{"id":3701,"date":"2012-06-27T05:07:29","date_gmt":"2012-06-27T12:07:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.noomii.com\/blog\/?p=3701"},"modified":"2012-07-02T11:42:56","modified_gmt":"2012-07-02T18:42:56","slug":"value-proposition-formula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.noomii.com\/blog\/?p=3701","title":{"rendered":"The Value Proposition Formula: How to appeal to your ideal coaching clients & get more leads"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this post, I’m going to teach you how to de-suckify your value proposition<\/strong> so clients call or email you more often. On Noomii, this is the 250 character field that appears just under your name and credentials called your “ideal client description”. On your website, this is the main title of the home page that describes what you’re all about.<\/p>\n

I’ve talked to hundreds of amazing coaches whose profiles do not do them justice. I read their profiles expecting a dud and when I get on the phone, I can’t help but get excited about who they are and what they do as a coach. But that’s not good enough. I want to get excited before I get on the phone and so do potential clients.<\/p>\n

So I took it upon myself to find out what the kick-ass coaches do on their profiles. Here’s what I found out. At the top of their profiles, in the first sentence or two (i.e. in their value proposition), they:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Connect with the pain of their ideal clients<\/li>\n
  2. Hint at a desirable solution<\/li>\n
  3. Offer a compelling, irresistible x-factor or hook<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Let\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s look at each of these elements more closely.<\/p>\n

    How to connect with the pain of your ideal clients<\/h2>\n

    I resisted the notion of appealing to someone\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s pain when I first got into coaching. It just didn\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t feel right because coaching is about looking at the positives and making a good life great. But I quickly learned (okay, fine, maybe not so quickly) that people are more likely to whip out their credit card when the perception<\/em> of what they are buying is a must-have. NOT a nice-to-have.<\/p>\n

    Think of Aspirin versus vitamins. Aspirin solves an immediate pain and needs to be consumed right away. Vitamins may mitigate pain sometime in the future but people can easily go a week or two without consuming them.<\/p>\n

    \"Sell<\/a><\/p>\n

    Another way to look at it is to think of Maslow\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s Hierarchy of Needs. The ultimate goal of coaching is to help people achieve self-actualization, the highest need on the pyramid.<\/p>\n

    But that is not why they hire a coach in the first place.<\/p>\n

    Usually they hire a coach to satisfy a need that is closer to the bottom of the pyramid. A very successful mentor coach once explained to me that people come to coaching for the surface level things such as a faster car, bigger office, thinner waist line, and what they get from coaching are the deeper level benefits such as self-confidence, emotional awareness, and meaning. So identify the surface level stuff then deliver the full depth of benefits.<\/p>\n

    \"Maslow's<\/a>
    \nHow well do you know the pain your ideal clients experience? What keeps your ideal clients up at night?<\/p>\n

    Take a few seconds to imagine your ideal client.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Imagine that they have not yet hired a coach and don\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t know what it\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s like to experience coaching. They are deeply entrenched in the consciousness of their problem and after a restless night, you get to find out what kept them up.<\/p>\n

    What might they say?<\/em><\/p>\n

    If you don\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t have an answer to this question, you need to find out. Don\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t get trapped into thinking you know what keeps them up and what words they use to describe it. Ask them.<\/p>\n

    It\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s critical that you connect to your ideal clients by using the language they would use. You might say they have challenges with \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201clife balance\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d. They might describe it as being \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cstressed out\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d.<\/p>\n

    So find out by asking your ideal clients what keeps them up at night.<\/p>\n

    How to hint at a desirable solution<\/h2>\n

    It\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s not enough to say \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cI specialize in helping people lose weight.\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d So do Richard Simmons and Jenny Craig, but they have vastly different approaches to achieve the same results.<\/p>\n

    You need to at least hint at how you help your clients overcome their primary challenge.<\/em><\/p>\n

    What\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s in it for them? Maybe you have a program, ebook, proprietary system, proven method, or unique approach. Those kinds of ways of packaging your service helps.<\/p>\n

    It also helps to indicate what the benefits are or what the desired outcomes are. For example, you might say something like:<\/p>\n