Preview: One more way that you help your client really feel loved, not feel like a number is you get to know them and you take the time to call them by name, to remember about their kids, to ask about their vacation. All those little things matter.
Intro: Hello, I'm Debbie Shadid, the host of the Life Coach Business Building podcast. If you are ready to have more clients in your life coach business, then you're in the right spot. Each week I'm gonna teach you super simple strategies to grow your business without feeling overwhelmed and without spending money on paid ads. If that sounds interesting. Stick around and let's get started.
Hello, my friend. I wish honestly that we had a chance to meet each other. Some of you that are listening, I have met you, but you know, each week as I'm recording the podcast, I'm thinking about you. I'm thinking about, Maybe where you are in your business and where I used to be. And I have so much compassion and empathy for the challenges that you face day to day in your business.
But I just want to tell you, stick with it, my dear friend, things do get better and it does get easier and you are on your way to having a really incredible, magical business.
So in today's episode, I want to talk to you about having happy clients. Now, when we think about the business building boutique and about you building your boutique style coaching business, one of the things that you can consider is what kind of experience you want to create for your clients.
And as always, I don't want you to look around to see what anyone else is doing. I want you to decide. What would your client experience look like? Like if you could have the most magical experience with a particular coach, what would you want to receive? How would they serve you? And that could be a starting place for how you're going to serve your client.
So today I'm going to talk to you about some feedback that we actually received from a client and it really prompted this episode. She actually said, In an interview that we did, you know, I don't feel like a number. I feel like you really know me. I'm really seen and I'm really heard. And, and my goodness, that is exactly what we want.
And I'm sure that that is what you want your clients to experience when they work with you too.
So let's talk about how you can give your clients everything they need and more so you too can create happy clients. By the way, our clients Resign and they stay with us, which also says a lot about not just myself, but our whole team and how we support our clients.
So consider your client experience. What is it that you want them to have over the duration of the time that they work with you? And let me just tell you that actually starts with the consultation and truthfully that actually starts with the marketing that you do before. How are they experiencing your marketing?
What connection do they feel with you? You know, people tell me they feel understood. They feel like I get them. They feel like I'm gonna finally be the one to actually answer the questions. How does that happen? Well, first of all, it's because I'm really honest and candid and I tell people I understand where they're at.
Are you expressing that ahead of time? And even when we get on a consultation call, to our open coaching calls on Monday, you'll see, like I can relate to where you're at. I know what it's like to be in your shoes. So we want clients to feel seen, to feel heard, to feel understood.
I can tell you that One of the other reasons why our clients feel like they're important to us is because they are. And I know you might say, well of course your clients are too. But our work really means a lot to us. And when we talk with our clients about building their business, and I want you to consider this too, I want people to work in a niche that they are most passionate about.
We're not looking for the most profitable niche. We're looking for a niche that you feel most connected to, really loyal to where you can be your best self. And then when you have a niche like that, actually you'll create a profitable business because you will show up as your best self. So it really deeply matters to me that I help you with your business and everybody that works for us.
really is, you know, in it with you. We like to say we're here to hold your hand. We can't make you do the work, but we're here to hold your hand. I think approaching every coaching call and every piece of content that we produce for our clients, when we approach it from that point of view, like we want to give them everything, we want to make this so easy.
You know, we love our clients. We understand the challenges when we approach it from that way, our clients feel that. So what else do we do to help our clients feel like what we offer is different? One of our core principles is that the customer is always right. Now you hear that all the time, but look you guys, even if you have to ask us the same question we've already told you, you know, giving you feedback, it doesn't matter how many times you ask, You are always right.
So that is one of the things that I really believe in. And everybody on our team knows that, right? They know it doesn't matter what the question is, how many times they ask, or if they're completely off base and completely wrong, the customer is right until they understand and have clarity. And our job is to continue to go back, answer the question in a new way.
provide them with what they need until they can see what it is we're trying to help them with. So we always encourage people to ask questions, ask for anything that they need and ask as many times as they need. One of the other ways that I think our clients really feel loved is that we know their business inside and out.
Now, sometimes I think we know their business better than they do because We understand business. One of the ways that we get to know you so deeply is that we work with you on your marketing message. Yeah, we actually get to know your niche and there's a high chance that I actually know your niche better than you do because we have worked with so many coaches.
So we get familiar with your niche. We know the pain points that your niche client is facing because again, we're writing the marketing message with you. We also have a part of the marketing message where we talk about empathy and authority. So through that process, We actually know our clients story so we know what brought them to coaching.
So we have a lot of empathy for our clients too because we understand kind of What makes them who they are and why they're doing what they do. So I think it creates an instant bond because they know that like we get them, right? We understand them. We know what they've been through or we know, you know, who they were and what they're like now.
after they've had coaching. So we like to actually specifically call people out. And that might sound not like a fun deal, but if we're on a coaching call and if we haven't heard from somebody for a couple of weeks and they haven't asked a question, then I say, Hey, wait, you guys know, we haven't heard from Allie.
We haven't heard from, you know, whoever it is. We call them out. We say, tell me what's happening. Let me give you some guidance. Sometimes you will find that your coaching clients don't even know what to come to coaching for. They might say to you, I don't have anything I need coaching on this week.
And it's like, well, no, it's your job then to ask questions, to help them see that you actually know better than they do. And to help them feel heard through the questions you ask and give them an opportunity to be coached. That is why we ask them, we check in. We actually want to make sure That in our case, there's not like a mindset issue that maybe has gotten in the way.
And a lot of times our clients have life happen to them just like the rest of us. Right? I mean, I have things that come up and it is nice to know that our coaching provides a safe place for them to tell what is happening at home or what is happening with a loved one or whatever it might be like. We all have that going on.
So I That's one more way that you help your client really feel loved, not feel like a number is you get to know them and you take the time to call them by name, to remember about their kids, to ask about their vacation. All those little things matter. Something else that I think I'm personally really good at is holding space for you until you believe in yourself, right?
Isn't it amazing when somebody is like on your team? They're on your side a hundred percent. And when you're building a business, you bring lots of doubt and uncertainty with you. And there's going to be times when you feel like that imposter syndrome thing, but I really see what is possible. I mean, I love coaching so much and I've helped so many people build businesses that I know what you can do.
And I also know that there's going to be periods of time where you're going to slip into doubt. truly can hold belief when you don't. I see what's possible for you before you see it. And I think that's another way that people really get energized from our coaching. Is because they can come and land here and Kind of draw off my belief and honestly, Thais, our mindset coach and our support team, Catherine, Christine, and Tish, they all know what is possible for you even when you don't see what's possible for you because we've seen it.
So we get what's happening for you. You know, everybody wants to be approached with compassion and empathy and understanding. And again, hopefully you're doing that with people. And I bet you that you are, But are you intentionally thinking about it? Could you actually make a list of this is the way I want my client to feel when they work with us?
That's important, right? It's important to know specifically my intention. Even if you're a team of one, you guys, yes, I have a team. Now you got to build your business to get to this point. But even as a team of Debbie only, I knew what my mission was. I know what I wanted my clients to feel. I know that I want you talking about your experience with me.
And so I know that I have to care about you and about your business and really make you feel loved in order for you to do that. So that's another way to approach your business. Like what would you like your testimonial to be? Ask yourself, what do I have to do for that client to help them feel that supported that they're going to be able to give a testimonial about what I did for them.
And if you go listen to our testimonials or our reviews, they talk about us going above and beyond. Again, as this lady said, she did not feel like a number. Our overall mission is to make sure that we are not one more program that's that you buy and that you have spent money on that you don't do something in.
We always tell our clients like, look, all you have to do is show up. That's it. Now, sure, there's work to do, but if you don't show up, we can't even coach you on why you're not doing the work. We can't give you your next steps. We can't review your social media posts or, you know, your offer or your pricing or your website or whatever it is.
We can't even help you with your marketing. If you don't show up, we provide clients. As we did today with all kinds of shortcuts. So we had our social media tech support today. And as people were asking questions, I was having Catherine, our client support concierge, I was having her add things to the chat.
that were actually our graphics for marketing our business, you know, stories and, Canva carousels. we had workshop graphics that we shared. We're just giving people anything that they need to do anything to make their job easier. So are you doing that? I can think back to when I was private coaching and one of the things that people loved was at the end of the session, I would actually be taking the notes and I would tell the client, you don't have to worry about writing anything down because I'm taking all the notes.
And for goodness sakes, now you have AI on zoom, so it will take notes for you. But I would take the notes and then I would actually give my clients, since we were building businesses, I would give them like the next five action steps of what they decided they wanted to do between this week and the next time that we met.
People love that. because it was like all they had to do was go back to the document and say, okay, I got to do these three things before I meet Debbie. And it didn't matter if it was the day before our next coaching session, they had a point of reference and that really helped really get people in action.
It provided accountability. There was no questions. So what is it that you want to give your clients that will actually set them up for success? I also want to caution you. Do not just give somebody something that you're not going to support him with. So I used to say that people could text me and I still, by the way, have my phone number out in the world and you can go to my website and you can text me if you want to.
But I don't want to communicate with clients via text. Now I will, if there's something personal that they want to share with me, but I want to communicate in our Facebook group because there's five of us that it can actually support you there. Like the whole team can answer questions, right? Plus the clients that work there are so loving and so supportive, but give your client what they need, but not more than what you're willing to do.
I actually got to a point where it was like, okay, it makes sense for people to post in the Facebook group. And also. I don't want to get messages from clients on my cell phone to answer there. You know, some of you guys are saying Voxer support is amazing. Listen, Voxer support is only amazing if you set some parameters around it.
If you tell somebody they have 24 hour access to you, and you're not clear that you can leave the Voxer message anytime, seven days a week, but you only respond Monday through Friday, eight to five, you're going to be in trouble. that is setting you up to have disappointed customers.
So clarity on what people receive, how they interact with you, what your coaching includes, all of that, that is also another way to create happy clients. So we want you to feel truly understood. That really is our mission. We want you to feel understood. We want you to really know what to do and to continue to ask questions.
because that's what we offer. We answer questions. That's our specialty and we know that nobody else is doing that. So keep asking questions until you finally have the answer, until the light bulb goes off, right? So that you can have not only a coaching business that you're proud of, but a viable, profitable business that you really can enjoy.
So a lot of our coaches, even though they know how to coach, they're lacking confidence. And when they come to work with us, creating this business foundation, understanding their niche, really knowing their offer, knowing what they're coaching around and about, that creates confidence in their coaching ability.
So, what is your mission? Do you know what it is? Are you clear about how you want to treat your clients? Are you clear about the testimonial that you want them to give you in the end? And that is all the ways that we think about our clients and the goals and the parameters that I have set on how we will treat our clients, which in turn then creates happy clients, right?
They're happy with what we do and that's the outcome that I want. So they get their business built, they've enjoyed the process, they felt loved, they felt supported, and they truly have built a business that they love. So. That's it guys. I hope this has inspired you to sit down and think about the ways that you're going to treat your clients, how you're going to help them feel like they are So significant that they're not just another number, that it doesn't matter if they are one of 20 private clients, that every one of them matters to you, that you're listening to them, that they are seen and they're heard and that everything about them matters to you.
So my dear friend, I always want to call you my dear one. I want to call you my friend and my dear one. Sometimes it feels corny the way I want to talk to you, but I care about you. I really do. So my dear friend, I'm going to say,
if you are looking for a community of women that supports each other, if you are looking to be, you know, loved, encouraged, and supported from coaches, as you learn how to build your business.
then please connect with us. Come to our open coaching on Monday. I'll give you the link here to sign up. or I'll just tell you it's debbieshadid.com/opencoaching, sign up there, come experience our coaching. We literally give free coaching on Mondays at two central standard time. And then you can stay and hear about our offers, hear about the way we work with you because also you guys, our clients feel loved because we don't twist their arm to work with us.
We actually provide all the information up front because you are smart. And I think, you know, all women need is information and they need to trust us. And then they'll say yes. So if it's right for them, we're here for you. So come join us. All right. I'd love to have an opportunity to help you feel supported in the same way that our clients do too.
Okay, my dear, have an amazing week. We'll talk to you soon. Bye bye.
Outro: Okay, ladies, that is it for today. Before we go, I want to invite you to head over to debbieshadid.com. I have this incredible Canva training, specifically designed for life coaches where I'm gonna teach you how to use Canva to create beautiful graphics to market your life coaching. All right. Have an amazing week. I'll talk to you very soon. Bye bye.
