Originally Posted on The Coaching Tools Company as 4 Steps to Stand Out From the Crowd and Create a Signature Program that Sells | by Cindy Schulson
One of the biggest challenges many coaches face is communicating the unique value of their offer. And this is where a Signature Program can really help.
It’s understandable. Coaching is super intangible, which makes it hard to show potential clients the value of your services—especially when you sell coaching by the session or even by the bundle of sessions.
You’ve probably heard that you should sell “the transformation” rather than your time—but how do you do that?
Well, the best way to communicate the value of your services is to package what you do in a coaching program that’s unique to you. And not just any coaching program, but a Signature Program.
A Signature Program is the program you become known for that delivers tangible results, using your unique process. Your Signature Program will become your #1 source of consistent income and clients.
So in Part 2 of this article, I’ll show you the steps to design a Signature Program that delivers amazing results for your clients and naturally inspires them to keep working with you.
If you’d like to know more about why to create a Signature Program, or some of the big mistakes people make, check out Part 1 of this two-part article series: Get More Clients with a Signature Program: Grow your Brand, Income & Impact
Here’s a quick overview of the 4 Steps to Create Your Signature Program:
- Clarify who your idea client is and what they need.
- Design the Roadmap they’ll follow with you (their Client Journey).
- Choose what parts of the Roadmap you’ll include in your Signature Program—and how you’ll deliver it.
- Present your Signature Program offer in a clear, concise and compelling way.
Ready to learn more? Let’s dig in to each of these steps, plus get my unique take on how to use your Signature Program to both get—and keep your clients long term.
4 Steps to Create Your Signature Program that Sells
1) Clarify
Before you can design your Signature Program, you need to be clear on who your ideal client is, what they’re struggling with and where they want to be at the end of your work together.
Most coaches are nowhere near as clear as they need to be when it comes to understanding their ideal client.
This clarity is essential for your Signature Program—and your entire coaching business.
2) Design
Once you’re clear on your ideal client, you want to design your unique roadmap. This roadmap outlines the steps you take with your clients to help them go from a) where they are to b) where they want to be.
I call this roadmap your Client Journey.
Your Client Journey transforms your coaching from vague and intangible to crystal clear and compelling. And it gives your clients more confidence to invest with you because they can clearly see the steps you’ll take with them to achieve the results they want.
Many of my clients have raised—even doubled—their rates, when they went from selling their time to selling their Client Journey.
However, there is one thing to watch for
Because while your Client Journey is incredibly powerful, some clients won’t be ready to invest in the full Client Journey, especially if you’re offering a group coaching program.
Why is that? Well, your full Client Journey may feel too overwhelming or aspirational. When someone is in pain, it’s hard for them to see the full vision of what they want—and believe it’s in their reach.
Also, investing in the full Client Journey can be costly. So it makes sense that you would want a more affordable way for people to get support from you.
But that doesn’t mean you should sell individual sessions or create a low-ticket program…
Instead, you want to create a more manageable way to help your clients achieve a meaningful transformation—while still charging the true value of your services.
How do you do this? Read on…
3) Choose
So once you have your Client Journey, you’ll want to strategically choose certain parts of it to go into your Signature Program. Then you’ll save the rest of your Client Journey for your Next-Step Program.
Read that again because it will absolutely transform your business: the rest of your Client Journey gets saved for your Next-Step Program.
You want your one Signature Program that you’ll offer over and over again. This is the program you’ll become known for and you’ll use this to build your brand. You’ll be able to gather feedback and keep improving the program so your clients get amazing results.
And then, when your clients complete your Signature Program, you’ll seamlessly invite them to continue the journey with you in your Next-Step Program.
This is the secret to a simple business model that allows you to multiply your income, while helping your clients achieve an even more meaningful transformation.
The key to making all this work?
The key is knowing which steps to include in your Signature Program and which steps to save for your Next-Step Program.
This must be a strategic decision; the steps to include in your Signature Program are not always the first steps of your Client Journey.
You also have to make some other strategic choices, like how best to package and price your Signature Program. For example:
- Will you start with private coaching, group coaching or a hybrid version that combines group with private coaching?
- How long will the program be?
- What do people get? Consider what you’ll include eg. training, templates, worksheets and bonuses.
- What will the investment be, including options for full payment or a payment plan?
Bonus tip: Focus on the value of the transformation, while also considering factors such as expenses, your time and your level of experience.
4) Present
Once you have your Signature Program designed, you need to know how to present it in a way that’s clear, concise and compelling so people really understand the value of your offer.
As experts, we tend to get caught up in our own heads. We understand what we’re talking about, so we assume everyone else does too. But they don’t. Your clients don’t have your expertise or they wouldn’t need to hire you!
There are three key things you need in place to clearly and confidently present your Signature Program:
- First, you want to give your program a compelling name. When naming your Signature Program, remember that it’s more important to be clear than clever or cute.
- Second, you need to clarify your unique positioning, meaning your unique approach to solving your ideal client’s problem.
- The chances are your ideal clients have tried other things to solve their problem. So you need to show what’s unique about your approach.
- It doesn’t need to be something radically different, but it needs to be enough of an “Aha” that people gain insights into why what they’ve tried didn’t work and become inspired by what’s possible.
- Finally, you need to clearly present the offer itself.
I like to help my clients create their offer (or sales) page. If you’re selling your Signature Program as private coaching, you don’t technically need an offer page. But building your offer page is an excellent exercise in creating clarity. It’s also important if you’re selling a group coaching program.
So what goes on your offer page?
- Show that you understand your ideal client. Start with an insight about who your ideal client is, what they struggle with and what they want to achieve.
- Then share your unique approach to solving their problems, as well as credibility boosters so you build trust.
- And of course, you want to include details about your Signature Program. There are two key parts to include:
- First, what will clients learn or create as they go through your Signature Program? You don’t want to overwhelm people, so it’s important to do this in a clear and streamlined way.
- Second, what will they get in your program eg. how many coaching sessions, handouts, Facebook group etc., and how does it work?
When you choose the right Signature Program, and know how to clearly present the value of your offer, you’ll see how much easier it is to get clients and clearly communicate the unique value of your services.
Build Your Signature Program with Cindy!
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If you liked this article about Signature Coaching Programs, you may also like:
- Get More Clients with a Signature Program: Grow your Brand, Income & Impact by Cindy Schulson
- Create Your Own Signature Program! What, Why & How to Get Started by Jennifer Britton
- How I got 12 New Clients by Creating a Coaching Program (and why it was a turning point!)
