You invest in a Business Coach to help your business and in order for that relationship to work and for your business to grow there has to be a level of trust. However, there are a few exceptions where your business coach can actually hinder your business growth and rain on your parade where it’s actually not warranted.
In this controversial episode I talk about three of those occasions AND the caveats to these instances, PLUS I reveal…
- My favourite kind of market research that works 100% of the time.
- The pricing myth and why your prices will never remain stationary
- How you could actually be kidding yourself about the success of your business ideas and how to turn that around.
Useful Links:-
Book onto my Evolve & Elevate Strategy Session – http://www.jen-hall.com/strategysession
Book a Call with Jen – bit.ly/claritycallpodcast
Download my free Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Market Leader – http://bit.ly/MARKETLEADERGUIDE
Send your emails to jen@jen-hall.com
Please note this transcript is machine generated so it is not perfect and should be used for reference only, you will get the best from the podcast by listening to it in it's designed format.
(00:00):
Have you ever second guessed your business coaches judgment? Well, in this episode, I'm going to be talking about three things that perhaps you might want to ignore.
(00:18):
Welcome to this next episode of the expert online world podcast. My name is Jen Hall, your business positioning coach, and market leadership expert. And in this episode, we're talking all about three of the things that I truly believe your business coach has no business telling you. Just so this might come across as a little bit of a controversial episode, but I truly believe in the words that I'm about to tell you. So before I dive in to this episode, I just want to remind you guys that there are still some places left on the evolve, that elevate strategy session, which is happening on the 15th of August. This session goes into some of the details around the campaign that brought in over 1.4 million pounds in just 14 days. But not only that, it really does show you the route that you need to take from where you are now to being able to be in a position to start generating that kind of money in that space of time.
(01:16):
So it shows you how to go from where you are now to become the number one choice in your markets. And that really is a process that we fine tuned and honed in on over the last few years that we help our clients with. And we're going to share all of that with you in the strategy session. It only costs 20 pounds to join, but there are limited spaces. So do make sure that if you want one of these spaces on the 15th of August, that you snap up one of the last spots and you can do that using the link in the show notes. So anyway, back to the episode that you have tuned into. So the first thing that I want to talk about is the notion that your business coach has any business telling you how much your services are worth. Now, this really isn't anything to do with any bullying.
(02:05):
And actually I get my clients who almost we play chicken. Like they're waiting for me to wait in there with a benchmark for how much I think that their services are worth. And I really have no place to tell them that. Now a lot of people come to me to actually help them price their services. So you thinking, okay, Jen, so if you're not able to benchmark me, then how are you going to help me price my services? Now that's the thing is that it's a very personal thing. When it comes to pricing or services, this really isn't anything anyone else can tell you, it's the perfect price. You really have to look at it from your perspective. And this is where realizing your worth, owning your worth and understanding how to price that comes into play. And that's what I help my clients do.
(02:55):
I give them the understanding of how to price and really, I mean, absolutely you can look at what's out there. You could do some market research and find out what other people are charging in their industry. And for instance, when you were looking the pricing for things like corporates, you know, you're going to come up, you're going to come up against you know, the choosing potentially, you know, looking at different proposals, looking at different price points, but you always have to come back to the fact that does it matter where you come in, not benchmarking, if you will, top of your game and you come top in that benchmarking arena that you're coming, you know, in terms of the range of prices that you can account for coming in at that top end, but actually you have something entirely different that no one else is offering out that, you know, does what you do.
(03:49):
Then you have every right to be charging at that top patent. And that's the thing, you know, when it comes to pricing, it's not worrying about not being too expensive. You should be worrying about how you are positioning yourself, how you are coming across to the people that you're marketing to, whether that's B2B or B to C, we need to be looking at our pricing from the perspective of what are, what is the results that this person, this company is getting? How am I fulfilling a need? Where am I in terms of, you know, my positioning in the market? Why am I justify to actually get people to pay more? And you have to look at your business from that perspective. And I talk about pricing and a lot of episodes. So I think it's one of the first, top five. Forgive me. I can't remember the actual number that you go right back to the episodes.
(04:48):
I actually talk about high ticket selling and how you can actually start to look at pricing and services. So if people want to look at that in more detail, then please go back and check that episode out. But at the same time, I just really want to point out that people price the services based upon that perspective. And if your business coach is not your ideal client, and even if it was his coach, was that your ideal client. And they're actually looking to spend money with you. Then there's bias from both sides bias because maybe they want your cheapest so they can get you cheaper, which you know, isn't great. But also bias from the perspective of what if they're not your ideal client and they're not truly valuing what you're offering than you. They're not really seeing the impact. So they can't give you advice on where to benchmark your services.
(05:34):
They might be able to give you advice on where to benchmark or services based upon market research. They already have perhaps obsolete me. They can say a case. So when I fridge companies or people will spend this much with you for this service in between this services between this price point, sorry, and another price point. But you have to recognize that they cannot tell you specifically how much they think it should be worth. It has to come from you. Yeah, it's a very personal thing. And the reason why it has to come from me is because it shouldn't be based upon necessarily what you think other people could afford. It should be based upon what your product is worth. And that's where I help people. That's where I look at helping you understand the value of what you deliver, the impact that it has on your ideal client and actually how much they truly want your service.
(06:25):
If it's fulfilling a need and you're giving them something, they can't get anywhere else, then why shouldn't you be charging more for that? There's absolutely zero reason. You know, extra, extra things, luxury things they can't get anywhere else should all be priced higher. And there is absolutely no shame in that. And there's no need to worry about that because as long as you are demonstrating the return on investment for your ideal client, then you will absolutely have no problem selling at that higher price. So don't wait for your business coach to tell you how much they think your services is worth. Instead. Think of it from a different perspective, understand how pricing, like I said, there's an episode on that. That's further back. And one of the first five episodes, I think it was understand how pricing works, how you should be looking at that, understand that you should be not pricing on time, that you should be pricing on that result and that transformation that they get.
(07:21):
And all the other things that may come up that you have to take into consideration when putting that price point together, once you want to stop all of those things, then actually understanding that price point of what you should go in at is not a problem. When you're first creating a new product. There's no reason why it shouldn't necessarily be cheap. If it's the bull and then raise your prices and you will always be raising your prices, because part of what makes up your price point is actually looking at your personal power that you bring to the table. And you know, when you are continually improving, which you should be when you are continually upskilling yourself or improving a product or investing into extra things, then there's absolutely no reason why your products, price shouldn't right. Well, your service service probably shouldn't raise. It absolutely should.
(08:08):
So you have to kind of do a bit of testing the market as well. So you've got to try and your validation should only ever come from your ideal client. Who's buying it. You know, that should be the test. And even if they turn around and say, you know, I can't afford it, that doesn't necessarily mean it's priced wrongly. And if they turn around and say, or it feels too expensive. Again, we have to look at ourselves and go, have we demonstrated that return on investment? Have we articulated what makes us the best of the market and why they should be spending that extra money? And if we've not done that our job properly in that respect, that we only have ourselves to blame sort of problems, the problems point, it's not the person's problem. You know, they have to be able to have all of the cards on the table to make it appropriate decision about whether it's a good investment or not.
(08:56):
You haven't done your job. Then, then we have to get back to the drawing board and look at that, you know, that communication articulation of why they should be investing that kind of money. And it has to feel good to you because if it doesn't feel good to you, it feels too much, or it feels, feels too little. That's going to be a problem with you sending it a because if it's too, let's all you're going to be feeling resentment. You're going to feel annoyed. Your, when you finally kind of got people in at that price point, I feel resentful for the amount of energy and time and efforts and every blood, sweat, and tears, you were putting into it for that person and not actually getting you know, any good energy exchange for the money that they're turning back. So you get to feel resentful, bitter, potentially not good from the best and cut corners.
(09:42):
Do you really want, yeah. That to be the basis of the, the kind of third party credibility that you're passing on. That's what I basically talk about when other people talk about your business. So if, if they're not getting the best experience, they're not going to be sharing it. And that means that you're always going to be playing small. So you have to charge the right amount. That feels good to you. And if you charge too high, like I genuinely believe that if your price point doesn't scare you, you are not charging enough. It has to have that bite to it, but there is a sweet spot, too much bite, too much scariness. And you will stop yourself from actually getting out there and setting it. So say your business coach tells you, you should be charging 20,000. Is that a 5,000? You can start feeding.
(10:28):
You might feel like, Oh wow, I'm so pleased. Someone feels that my services are more valuable, but at the same time petrified about getting out there and selling it for 20 grand because you don't feel that it's worth that. And then there's two things that can happen. A, you probably haven't done the inner work. If it genuinely is work worth 20,000 pounds or $20,000, whatever. And then you may have not done the inner work to really, truly, really, and truly understand the impact that your services and how wonderful your services are and what that can do for them. And again, that's what I help people to do. That's, that's part of the process of pricing is helping people to understand that impact that they have. But secondly, if, if you're still not at the point where you truly believe it, because some people can't truly believe it until somebody pays it and sometimes that's a process, you know, it starts off at five K, then it may be raise it to eight K, then you're like, okay, fine.
(11:21):
So maybe 12 Ks, as soon as they fought. And you raised that you raised the bar as you go. Because, you know, taking those giant leaps on always possible, sometimes it takes me yeah. The steps in order to get to where you, where you want to go, that doesn't have to happen over a long period of time. It could literally happen from client to client is you see the impact that you're having. And that's why Bita programs and things like that sometimes less because you know, you're trying things out for the first time. You don't a hundred percent believe in it because it's the first time you've run it. So how could you and then when you do something like, ah, okay, I'm really seeing how this is so beneficial for people now, I'm seeing the true value of it. It's worth way more than that.
(12:00):
Then you can raise it to whatever you feel. Not might not be five K to eight K. That could be five K to 10 K or five K to 20 K. But you have to understand that it's a process. And they won't can force you to price it at a level that you're not comfortable with. Otherwise, you're just not going to be able to set it because if you don't believe it, then, then you're going to struggle. And it's going to show through in every fiber of your being. So your business coach really has no business giving you that benchmark unless it is market research based. And even then there is nothing wrong with going outside of the box on that, on that benchmark. Because if you have something that's on the Bible that no one else has out there, which again is something else I help people do.
(12:42):
This is the first time you were listening to this podcast. This is the first episode you've come across. I really, really hope that you go back and listen to more because I talk about how it's become unrivaled has become a category of one, how to create concrete USBs that no one else has so that you can decide your price point with confidence to know that it is worth that. So, yeah, when people try and tell you how much they think it's worth less than your ideal client, unless you've done the best job possible at articulating the value, they really have no business telling you how much your, your, your pricing is worth. You've got to want to start the full process. So how do I help people price their services? That's not by telling them what I think it's worth it's by helping them understand how much it is worth to their ideal client plus with a mix of market research as well that you can do, you can come to a reasonable price point that will, you will then through practice, raise over time.
(13:38):
The next thing that I really do. Do you believe that your business case has no business telling you is Johnny your ideal client now by that? I mean when you start talking about what kind of services you're going to be providing services fourth. Yes. They can give you guys. Yeah. And they can play devil's advocate and put the cat amongst the pigeons to help challenge you. But I'm seeing this a lot where business coaches, they turn around and say, well, I don't really feel that there's a need for that. And if that's coming from an unbiased perspective, fantastic. And that's something that I do pride myself on being able to do and being able to take a step back. But if they're coming from a bias of, I don't feel there's a need for this service because I'm not your ideal client.
(14:27):
And they might not say that last bit, that you have to look at that and think, okay, hold on. Is the person telling me, give me this advice, really understanding the value that I'm giving here, because if you don't see the need for it, because you personally aren't suffering from that pain point, you personally don't have that goal, then yes. You're not going to see the value in it, but you have to look at your ideal client and go, okay, hang on a minute. From that perspective, from that, that Rose tinted glasses, whatever tinted glasses they all looking through, do they see the value? And in a lot of cases, you wear your rider and that doesn't necessarily happen across the board. That's not always true. You can come from an expert who has learned, has a learned skill that you can help, even though you've never actually experienced a problem, you have the skillset.
(15:16):
So let me give you the example of a heart surgeon that may not necessarily have suffered from a heart problem in the past, but they have the skills and the whereabouts and the, and the expertise to help somebody. So in that instance, this doesn't necessarily work so well, but for a lot of people, they have, they're doing what they're doing because they've been there and they seen there was a need. Now, this is where I'm going to get. You, give you a little bit of extra advice on this one. So you business coaches, this is telling you that there's no need for that service. If they're coming from a very personal perspective, instead of actually looking at on biasly and going, okay, hang on. Who are they targeting here? Who is their ideal client? And do they see a need for it? But there's also, you've got to watch out for yourself guys, because this is where again, it's, there's, there's, there was always a gray area, right?
(16:04):
Because having been through, through the scenarios, you can sometimes be a little bit too close, and you can start judging your ideal client because you know what they need, you know, that actually what you wanted in the first place isn't necessarily the whole truth. And the actually what you needed was very different to what you wanted, but she still have to recognize that. And a lot of them, a lot of people go wrong. They start focusing on, well, hang on a minute. You might want that. But actually what you need is this your ideal client where they're at right now could give a crap. They want to make sure they get what they want. And so you have to do this thing where you sell them what they want and give them what they need. Now, that doesn't mean that you miss out myself and that you sell them what they want. And then actually they don't get what they want. And you've given them something totally different. That's not what I'm saying. That's bad.
(17:02):
That's what, that's a very bad thing to today. What I'm saying is, is that you have to Mark it on the warrant and inside of the product, the route to getting there, we'll give them what they need to get, what they want. But you have to understand that when it comes to marketing, not to be judgy, yes, you can do a little bit of hard hitting marketing and some truth bombs around the root cause of that problem. But even at that front end, you still have to get them in through, Hey guys, this is what you're saying. You wanting. Right? Okay. Well, here, I'm here to tell you that you can get that, but here's where you're going wrong. That's great. If you could do that, that's fantastic marketing because you're showing them where they're going wrong. And it gives them that Tiffany moment where the, Oh gosh, yes, I want this.
(17:45):
The reason I'm not getting it is because of this. And so actually need to do Y okay. So we have to be able to do that. But when you get, become so close to it as the curse of the expert, because you've been there, done it, come out, get assigned. And so you get so focused on the nitty gritty of the process that you forget the actual juicy one at the very beginning of the golden carrot, that there's a reason why you're bounced from that journey in the first place. And so you have to be careful that you don't fall into the same trap as some of the business coaches out there saying that they will there's, you know, there's no need, or you should be focusing on this. Now you should be focusing on selling them what they want and then giving them what they need and through the process of education, educating them on the root, the root cause of the problems they're experiencing giving them those epiphany moments.
(18:34):
And that's how you're going to be able to convert them into a product ethically and transparently, but still being able to get their attention from the word go. So always sell them what they want. And if a business cage is telling you that they don't really think there's a need for it, don't necessarily write it off immediately go and do your own research. And sometimes that research might be, let's just try this baby. Let's just see, let's put it out there. The validation comes when people buy, if people are buying it, then you know that there's a market for it. If you put it out there and you've done your best again, you have to really look at this. You don't just slap something together and put it out there and hope for the best that you've properly. Put some efforts of backing, small articulation and some real thought behind how you're putting this together.
(19:22):
So again, this is where your business coach to step in to help you to do that, to give it its best chance possible. If you do that as you put it out there and you don't get anything, then okay, then maybe, maybe that's a sign that there isn't the right, that isn't the right thing. But let me, let me give you the, if you haven't already had it before the fripperies example I think I was pronounced for Frebreeze wrong or February's February's I can't remember how you pronounce it anyway. You know that this money, this money source that you pay your patents, making smell nice onto fabric. So the, they made a massive marketing era when they first brought this ingenious liquid out. So they went on the angle of selling it to people who had so many homes. People, dog owners meant stinky teenagers, so many children, so many things, whatever it is.
(20:13):
And they started marketing. And you probably, if you're lucky, if you watch TV over the last sort of 10, 10, 15 years, we'll say you wouldn't remember these outfits where the parent walks into the stinky teenager's room and holds her nose and discussed how to stuffed a couple boys room smells. And then she goes in and she sprays for breeds around because, Oh, there you go, much better. It still looks like a tip, but at least it doesn't smell like one. And it completely died. It didn't work. Yes. You've got the odd person you come in and you came into use it. But that wasn't what was the, you know, there wasn't quite the right angle. I think we're actually attempting to fit a product with an ideal client that didn't match. And the reason for that is because people who live in that smell get used to it.
(20:58):
It's something that used to, it's not a pain point because smell scientifically you get used to, or you're a certain time you become accustomed to a smell and that fool, you don't necessarily see the need anymore. So you can see how there might be a problem there. So they had to go back to the drawing board and instead they decided to go for, and this is where I use this example a lot for my shoot, the shark and build a bridge is scenarios. So shoot the shark. We're basically there'd be a bleeding neck issue and a problem that needs to be fixed. Now the stinky teenager could technically, because as that shoot the shock person, however, they weren't there. They were not seeing the need for it. They didn't have much of a problem because they were accustomed to the smell. It's like, unless someone else came into the house and went, geez, Barbara, you'll how stinks they're going to be like, Oh, does it?
(21:47):
Oh my God. And then maybe that might take them into going out to buy for breeze. That in that scenario happens, that it makes that, that just might not be the case. So they realize that actually the need, the audio client was more of a build a bridge, the person who looks after their house. So Mark has his incredible, you know, bachelor pants and wants to make it his pants pristine, beautiful and goes in there. And he, he, he wants that extra clean smell. She wants to extricate and smell. You see, I'm trying very hard not to be sexist here. But yeah, so it's the people who want that extra clean smell. After that everything is pristine looking. They then want to spritz it around. So it smells clean or looks clean, but it smells clean. They went for that angle and that's when they hit gold.
(22:42):
That's when they realized hah, the, this is actually our market. This is who we're going to. Now, the beauty of being a service based business is that you have control this isn't eight stationary product that you then have to try and find who the market is, let the market guide you or what you need to deliver. And that's what I said that sometimes your ideal client may have been you. And so if that's the case, you know that there's a need because you had an eight. Okay. And just make sure that you're not making this up. Sometimes we convince ourselves because you want a successful business. This is where our stay at Gabriel and I were already wants successful businesses and really want to sell that thing yet. I needed it. And you kid yourself that that was the case when it wasn't. So you put yourself back, you know, travel back in time to that mindset that you were in.
(23:25):
That's where you should be looking, going back to then figure out what it was that you wanted, why you embarked on that journey in the first place, sell them that then your program gives them what they need. And during your nurture process, how to educate them through that process, if this is what you're you want. Yes, but this is where you're going wrong. And this is what you to help. And this is what you're going to be buying. So there we go. Hopefully that gives you a good rounded unbiased opinion of the situation to help you figure out what's going to be successful. And what's not going to be successful. Whether that's improving a product, a product from scratch, adding new things to your business, or starting a business from scratch, whatever that looks like, that'll help you a little bit, but make sure that if your business coach is giving you the advice that they didn't feel it's needed, as long as they're coming from the perspective of being on biased.
(24:16):
And they are putting the cat amongst the pigeons to challenge, you don't necessarily write it off, you know, have a thing yourself. Are you being the Dingus? Are you actually understanding that this isn't the right, the right thing to do? Or is it, you know, some of the, like, like I said, sometimes it's a case of just chucking it out that do the best job you can and, and validating it in that, in that way. I much prefer that kind of market research and funding about collecting data for goodness knows how long, especially when you Chuck it out there. And the problem with market research, when, where people don't have to put money where their mouth is, is exactly that they know they everyone's a critic, everyone's got an opinion and they're happy to give it away for free. But let's see what people are willing to pay for my favorite kind of market research.
(25:01):
So that'd be good. That's, that's the second thing that you should be being cautious on. And the last thing I want to talk to you about today is, you know, possibly one that we've all come across. Absolutely. If you've been hanging around with business coaches while this is just one size fits all approach, well, this worked for me. So why wouldn't it work for you or it must work for you not the case. There are campaigns and strategies that we use. I mean, I run three businesses and they're the strategies that we used in one don't does not work with the other, you know, there are different types of businesses and they, they have to be treated separately because they have separate audiences, separate angles, different needs, different ideal clients. And say, we have to understand that just because it works for one thing, doesn't mean it's necessarily going to work for another.
(25:49):
So again, look at this, the perspective from the perspective of is the person that's showing me this campaign strategy way of doing things. Do they have the exact same business model, either client way I want to work is everything matching up congruently and you're looking at and going, yes, everything is very seminar. I can learn from this person. They've been where I want to go. They're definitely the right person to be learning from, or are they teaching you a one size fits all approach to the wrong people? Cause I've seen this as, this is why so many people end up getting burned because their business coach just goes, we'll just, did you just do it this way? You know, they've got a Facebook group, that's going to be the way for you. Not true. Facebook work groups do not work for every single business.
(26:39):
And it doesn't also, doesn't also work for every single business owner type. You know, the ones upon a time I loved running a grape. I don't particularly anymore going to be honest, not in the way that I used to run it. I, you know, I have a group and I put things out there, but in, in the way of, you know, being there constantly like almost like running out loans, like some kind of pay for membership, but it's actually free. Doesn't like me whatsoever. And it's just an app. And I'm very honest about that. I'd much prefer to, to create this podcast. I love creating this podcast and delivering information and help to my audience in this way. So, you know, it may not, you know, there is more than one way to peel an orange. You don't have to do it the way everyone else is doing it.
(27:23):
You've got to do something. This is another thing like, well, I don't want to do that. And I don't want to do that. I don't want to do that. I'm like, well, Hey, how's anyone ever actually going to see you? If you're willing to do any of them, you know, you have to push yourself out. You're compensated a little bit and pick something. Otherwise you're going to be hidden from everybody and that's not going to work, but there is more one way to pick more than one way to peel an orange. And you can absolutely find a different approach. You know, we, we run Facebook ads, competitions. That's great for an aspirational business, but when it comes to a business, you know, like I said, it runs for like gut health or, or something that people don't really want to share. Then that's not going to work because the Facebook ads, competition campaign relies on people sharing it to the world.
(28:07):
And if they're not willing to share it to the world, then that's going to be no good. Also, if you have a capacity issue for the business model that you've got at the moment, then it's not necessarily gonna bring you in the biggest amount of money either. So you have to look at every angle. It doesn't not, everything works for everybody. And I know I'm kind of preaching to the converted here. You're probably nodding your head and go. Yup. Yup, yup. Jen, I get all of that. So why are people still buying into these one size fits all approaches that stop with the sexy funnel thing that, well, wow. I've seen how amazing it's worked for you. So it must work for me. It's just not the case. And less it is right for your business. And that's where you have to look at the person that's selling it.
(28:50):
Have they got the same kind of business model? Am I looking at this objectively? Is it going to work for my business? It's also like for instance, people will try YouTube. Great. YouTube is fantastic, but does your wider clients search for your services then search for your services? Then there's no point using YouTube. If you see where I'm going with this, it's a search engine. So if they're not searching for it, basically you're just putting up stuff on YouTube that no one ever watches because no one's searching for it. So what's the point of wasted energy. It's a strategy. Yes. That works for, you know, like you type into YouTube, how to make a cake. Like every man and their dog has search and not right. People searching how to do these things all the time. So you have sort of get these things objectively and think, okay, is this right for my business?
(29:33):
So when you were looking to pick a business coach, rather than looking at the, you know, with starry eyes at that giant audience or story at their amazing Facebook group funnel, or starry-eyed at this amazing high ticket webinar thing that's going on and they're promising all of this stuff actually just really measure it up and make sure that the business case that you are buying into is being honest with you. The business coach that you're buying into has the ability to be able to see when it won't work and that actually this whole it'll work for any business. If anyone's ever telling you that, then you need to run pretty far away. So there'll be gay the controversial episode, but I'm hoping that it brings a bit of truth to you know, to what used to be looking out for and to help you, you know, get some clarity around the decisions you're making around your pricing, around your services and who you're buying into, because I think it's really important that we buy into the right people that can help us.
(30:35):
So yeah, there we are, it seems really odd to end on this, but if you believe that I am the right business coach for you, then please do get in contact. Let me know if you want to chat about how I can help you become the number one choice in your market, how we can talk about articulating your services so that it gives you your ideas and your services, the best chance possible or how I can take you from where you are right now, which could be very, very successful to really cranking it up a notch, become that category of one unrivaled. Number one choice in the market. If that's you then pick a call with me the both links to the evolve and elevate strategy session and a clarity call that both of those things are available in the show notes. So do you dive into that and pick one, let's have a chat, let's show you some more of my processes and the strategy session. So you can make that informed decision really hate you, enjoy the episode and I'll see you.