How to Conduct Market Research for Your Coaching Business

This week, Emily Merrell and Lexie Smith talk about how to conduct market research for your coaching business. They speak to the importance of conducting market research in your coaching area as well as overall in the industry. They review the important types of market research, how you can conduct such for your own practice, and how to use and apply market research findings in the overall development and growth of your coaching business. 

Here’s what you’ll learn: 

• What market research and how it is used for coaching businesses
• Two types of market research Em & Lex suggest you gather for your coaching practice
• Examples of how Ready Set Coach integrates market research in their module teachings 
• What competitor research can do for your business
• Tips on how getting in front of your audience can help you audit your offering and figure out what customers actually want
• Examples of market research questions that you can use on a market research call
• How to use and apply market research to develop your offerings and grow your coaching business
• How to find people who are willing to participate in market research calls
• And more! 

Follow Em & Lex on Instagram at @readysetcoachprogram

Learn more about the Ready Set Coach Program at Readysetcoachprogram.com

Learn more about Six Degrees Society and THEPRBAR inc.

Transcript

 How to Conduct Market Research for Your Coaching Business - Podcast Transcript

Lexie Smith  

Lexie Smith, Emilie mudslide, Merrill, how are you

Emily Merrell  

know, that was a private conversation. Oh. But literally, shit. My my child had a mudslide this morning. So that's Top of the morning for you.

Lexie Smith  

Anyways, how are you? All you listeners? Okay, you can't respond to us. This is a great way to start out. Okay, Emily, you were asking me about a course. Let's let's go there. Okay.

Emily Merrell  

So, like, so you know this about me, I love investing in myself. And I'll buy courses. And I find that I'm really bad at holding myself accountable. When I buy a course I'm like, Look, right now I have two things that I've bought that like, this is the deadline to finish. And I'm like, Shit, I have to actually sit down. I'm playing it at two point time, you know, two times the speed in the background and trying to do the work at the same time. So I'm curious, are you someone that prefers doing like a coaching course, or a course or something that's accountable and group lead, or human,

Lexie Smith  

I definitely have bought courses that I still never watched in my life. I think I think I could, in theory, like, get myself to do it. But I'd have to really, really want to. And I find myself not wanting to the few times, I've tried to watch an online course. And like they're taking too long to get to the point nowadays. So I like to think, like, get to the point, I don't need all the extra fluff. And so that's something that leans me towards I'd much rather be in an interactive human to human learning experience, personally,

Emily Merrell  

me too. And it's, it's funny because a lot of these courses have a human component to it, where you can sign up on a time that works for you. And I find that really hard for me to schedule as well, like, oh, the group calls or lead hours that I have something so and the schedule is dropped every week. And I feel like I'm more of a passive participant than an active participant. Well, in the case where I've been in group coaching programs with other people, I'm very active. I'm like, I paid money for this. I'm training for every call that is offered. And I'm competitive, like not competitive, but I feel like I am able to propel myself forward because there's other people showing up and like they're showing results. So then I want to show results, too. So that being said, Yeah, I just find it funny, like the different learning styles of individuals,

Lexie Smith  

you know, and reflecting about this a little bit more to when I was getting into coaching, I consumed a lot more of the kind of online course or free online materials. I was just in learning mode. As I've felt like my knowledge level has gone beyond the beginning stages. I don't anymore. Now I really want the custom tailored approach. So I think maybe there's something to be said too, about the level that you're learning. Like if I Okay, here's a good example. I sat down and watched a frickin YouTube video on how to do something for the first time in years. That's probably an exaggeration, but in a long time, and you know, those hair clips that go on the back of your head, not really trending right now.

Emily Merrell  

Yeah, they like the claw clip,

Lexie Smith  

the claw clip, I wanted to learn how to do o'clock club, and I couldn't so I found a YouTuber had like a 15 minute video, which I don't know why it was 15 minutes. That's probably also an exaggeration. But I sat down and I watched it over and over and over for probably 30 minutes trying to learn how to do it because I was such a noob now I would never sit down and watch like a HAIR CLUB video because I know how to do it. So I think like maybe also this how bad you want it and the stage of learning your app. Maybe

Emily Merrell  

also. Yeah, I'd be I'd be really curious for those listening, how you consume material. So this is actually a fun one. I remember my first like coaching investment, lacs was the Marie Forleo B School Program. I don't

Lexie Smith  

know did I know about that? Maybe you did.

Emily Merrell  

But you I forget. It was it was 2015. And I remember it was I felt like that was a huge investment for me. It was $1,500 I was like oh Oh my god, I can't believe I've spent this. And she's wonderful. I think her programs wonderful, her resources are wonderful. I just could not get through the videos, there was so much talking in the videos. And I'm so much like you I'm like, I want to know straight how to do it. It's linear. When you're cooking. I don't care about like your grandma's recipe and like the memories you spent on the beach together while you made this soup, like I want to just know how to do the recipe. And so I really struggled with the like fluff that came before the actual learning. And I mean, I feel like I still to this day, I've never finished a

Lexie Smith  

course. Wild. Yeah, and it's interesting too, because you'll see this, Emily and I's learning style is reflective in how we built ReadySet coach. However, we've also tried to accommodate that other people learn differently. So we do have pre recorded modules that are very concise and to the point, but we pair that also with transcripts, homework, so it becomes interactive. And then we have the live group coaching and one on one. So really, we're trying to hit kind of all the checkmarks for all the different type of learners. And this is not a this is not a promo for ReadySet coach and just does it is irrelevant. Yeah, try to accommodate.

Emily Merrell  

And I realized more and more as I go through other people's programs, when they have a transcript, I'm like, yep, give me the transcript. I want another transcript. But I don't know, it was just something that was topical in my brain, just how I like to learn, I think I'm like a, I want like hits of learning, I don't want to sit down for an hour and 15 minutes to watch a video.

Lexie Smith  

And you know, one of the things that I think is the most helpful way to learn is through market research. So in reading as a coach, we have a whole module and two weeks of our program dedicated to this. And we have people who have never done research market research before we have people who have done it before. Something we want to say off the bat is market research is something that isn't a one and done. It's something that can be incredibly beneficial throughout the different phases and stages of your business. So Emily, let's dive in. Why don't you kick us off with what are we doing market research about? What is market research?

Emily Merrell  

Well, great question lacks, I think market research first and foremost, is is asking your ideal audience ideal clients what they want. And a lot of times as entrepreneurs, be it, they're building a brand, be it that you're building a service or a product, we're so in our head, and we're like, Oh, I know exactly what they want. I'm just going to build it and I'm going to build it in silence. And then when I launch it, it's going to sell out and everyone's going to love it. And I'm I probably even shouldn't launch my website, because it's going to sell out so quickly. Like I've seen these spirals happen. And so market research is really validating, and testing that, that offer that you've been iterating in your mind building, probably in silo. And in getting feedback and tweaking accordingly. We so often can make assumptions about our customer. And I think the market research can really provide light and insight. I'll just add one thing and then I'm going to throw it back to you Lex one of the biggest things I think people will make assumptions on is price point. I had a conversation actually with someone in our cohort yesterday, who was like, no one's gonna pay for this. And that's her mindset. It's it's her fixed mindset that like no one's gonna pay for this because, like, why would unless they're really rich, they're not going to pay for it. When the reality is she doesn't know that that's the reality until she asks people what they would have paid for in that same situation and or what they would pay.

Lexie Smith  

Emily's you know, that assuming makes an ass out of you and me. Oh,

Emily Merrell  

my favorite little

Lexie Smith  

notes are destined to be friends. Yes, exactly. So. So yeah, to kind of piggyback off that, again, guys, if you're listening to this, you know, this is a coaching podcast. So market research can look very different for different types of businesses. You can really get into quantitative market research. qualitative, quantitative means like numbers. Qualitative means oral, just really simplify that. For coaching. One thing that we really, really suggest is pairing a little bit of I don't want to it's not necessarily qualitative or quantitative, like physical research that you can do yourself with qualitative research. So you mean like competitive competitor research? Yeah. So we put competitor research kind of as a sub category under market research. So things that we'll have our ladies do in our program is one thing we do both so we'll start with competitor research will help them go to market and we'll have them start to look at what are the other solutions available on the market for the problem they're trying to solve. Now out big key here and how I worded that? Yes, this can be another coach. This also means if you're a health coach, is it a diet? Is it a new diet? Because you're going to be competing if your solution is lose weight, for example, you're not necessarily just going to be competing against other weight loss coaches, right.

Emily Merrell  

Yeah. And I love that example. And being able to talk that through I think, if you're a doula, and you're like, I want to help support people, or there's classes out there by tinyhood. There's other programs that are self guided and a lot more affordable. So knowing what what you're up against, and then also what people want. So you could also that person that you are interviewing might have bought the tinyhood courses me, for example, and also wanted a doula wanted that hands on support.

Lexie Smith  

And actually, it's a really good sign. If when you go into competitor research, you see a lot of competitors, because that generally is speaking to the reality that it's a desired problem. And people are buying it. So when you're going through competitor research, one thing we have people do is really take clear notes, like take out the good old pen and paper or type type notes and start to track things like, what is their messaging? Like? What is their tone? Like? What is their price point? Like? How are they saying they solve this problem? What is their offer sweet look like? And as you start to compile all of that information, the second part is seeing where's the whole, where's the opportunity for me to stand out. So for example, if you're looking at business coaches, and you see this Marie Forleo is a volume coach, meaning she's going after 1000s, and 1000s, and 1000s of people and her price point is around the $1,500 mark, and this is the way she's offering things and her personality is this, well, then maybe you identify the opportunity, or the hole is people who want to work one on one, right, or people who want a more white glove service. That's just I mean, that's probably a bad example. But yeah,

Emily Merrell  

I think that's a good example. I also want to just add to the other thing that we we do, and in addition to the the competitor research and looking for the opportunities, is having people get in front of their customers. And I think this is kind of this can be the biggest fear or objection because you're, you're essentially confessing to what you're building. Like, guys, this is what I'm building and like, I'm, gosh, I'm gonna get feedback, all of a sudden, I'm gonna get their feelings. And it's, it's a place, I'm going to go channel our inner Lexie Smith here, but get neutral, and receive what is being heard and listen to what's being heard, and really, really recommend getting on a zoom call with someone. If you guys aren't familiar with otter AI, I thought about it because I was on a zoom call yesterday Lex where the otter AI popped in, but it can transcribe your entire meeting for you. So you can be really present, you can also be taking notes, but you can have a plugin like otter AI that's taking notes for you and transcribing and then you can look at the notes after the call. And or watch back the video to really synthesize what you learned.

Lexie Smith  

And so to kind of bridge the gap real quick, guys. So when you do competitor research, what we suggest you do, I'm just taking this back, before we get to the we jumped a step, I'm taking you back a step. So after competitor research, you're gonna use that to audit your own offering. And then you're gonna get your offering to a point where you feel high, like you have the cliffnotes version, right. So this is what I offer. This is how much I'm thinking, this is the way I want to talk about it. You're going to compile that information, or this is what Emily and I have our gals do into a set of market research questions that you will then literally take to the market and ask your ideal clients. And that's where this qualitative market research comes into play. So the competitor research is really there to inform phase two of market research, which is getting uncomfort and getting real human beings on either the phone or Zoom call to just ask the questions, right. So if we are thinking, Okay, I think it'd be so cool back to my business example. I think it's so cool to offer one on one, business coaching. And the other thing I'm going to do that's really cool is I'm going to integrate gene keys and it doesn't only thing and then with that I think I'm going to price it at you know 3k And I think it's gonna be a two month program. Right now, we're kind of just, we're not necessarily pulling straws, but this is a lot of us thinking what people want. Now we can format that into questions and actually go ask people is this what you want? Right?

Emily Merrell  

And, and that's such a thank you, Lex for for filling in the gap there. But I think it is funny because we it's like a hypothesis where we have this hypothesis of how we want to solve this problem, that we can feel real Be confident about and then we'll take it to the, to the market, which this visual cannot get out of my head of like a woman skipping with a basket to market right now. I don't know I think of like old fashioned like to market to market to buy me some eggs.

Lexie Smith  

Okay, Longstocking, that's where I went,

Emily Merrell  

yeah exactly like old fashioned need on grocery shopping but like in an marketplace but you're in this market and you're getting this feedback and you're gonna we don't want you guys just to interview one person we want you to interview I would say at least five I think five is a good number, it's going to take some commitment, it's going to take some time, it's going to take some scheduling, but getting an overview because myself included, I'll give an example of I'm in the next few months, I'm going to be doing some rebranding at my business exterior society. And I'll ask a bunch of people questions about this rebrand, and some people are gonna feel really strongly about one direction of a name. And some people are gonna feel really strongly about another direction. So you have to take all of the that input all of that feedback, and you have to, you have to digest it yourself and make sense of what feels right for you. You don't necessarily just because everyone says you should do X, Y, and Z, you really don't want to do XY and Z, you don't have to do XY and Z. But it will inform how people are going to respond when he put that that new offer that name change out into the market.

Lexie Smith  

So I'm gonna pin that and we're gonna come back to that because I think that's where I want to have as close with the mindset. But before that,

Emily Merrell  

I'll just sit back here, you you finished, I don't know it's gonna be get my nails done, guys.

Lexie Smith  

By lax all the great, amazing information that needs to be heard. I'm just I'm rewinding a little bit so that we literally

Emily Merrell  

like there's no script on this podcast, or conversation. And I imagine like Lexie is my sister at this point you can you tell like the tone that she uses?

Lexie Smith  

At this point, like if we can't, there's no. What's the word

Emily Merrell  

filter facade,

Lexie Smith  

there's no filter facade. So we're going through market research. So it's very top of mine. So you've done your competitor research, you compile what you think is your offer that the market wants, and then you put it into some questions, right. So I do want to read a couple questions. And then I want to talk about where to go to find people. And then we'll wrap back up to the critical things to do once you have that information. So market research questions. I'm not going to read all of these for you guys. But I do want to give you a few just you know, as a present for being a listener.

Emily Merrell  

Max, how can people find out how to work

Lexie Smith  

with us? Super simple, go to ReadySet? Coach program.com Link in show notes. Here's one. Okay, so today, let's say Emily and I are on a market research call. This is a great way to set the stage on a market research call. So today we're going to talk about business coaching, insert your category, and specifically how to grow your business from six figures, seven figure revenue. Okay, so I'm throwing this out there. When thinking about this when thinking about growing your business, from six figures to seven figures, what is one pain point or one challenge or struggle? That comes to mind? Okay, so that was a question. Right? And that was me really asking them one specific question. Now it's my job to stop talking and hear what they have to

Emily Merrell  

say. Right? Yeah, I think that's a really, that's a really good question. So to pull out or to, to help you think when you do questions, it's not like a leading question. It's something that it's a open ended question where they can share their experiences.

Lexie Smith  

And then, um, do you want to share another another question? Yeah.

Emily Merrell  

So this is one of one of my favorite questions. But have you ever tried to solve this challenge before? If not, why? If so, how to talk me through the outcome. So for example, let's pretend I'm the person being market research. And I could be like, Yeah, I tried doing this, I bought a Marie Forleo course for $1,500. And I was really bored. And so I never finished it. And now I'm still at the same price point.

Lexie Smith  

Yep. And here's where put on those active listening skills because like, they are going to come up with questions within their answer. So for me hearing that, I'd say what made you bored about it?

Emily Merrell  

Right, or what? What about even like, and also like, why did why were you attracted to Marie Forleo. Why was Why did you purchase that? What led you to purchase that? At what point did you stop? Did you stop the course?

Lexie Smith  

Yeah, exactly. So we'll give you one more question. We advise going into market research with a very clear I hope statement, that is you know, a two to three or one sentence or two to three sentence overview of what You do. So I'll use already set coaching. For an example here at ReadySet. Coach, we teach you how to add a coaching revenue stream to your life. Okay, so at one point in the market research process, you can say, Alright, here's the problem that I solve, I help people learn to add a coaching revenue stream to their lives. What does that mean to you? Oh,

Emily Merrell  

I'm not sure. Okay. Hopefully you don't have those people. But you have people that say like, oh, that means that I can work a corporate job or have a successful business and also having a coaching revenue stream. And you guys teach me how to do it. So I don't have to spend energy and time trying to figure it out while I'm working full time. Because you're giving me

Lexie Smith  

to that point, this is such a really critical part. Because if they are staring at you blink, then guys, you might not been very clear, if they come back to you, and they're nailing it, then great chain, you've, you've landed on messaging that resonates.

Emily Merrell  

And I also think this is a great place, if you guys are especially delving into the coaching world, there's a lot of different coaching terms out there or coaching names. So we've seen like success coach, we've seen transition coach, you name it, we've probably seen seen it. So this is also a great place to test out your name. So if you're like I'm a success coach who helps X, Y and Z did it did it? Someone might be like, I'm unsure. I understand your help statement. But I don't really understand success coach. And so can you elaborate on that? And that also might give you feedback on like, well, am I am I clear on how I'm communicating what I want to be doing by using this title? And you could tweak it accordingly.

Lexie Smith  

Such a great point. So Emily, we have all these questions. Great. Where do we find people to get on these market research calls?

Emily Merrell  

Oh, Lex, I think you did this beautifully when you were doing your market research. And there's a great example that we can share. Maybe you can read for do you have for Batum? Like what you wrote, because it was so great. Yeah. Yeah, pull it up. But so Facebook groups are great places to find people, communities, if you're in any networking communities, like digital communities, honestly, your friends and family if you think that your ideal audience could lie on your friends and family, asking specific invites to people is also really, really powerful. I don't know about UX. But when I'm in a BCC, I feel like I can be a little bit more under the radar. And I probably won't respond. But if you're emailing me directly, do you want something from me? I will be more responsive. LinkedIn, I'm posting something to the more general audience, and or, again, more specific messaging. So I think what you did was is such a great example, can you share with our listeners? Yeah.

Lexie Smith  

And just kind of reframe, you have to understand who your person is, and then go to where they are and ask, right. So here's one way that that I asked. I went in at this point in my life, I was really big into Facebook groups. And so I went into very specific So this example is for the PR, PR bar at that point, when I was starting my journey, as PR coach was I'm curious if people want to learn how to do their own PR, right. So I went into a lot of small business, Facebook groups, people that were looking to grow their business. And I'm going to paraphrase this because it's long, but basically, I started it off with who wants a free Starbucks gift card. I'm currently refining my coaching packages, because I want to make sure that I'm offering the market exactly what people want. This means that I'm looking for this is where you insert very specifically the type of client or type of human being you're looking for, to chat with me and answer a few questions. I'm only asking for 20 minutes of your time. And in exchange, I will give you yatta yatta gift card bow ball comment yes, if you want to help a girl out. So essentially, let me just kind of break that down. I was very clear with who I want to talk to. I was very clear with the time limit, and I was offering something and that's something that we really suggest that you play with. It doesn't have to be a $5 Starbucks gift card. But if these are strangers, like it's worth you deciding, can you set aside a $50 budget and give 10 people a $5 Starbucks gift card, we tend to see a lot more people being willing to hop on that call and there's a little bit of an incentive

Emily Merrell  

and lacks so I'm sure you got a lot of yeses to those posts. How did you pick the people that you actually spent time with for market research?

Lexie Smith  

Yeah, so I then message them independently and went back a little bit forth and understood to understand what who they were and what their business was. So I'd say hi, like, just you know, wanting to learn a little bit more about your business can you send along your website, and then if they did seem like a good fit, I sent them the link to hop on my calendar. And honestly, if they weren't a good fit, I see my set my spots where it were kept. And, you know, I don't I was only talking to the first 10 people but I was Super, super appreciative for their willingness to help out. So that's like the key here too, is don't just dismiss people, if they don't seem like the right fit, if they were willing to offer their time, make sure they know you're appreciative of that.

Emily Merrell  

Yeah. And I think that's a great thing. Like you host these amazing workshops, you could give them a free coat or free code to attend a workshop as a thank you for offering or something that's a really low lift for you, but feels very gracious. And I liked that you vetted the people versus just taking everyone because to your point, like you don't not everyone's going to be your ideal client. And you really want to get in front of people that you could envision yourself working with.

Lexie Smith  

Exactly. And so the other thing that Emily and I want to talk about is, if you're going to call out that 20, minute, time commitment, honor that, honor people's time, set it up the top of the call and be like I know, I've asked for 20 minutes of your time today. And I'm going to I'm going to honor that. And I appreciate that. And can I set a timer like, this isn't the time it's really, if you're gonna go beyond 20 minutes, do a quick pause and check in and be like, do you have time to speak any longer? Give them that out? Because that's the worst. Just just be a good person respectable sign?

Emily Merrell  

Yeah, we really do need to have a whole episode on time and time management of that time, like honoring people's times. Because especially as becoming moms, we're realizing when people don't show up on time, or you have to chase them down for a meeting, or I had two people, maybe it fell off their calendar, one person was a no show one person I had to call her cell phone. She's like to have a meeting right now. Like, This is so frustrating. Anyway, oh, yes, I think that's a really good point. Lax is honoring the time. And then I want to ask you Did any of their market research clients become or any research market research individuals become clients, we were really stretching

Lexie Smith  

my memory brains, Emily,

Emily Merrell  

back in the olden days.

Lexie Smith  

You know, I don't I don't fully remember. But what I can tell you is during this phase in my business, some of my first clients didn't come through Facebook groups. So I don't remember I'm sorry, guys, this is a this is one of those brain moments I don't I don't remember. But what I can say is we have seen other clients of ours, get actual real clients from this just as a it's wasn't their intention going in. But it can happen for sure. Yeah, it's a

Emily Merrell  

it's a double edged sword, or it's a win win. And that, like you're not only getting feedback about your program, but you're also in a way doing like a commercial for your program and giving people awareness that love what you're building. So they might be more invested might subscribe to your newsletter list, and get on board with whatever is coming down the line.

Lexie Smith  

And so now I'm gonna bring back the pin that Emily started. So I think this is so so, so important. Let's say you get on these calls. And you're starting to hear a theme that goes against what you were hoping to hear or you started to hear really mixed reactions. How do you go about filtering through the information that you're hearing?

Emily Merrell  

Oh, first off, get neutral, Lexie? Smith, no, get seriously I think it is, it's like when you go to your manager, and they give you feedback of ways that you can improve, it is going to be something that it's your baby that you're building, you're highly highly sensitive at this point, probably and also protective. So number one thing that you have to do and keep in mind is don't get defensive, this isn't a time to defend your ideas. So it's an opportunity to expand on your ideas or to explain them but not to defend them. This is also an opportunity to intake and to learn not to, again, you're not doing like a dissertation on this and presenting it to a board this is all information to better and enhance what you are creating. So you're a lot of the information you get, you're going to be like, Wow, this is so helpful. I can't wait to shift my priority into encompass this. But then you're going to also get feedback that you can dismiss. So let at the end be neutral on as you intake. Review your notes at the end of the five or 10 people that you're interviewing, you might also in conjunction want to send out a survey to a broader audience. And then look at the data that you've collected and be like, okay, cool. No one understands what a success coaches got it going to change the name of that or articulated a bit more. Okay, cool. price point. Everyone has resistance of it, how can I make but I really know that this is the price point charge. How can I get more creative in in offering more value, maybe four months is too too little of time for the price point. So maybe I'll add a month or I'll throw in this or blah blah blah. So again, use it as an information gathering don't get defensive and sensitive even though it's gonna feel very normal to I've felt it lacks has felt it before. And then adjust accordingly and give yourself the grace Do

Lexie Smith  

it every so often. Yeah, beautiful, perfect. So I think that's the coolest part, right? Not the coolest. But one of the coolest parts about being your own boss and being an entrepreneurs, this is the time where you're in the driver's seat. So we would advise, you really do try to objectively hear what everyone's saying. But at the end of the date, at this point, you get to choose what sticks and what you want to toss away and not and not here. Quick note on the price point. thing too, if let's say you have 10, back to back to back calls, and every single person is gawking. At your price point, two things for you to consider. One Two endpoint like, is there a way you can make it more accessible? But the other two are? Okay, do we have a who's ideal client problem? Are we going after the right person? Are we matching our price points where a person and then 2am I effectively communicating the value of this? Do they not? Are they gawking at the price point because my messaging isn't doing the offer justice. So those are just a couple things to think about, too. Yeah,

Emily Merrell  

I think that's a really good point, I'm gonna go back to Marie Forleo. So, you know, 1500, when I had a corporate job, that was the first big investment, that wasn't my rent, and that felt like a lot. And so if someone had come to me with a $4,500 offer, I would have probably, I would have had a little connection, like I would not have felt good about that. So I wasn't people's ideal audience for a $4,500 thing, but then down the road, I 1,000%. Am or was. And so you know that maybe that person might not be where you're at, or what where you need them to be at at this moment. But that doesn't mean to discourage you to to write them off forever.

Lexie Smith  

They might be. Actually, that's a thank you. I'm going to share one more example, because I think this is really important to hear. This is a personal example. So I went through a buying process recently in the product was really what I needed, like it was, but when she got to the price point, so to give you a little bit more color, this was a more kind of mental health, body love embodiment, offering, it wasn't a business. It was like self love type stuff, that category. When she got to the price tag, which was 8500. I shut it down immediately. And I'm like, Why? Why are you shutting it down? Like you've, you've spent more than that on business coaching. The reality was, in my own way, I have a lot of work to do, in how I assign value. And so it's it wasn't what I didn't want that that coach to feel like is that her offer was bad, it was that I haven't done the work, I need to be able to show up and be ready to buy in her category yet. So like Taylor Swift said, Hi, I'm the problem me.

Emily Merrell  

Legs, that's a really thank you for sharing that. And I think it's a really important conversation to be having in that. For business, it's a lot easier to justify spending spending $8,500 in your business, because then you're gonna see a needle moved, like, Okay, I'm investing at 500, but she's gonna show me the system so I can make 10,000 and in a second, and so for your body or for your mental health or physical. And I'd love to hear from people who are listening, who are coaches and are selling something that's more, more a personal problem that they're solving. It's harder to find an ROI or cease or articulate an ROI. So like, yes, you could be more body positive, confident person. But how do I monetize or how do I particularly that in a in a money mind frame and that's hard that's that's a that's a big challenge. And I'm the same way it's harder for me to justify like investing in my personal self even therapy you're like, oh god therapy This is expensive. Because it's about me well business it's a whole different category

Lexie Smith  

a whole different category. And you know, I believe that coach when we are in this buying process, I didn't I didn't like shut her down with her price point. But maybe it was you Emily, wouldn't it be like worth more than anything you did in business to be able to achieve that problem solve to be able to truly feel you know, great in theory Yes. But like my mindset where I'm at it's just isn't there yet. So that's another thing too you know, we've another episode on this podcast feel free to binge we talked about kind of how to go about finding your niche. Understanding the stage of mindset that your person is at, or how evolved they are in a certain category is definitely something to keep in mind.

Emily Merrell  

Yeah, it is. It definitely is. It so I this is gonna be a quick quick squirrel before we we end this but it is fascinating. Also, I have friends that aren't business owners and And I'll tell them about EFT tapping or human design are all of these things that, again, they don't pertain to businesses my own personal development, or Reiki or massages or anything that's personal development in terms of more more about me as a as a human, not my business? No, like, What the hell are you talking about. And so you realize that there are different levels of stages, or there's different stages that people are at in their their life and their like, own digging journey. And you, you have to navigate it accordingly. And especially as your coach, you'll find people when you're doing market research that are like, I have no idea what language we're talking right now.

Lexie Smith  

Not everyone knows what a coach is. That's, that's very, very, very real. So if your person is someone who is not familiar with coaches, then that's something you want to test out with your language. How can you meet them where they're at? Now we're getting into a whole nother topic. But yeah, the point being, market research can help you uncover so many helpful things, from proof of concept to how to talk about something to price point to we can, it can honestly help you figure out that maybe you aren't targeting the right person to so it's just highly recommended by the SEC coach podcast.

Emily Merrell  

Today's squirrel brought to you by Ready, set, coach. I love it. So, yes, I was gonna say what is the homework gonna be?

Lexie Smith  

What is the homework, the homework is going to be to do some market research. Okay, yeah. So if you're a new coach, and you're in the development of a new program, this is a great time to do exactly what we said today. Listen to us. We know all know. See what you've done and see what you haven't done. So if you need to start with some competitor research, great start there. You want to start with some qualitative market research. Great start there. We've shared a lot of ways to go about doing that today. We just want to say, get out there and start asking.

Emily Merrell  

Yeah, I think and I will put a bonus to that, too. Once you've heard this podcast, you're like, Alright, guys, I'm gonna do some market research. Drop in the ReadySet. Coach Instagram. On this, we'll post a little real about today's episode. Let your ask and maybe we can connect you to the right people.

Lexie Smith  

Oh, good one. Yeah, we might be your ideal clients. You never know.

Emily Merrell  

Never know. Exactly. So with that, we will see you the next time on the sex coach,

Lexie Smith  

Coach podcast podcast.

Emily Merrell  

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