Irresistible Lead Magnet Ideas for Coaches | ProductiveandFree

Standing out as a service-based business is getting more and more difficult especially if you’re just starting out.

Even for those with a social media presence, email list, or testimonials at their disposal, many are still hard-pressed to find consistent clients to keep their dream business alive and sustainable in the long run.

Let me know if this sounds familiar:

Clients are more cautious or pickier when it comes to hiring service-providers they don’t know or trust yet.
You face increased competition from both new and established service-providers in your industry.
Online marketing is trickier to navigate with new platforms and strategies popping up every few months.
Some other service-providers are charging much lower prices given the same services you’re offering.
You consider taking on your not-ideal clients just to make ends meet.

(I know this because I’ve been there when I first started out as a coach myself!)

So because competition is fierce but you still deserve to be able to share your services to help others, here’s one strategy we recommend to coaches, freelancers, social media managers, VAs, designers, photographers, and other service-based business owners:

Provide an amazing client experience.

When thinking of the client experience, it’s all about putting yourself in your clients’ shoes and leveling up the way you do business at every touch point in order to ultimately make your clients happy.

Think about it:

Even ONE happy client can refer you to their friends and colleagues.
That ONE happy client can also hire you again and again in the future.
That ONE happy client can give you a glowing testimonial you could showcase on your website, email list, and social media media accounts.
That ONE happy client can help increase awareness about your business by giving you a shoutout to their followers, podcast listeners, email subscribers, Facebook group members, webinar attendees, online course students, and many more.

Now, imagine getting more than one happy client because you’ve provided an amazing client experience for all of them.

Pretty powerful, right? That is the beauty of providing an amazing client experience.

Definition of Client Experience

But first, what is a client experience? Here’s how we define it:

A client experience is the overall interaction between your client and your service-based business.

Although a person technically becomes a “client” once he or she has agreed to hire you for your services in exchange for payment, the client experience covers much more than the mere transaction, and lasts far longer.

It begins as soon as the person comes across any aspect of your business and lasts even after you’ve completed the actual agreed-upon service.

It’s your entire relationship with the client which can be affected by the direct and indirect interactions between you two.

It’s how your client sees and feels about your business.

It’s what they would say about your business either to your face or behind your back.

You could also think of a client experience as as the entire client journey from beginning to middle to end, and beyond.

So, on top of delivering the services and results they hired you for (which should already be a given), it’s important to provide an overall client experience that is professional, exceptional, and referral-worthy.

Why Is Client Experience So Important for Service-Based Businesses?

We cannot stress the importance of your client experience enough so here are a few reasons why it’s crucial for service-based businesses.

1. Client experience impacts your bottom line.

As a service-based business, clients are your bread and butter.

Clients are your main (or only) source of revenue and without clients, your business will fail.

This means that the client experience you provide is actually what you’re selling to people.

The better your client experience is, the more clients you’ll book.

The more clients you’ll book, the more you can charge for your services.

The more you can charge for your services, the more profitable you’ll become.

We’ll explain more in the following reasons but just remember, whether positive or negative, your client experience determines the value of your services and by extension, the value (and survivability) of your business.

Want to jeopardize your business? Provide a bad client experience.

Want to keep your business alive? Provide a good client experience.

Want to scale your business? Provide an amazing client experience.

2. Client experience determines the price and value of your services.

You could think of this in terms of hotel accommodations.

If someone is simply looking for a room to spend the night, they could just book a hotel based on whatever is available and perhaps the most affordable.

But if you’re interested in going on a well-deserved vacation and getting the 5-star treatment, you might want a 5-star hotel with an amazing location, top-of-the-line amenities, and high quality service.

For an amazing vacation such as this, you would most likely be willing to pay top dollar, am I right?

And if this type of vacation package were to be presented to you, you might already expect that this’ll cost a lot of money.

So, as a service-based business owner, you actually have the freedom to charge any amount you want for your service packages. But if you plan to charge a premium price, your clients will also expect you to deliver results and a client experience worth that amount.

Premium client experience = premium price

3. Client experience affects your competitive advantage.

Clients have so many options these days.

The truth is that your industry is most likely full of service-based businesses providing the same or similar results as you do.

Do a quick search for “web designer,” “social media manager,” “wedding photographer,” or “business coach” and there will be several search entries.

All web designers create and design websites.
All social media managers manage and grow social media accounts.
All wedding photographers provide wedding photography services.
All business coaches provide coaching to help businesses.

The common denominator?

Same results. Same deliverables. Same outcomes.

So, in a world with so many service-providers in the same industry, all of which are providing the same or similar results, how can you stand out from the crowd?

By offering the lowest price in the market? Not sustainable.

By pouring all your profits into advertising? Also not sustainable.

By hustling 24/7? Again, not sustainable.

One surefire way to gain competitive advantage is to provide a unique, positive, referral-worthy, and overall amazing client experience.

4. Client experience influences how others perceive you, your brand, and your business.

As I’ve mentioned, a client experience, whether positive or negative, affects the impression a client will have of your business before, during, and after working with you.

But if you think about it, client experience can also influence the impression you’ll have on other people.

Word-of-mouth is the holy grail of marketing, after all, so remember that your clients can talk about you and share their positive or negative experience working with you.

They can either influence people to hire you or tell them to look elsewhere.

Think of the reviews on Yelp and Google.

Everyone knows that not all reviews are reliable but even one person who shares his or her bad experience could hurt a business’ reputation and dissuade potential clients or customers.

Now imagine if the review comes from a trusted source such as a friend or colleague.

Their review of their experience working with you becomes all the more powerful and trustworthy.

Online reviews aside, it’s not even possible to always know what people say about you or your business behind your back.

All you can do is make sure to leave a great impression whenever possible.

5. Client experience helps increase a client’s lifetime value.

Happy clients are more likely to hire you again in the future since they already know you, like you, and trust you.

At the same time, they’ve done business with you already so they know that you’re familiar with them and their needs.

Depending on your services, it’s possible for them to hire you again for:

the same service,
a related service (cross-sell),
a smaller service package (downsell), or
a more premium service package (upsell).

Remember, client experience is about your relationship with your client so this comes into play even if you decide to pivot your business in the future.

Think about it. It’s perfectly normal for a business to evolve over time.

A photographer could eventually create an online course about photography tips.

An online business manager could pivot to business coaching.

A life coach could decide to become a speaker, podcaster, or author.

So, if and when you plan to change things up, you’ll already have a group of people who have worked with you and supported you in the past.

They could even continue to turn to you to meet their evolving needs as well.

They may be interested in joining your future online course, membership, or group coaching program.

They may be eager to listen to your podcast, buy your book, or attend your live event.

The possibilities are endless when you have already cultivated genuine relationships with your clients by initially providing an amazing client experience.

Over to you

It’s entirely possible to set yourself apart in your industry and get booked out with your ideal clients if you focus on providing an amazing client experience.

Since client experience impacts your bottom line, the price of your services, your competitive advantage, your brand perception, and your clients’ lifetime value, it’s important to put yourself in your clients’ shoes and level up the way you do business to ultimately make your clients happy.

**Ready to make your clients happy by providing an amazing, referral-worthy client experience?**

Our proprietary 3-template system, Client Experience Templates™, can help!

It’s strategically designed for coaches and service-providers and it includes our Services and Pricing Guide, Client Welcome Packet, and Client Goodbye Packet Templates.

Click Here to Learn More

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