Most of us think the hardest thing to accomplish is getting clients hooked. We have to market ourselves without coming off as “salesy”. But, how often do we think about the client once we have them in our program? See, I think the most difficult thing is not getting the client on board . . . it’s actually how to serve the client well and give them the most value possible once they’re in.
If you can’t hold client loyalty, then you’ll be stuck in a never-ending cycle of having to constantly sell yourself. You will rely fully on gaining new clients each and every month. It’s an exhausting cycle you want to avoid. Because the reality is, convincing someone you can help get them to their goals will get through the door but in order to keep them, you have to actually deliver on those promises.
“I’m sick of having no motivation to go to the gym . . . I need someone that will hold me accountable and motivate me through the process.”
Something along these lines is probably what your client thought. You sold yourself and gave them a solution. Now, you have to follow through and provide the service.
“But what if I’m too busy getting clients to join? I don’t have time to do all that!”
Customer loyalty is more important than new clients. Think about it. If I am gaining a total of 15 new clients a month with a 90% retention rate, that means that over the course of six months I will have gained 78 clients just by adding 15 a month and making sure my clients were happy. This is MUCH better than gaining 15 a month only to lose them and start over again because you can’t give your clients what they asked for.
The truth is you have to change the way in which you communicate with your client because the context and environment has changed. You’re no longer trying to get them to buy in. They’re in!! It’s time to now deliver what you said you would and give your client something they couldn’t have had before you gave them your program. This will keep your client base, and also add other members. Referrals are powerful and the word of mouth is strong! Give your clients something so valuable they can’t help but share it with others.
Once your client is in, make sure there is purpose. Ask your client, “Where do you see yourself in a few months?”, “What’s the biggest change you want to accomplish?”. Set up realistic goals that you can work on with your client. After establishing goals, follow-up with them. Ask them how they think their journey is going. Ask them if there’s any area they would like to change. This is about their experience, not yours.
How you sell to someone will bring them in, but how you service determines if they stay.
Make sure you check your mode of communication dependent on which stage of the process you’re in with the client. There’s only so many ways you can personalize an email. In order to build a relationship with the client you must get personal.
Coach Catalyst offers a personal mode of communication for your coaching business - while still making the task easy and efficient.
As a coach you don’t have a ton of time to focus on every client - (who does?!) but Coach Catalyst helps you reach your clients in a quick and efficient manner so you don’t lose clients because of inauthenticity and you aren’t feeling like you never have enough time
We get it, taking the time for authentic communication is difficult - but this industry is built on relationships and communication is vital to that development.
Remember the retention is just as important as the new sale.