Site icon The Coaching Revolution

Don’t Rely On Referrals!

Sarah Short
Don't Rely On Referrals!

“Don’t Rely On Referrals!” – Did This Title Make You Angry?

Ok, I know that some of you have landed here, incandescent with rage because you absolutely do rely on referrals and you think others can too. If I’m talking to you, I know that the reason you’re cross is probably one (or more) of the following:

If any of the above are correct for you, please note that this article hasn’t been written for you. You are almost certainly one of those coaches who was in the privileged position of having existing monetisable credibility which you built in your career before you became a coach.

A better way of saying this might be that you have a network that you can monetise. Good for you, you probably can rely on referrals.

Most coaches (82%) aren’t in this position.

Nail Your Niche Challenge

Last week I ran one of my Nail Your Niche challenges. They are a fabulous four days for me and for the participants (even if I do say so myself!).

The reason that they’re fabulous for the participants is that every day there’s another challenge to the received wisdom about marketing for coaches.

From explaining what a niche is, to why you really want to have one and finally how to ensure it’s financially viable – each of these topics explodes myths and brings bring lightbulb moments.

For me the reason it’s fabulous is that I get to spend time helping coaches to see why what they’re doing on the client acquisition front hasn’t worked so far. We have PCC and even MCC coaches take part and the lightbulbs moments are there for them all.

Referrals and Discovery Calls

The received wisdom I mention is the idea that networking anywhere and everywhere leads to referrals because after all, your next client could be ‘just one connection away’.

I don’t agree with this.

Networking can be a good marketing tool, but only if it’s strategic. Attending every networking event you can find because a potential client could be referred to you by someone in the room is not a sustainable strategy.

The reason that networking in this non-strategic way isn’t sustainable is because you have no control whatsoever over whether or not the people in the room will take your card and refer others to you.

For your marketing to be effective, you must have control over it.

The other piece of received wisdom is that you should deliver discovery calls as a way to demonstrate the value of coaching. However if you market well you won’t ever need to deliver another one.

Discovery calls are ‘free samples’.

People who understand what you do, who you do it for and what it costs don’t need free samples. By the time these people land in your diary, they’re ready to buy.

What To Do Instead

I’ve explained why networking and discovery sessions are not the wisest way of marketing your coaching business. Now let me explain what effective marketing looks like.

  1. All effective marketing is focused on a target audience – all of it. Look at any ad you can see (ads are one form of marketing) and think about who it’s targeting. You’ll find that there always is a target.
  2. Having a target audience (or niche) is the very first step in ensuring that your marketing efforts going forward will be much more effective.
  3. Once you know who you’re marketing to it’s easier to establish a) where they are (literally) and b) what to say to them to help them understand why they should pay you to coach them.
  4. Having a niche doesn’t mean the work is done. Once you have chosen a niche, the work can begin.

There are lots of moving parts to marketing, far more than you’re probably aware of. If you can pay some attention to those 4 points, you can get yourself to the point of being in a place to learn about marketing for coaches.

If I’ve piqued your interest regarding marketing, get in touch. This is our diary: https://thecoachingrevolution.com/lets-talk

If you’d like to strongly disagree with me, that’s what the comment section is for 😉

Exit mobile version