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How does the idea of selling make you feel? For many, it's not a great feeling. Unfortunately, the image many of us have of selling is not positive. But the ability to sell is essential if you want to build a successful health coaching business. If you suffer from an aversion to selling, this is something you can overcome if you get the right training and coaching.
'Serve' Don't 'Sell'
One major reason people hate selling is that they see it as something manipulative. You're trying to convince someone to buy something against their will. But, if you're offering a valuable and helpful service such as health coaching, there's every reason in the world why you should be proud of what you're doing. You're actually "serving" your prospect, not "selling" to them.
For example, let's imagine that you're selling coaching sessions to help your clients improve their physical and mental wellbeing. Rather than trying to convince the person to sign up to your coaching program, because of your skills and qualifications, you could offer a free 'strategy' or 'discovery' session, where you can start to get to know each other before commencing a professional relationship.
These free sessions are a gift of your generosity and are a great forum for providing your prospective client with valuable education, training and coaching. You can teach them some incredibly important health concepts that they can apply to their life immediately to start feeling better. Once they experience the physical and mental benefits of what you taught them, they'll realize the enormous value you can offer them as a health coach.
Listen to Your Prospective Client
Another reason we hate selling is that it can seem pushy and annoying if it is done the wrong way. The typical image of an unhelpful salesperson is someone who's talking at a mile-a-minute, overwhelming their prospective client and making the buying decision difficult, confusing and unpleasant.
Actually, in order to sell well, you need to be a good listener and apply great coaching skills. You need to understand the needs and frustrations of your prospective client before suggesting your coaching programs as a solution. Offering your client one or two free health coaching sessions is a great way to build rapport, establish trust and work through a coaching solution which would address their needs and fit into their budget.
A Relationship-Building Process
Sales can seem impersonal when done the wrong way. Trying to push your coaching services or related health products will come across as insincere and opportunistic. Successful coaches connect personally with their prospective clients, allowing the sales process to happen in a natural and organic way. First, you make a personal connection to build rapport and establish trust. Then, with respect for your prospect, you work together to find the right solutions to address their problems.
Confidence Issues
Many people hate selling because they fear rejection and lack confidence in themselves and the services they provide. Some people experience 'imposter syndrome' undermining their self-confidence and the value they place on their professional services. Taking the 'serve' rather than 'sell' approach eliminates the stress and anxiety associated with selling because most of us relish the opportunity to help and support people.
You can also gain confidence by understanding how to articulate the value of your health coaching programs and the way in which they help people achieve better health outcomes and meaningful improvements in their mental wellbeing and quality-of-life. If you really believe in the strengths and value propositions of your health coaching programs, you can better communicate this to your prospective clients, so that they can make an informed decision about paying for your health coaching services.
If you want to remove the barriers and obstacles that are preventing you from building and scaling your coaching or consulting business, please click on the button at the top of the page and register for your FREE Business Strategy Session.