Why is it that two coaches can offer the exact same service, yet one coach is booked for months with a waiting list and the other is struggling to get clients?
Is it a great website, copywriting, speaking skills, or a combination? Actually, it’s something that is found in all of these marketing components.
Coaches with successful businesses typically offer a transformation as part of their branding message. Unfortunately, many coaches have trouble identifying their transformation because they don’t understand the difference between features, benefits, and transformations. And that’s understandable. There is a lot of overlap between the three.
In this article, I’ll help you understand the difference between features (what you do), benefits (the results), and transformations (results + emotion). That way you can start using transformations to attract high-paying clients to you.
Features: What You Do
Features include everything from how often you coach them to the actual services you provide. If you know your clients get great results, but you regularly hear “I’ll think about it,” you’re probably trying to sell your features.
Most coaches are in love with their features, meaning they love their methods and processes. As a result, they talk to potential clients about signing up for three coaching sessions a month, completing a health assessment, working on their branding, or creating a Facebook fan page.
Any of these may be a necessary part of your coaching services. It’s what you do so that clients can get results. But it’s not what you want to market to potential clients. And here’s why.
When you focus on features, your prospect will believe that the features are all they need to get what they want. Then they start to “shop around” for someone who can deliver those features at the lowest rate. You end up competing with everyone else who offers similar services.
To attract high-paying clients, you want to market your benefits and transformation, instead.
Benefits: The Results Your Client Get
Sometimes there is an overlap between features and benefits, and a feature can qualify as a benefit. Let’s look at how to easily define a benefit and distinguish it from a feature.
Benefits are the results clients get from working with you. Features are actual services you provide. Here are some examples of the difference.
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- If you offer clients an assessment, that’s a feature. The result they get after taking the assessment is the benefit. So a client takes a health assessment, and the benefit they receive is awareness or self diagnosis.
- If you offer two coaching calls a month, that’s a feature. The benefit is that the client gets one-on-one help working on their problem. But if you also offer home study programs, those one-on-one calls with you can also be considered a benefit. The client gets exclusive access to you when many others do not, which leads to faster progress and results.
- If you offer a done-for-you service, such as copywriting, that’s a feature. The benefit could be having a sales letter that converts better and brings in more sales.
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If you offer clients increased income, self diagnosis, or faster results, you’re going to get a much better response with your marketing than offering copywriting, assessments, or monthly coaching calls.
But that’s still not enough to attract high-paying clients. If you really want to grab the attention of your ideal client and draw them to you like a magnet, you have to offer more…
You have to offer a transformation.
Transformation: Results + Emotional Response
A transformation is a benefit that stirs up an emotional response for your ideal client. It is the end result they get in their business, relationships, health, and/or life tied to a strong emotion.
When combined with your branding message, it promises a specific result that your ideal client will fall in love with. Let’s look at a couple of examples that have almost identical benefits but two different transformations:
- Feature: Business coaching
Benefits: Have a successful coaching practice, get more clients, earn income
Transformation: Have a 6-figure coaching practice working less than 20 hours per week
Who: Barb Wade, The Coach’s Coach, www.BarbWade.com - Feature: Marketing coaching
Benefits: Attract clients easily, get more clients, more sales and income
Transformation: Create irresistible offers, programs, and websites that easily attract your ideal client
Who: Karen Brunet, The Irresistible Marketing Coach, www.KarenBrunet.com
To get high-paying clients, you have to set yourself apart from every other coach offering similar services. And offering transformations will help you do that.
Your transformation will become part of your branding message that draws clients to you. You can see each example above has a specific stated result that people can get excited about. It goes beyond talking about features or benefits. It paints a picture of what clients really want.
Summary
If potential clients aren’t lining up to work with you, chances are you haven’t identified the transformation your ideal client really wants. Use the information above to discover your irresistible transformation.
Then start telling people about the transformation you offer in all your marketing: email signature, website, business cards, live talks, coaching programs, and more. You’ll be amazed at how much easier it will be to get more clients.
Best wishes on creating an amazingly successful coaching business this year!
