5 Sales Mindset Shifts for an Authentic Coaching Discovery Call

We know you’re on a mission to help your coaching clients. But step 1 is you have to GET clients.

And to do that, you have to do something many coaches dread: SELL. 

Don’t love selling? Feel like it’s not what you signed up for when you became a coach?
Let’s be real: selling gets a bad rap.

Because most of us have had uncomfortable encounters with aggressive, overly assertive, or obnoxious salespeople who are trained to overcome and overpower our every objection, no matter how firm or reasonable we are.

Every one of us wants that yes from our client to feel good, to feel true, to be a perfect fit for both the client AND the coach.

A natural, authentic yes is the only one that matters for a coach.

Because that’s the only way you can form and build on a successful coaching relationship that leads to lasting results for your client.

So we’re here to tell you that a sales call or conversation doesn’t have to feel unnatural or awkward! It can feel like a true, natural conversation about a topic you both have in common: how you and your coaching services can help them.

The truth is you can’t have a real business if you can’t sell your programs and services. So that means you need to embrace the selling process, no matter how you feel about it.

Related: How to Start a Successful Online Coaching Business

Let’s start by getting your mind in the right place so you can start showing up as a confident leader who is her own biggest fan! Then you can master the skills that turn a sales conversation into a real sale.

Sounds great, right?

Buuuut you’re probably here because you are resisting selling. Which is totally, 100% normal to feel when you’re first starting out. Heck, even if you have been in business for years sales can feel unnatural!

Let’s start with the most common objections we hear from coaches about selling their coaching programs and services:

“I don’t want to sell, I just want to coach.”
“I don’t feel comfortable talking about or asking for money.”
“I don’t know how to sell or what to say.”
“I don’t want to be pushy or assertive.”
“What if I don’t deliver the results they want?”
“Do I really need to sell? Won’t they just want to sign up?”

Did one of these statements stand out for you? Maybe two? Or maybe all of them??

Well take a deep breath, because you’re in the right place.

If you get a potential client to book a discovery call to learn more about your coaching programs and services, here is exactly how to get your mind in the right place so you can approach the call with confidence.

Keep reading to discover the 5 Sales Mindset Shifts that you can make RIGHT NOW in order to embrace the selling process on your sales calls and discovery calls.

They will transform your ability to sell on a discovery call so you can hear a happy, enthusiastic YES from your ideal clients.

Let’s dive in!

Sales Mindset Shift #1: On a discovery call, you are not selling a coaching program or service. You are selling the client's transformation.

Contrary to what you might think, you are not actually selling a course, a bundle, a package, or coaching guidance.

What you and your coaching business are actually providing is an outcome. A transformation for your client to experience, a shift from a problem they are facing into the outcome they truly want.

The audience is here because of the outcome they want to achieve. So shift your mindset to focus on that outcome and communicate that your coaching programs and services are the vehicle to this outcome.

How?

You have knowledge, skills, and abilities that your clients get to benefit from.
They get to transform as a result of working with you. As a result of investing their time and money in you.

Investing in you is an investment into bringing their dreams to life.
THAT is what you’re “selling.”

That should boost your confidence at least a couple of notches!
(And keep you from feeling overwhelmed by this whole coaching business)

Read more: 3 Simple Tips to Overcome Overwhelm in Your Coaching Business

What you have and offer and provide has so much value and will make your coaching client’s life exactly what they want it to be (so long as they put in their share of the effort).

If you keep that in the forefront of your mind during your call, the sales conversation on the discovery call will flow much more naturally than if you just summarize each of your offerings, line by line by line.

Sell the solution. Sell the results. Sell the transformation.

Sales Mindset Shift #2: This discovery call is a gift to your (potential) coaching client, because you are selling them a chance to invest in themselves and the outcome they desire. 

Think about all the times you have signed up for something that’s free.

Any free event or product people opt in to typically ends up cast easily aside, into the stockpile of other free stuff they’ve gathered over the years.

A low investment means a low commitment.

Now think about when you’ve invested money into a course, resource, or program. Did you just cast it aside or did you truly do something with it? Did it lead you to take actual, tangible action?

Plus, you invested in that resource because it was in close alignment with your true, actual goals and wishes. And therefore you were far more committed to fully utilizing it rather than dragging into yet another unused Google Drive folder (we all have our fair share of those, right??).

When you are selling a coaching program or service, you are selling your audience a chance to invest in themselves and the outcome they desire. Whereas opting in to something free doesn’t require much foresight, planning, or strategy at all.

So when you offer your coaching programs and services at a price that they actually have to make a decision about out, they have to consider questions like “How badly do I want this?” “ Am I really going to do the work?” "Is this a decision I am ready to commit to?"

You are not asking or demanding anything from your client by promoting your coaching services and expertise. Rather you are giving them an opportunity to invest in a real, tangible action plan to accomplish their desired outcome.

Saying yes to your coaching means they have made a real commitment, which takes them out of “maybe” land that does nothing for anybody and it gets them into action.

Which is where they truly need to be in order to change and improve their lives.

Read more: Learn to Get Unstuck and Take Action to Grow Your Coaching Business

Sales Mindset Shift #3: If sales call or discovery call feels uncomfortable, it’s because you’re making the conversation about you.

This shift is very simple: focus on what you want FOR your coaching client, not what you want FROM them.

All the training and expertise inside of you is a gifted opportunity for your clients. An opportunity to transform, to take action, to try something new.

You are a very talented coach (are you blushing??).
You have gifts that helps others.

There are people out there who are waiting for the solutions you have. They're just sitting at their computer or smartphone endlessly scrolling searching and wondering “What do I do about this?”

You have the answer.
YOU and your coaching programs can help.

Whether you are a health coach, life coach, business coach, relationship coach, or success coach. You are giving them the opportunity to learn something new and achieve a specific outcome.

And that’s what you really, truly set out to accomplish with your online coaching business, right?

Related: Beat Entrepreneur Burnout & Breathe Life Back into Your Business

So in your discovery call, focus 100% on the person on the other end of the line. Don’t let any feelings of awkwardness or discomfort sneak in. Just shift your mindset into being about your audience, your people, your ideal clients.

In shifting your mindset, you will remember how much this potential coaching client needs you. And then you can help them recognize and understand that they need you.

Epiphany moment.
It's magical.

There is nothing better for us than the feeling of witnessing someone step up in an important moment and trust themselves to make great decisions for their life. To shift from fear, doubt, overwhelm and confusion and into an inspired, confident, bold YES to the new course for their life.  

It’s moments like this that make selling FUN and rewarding.
A powerful way to connect to another human.

Sales Mindset Shift #4: During a discovery call, your confidence and clarity (or lack thereof) will transfer to your listener.

The confidence that you have about your own ability to sell and deliver results enables you to be yourself and navigate the sales conversation with leadership. That confidence gets transferred over to the other person.

If this confidence isn’t firmly in place, your potential client can feel it. It makes them feel unsure or worried. No matter how smooth and well-executed the sales call may be, your doubt will transfer to them.

And then when you tell them about the investment, they “have to think about it.”

They walk away (possibly forever).

Painful!

For yourself, but also painful for them. Because the client is going to walk away and not benefit from the solution that you know your coaching program can give them.

If there is a disconnect between what you say you're delivering and your own confidence about whether or not you can, your sales call will fall flat.

You have to be invested in what you’re doing. You need to shift your mindset to that confidence in yourself and your coaching programs. To their true worth for your ideal client.

When you embrace that energy, that true and honest belief in what you do, you will be able to speak from your heart with every fiber of confidence and clarity.

Sell to yourself first. Make your own mindset the first sale that you make.
Really connect with that confidence before you get on a sales call.

A good place to start is to remember a time when you were able to coach or help someone in the past. Remind yourself that you actually have transformed someone. You were the catalyst. You were able to deliver, even if it was on yourself. And if you figured it out then, then you can help another person figure it out.

If you have never directly coached someone (yet), remember that you have so many skills and you've poured so much training and knowledge into your coaching business and coaching programs. That should help you be confident that you are fully prepared to help your clients achieve their results.

(And if you haven't found a community to support you on this journey, join ours!)

Sales Mindset Shift #5: Running a great sales call no longer means being “salesy,” pushy, or manipulative. Just. Be. Yourself.

You don't have to be manipulative. You don't have to be convincing. There shouldn’t be any cajoling, pleading, or endless follow-ups.

In fact, all of those things are going to repel your audience and keep them from saying yes to anything you offer.

So make the shift that you get to be yourself on your sales and discovery calls and not some salesy version of your true self.

Because it’s important when you meet someone that they see your true, authentic self from the start. Not some different salesperson version of you. Don’t rely on sleazy sales tactics you were taught or were told are effective. Just be yourself.

As coaches, we are selling our authentic self. We get to be comfortable. When we are comfortable and in alignment with our business and its mission, we also attract the clients who are aligned with what we provide. 

Don’t turn in to a different person in order to sell your coaching programs and services.  Stay connected to your genuine personality.

The whole purpose of a coaching discovery call is to connect with the right clients, who are a fit for your particular coaching programs and services.

That's what it's all about. 

Hopefully these sales mindset shifts help your brain get a sense of relief and calm when it comes to selling your coaching programs and services.

The bottom line is that you should be your own biggest fan.

When you believe in yourself, when you believe in your programs and services, then you know you can deliver the results your clients need. Then you get to show up and just be yourself and convey the fantastic solution you are going to provide your client with

You need to have a firm grasp on your own self confidence before you even show up on that call.

Not feeling quite confident yet about what you can do?

Let us help! Let’s get you on a free business strategy call so we (Sherri & Jessie) can help you shift that confidence very quickly. Because here at StarrCox Community, there are multiple levels of support so you can continue to receive ongoing help and guidance.

We guarantee that you will walk away from this call with specific clarity and insight into your current coaching business strategy. Bonus: we will point you in the right direction so you can keep taking action and growing your coaching business.

After all, we’re in this coaching industry because we want to share our light and gifts with the world.

So keep on smiling and keep your energy up for your next sales or discovery call!

See you soon,

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