#328: Why Clients Keep Saying Maybe Later and How to Fix It

Hello there, health coaches. It's been almost 16 years since I started health coaching. Oh my God. One of the things that would drive me crazy, especially in the first few years of my business, was how difficult it could sometimes be to get clients who clearly needed help with their health to actually commit and say yes, right? They would say maybe later they would say, I have to think about it. Can I get back to you? They would say, I have to ask my husband. That's a classic. And I would feel like completely deflated. I would have felt earlier that the conversation I was having with them was amazing. They were enthused, couldn't have gone better. But then bam, maybe later, Michelle, and of course later never really comes. I would follow up and hear nothing. Maybe I'd follow up a second time, still hear nothing, just get ghosted.

What did I do wrong? The worst was when I really knew that I could help this person, and yet now I wasn't going to have the opportunity and they weren't going to have the opportunity. So has this happened to you? How many times have you heard? Maybe later or I have to think about it. I wish there was a really simple answer, like a magic phrase that could get someone in that moment to change their mindset and to actually say, you know what? Alright, actually let's do it. But it's not like that. And we're not here to strong arm anyone into working with us ever. We're not trying to do that. I'm never going to argue with anyone who says that they have to talk with their husband. I'm never going to get pushy in that moment about how they have to make a decision right now.

So what do you do? Now, inside my live FastTrack program this spring, I'm going to walk you through a 12 week marketing plan to sign more clients. Of course, that's what we do best. And now if you already know you're interested in this Spring's Live FastTrack program, which only happens once a year, put your name on the wait list, it's at healthcoachpower.com/waitlist, and you'll be the first to hear as more details are released shortly. But maybe you're not sure if fast track's right for you. I'm glad that you're here today to kind of dip your toe into the idea of signing more clients. Today we're diving into why clients say maybe later, it's probably not what you think and what you can do differently. So you start hearing things like, yes, I'd love to, and here's my credit card. And at the end of today's episode, if you want to join the wait list for this spring's live fast track, awesome.

And if you're still not sure, I'll have another really cool way for you to learn a little bit more. Now, whenever a client would put me off with a maybe later, I know I would take it personally. Do you do the same thing? You start doubting yourself. They're not signing up for my program because they think I'm dumb. I'm just a health coach. I don't have enough credentials. I don't have enough experience. We start layering on all the reasons in our head, even if you don't beat yourself up like that. And I think most health coaches do from what I've seen and from what I've heard. But even if you don't, you probably think, well, it was the price. It was because of money or it was the timing. Nothing I could have done. But when people tell you things like that, oh, it's too expensive.

Oh, now's not the right time. They're usually giving an excuse. And I'm trying to imply that clients are nefariously coming up with excuses to give you, but they know they have to say something when they just aren't sure. In reality, they're saying maybe later because they're uncertain. It's an honest feeling she does not quite know yet. So for example, maybe they don't fully understand the value of your offer, and a lot of people aren't going to understand because they've never had a health coach before or any kind of coach before. So that is going to make them uncertain. They might be uncertain because they're not confident that they're going to get results. And again, many times that's not about you. But because they're thinking somewhere inside of them, am I really ready for change? Am I really ready to show up? Am I going to be there?
Am I going to do the work? They hesitate because they're not sure about their own level of commitment. Or maybe you have a client who's weighing different options like joining a gym or getting a meal delivery service or doing a juice cleanse. I don't know. Or seeing that naturopath, whatever. Having loss of options is interesting. It isn't bad, but it means that they're kind of kicking the tires right now and they can procrastinate on doing anything of substance while they continue to halfheartedly look around at all the options. They're really going to get nowhere with their health because there's always something else to look at. If a client doesn't fully see the value of your program and feel motivated to take action now, it's natural. They're going to delay the decision even if they love the idea and they love you. Making a decision is just scary.
I'm sure you can think of times where you had to make a big decision and you're like, I got to sleep on it. I don't know. People love to just stay in the comfort of indecision and if it's not pressing, the example that just popped into my mind is, if you're looking for a place to live, and if you're looking at houses and you already have a house and you don't have to leave it, then you'll see this house. So it's nice. Oh, I don't know. Oh, I have to think about it. And then you don't decide. It's so different than if you're renting and you're leases up and you have to decide on a place to live. Then people are usually, it's easier for people to make a decision quickly. So when we have that comfort of the home that we don't have to leave because these people don't have to leave their home.

They could just continue dealing with the health issue. They've made it this far. Why not just keep staying on the track that they're on? They'll stay in that. It's like the devil that versus the devil you don't. They know that what's going on in their health isn't great, but they really don't know what's going to happen if they sign up to work with a health coach. So anyway, this sort of indecision isn't helpful for them. It's certainly not helpful for you or for your business. So now that we understand that these people don't hate you, they don't hate your program, they don't think you're terrible or underqualified, you don't have enough experience, they're not even thinking about it that hard. They're just like, oh, I think I'm cozy here in my house where I already know what to expect. Some things that I need you to think about, number one, is your offer crystal clear and valuable to them?
Is it something they want mine? My offer, back when I started my health coaching business in the year one, my offer was definitely not clear and it wasn't sounding very valuable to these people either. I was offering a six month health coaching program. Well, why on earth would anybody want that? Nobody really wants to sit down and be coached just for the sake of it. That's not what they're looking for. They're looking for a result. They're coming to us for help solving a big problem that they're dealing with. So if a client says they need help with their insomnia, and you say, well, I can health coach you for six months, they're like, great, maybe later because they don't know what they're going to get out of being health coached. This is why we're always getting the question, what is health coaching anyway? Ps, if you're hearing that question immediately, you're having the wrong conversation.

You need an offer that clearly speaks to this person's desired result. So ask yourself, is my offer too vague? Is it confusing in any way? Could it be confusing to someone in any way? Even if it isn't to you, put yourself in that client's shoes. Would you say yes to this offer if you were in their shoes, kind of like they come to you saying, I can't sleep, I have terrible insomnia. And you say, well, I could health coach you for six months. You probably go, I guess maybe you're not going to go, yes, that's exactly what I need. That's exactly what I've been looking for, is to be health coached for six months. So we got to offer something else. And what I want to tell you is that crafting a really compelling offer, that doesn't mean you can't coach them for six months or three months or whatever it is.

It just means you don't phrase it that way. The offer, the literal words that come out of your mouth or anything that's written anywhere is not going to say, sign up for six months of health coaching. You got to say something that makes them want to go, oh yeah, I need that. Now, inside FastTrack, we give you a proven offer to work with. In fact, you're going to get three different income streams to earn from. That wait list is like straight up call on your name right now. I know it. There's no obligation. So why not just pop your name on it? Again, that's healthcoachpower.com/waitlist. So the offer extremely, extremely important. You want to be strategic about it. Here's another factor to consider. If you're getting the maybes, by the time someone is being asked to make a decision, it's going to help if, and you're going to want them to be totally warmed up to the idea of working with you.

So if you're in a discovery call or a consultation call or whatever you call it with a potential private client, by the time you're telling them about your program, you're telling them how much it costs. They should already be thinking, I need this, I want this. This is the exact right next step for me. And let's say that you're selling a course or a group program. By the time somebody sees buy now, like a little button on your sales page, again, they should be thinking, I need this. I can't wait to get started. So how can we warm clients up? So they're already almost all the way there when you're speaking with them and they look at your sales page, that's just the last little nudge they need, but they're already so warmed up. If someone's arriving on your website having never spoken to you, they don't know who you are at all.

They see you have something that says book a free consultation. They click that button and now they're on your calendar. That is a pretty cold intro. They're of course going to arrive on that call with a ton of hesitation. They don't know. You compare that to what if ahead of booking a call, they had spent time hearing from you about their big problem. They got a sense of your style, your vibes. Maybe they had some actual interaction with you. What if you had already proven to be a real positive force in their lives? Wouldn't that be a better position for both of you by the time they got on the call? So there's lots of different ways to warm clients up, but my favorite is having an enrollment period for your programs that walks clients through the necessary steps to realize the extent of their problem, and they're thinking why you are the obvious person to help them with it.

And that's before they even hear about your offer. They're just already like, this is so helpful. This person is so helpful. I'm so glad I'm here. That's the warm fuzzy feeling we want them to have before they hear about any type of paid offer. Inside FastTrack, you're going to get everything you need, every email, all program materials, every single touchpoint done for you, like we've already done all the work. It's all completely customizable. Every single letter can be changed, but with my help live this spring, you'll implement a super strategic enrollment period that warms clients up in the very best way. You can add your name to the list again at healthcoachpower.com/waitlist. No one teaches this stuff in Health Coaching School, but it makes all the difference. And finally, you've got to consider how do you help someone make a decision? Any decision, not necessarily the decision that you want them to make from a business perspective.

You want them to say yes, but just to make a decision, yes or no, whatever is right for them. If a client is all comfy and cozy just sitting in their indecision, that's where we usually let them hang out. We go, okay, let me know once you've thought about it. Bye. Don't do that. That means they're not going to get the help they need. They're just languishing and indecision land. It is in service of that client to help them arrive at a decision one way or the other. Now, some of you are absolutely ready for Fast Track this spring. You already put your name on the wait list because I like to give my wait list members the coolest perks and best possible bonus package. But maybe you're like, what, Michelle? I like everything you've said today. It makes a lot of sense. I need my clients to be more warmed up.

I need an offer that actually sounds valuable, but what is fast track? I'm new around here. I'm not so sure for you, for all my listeners who are like that, for those of you who have maybe never done a course with me before who want to dip your toe in first, I've put together my Health Coach toolkit with all of this psychology tips and tricks that make clients say yes in far, far more detail than I could get into in just today's podcast episode. These are things that took me years year, like almost a decade to figure out, and they formed the for everything that I teach inside all of my paid programs, including Fast Track. Now, of course, this Spring's Live Fast Track cohort comes with all those done for you materials and resources. It comes with personal support from me. It's a 12 week marketing plan that we put into action together.

That's what makes it my most popular program. It's just very, very comprehensive. But if you're just considering, I want you to be able to see the underpinnings of successful marketing. So just for the next month, I've made My Health Coach Toolkit available for just $7, and you can grab it now. It's at healthcoachpower.com/toolkit. You'll get the tools you need to craft your own offers and market your services in a way that's going to get clients to say Yes, not maybe yes. So if you're kind of like a DIY and you're not sure if you really need Fast Track, this toolkit is yours for just seven bucks. Remember, it's only available for the next month, so don't wait. And here's what you're going to get inside. You're going to get more on why clients hesitate and how to shift their thinking. You're going to get how to craft an offer.

Very specific steps here, something that they will say yes to because it is so irresistible to them. In the toolkit, I go over all the elements of a perfect offer with real life examples, and it's not just what you call it, by the way. There's lots of different elements that make the offer irresistible. You'll get three specific enrollment strategies, including one that you could even use without an email list, and these are mapped out for you very clearly, step-by-step in the toolkit. I'm going to show you when to use discovery calls versus sales pages. I mentioned both today, so you might be wondering which one you should be using and how to schedule your time to be most efficient with your business. But the toolkit that's only available until mid-March, so grab yours now, it's just $7. You want to get that before it's gone.

Again, you can go to healthcoachpower.com/toolkit, and hey, if you're listening to this after the deadline, don't worry. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss out on resources like this in the future. Here's the thing, when clients say maybe they aren't saying no, which means when you're using the right tools, right from the get-go, you could be hearing a yes. It's all about how you present that offer. Thanks for joining me today, and remember, if you love the Sound of FastTrack, you want to add your name to this Springs Live, FastTrack Waitlist. Go ahead and do so at healthcoachpower.com/waitlist, or I should say, and or because you really could do both. Go ahead and grab your $7 toolkit with all the details on what it takes to make clients say yes. Go to healthcoachpower.com/toolkit to get started. Thanks for joining me today. I'll see you all soon.