EP 369 - How to Sell Your Coaching in 2026 (Without Feeling Salesy!)

MarketingCoaching Lifestyle
Written By Debbie Shadid
 

If you feel salesy or pushy when you talk about your coaching, or you honestly dread the whole idea of selling, this one's for you. That pushy feeling has almost nothing to do with sales, and no script will fix it. It's pointing to something deeper, and I'll walk you through exactly what.

If you're new to my channel, my name is Debbie Shadid. I'm a Business Growth and Life Coach and the founder of the Business Building Boutique. For over two decades, I've helped women learn how to become coaches, get clients, grow their businesses, and create meaningful income doing work they love.

Selling was never supposed to feel like convincing. When four things are in alignment before you ever get on the call, selling becomes what it should be: a comfortable conversation.

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Transcript

If you feel salesy or pushy when you're selling, or you honestly dread the whole entire idea about selling, this episode is for you. If you have thought to yourself, " I just need to hire somebody to sell the coaching for me, and I'll do the coaching and everything will be great," I know, you're gonna love this episode. I'm Debbie Shadid. I'm so glad you're here. I help women build beautiful boutique-style coaching businesses. So let's get started. First off, I want you to know you are not gonna fix that feeling with a better sales script. In fact, I think you might actually get more uncomfortable and feel more pushy and more salesy if you have a script that you are trying to follow and trying to read. Some set of words that somebody else created and they said, "Here's what you say to sell your coaching," is gonna be hard for you to follow unless you really, by some chance, get the exact right script. The salesy feeling, that pushy feeling, it's not about sales. It's something deeper. It is telling you actually that there is something wrong in your business, and I'm gonna walk you through that today. There are four things that I want you to do, sort of a check-in on, to figure out, am I aligned with those things? And if you are aligned with those, then you should let that feeling disappear. And when I mean disappear, it might not go away forever, but you can learn how to manage it. So let's get into it. So here's the first thing I want you to sit with. When you feel pushy, it's usually because some part of you is not fully sure about what you're offering, about what you're saying, Maybe you're not sure that you're the right person, or that your offer, does it really work? Will it really get the client what it is I'm telling him? Is my price too high? maybe you're not even sure that the person that's in front of you is even a right fit, and you have all of this going on in your head while you're trying to have a conversation about this offer that you want to sell them. So when you feel unsure, you overcompensate, and truthfully, you get weird. You talk too much. You start to push. You start trying to convince. You start over-explaining things. That's where that icky feeling comes from. So we're not gonna fix it with a conversation. We're going to fix everything that happens before the conversation. In fact, I like to call selling a comfortable conversation, okay? And you have a comfortable conversation because you have these four pieces worked out before you have the sales call. This will include the niche, the offer, the marketing, and your price. Let's take one of those at a time, First is the niche. This is where it all starts, not with sales, but with your niche. When you have the right niche, the one that you know inside and out, where you can look somebody in the eye and say, "I'm the expert at this," you know what happens? You change the way you show up. And I know what you might be thinking right now, "But Debbie, I'm not really an expert." And I have to push back on that just a little bit because everybody is an expert at least one thing. Everybody including you. Here's one of my core beliefs. I think that you're going to feel it the second that I say it. You're the only person in the world with your brain, the only person who has taken that exact knowledge that you have learned, the life that you have lived, what you have felt, which means that you're the only person on the planet who can talk about your topic in the way that you do from your perspective. And let me tell you, there's a lot of people in the world who have your problem who want help, and there's plenty of people that are looking for help with somebody who has your perspective. Not anybody has your same angle. Nobody. I'm not trying to give you a pep talk right now. What I'm trying to show you is this is true. You're the only person who sees the world through your eyes. So when you let that really sit with you, I think you'll have a shift. You will start to feel like, "Wait, I actually don't have anything to prove. She's right. I should feel empowered. I do have something that really is mine." And then it can begin to feel like an opportunity instead of feeling like something you're gonna have to push on somebody. The second piece of this is your offer. When you build a coaching offer that solves a specific problem that you know how to solve, okay? A specific problem that you know how to solve, and I know there is one- Your niche is you. It's the you before you got the problem fixed, okay? You know how to get the transformation because you will have had it, and if you build your coaching offer around that one specific problem that you have already solved, everything about the conversation gets easier. Like, your passion comes out because you know exactly what they're experiencing. You know exactly what you're talking about. You know what has changed in your life, and you want it desperately for them. If you have walked that road, imposter syndrome cannot show up. In fact, all you have to do when it s- in fact, all you have to do when it surfaces, and it will, is just be like, "Okay," right?"Imposter syndrome guy, get out," right?"I know what I'm talking about." You don't have to guess at the thing that you know so well. You don't have to read a book. You don't have to study. There's no courses necessary for this. If you are coaching on that one thing, you already know how to do it, and you know how to get somebody the result because you have gotten it. You also know what it feels like to be stuck in that hard place, that miserable place. You know what wakes you up at night. You know what the dream really is. All of that is what you have come through. And this could be with any type of niche. It could be with health, wellness, career, relationships, parenting, money, confidence. I could go on and on. Anything. Whatever that thing is, if you've lived both sides of it, where you've been on the struggle and the breakthrough, then you can be the guide for somebody else to get them through it. Then you can be the perfect guide for somebody else who needs to walk through it. Now, here's the rule of thumb that I want you to write down. Don't ever make an offer that you cannot fulfill. Don't overpromise. You don't actually need to overpromise. What people really want through coaching is actually pretty small. Honestly, what they want is they wanna be heard, they wanna be validated, they want somebody to be empathetic towards their situation. Maybe they need some accountability. They're not looking for some enormous magic solution. They're looking for support, they're looking to be heard, and they're looking for somebody to say, "I'm gonna take your hand and help you through this." All of that is an offer you can fulfill. When your offer is something that you genuinely know how to deliver, you don't need to oversell. You don't have to convince somebody. The convincing, when you cross over into that, that is actually what feels salesy. When you are telling the truth about what you have done, what you've come through, and what it looks like to have this incredible experience after you've solved it, that is truth, You're just sharing a story. You're not selling. I've been talking a lot about story selling because the stories that you tell will sell your services. They will be the connection point between you and the client. Okay, the third piece that I wanna mention is marketing, and this is a big one. What you say in your marketing and how you show up will do most of the heavy lifting, and what I mean is it's gonna actually get somebody to a yes before they get on the call with you. Here's what I want you to picture. You want the person to come to you already ready to buy. I just had a consultation call. The woman said, "I've already watched you on YouTube." I just had a consultation call. I'll use this as an example. She said, "I've already watched you on YouTube, She already knew everything. When the client comes in, like today, I didn't have to sell her. She was already sold even though she didn't actually know my offer. She already trusted me. She already knew that I understood how to get her from where she was, which is, "I don't know how to run a business. I don't know how to get a client. I don't know how to market. I'm terrible at the tech." And I said, "I can do all that." And she's like, "I know. I've heard all about it." That is what you want to work towards, is getting your marketing so clear that you don't need to pressure anyone. They have read your… They will have read your emails, your social media posts, your videos, and they feel genuinely connected to you. That's what you want, So have them be ready to say yes before they get on the call. This will involve no arm twisting, and there's really nothing to sell at that point. You're really just making sure they're a fit. So on this consultation call that I have, that I call a comfortable conversation, really what I did was I got to know her. I got to figure out where she was at, what it was she really wanted. And I got to see, is she really a fit for what I offer? I know she thinks she's a fit 'cause she came prepared to buy, but I got to see, how do we really jive? I got to take that moment. Instead of selling, I got to build connection with her, and she did become a client. That's what you want. That's the goal, is for your marketing to create such trust, and they feel so connected to you because that empathetic connection, right? That understanding where they've heard you say, "I've been where you are," and you've described it, and they know that you are where they want to be. All of that is the beautiful way that your marketing should work. When you show up as yourself, and you are super clear about who you help, what you help them with, and you say it over and over- They actually raise their hand and say, "I wanna talk to her. I already know what you're doing. I know your background. I'm ready to go." The fourth piece I wanna talk about is pricing. If your pricing feels aligned with you, it's gonna be really comfortable, it's gonna be really easy for you to say it out loud, And your confidence will carry you through that conversation. And your price has to be right.… If you're not comfortable with that number and you can't even say it plainly without flinching, without over-explaining, or without discounting before you ever even say the price, then that is a problem. The person on the other side, I can tell you, even if you don't get pushy or salesy, the person on the other side is already like, "Wait a minute. She didn't tell me the price, and she already said, 'I'm gonna give this to you for half price.' Like, why? What is wrong with this offer that she's already discounting it? What is wrong that she's not stopping to ask me how I feel about it or what questions I have, and she just keeps talking? Like, she's over-explaining it." There is a red flag going off in the other person's head when you are being pushy and salesy. You don't have to do that. When you share the points and you say, "What else do you need to know?" Or, "Do you understand that?" Or, "What questions do you have for me now?" That opens up a way to have conversation. So please, please make sure your price is right. In fact, I would say underprice instead of overprice. If you underprice your coaching, you won't do it very long, I can tell you that, because you'll start working with somebody and you'll be like, "Wait a minute, this price is too low for what I'm offering." You will raise your price and you'll get more comfortable with it. I will caution you and say, if you price so low and if you have talked way too much and offered more than what your program actually contains, what happens is you resent the client. You're actually mad at them because they are, quote, "taking advantage of you" when you invited them to take advantage of you. You told them you would give them a discount. You told them you would give them extra support 'cause you were convincing them by adding on all these extra things that didn't actually belong in your offer. if you resent your client, you might check in with yourself and see, " Why do I resent them?" And chances are, you better point the finger back at yourself, you oversold them. You gave them something that was out of alignment with what you actually wanted to give them. So when it comes to price, if you have a price that you love, honestly, you're gonna be able to sell it, You're gonna be able to talk about it. You will know your value, and you can trust that. So here's how this fits together, because this is where it really gets easier when you have the right niche and the right offer and marketing that they understand. Simple, simple marketing. Nobody needs to say anything super smart, by the way. You don't need to sound smart to get hired. If you guys know Donald Miller from StoryBrand, he talks about fifth-grade language, and I saw somebody writing a marketing message the other day, a copywriter, and he had his computer set to write it in third-grade language. No kidding. So it needs to be really simple. Clear marketing is key. And then that pricing, when you get those four things right, I'm gonna tell you what, then you get on there and have a comfortable conversation. you don't need to have a sales pitch. You have this beautiful conversation, and you say, "Let's make a decision together what's right for you." Think about how easy that could be. You're not selling then. You're helping them make a decision for what is right for them. This feels so much more loving and so much better. You help them choose what is best for them. When you understand the value of your coaching and you know deep down that what you are doing is life-changing work, there should be no question in your mind whether it's worth it or not. If you are still sitting there thinking,"Hmm, is this good? Is this really good?" And you're not sure, then that's where that pushiness is coming from. If you know it's good and you're like, "Yes, this, this woman's crazy for not working with me," you don't have to push, That excitement, that confidence will be felt. Pushiness is trying to convince someone of something that you're not sure of. Not that they're not sure of. Conviction is you knowing what you have is that good. Not convincing, but conviction. When you show up and you are saying like,"This is so good," and they can hear that. So let me bring this all together for you. If you are feeling salesy or pushy when you talk about your coaching, what I want you to think about is you don't need a sales trainer and you don't need a sales script. What you do need is to make sure, is my niche right? Is my offer right? Is my marketing right? Is my price good? All four of those things will really help you get on track. I also wanna talk to you about your mindset. You need to do some work probably about your own thinking, about the value that you deserve to be paid just as a human being, Remove your coaching from that. Are you worthy of earning money? And I know you're like, "Of course I am, Debbie." But so often in our coaching sessions, I'll be talking to somebody about what their problem is, like why they're not landing a client, and we'll do some coaching, and we'll get down to it, and I'll find out that they actually feel uncomfortable asking for money, that they actually feel uncomfortable receiving the money. So I'd really check in with yourself and think about that. Are you not making offers because it all feels a little bit too weird for you to get paid for this thing, this coaching thing? Is there something in you that is saying"I should be helping people instead of charging people for this?" because if you have any of those thoughts at all, I can tell you for sure that you making the offer, it's not gonna work. So you have to value yourself. You have to believe that you are the right person. I feel like most of the women that I work with, they feel like they were called to do this. They feel like they know this is my passion, this is my purpose. I've had this intuition. for me, the intuition is God. I know what it is that I need to do, and I'm gonna go do it. So stay focused on that, because while you are thinking about that, it helps quiet all of the other doubt that comes up. There's going to be doubt no matter what all along your business journey. The way that you win is you manage that. you keep the toddler quiet because the boss is in charge. So while you're having these conversations, while you're building your business, while you're walking through your entire business journey, there's always gonna be, like, dueling conversations going on in your brain. That's just the way our brain works, The primitive brain is the toddler, The boss is in charge, and you're just trying to control the toddler when it, when the toddler gets out of hand. So here's the thing. If you ever felt that little pull and you're wondering, "Is my niche right? I'm not sure if this is actually what somebody's gonna pay for," then that is exactly what you need to fix first. Don't try to fix how I sell, What the sales conversation looks like. Yes, there are some ways to have a more comfortable conversation, and there are a few key questions that are really powerful questions that you can ask to help the person see what's going on and that you can ask to be able to show them better why they need your support. And yes, there's ways to close the deal at the end. I call it, creating authentic urgency. Not arm twisting, but authentic urgency to help the person say yes today. There's some skill in that, but I would say the biggest reason why you feel pushy is 'cause your niche is off and something else, like your offer, your price, your message. But most of the time it all goes back to your niche. So I wanna invite you to come to my brand new master class. If you're still interested in finding out about your niche, my launch sequence might be exactly what you need. If you don't know how to pick your niche, then this launch sequence will really help you. If you want to validate if your niche is actually profitable, I go over that in the launch sequence. And if you wanna build an offer that you feel sure people will be happy to pay for, that is also part of the launch sequence master class. any one of those pieces, if you can get those locked in, that salesy feeling, it'll just disappear. So I know that you know you are meant to do this, or you would not be here listening to this. let's get your niche right. Let's make sure we understand what people will buy. Let's get your offer aligned so that you can have that comfortable conversation, and we don't have to worry about being pushy or convincing or salesy. So go grab the masterclass debbieshadid.com/launch, L-A-U-N-C-H, launch your business, and I'll put the link right below this video. If this one resonated with you, if you're like, "Okay, I love this, what she was teaching me," then go ahead and subscribe so you don't miss anything else. And that's it for today. Have a beautiful week, and we will see you soon. Bye-bye.

Debbie Shadid https://www.DebbieShadid.com
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