I was talking to a holistic health coach last week at a party. She told me that she loves my Master of Enrollment methodology and that because of it, she had tremendous success with enrolling clients during her consultations.
I’ve gotta tell you, I was really excited for her.
But my excitement was short-lived.
When I asked her how she is doing financially in her business, she replied, Not so hot!
How can that be?
How can someone who thinks they are really good at enrolling clients be struggling financially?
She wasn’t charging enough for her services.
She was charging $235 per month for her services. So to reach her goal of $80,000 per year, she would need to be working with 28 clients each month and that’s not easy to do. And it’s a recipe for total burn-out.
So it’s one thing to be great at enrolling new clients while undercharging for your services. It’s another to be awesome at enrolling and be charging your top fees.
So if you are not yet great at enrolling clients, it’s important to master this vital skill. And if you are good at enrolling clients, significantly raise your fees, so you can get to a deeper mastery of the enrollment process.
As always, leave your thoughts here.
Warmly,
~Bill
P.S. When you become a master of enrollment, you become confident in being able to enroll clients whenever you want. And it that gives you freedom, to CONSCIOUSLY chose to work
with certain clients pro bono or at greatly reduced rates as your way of giving back.
What comes up for me is that there are many people I serve who are marginal financially. I would no longer be helping them, only those with more money, who already have access to plenty. There are those who need basic education about health issues but can not afford to pay even my very low fees.
Also, I know I would go through a transient feeling of rejection as I anticipate many of my regular clients would no longer seek my services if I actually charged fair market price. Then I would have to get into marketing beyond my rural area to make ends meet: finding the few who value and can pay instead of the locals who think since they are local, should receive that special deal or discount.
Hi Lauren,Thank you for pointing this out. It looks like we misesd a service opportunity here. We’re proud of our many departments helping students daily on and off of social media. In fact, we invite you to take another look at our Facebook wall, where you will see some of these departments participating: Our goal is provide the best student focused support and service no matter where the student needs it and we hope that you are able to see this through our many other service interactions. Again, we appreciate your call out as this will help us refine our process.Sincerely,ChrisCommunity Manager
This sums up the challenge I faced when I enrolled in the master program, which has stayed with me.
I took the extra steps to study under two men that are in a hand full of those in the world that have such a close lineage to the founder. I listened in classes, I asked questions on breaks, and exchanged ideas with others around the world that studied with the same Shihans.
Then I wrote manuals, designed a Center to be in harmony with what I teach, and now I have people traveling distances that require them to find lodging near my Center in order to complete the training. I cover all the material in each class, but I present it in the way that blends with the experience the student coms to me with.
Sounds like my time should be worth a lot, but I live in a State where the income majority is on the low side.
I am attracting people to travel to me but asking them to pay more on top their travel and lodging would mean that I was focusing on a smaller niche.
What I teach cannot be taught on the internet and although there are many books on the practice it cannot be learned from a book.
What sets me apart from others is as one student wrote on a testimonial, “she is the real deal”. I do not use props and I do not tell alluring distorted stories.
I believe to give anythng for free dishonors the person receiving, but at the same time what I have seen in this State is that if I raised my prices any higher I would get less people and thus my income would drop.
Right now I am attracting students and clients that believe in what I do, but to steal one of Morgana’s phrases, I am not making an adult living.
So if you live in one of small States with the average income on the low side, and what you teach and practice must be done in person how do you become master of enrollment.
Bill –
I agree here! Back when I first started my consulting business, I would take work from anyone willing to open their wallet for a very small fee. Often, I would discount and throw in amazing extras that those clients did not appreciate. Often my clients were not invested in themselves and would skip sessions, etc. I would get into price haggling too… Not fun and not profitable.
Fortunately, I worked with a couple of excellent mentors that helped me see that when I upped my game and raised my fees, everyone wins. I now work with a limited number of clients at a time who invest in their own success financially and in their effort to actually effect change. I have time to live life my way while making a huge difference for the clients I do work with. Because they are fully invested in their success – financially, spiritually, emotionally, mentally – they see huge transformations in their business and their lives. It is awesome!
The transition was not an easy one for me. Moving from hours-for-dollars to a value driven model took some time and some internal work on my part. It was worth the effort though.
To your success!
Stephanie
I have found it refreshing to create my own products and group coaching programs, which increased my income and decreased my 1-on-1 coaching schedule. My energy is free and my time much more flexible. Also, by having an affiliate program, I have a constant stream of new people subscribing and purchasing my programs and I am happy to share in the profits to engage people I would have otherwise not been connected with.
Live Your Dreams,
Jill Koenig
Ouch Bill!
So timely this message as I AM good at enrolling but have not been great at charging what I am worth! In the process of restructuring and though I was worried about doing so, am not meeting much resistance about increasing my prices so far.
If you can by pass this step and charge what you are worth from the beginning, I do think it would be actually less stressful and for sure create less burnout which is something I have suffered from greatly this year. Life lessons…….
Always grateful for your help and how tuned in you are!
Jeni
Bill –
Thanks for getting the conversation started with this provocative post. The point you make about under-charging for one’s service is an excellent one. I’d tease it out in another direction. I find that folks only look at the “revenue” generated from the price of their services…without regard for the “cost” or “expense” related to generating that revenue. If I’m spending $10 to generate $7 in revenue, I won’t be in business long. To your point – raise the price. Or, lower the expense. Folks I’ve dealt with don’t know what their expenses are related to generating said revenue. In your example, the goal of $80,000 per year…I often see this as a Revenue goal, not necessarily a profitability goal. That is where some of these folks are selling themselves short, I believe.
Thanks,
Nick Liberati
MindTheBottomline.com