurtured these relationships. For a relationship building business, that IS working. You don’t know when the seeds will sprout.
What you’re experiencing is the consequence of what happens when we choose to go into maintenance mode and stop practicing our enrollment skills. When we come back it can feel like starting over (even though we aren’t). It requires more efforting. It’s not as smooth and easy. We don’t have the same muscle memory or breadcrumbs already fostered.
My encouragement is to come into acceptance of where you are right now. To know that it may take a little bit of time before you enroll a client—and that’s ok. Maybe you offer a few smaller term packages (3 months) to get the money flowing? This doesn’t compromise your fee and can also make the fee more accessible to those you have affordability issues.
I love seeing direct feedback from coaches to their clients, so I thought you might find this useful too. If it was tell me in the comments and let me know.
Wishing you much more joy in all of your Creative Contributions! {Watch Steve’s Video to see what I mean.}
With Fierce Loving,
Amber
ps: I just announced a new program I’m leading starting next month. If you’re curious, check it out here.
Photo by Barbara Krysztofiak.
