Retaining clients is key to any business’s success. But what happens when you have a ‘beer’ client as opposed to a champagne client? Is it time to fire your bad clients?
In this episode of the Influence By Design podcast, Samantha gives an alternate perspective on this topic. She shares four different strategies you can implement in your coaching business to train your clients to show up as champagne clients.
IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL DISCOVER:
- How to attract more champagne clients (01:32)
- The outcome of not telling your new clients what will happen next (04:24)
- What is an onboarding document and how do you use it? (07:19)
- The symptoms of your clients not being clear on their next step (9:28)
- Do this so your clients don’t ghost you (11:24)
QUOTES
“Train your clients to show up as a champagne client so they get better results in your program.” -Samantha Riley
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TRANSCRIPTION
Samantha Riley Snippet (0:00):
What would your business feel like if you only worked with champagne clients, clients who are coachable, take action and are resourceful, as opposed to clients who make excuses don’t do the work and need constant hand holding. It’s often said that you should fire your D clients to make way for your champagne clients. But what if instead of firing clients, you could set the boundaries right from the beginning of your relationship and create champagne clients. Today I’m going to explore why firing clients may be taking the easy way out.
My name is Samantha Riley, and this is the podcast for experts who want to be the unapologetic leader in their industry. We’re going to share the latest business growth, marketing, and leadership strategies, as well as discussing how you can use your human design to create success in business and life. Inside and out. It’s time to take your influence, income, and impact to the level you know you’re capable of. Are you ready to make a bigger difference and scale up? This is the Influence By Design podcast.
Samantha Riley 01:04
Welcome to Episode 442 of influence by design. I’m your host for today’s Samantha Riley. And today I want to talk about a topic that’s been really pushing my buttons for a few weeks now, I have a very controversial take on a topic. And I’ve been seeing this particular topic popping up in quite a few groups that I’m in just recently. But before I do, I want to set some context around this topic. So back in episode 416, if you haven’t listened to it, go back and listen to it because I talked about attracting your champagne clients. And I call these your Bollinger clients as opposed to your beer clients. So you know your Bollinger clients are your champagne clients are the clients that you really love to work with. And then there’s the beer clients, the ones that you don’t love to work with so much your champagne clients or your Bollinger clients get results. Which means, you know, you as the coach gets to play a bigger game, they’re resourceful, you’re not hand holding them, they take action, they want results, and they take responsibility for getting those results. They see you as an investment, not a cost, they pay on time. And they refer other really amazing clients, as opposed to your beer clients, the ones who blame others for not getting results. So they focus on the wrong things. They don’t do the work, they don’t value you they don’t pay on time, they don’t refer. And you know, those clients can really feel like a struggle when it feels like you’re not being valued. Now, at some point, you will sign some of these clients. So in Episode 416, I talked about how to attract more champagne clients, so that you don’t attract the we’ll call them the beer clients. But at some point, they will show up in your world. And right now, this is where I’m going to get a little controversial. Because what I’m seeing in a few, like I said in a few groups is coaches proudly posting, Hey, everyone, give me a high five because today I sacked two clients, and everyone is posting, you know, good for you. And that’s amazing. And yes, sometimes we do need to let these clients go. But in my opinion, this should be a last resort. Because what if these clients don’t even realize they’re not getting the results because of patterns that have been running? If you want to be an exceptional coach and exceptional business owner, what if you could train your clients, not just how to get the results, but how to show up as a champagne client, rather than just being an okay coach and firing them when it doesn’t feel good. And when they’re pushing your buttons? What if you could help them to understand what it means to show up as a better client so they get better results? And what if you could take the learnings so that you could not only show up as a better coach, but you could build a more resilient and a much more stable coaching practice. So there are things you can do to set your clients up for success. So let’s dive in. I’ve got four points here. So take note, because I think that if you implement these in your business, you will feel a lot more comfortable in the day to day running. So number one, educate your clients what to expect from you next. Now I’m talking about this in the context of the beginning of a conversation with a new client. So this is at the point where there’s still a prospect and then moving into the onto being a client. Now when you’re on the phone with a prospect and they give you their credit card and say all right, all right, let’s do this. What do you do next? Do you process the card? Do you congratulate them and get off the phone and that’s the end of it. Now for you as the Coach, you know what’s going to happen next, but they don’t. So this is a huge opportunity for you to let them know how things are going to work. Now, when they’re at the point that they’re on the phone with you, this is where their new journey with you begins as a client. So once you congratulate them and welcome them aboard, now you can make them feel safe and say, Hey, congratulations, here’s what’s going to happen next. What I want you to do right now is think about a time that you may be handed a credit card over or gave your credit card number to someone on the phone, or this has definitely happened to me put a credit card into a webform and sent off, and all of a sudden, it’s crickets. So maybe on a call, you handed the card over. And then when you got off the phone, and you’ve got no idea what’s happening, or even worse, if you’re putting it into a webform. There’s not even a thank you page, there’s no automated email, you know, and at this point, you think, Oh, my goodness, I’m such an idiot, I’ve just been scammed. Now, you may not have been. But that’s the feeling that you have. And that’s when buyer’s remorse kicks in. So don’t let this happen. Let them know. Okay, so here’s what’s going to happen next. Well, as soon as we get off the phone, you’ll receive an email, click the link and join the Facebook group. Or you’ll find a calendar link to book in for your onboarding session. Let them know if they need to prepare anything for the next time you speak with them. Just remember, you know the answers to all of these things, but they’ve never experienced this before. So think about what would be going on in their head. You know, let them know things like the weekly posts that you want them to engage with you tell them the days and times for the group calls and where they can find the link. So I’ve given you lots of ideas there. Don’t give them all of these don’t overwhelm people, but just let them know what the next two or three next steps are. Because here’s the thing, if your clients feel like they have no idea what’s going on, they’re going to get grumpy, they’re going to get snappy, they may reach out and just say, hey, this isn’t for me. So help them to feel safe by knowing what to expect next.
Samantha Riley 07:19
Number two, have an onboarding, document, and document and agreement, whatever you want to call it. But before you do anything with your new client, go through this agreement with them. And this agreement will address two things. First, what can they expect from you. Now this is setting the expectations for how you’re going to work together and what they can expect. And second, you’re going to talk about what you can expect from them. So you’re really setting nice and tight boundaries right from the beginning. Now this isn’t a document that you just email through and let them read and sort of sign at their own will. This is actually something you go through together on your very first call. So you’re having a conversation, where they can ask any questions that come up. But also, you can discuss these things. And you’re really asking them, does that make sense? Do you have any questions, then they’re signing that document. And at any time, you’re able to go back and say, you know, if something comes up, hey, look, we talked about this here, this is a better way to work this so that we can work together in a better way. So have conversations around the training and the coaching that they’ve got access to talk about what you’ll provide, who to reach out to when they’re unsure or not happy. All of the kinds of things that they can expect from you. Then you’ll flip the conversation and share your expectations about them taking responsibility for their learning for their implementation. Let them know that they need to reach out if they have a question or if they’re not happy about something so that you can write it, talk about payments, it’s important that they pay on time and talk about why just say we don’t want to be spending more time collecting payments, we want to put all of that time into serving you and making sure that you’ve got all the most up to date trainings, talk about the terms and conditions of the payments of leaving the program. Having that conversation together is a really, really great way to start off the relationship. Number three, always help them get clear on the next step. So just remember, your clients are going to get overwhelmed because they’re doing something new. They’ve taken you on because they’re not sure on how to do something they need your help. So don’t just leave them on their own to flounder. Help them to get clear on what it is that the next step is because when people get overwhelmed, they lash out. Just think about you how were you When on how do you act? And how do you react when you’re overwhelmed when you’re stressed, that’s when you get frustrated, and you can lash out and get snappy. I’m sure you felt this way yourself. So put yourself in the position of your client, put trainings in place, or put coaching in place, so that at different times of the coaching journey, you’re not giving them the 200 steps to do something, you’re just saying, this is the next step. This is something that I would say probably 98% of my clients talk about within the first month of working with me how they love that I say, you don’t need to know the next 200 steps, I’m here to help you, I’m just going to give you the next two to three steps. That’s all you need to focus on. And they’re always so relieved that someone has just helped them to get clarity so that they can move forward. Because you know, when you’re overwhelmed, it actually traps you, it stops you, it holds you back. So think about how you can help your clients. Just to get clear on the next step. Maybe there’s extra group coaching calls or q&a calls, or one on one check ins, or text message check ins, all of that think of all of the ways that you can help them to have an opportunity to tell you I’m stuck, I need some help just so I can get clear on the next step. And number four, train them to not ghost you. There’s nothing worse than having a client ghost you and you know that that’s the beginning of something that’s about to code down. So most people will have some sort of Facebook group. But when someone’s feeling super overwhelmed, they may not feel comfortable coming out and saying I’m a little bit overwhelmed. And I’m not sure what to do next. So think about some things that you could implement in your business like a customer success manager that reaches out to your clients periodically. Maybe you’ve got emails that go out every so often just having some sort of check in, or a text message that checks in saying, Hey, what are you up to? What projects are you working on? How are you feeling what’s going on, depending on what your niche is, depends on the kinds of questions that you ask. And this helps your clients to feel seen, heard, validated. Like they’re not just a number. That’s when they’ll be able to say, You know what, there’s this thing going on, and it’s really holding me back. And that gives you a chance to actually open up that conversation and say, You know what, I’m here to support you. Let’s jump on a call, or what do we need to do next. Now, of course, I talked about these four things to help train your clients to show up as champagne clients. Now while this won’t work, 100% of the time, there are going to be clients that you do need to let go. I honestly think that exceptional coaches will go over and above to help their clients show up as champagne clients, and not just wear a badge of honor saying I just sacked four or five clients. So I hope that this resonated with you today. Thanks so much for listening, and I hope you really found today’s topic valuable. And if you did, here’s how we can help you to grow your business even faster. You can join my free Facebook group coaches thought leaders and changemakers where inside you’ll get access to weekly free trainings as we dive into all aspects of your expert business. And if you want to be known as the leader in your industry, then I invite you to book a quick 15 minute influence audit, where we’ll work together to identify your current situation, immediate opportunities for growth, and we’ll uncover the number one thing holding you back from not being booked as an industry leader. And we’ll develop a three step implementation plan to increase your visibility. You find the link to the Facebook group and the link to book and influence audit in the description below. I look forward to seeing you next week on another episode of influence by design.
Thanks for joining me for this episode of the Influence By Design podcast. If you want more head over to influencebydesignpodcast.com for the show notes and links to today’s gifts and sponsors. And if you’re looking to connect with other experts who are growing and scaling their business to join us in the coaches, thought leaders and changemakers community on Facebook, the links are waiting for you over at influencebydesignpodcast.com
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