39 | Build Your Client Pipeline Now: Essential Strategies for 2024

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This week Jo introduces a metaphor of a staircase, each step representing a phase in the journey of potential clients, from awareness to purchase.

She suggests strategies for building awareness, deepening engagement and trust. Jo emphasises the importance of good marketing and believes a solid strategy can help you show up as an expert.

Building Awareness and Interest (00:01:29) The first step of the client acquisition staircase is about building awareness and interest through social media posts, networking events, and introductory emails or calls.

Deepening Engagement and Trust (00:04:38) Midway steps involve strategies like creating lead magnets, nurturing through email and social media, networking follow-ups, and sharing valuable insights to deepen engagement and trust with potential clients.

Establishing Expertise and Credibility (00:07:01) Higher steps focus on showcasing expertise through blogs, podcasts, YouTube channels, published articles, guesting at events, webinars, and live events to establish credibility and position yourself as an expert in the field.

00:11:56 - The Power of Good Marketing Jo emphasises the importance of good marketing and how it can make a massive difference in the world. She mentions how the podcast has helped people make huge progress and how having a strategy can make someone feel like an expert and make a difference.

00:13:00 - Joining the Business of Coaching Program Jo mentions their coaching program, "The Business of Coaching," and invites listeners to join. She mentions that she is not taking on clients this month, but interested individuals can start in January and receive an extra month of free content over Christmas.

00:13:50 - Thank You for Listening. There are free resources available on the website joannalottcoaching.com. Please share the episode with a friend and leave a review.

Useful Links

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If you found this episode of Women in the Coaching Arena helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

If you’re kind enough to leave a review, please do let Jo know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: joanna@joannalottcoaching.com

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Speaker: 00:00:00

Hello and welcome to Women in

the Coaching Arena podcast.

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: 00:00:04

I'm so glad you are here.

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: 00:00:06

I'm Jo Lott, a business mentor

and ICF accredited coach

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: 00:00:10

Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

and I help coaches to

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: 00:00:11

build brilliant businesses.

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: 00:00:14

I know that when you prepare to enter

the arena, there is fear, self doubt,

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: 00:00:19

comparison, anxiety, uncertainty, shame.

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: 00:00:24

You can tend to armor up and

protect yourself from vulnerability.

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: 00:00:30

In this podcast, I'll be sharing

honest, not hype, practical and

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: 00:00:34

emotional tools to support you to make

the difference that you are here for.

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: 00:00:38

Dare greatly.

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: 00:00:39

You belong in this arena.

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: 00:00:44

Hello now welcome to the 39th episode

of women in the coaching arena.

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: 00:00:48

I am so that you are here.

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: 00:00:51

Last week I held an in-person event

called dare greatly in the coaching arena.

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: 00:00:56

I shared a metaphor to help the

attendees really see how to build

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that client acquisition pipeline.

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: 00:01:06

So I'm excited to share part of what

is shared on that day with you today.

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone)-2:

In this episode, we will explore

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that powerful metaphor for client

acquisition as a staircase.

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Each step represents a phase in the

journey of your potential clients

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from their first awareness of

you, to deciding to work with you.

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So let's think about the staircase

as a series of steps that, that

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potential client climbs and each

step represents a deeper level

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of engagement and trust with you.

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Every step on this staircase is crucial

for building a lasting relationship with

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the client enough for them to purchase.

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So they have to know like,

and trust you to buy.

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And so every step along, the staircase

build that know like, and trust and

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enough for them to buy your services.

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Let's think about your client

at the bottom of the staircase.

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And maybe there are four or five

steps and you are at the top.

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: 00:02:12

Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone)-3:

The first step is going to be

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building awareness and interest.

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Your initial touch points might be things

like social media posts, networking

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events, maybe introductory emails or

calls with people you used to know.

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It's not just about know like and trust.

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We also will need your content or what

you are verbally saying to people to help

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them to see that you can help with an

actual, tangible problem that they have.

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So, for example, if you're creating

content, inspiring quotes often don't

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cut it enough for them to even take

that first step on the staircase.

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For it to be impactful they really

need to see that you understand them,

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their everyday life, what problems

they're experiencing, their dreams,

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their hopes, their aspirations.

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Enough to be able to just take

that first step of like, okay,

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this person has my interest.

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They understand where I'm at.

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And I'm aware of them now.

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Really think about your ideal

client when you are creating things.

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Where are they now?

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Are they feeling like it's

Christmas, another year's coming.

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This one wasn't as good as the last.

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What exactly are they feeling?

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And how can you help to really capture

what they're feeling well enough that you

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know, them more than they know themselves.

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That is what we are aiming for

in your content and in your

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conversations with potential clients.

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So now perhaps you have got that client

to take that first step on the staircase.

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They are.

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Vaguely aware of you.

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They're a little bit interested in what

you're saying in what you're doing.

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Let's talk about the midway steps now.

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Which represent deepening

engagement and trust.

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The strategies might include creating

a lead magnet, which is a free

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PDF, which you offer to people in

exchange for their email address.

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This Is something that I teach in my

program, the business of coaching,

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because there are quite a few techie

steps and strategic steps to make

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this approach really, really work.

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I was in a funnel project for an

entire year, just learning about how

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important it is to create the right

lead magnet and the right title, the

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right subtitle, the right followup

emails, how you can really use those

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emails to nurture people even further.

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So there are a few steps to this, but

essentially it's about offering something

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of high value to that client in order

for them to think that this is valuable

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enough to offer you my email address.

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And then you can get to build

that relationship, even more using

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email as well as social media.

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So now you are showing up in

two places in their world.

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If, for example, you are networking,

this would include follow ups

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with the people that you have met.

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Maybe seeing if you can have

one-to-one calls with them.

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Engaging in more meaningful conversations.

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Maybe sharing valuable

insights through emails.

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If they've mentioned, they're interested

in something you might want to send

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them an article or something useful

to help them to start to know you

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like you and trust you even further.

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This area of the staircase is when

consistency we'll also come in.

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It used to be said that people

needed seven touchpoints to buy.

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Now it has gone up to

21 touchpoints to buy.

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: 00:05:41

So in other words, people need to

see you and things you're doing at

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least 21 times before they really

know you enough to buy from you.

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So we could even think about

staircases having 21 steps.

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: 00:05:54

But that might feel like

an absolute mountain.

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: 00:05:57

So let's just go back to the fast steps.

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Then midway steps, which is

deepening engagement and trust.

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: 00:06:04

We are moving up the staircase to our

highest steps, which is establishing

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your expertise and credibility.

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This part might include things like

reading blogs, things that they

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can kind of binge on your content.

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So blogs, podcasts and a YouTube

channel, are really good for

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that binge-worthy content.

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So they can really get up those

21 steps a little bit quicker.

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Depending on your niche and

what sort of work you're doing.

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This might include things like published

articles where you can kind of borrow

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: 00:06:35

the trust of the magazine or newspaper

that they already know and trust.

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It might be guesting at events again,

where you are borrowing the trust of

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: 00:06:45

that person who's hosting the event.

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Because if they have invited you, then

people are far more likely to trust you.

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This might be webinars where

people get to come and meet you.

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Hear what you have to say, see

if they like your approach.

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Maybe live events.

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Like I held my live event last week.

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That's another way of people taking

that further step up the staircase,

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getting to know you further.

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Also having greater insights.

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If you can help someone to have

insights and make progress.

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When the time is right, they

are far more likely to think.

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That person's already

helped me to make progress.

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Maybe they can help me to

make even more progress.

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These highest steps are all

about showcasing your expertise.

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You might want to write white papers,

talk at events, do lunch and learns.

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It depends on your niche as to

where you might want to show up.

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You might want to write a book.

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There are all sorts of ways to establish

yourself as an expert in your space.

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Okay.

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We have built your brand.

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We have showcased your expertise.

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They are now nearing the

top of the staircase.

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This is where we convert

them into a client.

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If they are the right fit, where that

potential client gets to decide whether

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to engage in your services and you get to

decide whether to work with them as well.

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This may be a discovery call, most likely.

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So you would want to be having an

effective discovery call that can

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convert prospects into clients.

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Help them to see where they are now.

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What are the gaps?

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Where do they want to

be and how you can help.

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If it's a lower cost item, you might

be able to do this from a sales page,

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or if you have built up a lot of

trust and expertise and case studies.

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So, congratulations, you have moved that

ideal client from not knowing you exist up

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the staircase to seeing you as an expert,

able to help them with their problem.

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Let's recap the steps.

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So you can ensure that you are not

missing anything on this journey,

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because I know a lot of people stick

to the surface level, social media,

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and it's just not good enough.

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I like to think of it as a

shallow place to show up.

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Social media could be your shallow

place and we do need these places

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to get in front of more people.

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But also we really want

that deep nurture place.

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So the deep nurture is those higher steps.

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Our podcasts.

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Our blogs, our YouTube.

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Our events, speaking, our white papers,

our book, whatever we can do to really

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showcase our expertise beyond kind of

vaguely inspiring people on social media

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when they are just busy scrolling by.

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So have a think now about your deep

nurture place and what is your shallow

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nurture place you are likely to need both.

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If you are thinking about your website

and how that fits into this and how

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to drive traffic to your website.

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This is how sadly, unless you have a

very established website that has been

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trusted by Google for years, or are paying

regularly a lot of money for great SEO.

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And a lot of blog posts to form part

of your website it is highly unlikely

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to appear on the first page of Google.

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So how you drive traffic to your

website is through showing up.

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People are highly unlikely to find your

website unless they know you already.

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Think of your website as somewhere that

people who already know you check that

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you are an established business person.

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Sadly the website doesn't form

a really huge part of your

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early awareness stage journey.

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So, let me briefly recap

on where we've been today.

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So we are thinking about your pipeline

and how you feel that pipeline.

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And if we think about it using a staircase

with your client at the bottom, we

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firstly need to take their first steps.

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So that is usually your shallow

places like social media or

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your initial networking group.

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Then we need to take the midway

steps that might be getting them onto

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your email list or having follow-up

one-to-one conversations with them.

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Next up is our highest steps

where you ask publishing expertise

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and credibility by showing up.

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Really deepening that know

like, and trust factor.

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And finally we have the top of

your staircase where you are

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going to have a discovery call.

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Usually to convert that

person into a client.

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You may be thinking that this

feels like an awful lot of work.

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And all I can do is say

it is so worth your time.

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Can you imagine if you can help

people, even in your free content?

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And I know you might need the paying

clients and all of that stuff, but

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I genuinely believe giving value

is what you will get paid for.

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So if you are holding back.

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And not showing up and not providing

real value in your content or in your

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conversations then sadly people won't

know like and trust you to refer

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you and to eventually buy from you.

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So just know that good marketing makes

a massive difference in the world.

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And that is why I love

recording this podcast.

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And I know people have made huge

progress from just this podcast alone.

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And I'm happy with that.

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I know that the right

people will work with me.

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Those who aren't in that position

will refer people to me or make

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progress with just my free content.

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So stop and think now about how lovely

it would feel for someone to perhaps

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message you saying I've read your

blog posts and I immediately took the

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step and I am so much further forward.

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How good are you going to feel when

you have an actual strategy to really

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show up and be an expert and make

the difference that you are here for.

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Thank you for listening today.

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I hope you enjoyed our staircase metaphor

to help you to fill your client pipeline.

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If you would like my help to do

this, this is what I do in my

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program, the business of coaching.

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Feel free to find the

details on my website.

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joannalottcoaching.com.

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That's Joanna with an a and lott

with two T's joannalottcoaching.com.

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I'm not taking on any clients this month

because my diary is full, but you can

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start in January and actually, if you

are keen, you can start now and absorb

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all of the content over Christmas as

an extra month free in the program.

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: 00:13:25

And your official support

period will start in January.

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So don't let Christmas put you off.

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There's bound to be times when you

can reflect on your business and

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start making progress so you are

in a fantastic position for: 2024

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And like I say, at the end of every

episode, trust yourself, believe

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in yourself and be the wise Gardner

who keeps on watering the seed.

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: 00:13:50

Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

Thank you so much for listening to this

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: 00:13:52

episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

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: 00:13:55

I have a mess of free resources on

my website joannalottcoaching.com.

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: 00:14:02

That's Joanna with an A

and Lott with two T's.

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joannalottcoaching.com.

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: 00:14:08

And I'll also put links in the show notes.

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: 00:14:11

Let me know if you found

this episode useful.

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: 00:14:14

Share it with a friend and

leave me a review, and I will

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: 00:14:17

personally thank you for that.

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: 00:14:20

Remember to trust yourself, believe

in yourself and be the wise Gardner

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: 00:14:24

who keeps on watering the seed.

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Get into the arena dare, greatly and try.

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