If you’re a life coach, one way to get new clients is by conducting free sessions that sell. The problem? These sessions can be hard to conduct. Luckily, there are ways that you can make these sessions more effective so that they result in paying clients. In this blog post, I’ll walk through seven tips for conducting a great free session that sells and will help generate leads for your practice.
How to have free sessions that sell
- Be present
When you are with your client, be present with them. Don’t multitask while you are with the client. This can be hard because it’s easy to think about what you’re going to do after the session or check your phone while your client is talking without realizing it. Don’t check your phone when they are talking, even though their speech might sometimes seem boring. If you want to take notes during the session, write down what they say instead of typing on your computer or tablet while they speak.
- Be yourself
This is probably the most important thing you can do. Your clients want to work with someone real and open, they want a transparent and honest coach, and they want to feel like they can trust you. If you’re not being genuine, then your clients won’t be either, which will affect the relationship negatively.
- Be professional
When you’re coaching someone, you must look and act in a way that reflects your professionalism as a coach. You want to be on time, well-prepared, flexible, friendly, and respectful. But most importantly, you need to be confident in yourself and your knowledge as a coach. This can be challenging when you’re starting out because there is no established client base or experience conducting sessions yet.
- Listen intently, ask good questions
It’s easy to get distracted in life coaching, especially when you’re talking to someone you want to help. Therefore, you must listen attentively, ask good questions and try to understand what your client is trying to say. Good questions will help you do this. These include:
- Ask open-ended questions that require more than a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.
- Ask questions related to the issue at hand.
- Take notes
You will be taking notes on many things, and you will want to make sure that you can reference what has been said by your client and yourself. This way, you can check back in with the client and see if any points were missed or left out.
You should also keep track of any responses to your questions or suggestions. It’s crucial not only for the sake of the current session but also for future sessions if you want to remember what worked well and what didn’t work so well during this particular session so that you can adjust accordingly in the future.
- Understand your client’s problem
It’s essential to understand your client’s problem. If you do not fully grasp what the client is going through, then how can you help them? It is also essential to understand the client’s perspective and goals. What does the client want from their coaching sessions with you? How does it relate to their problem? What are their main concerns about themselves or life in general? This can help provide context for where they want coaching support around this topic and give clues as to which type of coaching plan will be most effective for them.
- Make recommendations based on your expertise and experience
When you’re conducting free sessions, you may find yourself in a situation where the client asks you for recommendations. This can be tricky because sometimes it feels like giving advice is the same as selling something. However, at this point, your job isn’t to sell them anything—it’s much more vital that they trust and respect your expertise and experience so that they feel comfortable buying from you later down the line.
That’s it! You now have a few simple steps that will help you conduct effective free sessions that sell. The key is to remember that even if people don’t sign up for your services, it doesn’t mean they’re not interested. Keep in mind that many people are willing to try something new or different when allowed for free. So go out there and make some new friends!
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