Let’s connect your income goals to real numbers and, more importantly, to the actions that truly make your coaching business work. In this episode, Joanna leads a practical, numbers-led conversation that many coaches quietly avoid. She breaks down how income goals, discovery calls, and conversion rates actually connect, giving you a clear, grounded view of what really drives momentum and sustainable growth in your business.

Timestamps

[00:00] The question most coaches avoid

[01:00] What a realistic conversion rate looks like

[02:00] Turning income goals into simple maths

[03:00] Why being busy isn’t the same as making money

[05:00] The truth your numbers are telling you

[07:00] Planning weekly call volume

[10:00] Kindness, consistency, and long-term growth

This episode is for coaches who want to grow their income with clarity rather than guesswork, and who are ready to understand what needs to happen behind the scenes to make that possible.

“The numbers will tell you exactly where your business is stuck if you’re brave enough to look.”

Turn your income goal into something real. Take ten minutes today to clarify your numbers, then choose one small action to increase your discovery calls this week.

Useful Links

Join The Practice 2026 Cohort | Early Bird Price Until 31 December

Learn about The Business of Coaching programme (The Practice Included as a Bonus)

Signature Solution Course

Download the Free Digital version of Coaches' Planner (NEW edition 2026)

Free Essential AI Toolkit – 2 Must-Have Prompts for Coaches

How to secure more coaching clients' free training

Download the 12 ways to get clients now

Connect with Jo on LinkedIn

Rate and Review the Podcast

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

Enjoyed This Episode?

Don’t Miss the Next One! Hit subscribe on your favourite podcast app to be notified each time a new episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

Mentioned in this episode:

About The Practice

The Practice is my new 12-month programme for coaches who want a steady rhythm in their business – not constant reinvention. It’s designed to support you with monthly reflection, planning, and focused action, so you can stay connected to what actually moves your business forward across the year. Inside The Practice, we: review what’s really happening in your business set clear priorities for the month ahead track the right things using a simple scorecard be coached and coach other thoughtful, ambitious coaches Doors are open until 31 December. You can join at the presale founder rate of £600 + VAT for the full year – just £50 per month. If you join now, I’ll also be posting you a welcome gift ahead of our January start. 👉 Find out more and join The Practice here: https://go.joannalottcoaching.com/thepractice

I want to talk about something that

almost every coach avoids looking at.

2

Even though this can quietly decide

whether your business grows or stumbles.

3

Let's help you connect your income

goal to real numbers, and most

4

importantly, to the actions that

make your business really work.

5

A lot of coaches set income targets,

maybe five K a month, 10 K a month,

6

whatever it is for you, without

really knowing how many conversations

7

it actually takes to get there.

8

You might feel like you should be

booked out, or you might hope that

9

next month will be different, but until

you reverse engineer the result that

10

you want, then you are just guessing.

11

If you don't know how many calls you

need to book to reach that income target,

12

then it's highly unlikely to happen.

13

That is assuming you are selling by

discovery call, which most people are

14

unless you have moved to group programs

and you are in the scaling phase.

15

So this is what we are

going to unpack today.

16

Let's start with a few numbers that are

17

People who track their conversion rates

on discovery calls carefully usually

18

are within the range of 25 to 40%.

19

That means roughly one in four to

one in two people that you speak

20

to will end up signing up with you.

21

This is not a made up figure.

22

It is what many experienced coaches

report when they treat their discovery

23

calls as a sales step and measure

the result of those discovery calls.

24

If you are fairly new or haven't

started tracking your conversion rate

25

yet, this is a decent assumption.

26

25% of conversion rate from

discovery call to paying client.

27

So if you had four people have a call

with you, expect to get one paying

28

client from those discovery calls.

29

If your conversion rate

is higher, that's amazing.

30

If it's lower, then that is information

you can work with not to panic about.

31

There is always that learning curve, and

the more calls you do, the more calls

32

you will begin to convert because you

will increase your skill on those calls.

33

So next, think about how many

clients you actually need.

34

For example, if your goal is 10

K a month and your average client

35

investment with you is 2000 pounds,

you will need five new clients each

36

month to hit your income target.

37

If one in four calls converts,

you need roughly 20 discovery

38

calls to be booked and held in

one month to reach your target.

39

This is just an example so you can play

around with them now you know the average

40

conversion rate for discovery calls and

the insight you may be gaining at this

41

point is that you need more calls booked.

42

So not having enough clients or calls

booked does not mean you aren't a good

43

coach or that your work isn't needed.

44

Most of the time.

45

It just means that you haven't

looked at the maths clearly, you

46

haven't noticed what the numbers

are showing you about your habit.

47

It's really easy to stay behind the

scenes, really busy with websites,

48

nurture sequences, creating offers,

maybe random posting on social

49

media because those things can feel

productive and we can feel really

50

good about ticking stuff off our list.

51

But if you aren't tracking the number

of how many discovery calls you actually

52

booked last month and how many of

those turned into clients, then you

53

probably won't prioritize the actions

that gonna help you get results.

54

These numbers will quietly whisper

the truth that you may have

55

been avoiding until this moment.

56

You need to book more calls.

57

Your follow-up system isn't working.

58

You are closing less sales than you

maybe think you are, and you are

59

inconsistent with your visibility.

60

These aren't personal failings.

61

They are information that you can

now utilize to improve your stats.

62

The numbers will tell you exactly

where your business is stuck if

63

you are brave enough to look.

64

Usually it's a case of volume.

65

Needing to tell more people about your

service, maybe sending messages, maybe

66

contacting people you used to know

through your organization, telling

67

way more people about your service.

68

Often when I start working with clients,

69

it can feel like it's okay to spend three

weeks to a month maybe creating an offer.

70

And actually, what I need to reiterate

more often is that all of that time

71

that we are spending, creating an offer

rather than telling people about your

72

offer, is essentially time wasted.

73

Because all of the time in the world

we can spend behind the scenes making

74

our offer great, but really we need to

do that work really, really quickly.

75

That is, in my view, the really easy work.

76

And I know that that's very unusual

because most people are stuck on

77

their niche and offer for years.

78

But really what I want is that

done, quick smart, and then move to

79

actually telling more people about

our thing, building your authority

80

and generating those discovery calls.

81

'cause that is where you're gonna

actually get to share the amazing

82

work and the amazing offer that

you have done behind the scenes.

83

So let's bring this now

84

So ask yourself:

85

what is my income goal?

86

How many clients do I

need to hit that goal?

87

Given an average conversion rate

or your own conversion rate, if you

88

are tracking, how many discovery

calls do I need to get booked?

89

And how many calls, therefore per week

or per month, does that translate to?

90

Another example would be your

income goal is 5K per month.

91

Your average client

92

Your conversion rate we'll assume is 25%.

93

'cause that's average.

94

The amount of discovery calls you would

need to hit your 5K is 20 calls per month.

95

So essentially five

calls a week on average.

96

So those numbers are not abstract.

97

You can really calendar that.

98

If you aren't booking enough calls,

then you can think to yourself.

99

What can I do today to

be in touch with people?

100

Maybe that means sending a message to

people that have signed up for your

101

lead magnet, if you have lead magnet.

102

Maybe it means sending a message

to welcome people into your world.

103

When you connect with them on LinkedIn.

104

Starting some sort of conversation

with them that might eventually mean

105

that you can offer to help them with

whatever it is they are struggling with.

106

It might mean going out to previous

clients to see if they need more help.

107

So as soon as you get this data and

realize how much work really needs

108

to be done in the back door of your

business, you can start to take bigger

109

action, measure what's working, and

if you aren't hitting your goals,

110

the why isn't usually magical.

111

It will be in the volume of the work

you are doing, and often the metrics

112

that you might not have measured yet.

113

So let's lighten the load ever so slightly

with a small shift you can make right

114

now, because you don't suddenly have to

start having 20 discovery calls a week.

115

A more useful question today is this.

116

Right now, how many calls am

I booking and how many calls

117

am I converting into clients?

118

If you have started booking calls,

start to track your conversion rate.

119

I know lots of my clients have a

super conversion rate, maybe 80%.

120

But that's very unusual, so it's good

to know what the average conversion

121

rate is, especially if you are

starting out and haven't practiced

122

your skill on those calls yet.

123

Once you know your conversion rate,

then the gap becomes really clear.

124

You can start to choose that one thing

to focus on next month to get more

125

discovery calls booked, to clarify

your offer, so it's easier to close

126

once you get those people on the calls.

127

Like I say, there's no point

spending too long on your offer.

128

If you have no one coming in for calls.

129

You'll get to improve your offer

as you have those calls, and you'll

130

see what lands with real humans.

131

You'll then get to improve your follow-up

sequence with those people you have

132

had calls with and you will figure

out if you need intake questions so

133

your potential clients feel seen, feel

heard, and they are qualified to want

134

the service that you are offering.

135

That often comes later though.

136

So if you have no clients and no calls

booked, don't start thinking you have

137

to have all of these forms in place.

138

I would just recommend speaking to

as many people as you possibly can.

139

Even if they are the wrong prospects,

they may know your ideal client

140

and send more people your way.

141

So your approach will depend on what

stage of business you are at right now.

142

This is exactly the kind of unpacking we

will do in my new program The Practice.

143

We will be on those calls itself

looking at the real numbers

144

that matter for your business.

145

We will track metrics there

and then every single month.

146

Reflect on what they're

actually telling you and decide

147

where to put your focus next.

148

Because income does not happen by itself.

149

It happens when you start to understand

all of the activity needed to reverse

150

engineer the result that you want.

151

So before we finish up

today's episode, ask yourself:

152

how many discovery calls

did I hold last month?

153

How many clients came from them,

and how does that compare with

154

the income that I want to make?

155

Naming those numbers right now

is a gift to your January self.

156

And if those numbers are lower

than you want, then don't worry.

157

That is completely normal and most

people's numbers are lower than they want.

158

That is the name of the game.

159

All we can do is start from

where we are now and improve.

160

That is the practice that I am really,

really shouting about right now.

161

Rather than feeling like behind in your

business and this, that, the other.

162

No, your business is never gonna be

at that place that you think it is.

163

You don't get to that shiny

place and everything's done.

164

We are always working on

our business, on ourself.

165

We are never gonna tick

all those boxes off.

166

So, be kind to yourself.

167

Know that this is your starting

point and we can move from there

168

and improve every single day.

169

Thank you for listening today.

170

If you want help turning your

numbers into clear decisions and

171

real growth in 2026, we will be

tracking all of this in The Practice.

172

It's only open once per year, and

we start on the 12th of January.

173

There is an early bird price in

174

it's less than 50 pounds a month.

175

I would highly recommend getting over to

the show notes and grabbing your spot now.

176

I'll also be posting you a welcome

gift, so it would be wonderful

177

to get on with getting that to

you before we start in January.

178

It's been wonderful to see so many of

you join already, and I have such a

179

good feeling that this program is going

to completely transform the industry.

180

My goal with it is that it becomes

the place to go as a qualified

181

coach or coach in training.

182

To really start to know your numbers,

reflect on where you are now.

183

Use that information to create

your plan for next month.

184

Get coached on that plan so you are not

stuck in isolation, spinning in your

185

own head, and coach another coach so you

improve your craft every single time,

186

and therefore don't lose confidence in

your coaching while you build up your

187

business and then repeat, come back

next month and realize that all we can

188

do is look at the data and improve.

189

I have this form that I ask my

business of coaching clients to fill

190

in, which I call a CEO scorecard.

191

And I remember completing that form myself

where you essentially rate yourself from

192

zero to 12 for different areas of your

business, like niche, offer, mindset,

193

lead generation, all the different things.

194

And I remember my own scores

being super low at one point, and

195

now i've been completing the CEO

scorecard for many, many years.

196

I'm like, my gosh finally, my scores

are high, and I didn't really notice

197

, but what I do notice is completing

that scorecard every single month and

198

thinking, ah, this is so exhausting.

199

Why am my scores so low?

200

How am I ever gonna get there?

201

And I didn't notice the tiny, tiny steps

along the way as my scores have improved.

202

So all I'm saying is when you are

in that slow part of business,

203

just be kind to yourself.

204

Keep thinking, how can I increase

the volume of work that I'm doing?

205

That doesn't mean work all hours.

206

I work school hours, term time only.

207

But it does mean make sure that you are

doing the right things with your time.

208

So in other words, if you have

been working on your website for

209

longer than a few months, I would

say let's get that done in a day

210

and move on to something else.

211

I hope you loved today's episode.

212

And do find the link to join

The Practice in the show notes.

213

It's only available once per year, so

now is the time to jump in 'cause it's

214

gonna be then closing for 12 whole months.

215

And like I say at the end of

every episode, trust yourself.

216

Believe in yourself and be the wise

gardener who keeps on watering the seed.

217

Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

Thank you so much for listening to this

218

episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

219

I have a mess of free resources on

my website joannalottcoaching.com.

220

That's Joanna with an A

and Lott with two T's.

221

joannalottcoaching.com.

222

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

223

Let me know if you found

this episode useful.

224

Share it with a friend and

leave me a review, and I will

225

personally thank you for that.

226

Remember to trust yourself, believe

in yourself and be the wise Gardner

227

who keeps on watering the seed.

228

Get into the arena dare, greatly and try.