#163: Increase Your Closing Rate With These 3 Tips

Hello health coaches. It is nice to see you today. We're going to be talking about how to increase your closing rate. And when I first heard that term, I was like, oh, closing rate, that sounds really gross. Like if there was ever a, a salesman term in the world to use, it would be closing rate. But this is what we call the percentage that you can, you can do the math and figure out, you know, if I have 10 consultations or my last 10 consultations and my last 100 consultations, how often did that person turn into a paying client? Right? So if you had 10 consults, you offered your services 10 times, did you get two clients? Did you get five clients? Did you get nine clients? Right? So, that would indicate the percentage. That is your current closing rate. And this is a pretty cool thing to think about because you can track your closing rate over time.

When I first started out, I don't know my closing rate was probably like 20% if I was lucky, right? Because I didn't know what the heck I was doing. And now these days running, I've been doing this for 12 years. My closing rate is around 90%. So, if you feel comfortable putting a number into the comments, if you're here, live with me, go ahead and do so. So that we can get a sense of where everybody is at. No number is a bad number. Like I said, when you're first starting out, you have no clue how to talk to someone and let them reach the conclusion that they want to become your client. You know, this is a skill and it can be taught and it can be learned. So that's the good news. In fact, if you want to learn my entire process soup to nuts on how to turn consultations into paying clients, we do have a free training coming up all about that.

And you can go sign up for it at healthcoachpower.com/payingclients, because that's what we're trying to create, right? So if you here live, go ahead and say hello in the comments Sharon, I see that you are here. I see Rodney is here at Esther and life off the yoga mat. I'm not sure what your name is. Amanda's here. That is terrific. So we had this whole training coming up on exactly how to turn your consultations into paying clients. But for today, I'm going to pull out three highlights because if you did nothing else, these would be the three things that would help you improve your closing rate. Now, before I get there, I'm just going to pause for a second. And I want to let you know, this is a bit of a non-sequitur that I do a lot of these live videos, right? Right now, we are recording.

We are broadcasting live to Facebook, to Instagram, and this will become a podcast later and doing this week in and week out, you know, what? You get better at it. How many of you have done this kind of thing? And you're stuttering and you're falling over yourself maybe a little bit. I know that's what it was like for me in the beginning. And you're stumbling on your words and going, Ugh, right? Like that's what it was like for me years ago when we started this podcast and I started doing these kinds of live videos, but, uh, but these days it's a lot more smooth. And part of that is that I really prepare, I usually prepare quite a bit for these sessions. So I have a very tight outline in front of me of what I want to say. But like lately I feel like it's almost too, um, too smooth as I pat myself on the back for being just too smooth, not that, but like, um, maybe like a little too scripted.

And one of the beautiful things I've always loved about our community is that it's not scripted. So, today I'm doing something a little bit different. I have very few notes in front of me. If I make more mistakes than usual or fumble my words or forget something or whatever, forgive me. And I I'd be interested to hear from you, like, what do you like, would you prefer to listen to something that has a few more errors and not quite as polished, but a little more real or something that is just very easy to listen to front, to back, very easy to absorb and is definitely been practiced or, you know, very well planned ahead of time because there's pros and cons. And, and I'm saying this for like the sake of this show, but also for the sake of you and whatever you're doing in your own business to promote yourself, right?

Like you, I always want to strike that balance between being prepared and like still being a real person. That's not just reading from some kind of script. So anyway, let's see Amanda saying me, I sometimes lose my train of thought. Yes. That's one reason to have an outline or a script in front of you. For sure. And Jill, Jill was saying that she was one of the people I was saying hello to earlier. So, hi, Jill, Amanda says, I appreciate the authenticity. Yeah. You know, like sometimes you just can't help it right now. I have a whole team of guys outside, like ripping up my property. So you might hear jackhammers, loud music. I don't know what's going to come through the speakers as I record this. But anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I'm trying to like shift back to a place where I'm using less of a script.

See, I'm going on a tangent. Anyway, back to the topic at hand, which is how do we increase your closing rate? Right? So if right now you're signing five clients for every 10 consultations, how can we get that to six clients or seven clients? Right. And you can kind of track your closing rate, like I said over time to see how you improve. So the first thing that I want to share with you, that makes a huge difference. And it's so obvious you're going to be like the, but then you're going to be like, wait a minute. Am I actually doing this? I'm really glad Michelle brought this up. So what I want to say first, you're going to close the deal more frequently. If you were offering a specific program for a specific type of person and making sure that the people booking calls with you are that kind of person, right?

Like, it almost makes too much sense, but this is not something that health coaches generally do. I know when I first started my business, I was doing more of like a, like a general, like I think I thought I was a general practitioner, like, you know, my PCP. I was like, oh, I'm a health coach and I can help anybody feel better, which is true. Don't get me wrong. Health coaches. Like we all kind of do like approximately the same thing. Right. You know, we get people to eat less sugar and we get people to drink more water and move their bodies more and whatever, eat more vegetables, everybody on earth will feel better if they did that. So yes, indeed, you can help anyone. However, you won't make as many sales that way you won't make as many sales saying I can help anyone do anything. Right?

Plus, well, I'm not even going to get into get into it, but it makes your life much harder when you have lots of different types of clients. Imagine this, I know I often use this example. So if you've heard this before, bear with me, but I'm like, let's say, you're going to go. You're moving to a new city and you need to get your hair done. And I've moved many times. Even through the course of my career, as a health coach, I have moved up and down the east coast from this town to that town, this state, to that state. And every time you move, you need to find someone to cut your hair or do your hair. And when I moved to where I live now, I was like, oh boy, here we go again. So, there's a lot of places I drive past like three salons every time I'm just like out over here on the highway, which one do you go to?

Right. And you can ask your friends where they go. Okay, whatever. But it wasn't until someone told me that there was a salon, one town south of me that does curly cuts. They specialize in curly hair. I was like, hello. I am so there. And that is where I'm now like a loyal customer. This is very similar to you either saying I provide health coaching to everybody. Or are you saying, I provide this one particular service for this one particular kind of person people are going to be like, yes, that's me. Where do I sign up? Right. Just like I was, even though I pay like way more than I ever thought I would pay for to get my curls cut. But that's what you can do when you have a specialty. So, you will close the deal more often when you are offering something specific, write that down.

There's no planet where that's not true. This is just how it works. And you can take what you were offering in a more general sense and skin it, you know what I mean? Like I said, everyone's going to do better if they are drinking more water and not eating as much processed food, et cetera. But if you say this is a program for moms over 40, who work in finance and you market yourself that way, you are going to close the deal with those moms in finance time and time again, way better than you did before. When you were selling the general program, anybody here now have a specific program for a specific type of person. Tell us about it, who's it for who is your program for it? And who is it for? You know, like, I think it's very obvious in my health coaching business that I do not work with men.

It's very clear in the branding, right? And if there's a group that you do work with and you don't work with, it's good, it's better for your sales. If you can be really specific about that. All right. So, I'm not going to go any more in depth about that just now. We do cover creating... First of all, picking a target market. Second of all, designing a signature program that that target market can't say no to. We cover that very in depth, inside healthy profit university. And I just want to remind everybody that the fast track semester is coming up and the list is available for that. Now, if you go to healthcoachpower.com/waitlist. Cool. All right.

There's some great bonuses and perks and stuff. If you're on the wait list, that's why I keep mentioning it. Okay. So second tip to increase your closing rate. Like if you are actually on the phone with somebody or zoom or whatever y'all are doing these days, how do we increase the likelihood of that person signing up with you? This is one you may not have heard before. And I think it makes a huge, huge difference. I want you to keep in mind. We are, you know, there's a lot of talk in the past couple of years about consent, and this does not just apply to romantic dating, sexual type things. This applies to just about everything in life. If you give someone's permission before you move forward with whatever your plan is, it's probably going to work out better, right? Like even with kids, like if I'm just like kids, it's time to eat dinner, come sit down. I get a lot of pushback. But if I'm like, what are you hungry for? Do you think we should have dinner soon?

Then they're like, yeah, I'm hungry. And then they're running to the dinner table. Right? So this is a matter of asking permission before you move forward and making an offer, getting consent to sell to someone. Imagine that. So if that sounds weird, it's not really, it's a matter of, you know, you're, you're in your consultation and you're having a conversation and we all know there's that pivot point. It's usually the part where like, I would get super nervous when I was a new coach, the pivot where you're like, okay, we've been talking about you and your IBS for 30 minutes now. And I have to somehow make my offer. So you're pivoting from like listening and asking questions to now, you're going to pitch yourself the best way to make that transition is by asking, would you like to hear about my program? That's it.

That's all you have to say. It's not that complicated. That's not something I ever used to do though. I'm not sure how I made that transition. It was weird. It probably felt weird. It's probably why I wasn't closing the deal as often with my prospective clients. So just practice that, everything you told me today is so interesting. Would you like to hear more about my program or would you like to hear more about how I can help you? Would you like me to give you details about working together? That's it? I've never had anybody say no. If they said no, I would be like, okay, well, thank you very much. Bye bye. And wouldn't go through the whole spiel about what my program entails and the price and the, this and the, that anyway, that has literally never happened. I think people are, if nothing else too polite to say no.

So, you don't have to worry about that very much. They're going to say yes. And sometimes they're like, yes, please. You know, like they have been waiting for this moment and that is a good energy. So you don't feel like you're putting it on them. They're asking for it. Yes. I definitely want you to tell me all about what you offer. Ah, that's like the energy that you want to be in when you are quote unquote selling, because I really never feel like I'm selling when I'm on the phone with a client or potential client, I always feel like I'm there in service. So if this person is interested in hearing more great, I'm going to tell them more. I'm here out of service. If this person is a good fit for my program, yes, I'm going to let them know how we can continue to work together.

If this person needs a completely different kind of help, I'm going to tell them. So if this person, you know, is a way out of scope for me, or has issues that I don't know anything about, again, I'm going to refer them to somebody else or something else or tell them what I think they might do better with this is coming from a place of integrity. And this ultimately is how you will make more, more sales because they can smell it on you, right? Like you can tell when a person is coming from a place of integrity versus when a person is just like sell, sell, sell, I'm going to say all those lines that they taught me. When I became a salesperson, it has a totally different kind of vibe. So that's the second tip that I want you to remember is to always ask permission before you make your offer.

And you can even use that, that thought or that concept in other situations, you know, so for example, I had somebody messaged me over the weekend saying, oh, I got your name from so-and-so. Um, you know, I ha do you do anything with like nutrition, for women who are pregnant blahbity blah, blah, blah. And so we had like a little back and forth and I did not just say, okay, here's a link book, a time on my calendar. I could have that could have been the very first thing that I wrote back to her. Yep. Here you go. Book a call, but that's a little off-putting isn't it. And instead I asked her permission. So, once we had established a little bit of rapport, in fact she said at first, she said, it's probably easier if we discussed on the phone, I said, yes.

Would you like me to send you a link to book a time on my calendar? Who's going to say no to that again. If they do say no, okay, fine. Then you don't send it. You already have your answer. But most of the time, if you've come that far, they're going to say yes, please. So asking permission is not only polite. It will work for you in the long run. It's their idea. They are asking for it, right? It's not being put on them. It doesn't feel like there's any pressure thumbs up for that. I love feeling like my clients are asking me to work with them instead of the other way around. How about you? Do you want to have that feeling? It makes all the time, like, honestly, I don't even want to do this work as a health coach. If I have to be cramming it down somebody's throat.

Like, no, thank you. I would prefer to just go back to corporate America, if that was going to be the alternative, you know what I mean? Okay. So let's move on to the third tip that I have for you today is to how you can increase your closing rate. And this is another area that I think most coaches don't really think much about at all. So let's say you've come to the point in your consultation call where you have named your price, given some details about your program and the prospective client that you're speaking with says, I have to think about it. Or what else do they say? Go ahead, put it in the comments. You know, you hear this stuff all the time. I have to look at my finances. I'll have to get back to you because fill in the blank. I have to ask my husband, right?

There are so many reasons that people are going to put off making a decision. That's what we do very well as human beings. We love to procrastinate. You know, why not decide on this big decision tomorrow, if I don't have to do it today. So a pushy sales tactic would be something like, well, if you sign today, you know, you're going to get this other thing. Or if you, if you don't sign today, I'm not going to have space for you tomorrow. Or I don't know. There's tons of different things out there. That would be what I consider a super pushy. And I know most health coaches don't like to go that route. So what do we do? Instead? We go, okay, well let me know or okay. Email me and let me know what he says, right? It's just, okay, I'm here when you're ready, which is, which is lovely.

But I'm going to suggest that you continue to do what you do best as a coach, which is to hold space and keep your clients accountable. Even though this person isn't even your client yet. So what I want you to do when someone says, I have to ask my husband, or I have to look at my finances, you're like, great. You should definitely do that. When will you have that conversation? Or when will you have time to look over your finances? And you know, maybe you're talking to them on a Friday and they're going to say over the weekend, you're like, cool. Why don't we reconnect on Monday then? I mean, why not? If they're, if they're going to look at their, they have the conversation and look at their finances over the weekend. Monday seems like the perfect time. And then they'll say yes, sure.

That'll be fine. And you say, okay, well, why don't I call you at two o'clock or whatever it makes sense, right? You suggest a time, put it on the calendar, get that person to commit to another brief call with you where you're going to circle back and what you're talking about today. Again, no pressure. It's just saying we are going to close this loop. It's not just going to be hanging out there. Now I have had clients cancel that call or not show up for that call or not want to book that follow-up call in the first place, but at least half the time they do, and it can be a terrific way to hold them accountable, to actually doing the thing they said, they were going to do. Talk to the husband, look at the finances. They get over journal on it, meditate on it, whatever they want to do that way.

When you have that conversation on Monday, they feel like you have respected them. You have respected what they've needed to do their own process. And here you are once again, holding space for them, that sets you up for a very strong coaching relationship. The like high pressure, no sign right now, stuff less, so less. So, so I always, always, always make a plan to do the follow-up.

Okay, Lindsay has a question here and we do have some time for questions. So hit me up, whether you're on Instagram or Facebook and let me know what you're thinking about all of this so far, and don't forget, I will be going in depth into all of this and a lot more during our free training coming up, we start on September 25th and you can sign up at healthcoachpower.com/payingclients. Okay. Lindsay says I had my first counsel last week and I asked if she wanted to receive more information on my programs and packages.

She said, yes and I sent over an email with my services. Once we got off the call. Do we try to get a yes. On the phone? If we think it's a good fit or is it perfectly okay to leave her with the information and have them follow up? I did just what you're saying. I should have gotten more commitment. This is so good.

Lindsey, yes. Okay. So I used to do the same exact thing where I would get so far as to say, would you like me to give you details? They'd say, yes. I'd send them an email. Sometimes it works. So don't fret. I don't know where you're at with this one, but it's not like that will never work. It's just that you will sign more clients more frequently. If you can close the deal, get them to sign, whatever, give you money over the phone right then and there, like if they're, let's say they're ready, let's say they're so ready.

Why make them wait, get your email, read it, think it over reconsider. You know, if they're like ready to rock right there on the phone, boom, take advantage of that right now. If they say it, like I said, they say that they need time, whatever, but what you're doing here and what I used to do is, um, you're emailing the offer. And I think I used to do that because I had no idea how to speak it and do a good job. It was easier for me to just have something typed out and like send that PDF over and then not see their face. When they look at the price, you know, like it was just so much easier for me. Um, I'm going to teach you a better way. I'm going to tell you your way that is more effective and is also going to be more personalized to them so that when they hear your offer, it's not just like a generic thing that you're reading off.

You're going to make it so personal to them that they're like, oh my gosh, Lindsay has been reading my diary. I definitely need to sign up for this because it's exactly what I'm looking for. Um, so we do want to always try to close on the phone, but I just want to let you know, what you're doing is not like wrong or bad. It's just simply going to be like less effective in the long run. But Hey, you know, we all start somewhere. And I think where you're starting is probably in a better place than where I started because my very first consult, I just like stumbled and hiccupped over those prices. And I I'm really glad none of those were recorded, but I'm glad you're here. And I know that you've already signed up for the training that we're doing later this month. So, way to go.

All right, you guys, I don't see any other questions coming in for right now, but you can always find me inside the Health Coach Power Community Facebook group, just type into your browser healthcoachpowercommunity.com that will take you there. And we answer questions there all the time, very off the cuff, and I'm happy to help you with your closing rates. So I'll see you there and I'll see you during our free training on September 25th, one more time, Healthcoachpower.com/payingclients. Take care, everybody.