Get More Potential Clients to Say Yes: Use this Simple “Hidden Treasure” Concept!

Many of us find the sales part of running our coaching business hard. We see it as complicated, a chore—something that we shouldn’t have to do. And yet, unless we have hired a sales team, there is no-one else who can do it for us.

We may not like doing sales. But if we don’t learn how to sell—we won’t get clients, and that means we aren’t helping anyone!

So I like to uncover a client’s “Hidden Treasure” to help with those sales conversations!

The “Hidden Treasure” concept is a simple but extremely powerful and coach-like sales approach that helps your potential clients get excited about working with you.

This means helping your potential clients find the secret motivation (hidden treasure) behind their goals, so that they are super-motivated to get started!

And we do this by going one step beyond uncovering the why? of their goals, and understanding why they want their goal NOW.

Let me share an example of how the “Hidden Treasure” works

I had a coaching enquiry from someone who wanted to find work she loved. Let’s call her Sally. Sally was extremely motivated, but after 18 months on her own was no closer to her goal. She wanted a coach to help her find the “perfect” career. Gulp!

So, we set up a sample session and I set about finding her “Hidden Treasure”. [Since then I also created a Find Your Hidden Treasure Coaching Tool to help!]

Here’s how the conversation went:

• I first asked Sally: “Why do you want your goal?”
  • And she began by saying, “Well, isn’t it obvious?”
• So I replied (very gently!) that if it was obvious, she should have no trouble answering!
  • And so Sally told me about the boss who took her for granted.
  • She told me that she really enjoyed some aspects of her job, but was bored.
  • I heard that she loved working with people, but in particular felt drawn to work with children—which she wasn’t doing in her current role.
• Then I asked, “And what else? What lies underneath THAT?”
  • And Sally told me that she wanted more responsibility and to work with people who appreciated her.
• So I reflected back that Sally wanted a more interesting role, more responsibility and a connection with children.

We were super clear on what she wanted from her new career, but we still hadn’t got to the “Hidden Treasure”—the Why NOW?

• So I asked her the key question: “Why NOW? Why is it so important to do this now?”
  • And Sally told me about her recent 40-something birthday. She was feeling ‘old’.
  • Her children were preparing to leave home and she was feeling empty.
  • She had been doing the same job for the last 15 years and was looking for more.
• This was good. Closer. But still not the “Hidden Treasure”—it still didn’t explain why she was looking for a coach now? And then, Jackpot!
  • Suddenly Sally was telling me all about her upcoming 25^th High School Reunion later that year.
  • Many of her classmates had gone on to become lawyers, accountants and successful business people and while she didn’t want one of ‘those’ jobs, she did want to feel excited about her life when she met all her past classmates again.
• So Sally’s High School Reunion was the “Why Now?”—the catalyst for seeking out a coach to work on her goals now.

Now that we had Sally’s “Hidden Treasure” I could bring that into working with me!

So as I wrapped up the session I replayed it all back to her:

• “I’d love to work with you to create more excitement, responsibility and challenge in your work, help you feel more appreciated and also look at how to bring working with children into your life. And we can make sure you feel good about your life and career ready for that High School Reunion. This sounds really interesting and I can certainly help you with that. So the question for you is, would you like to work with me?”
  • Well, Sally said it sounded fantastic—and she signed up with me right there and then!

Why the “Hidden Treasure” Concept Works

Many coaches would just have coached Sally around her goal of “finding work she loved”. But by digging deeply into the WHY—and specifically getting to the “Hidden Treasure” of Why NOW—we unearthed a very powerful motivator—the REASON she was seeking out a coach now.

When we do this it demonstrates the power of coaching: how we listen and help clients understand themselves better.

And when people feel seen and accepted—and believe you can help them—their “Hidden Treasure” brings added motivation for our clients to sign up for coaching. And that helps us make that sale!

The “Hidden Treasure” is more than just the “Why” of our goals. When it comes to a sales conversation it’s also the “Why NOW?”

Wrap-up

Of course it’s rarely straightforward. Sometimes people will be extremely unconscious about the reasons behind their goals. And some people may not trust you enough (yet!) to share that their ex-husband has a new girlfriend, or that they’ve been feeling depressed and almost did something very silly at work which scared them (yes, that was a real reason one client gave me!).

But, if you can bring “Why NOW?” into your sales conversations, you’ll find that people are more excited and more likely to say yes to coaching with you.

If you liked this, try our Goals Motivator – Find Your Hidden Treasure Coaching Tool