ļ»æHello and welcome back to the podcast. I am really excited about this more tactical podcast episode. We're talking about how to sell free calls. This is probably the most tactical episode I've shared in a while, like months. So I'm excited because this will be very action based. This is gonna help you, if you have ever had the experience of selling a free coaching call and getting crickets, this is gonna help you.
One, understand why. Just because it's free doesn't mean people want it. And there's some tactics involved in getting people interested in what you have to do. And what I love about this is I actually created a PDF that goes along with this episode so that you can basically plan out how you are actually gonna do this.
I say this a lot, but your life won't change just by listening to my podcast. As much as I love you and I'm so glad that you listen, what will change your life is executing and implementing and integrating the ideas that I share here. So I'm trying to make this very tactical and applicable for you.
So go ahead and go to the show notes and get the accompanying PDF so that you can sell your own free calls. This being said, I want to put a caveat. Sounds funny. This is for a specific person. This whole episode is for someone who wants to have more free calls on their calendar. If you are experiencing, like maybe you have a leveraged offer, you're scaling, or you've already been kind of fully booked, you have experienced signing high ticket clients, things like that, this probably won't be relevant for you, but this will be relevant for you if you've been trying to sell free calls, and that sounds like lots of different ways.
Sometimes you're gonna call this a consult call, free sessions, free mini sessions, coach taste testing sessions. Anything that you sell for free, this is gonna be applicable. And if you, like I said in the beginning, if you've ever tried to sell something for free and no one bought, there are reasons. And I think I wanna preface with the tactical stuff with, if you don't have curiosity, you donā€™t have a relationship.
So if your audience isn't curious about what you do, you probably don't have a relationship. The example that I always give my clients is like, if my husband walks in the door and I wasn't curious about his day, I know that my relationship is kind of like on the rocks, right? So curiosity is a very powerful driver.
And so this whole sequence that I'm gonna teach and share both on this podcast and in the PDF version, how to sell free calls. The pre-work is believing that your audience is curious about what you do. You have to engage curiosity, and there are tactics to do this. I'm gonna share it with you, but the reason is, is this is how we have a relationship, right?
They are interested in you. Just like you are interested in them, and we can create scenarios and ways of doing this so that people actually want to know more about what you do. Because I think if you've ever had a launch fall flat, it's probably because you didn't build up enough hype or curiosity around what you're doing.
So it is important. It is a tactical strategy for you to build curiosity and hype into your lunch, even for free calls. And so step one, and this is how we actually build the curiosity, is to tease that something is coming. I think the biggest mistake I made is that I didn't give enough people time to get engaged with what I was doing or to build hype on what I was doing.
When I learned the power of hype is when I sold my first program. Some of you are OGs and join me in ProCoach. It was my first program and I teased it for like four months. I would show behind the scenes of me working on ProCoach. I would share when I had finished another module, and I would tell people it was coming, it was coming, it was coming.
And so I think a powerful thing you could do tactically is just to put up in your stories or a post or in your email. Wherever your audience is, that something is coming. Don't tell them what, don't tell them when, don't tell them any details, really. Just say something is coming.
And it seems random, it seems like that doesn't, you know, isn't gonna be interesting. But what it does is it alerts people that you have something to share. It gets their intrigue up because you don't tell them what it is. So it's like, well, what is it? Right? Even if it's not this, oh, I gotta know what it is!
You know, from someone in your dms, like you might not ever hear anything, but people will be experiencing curiosity on the other side of the screen. And so we wanna just give people the tease. Tease something is coming. I like to put a little emoji of like eyeballs like, oops, something is coming. Keep your eye out.
And then I keep teasing it until I'm ready to announce what it is. So I want you to think of the teasing period, like an accordion. You can make this part of your strategy as long or as short as you want. I've done a tease period for a day. I've done a tease period for up to four months, and Alex Hormozi says, the longer the runway, the bigger the plane can take off.
So I think the longer, the better if you can. If you're trying to get clients in the door faster, maybe you wait, you know, a couple days at least if you can tease it for a week, even better. But there's no rules. So just pick a period where you're gonna tease that something is coming and share behind the scenes, you know, if it's something that you've never launched before, say I can't wait to share it.
Even if it's just a free call, you still want to build up the hype for getting people interested in what you're doing. So every day maybe you're like taking a walk and you like take a picture of the sky and you're like, just thinking about this offer that's coming. Can't wait to share more details.
Something is coming, emoji, right? Something like that. Like I said, this is a very tactical episode. Once you have decided what day you're going to announce it, this is an important distinction, you are not going to start selling it. You're just going to announce what it is. And then I like to say, tomorrow spots will open.
So for example, if I was gonna sell a free call that was like a mindset breakthrough intensive, I would tease it that it was coming like on my walks,in the morning, when I'm journaling, I'm like, I can't wait to share what's coming. And then on, you know, a day that I decided when it's finally here, I'm gonna say, introducing mindset breakthrough intensive, a free coaching experience with Amber.
I would say something like that. And I wouldn't say how many spots are available or anything. I would literally just announce what is coming. That way people can be interested and excited about what it is without feeling like I'm gonna DM them and try to pressure them to buy. I think this is a really safe way to get people interested in what you're doing so you can build a relationship and it is a form of selling, right?
They know it's an offer that's coming, but there's no pressure at all. I think this is a really important distinction because that way it leaves the door open for people to be interested in what you're doing, what you're offering, what you have to quote sell, without the pressure.
The pressure is what scares people, right? No one likes to feel pressure from people, especially on the internet where everyone has their guard up. Everyone's worried about if I send them a dm, they might pressure me to buy something, right? And so what I love about this method is step one, tease something is coming for an extended period of time, a day, three days a week, then you announce what it is.
That's step two. After the announcement, I like to say tomorrow I'll be sharing more details. So you know, for a week I've been saying something is coming. I announce what it is, mindset breakthrough intensive, or whatever you're gonna call it. And I do recommend you call it in the PDF that I mentioned, this free resource that I created for you, I do help you name your offer.
I think naming it gives it some stick. I think it helps make the offer sexy. I think it builds some intrigue around what it is, and so I do recommend naming it something interesting. So I'm gonna announce what the name is and like I said, mindset breakthrough intensive, it's kind of self-explanatory. Free coaching experience with Amber.
And then I'm gonna say more details coming tomorrow. This is step three. You're gonna open a limited number of spots. This is very important. You want to build a reason to buy. This has to be created by you. This can't be made up. And so it might be literal spots in your calendar.
It could be something that you're just trying, so you only want to do three of these types of calls, or you want to leave room for the rest of your, you know, life with kids or other clients or, you know, whatever. So you're gonna open limited spots. In my little understanding, I guess secret of doing this is that, to open less spots than you think you can fill, reasonably. So what this looks like, if you think five people might join you, sell three spots. If you think you could fill 10, I would sell eight. And the reason for this is that the whole purpose of this call is to generate kind of excitement about what you're doing.
And so you want to offer less spots than you think you can fill. This is counterintuitive. Your mind might say, but you should take as many as will come. And I want to argue no, because part of this sequence is actually, you're gonna repeat this process until you're fully booked.
This is literally how I would start my coaching business from scratch, is selling free calls like this so that people get the experience of working with me. Rich Litvin and Steve Chandler talk about the Prosperous Coach, right, we sell the experience of coaching, not the concept. So this is a way to sell the experience of coaching, right?
You're giving them a free call. So step one, tease something is coming. Step two, announce what it is. Step three, open limited spots. Step four is share when spots are filled. So let's say, you know, I have three spots available for my mindset intensive breakthrough call. And then when someone books, I would say one spot claimed, two spots left.
DM me to schedule your call. And the reason that we do this is one, social proof is very powerful. This is a very tactical understanding of marketing, but when we see other people buy stuff, we have this tendency to be like, oh, maybe I want it, oh, it's like a valid idea. In fact, we see this on Amazon.
If you go to Amazon, I've done this before. I look at how many star reviews they have, how many reviews there are, right? If I see a product with two reviews, I'm like, meh, probably not gonna buy it. But if I see a product with 10,000 reviews and a 4.5 stars, I'm like, Hmm, probably good.
We want to create a version of that in our own selling. For example, you might say, you know, two spots left. DM me to book. And then the next one, it's like, okay, one spot left. Right. When you're articulating there are limited spots and that people are booking. Only do this for real. Don't pretend, ethics.
As people truly book, you want to share that people are booking because it'll help them feel safer in saying yes. This is psychology. This is human behavior. And so we want to use it because this is good, right? When people get on free calls with you, their life changes for the better. So it is a good way to help people.
You want people to know that other people are taking you up on your offer. It'll help them say yes, easier and then you promote it until filled. This is something that I see. Do not unplug from this strategy. Do not stop even if you get crickets. This is how you learn how to sell your coaching as you stick with it.
And so especially for some of you, you've never done this before, or you're a brand new coach or maybe building your coaching business has been kind of a struggle for you and you wanna try this, it's gonna feel intimidating, and that's okay. Keep going. You can feel scared and keep doing this.
And so step five is to promote it until all spots have been claimed. It is free, but I would not make free the reason to buy. Like this is gonna be something that is a big shift for you. Just because it's free doesn't mean that people want it. In fact, there's always a cost associated with what we do, right?
And sometimes the cost is still too high for your audience, right? They're not sure it's worth them getting on a Zoom call. They're not sure that coaching even works, or if it's for them, they're not sure you are who you say you are. They're afraid of being sold to. They're afraid of being deceived.
They're afraid of wasting their time, right? There is a cost associated with jumping on a free call with you, and so I would not sell the value as in, it's free. I would pretend that you're charging a thousand dollars for this call and talk about how valuable it is to get coached, how valuable it is to help make the shifts that they're gonna make.
You know, if I was gonna name it a relationship deep dive call, and I'm gonna make it 60 minutes long. In your relationship, you will feel absolutely different about your relationship. You'll find peace of mind. You will know how to talk to your spouse right after the call so that you can immediately make changes, like that's a really powerful offer already.
And it's free, right? I don't lead with, it's free. I'm leading with the value and I'm adding and it's free. That's a very powerful offer. And so, when you think through your own offer, don't say, it's my free coaching call. My mindset breakthrough intensive. Free coaching experience.
You will find and be able to articulate the limiting beliefs that's been holding you back from your next level. In this call, we will go deep, probably deeper than you've ever been with any coach, so that we can identify some of the subconscious beliefs that you've been believing on autopilot that have been running your life, that now you can become conscious of them, shift them, and create something totally new for yourself.
Also, this call is absolutely free. Do you see the difference between, get on my free call! You want to lead with the value and add that it's free and you're gonna promote it until it's filled. And then I recommend, step number six is to repeat this process. You might have a little calendar for yourself.
This is literally how I would build my coaching business from scratch, you guys. This is literally what I would do. If you don't have a business account, you could do this on your free social media. It doesn't matter where you do this. I would offer free calls, make them very valuable. Limit how many spots I had.
If you are brand new, you might only open one or two spots because you have no idea how many you can fill. If you've been in the game for a little bit, you might offer five or seven or 10 spots, depending on your audience size and the engagement. But I would repeat this, so maybe, you know, the first week of the month, I tease that something's coming. I open spots.
The whole second week of the month, you know, I'm talking about what it is, why they should join and announcing as spots are filled. And then the third week, maybe I'm fulfilling. I'm actually taking care of the clients. And then I would start the process over again in week four.
In fact, in the pdf I show a sample calendar of what this can look like. This is not a get rich quick plan, but this is a actually talk to real humans about coaching plan. And so I hope this helps you. In the PDF I share an actual, like example calendar that you might use. But the idea is that after you've done a full cycle of this, sell a free call.
You do it again. So you pick a new name, a new offer. So maybe you did a mindset breakthrough call, and now you're going to do a level up to your highest self call. I'm just making this up on the spot, but you're gonna name it something different. It's still a free call, and you're gonna shift the messaging a little bit so that you're gonna help them do maybe something different.
If you're a relationship coach, maybe you do, you know, a relationship breakthrough call. And then in a few weeks you do a relationship, deep dive call, or a mindset intensive for relationships call. I don't know, just name it something different. And then do the same cycle where you start with step one, tease something is coming, announce what it is with a new name.
Number three, open limited spots. Advertise and promote it. And as people are booking you, let them know that step number four, share when spots are filled. And you keep going until all spots are taken. And then you also announce when spots are taken. Repeat, repeat, repeat. This is what's gonna happen on these calls.
You will coach them, you will lead them through a breakthrough. You will ask them about their thinking and help them challenge their thoughts. You'll give them the experience of coaching. This is very different than most people in our industry. The reason I like giving people the experience is one, because as a client I like it.
I don't want to be sold to you. I want to see how people coach. I want to feel them. I want to understand how they actually do things. And I learned that straight from Rich Litvin and Steve Chandler. This is not my own idea. I've never gone wrong by serving. It's never led me in the wrong direction.
Even if I didn't get a client, I left with a relationship, and this is one of my philosophies about consultation calls, is that I'm there to open a relationship, not close a client. If you scroll back to an episode called nsicl. N-S-I-C-L. I share my framework on how I actually sign clients, and most of it has to do with service.
It's not about manipulation or trying to get the sale or trying to close them. It's about serving them so powerfully they never forget our conversation. It's about serving in a way that they feel safe with me. That they see that they could get what they want if we work together. And so on this free call, you are doing that. You are serving them, you are coaching them, you are trying to help them in that call.
If they ask you about working together, tell them. And if they don't, don't. That is my little rule of thumb. If I sell a free call and it is positioned as a free coaching experience, not a, let's see if we're gonna work together call, that is a different call and I would call it a consultation if I'm doing that right.
If you are selling, let's see if we're a good fit to work together, call it a consultation. That is not what this is. This is about getting the experience of coaching. This is about getting relationships on your calendar. I've done this multiple times, and it's always out of, I want to be talking to people.
I want to fill my calendar with relationships, with potential clients, but I'm not selling my coaching. This is about me getting the experience of coaching this person, and this is about them getting the experience of being coached by me. And so, when you do it this way, only talk about your offer if they ask.
The one bonus point I'm gonna offer is that if you send a follow up email, which I highly recommend, send a follow up email with even more value. This is like my biggest hack when I have a consultation, even if they say no, I'm not quite ready to work with you. In my follow up email, I add more value. I share podcast episodes that I think are relevant to them.
I share books they might be interested in reading. I share my feedback or thoughts about some of their specific situations that they talked about on the call, and I offer some solutions or some different thinking. I offer encouragement and belief and faith in them, and so it's like value on the call, value in the follow up and value, value, value, value.
I always overgive and it's never led me wrong. And so this is not about sneakily manipulating people into working with you. This really is showing them who you are in integrity and serving. And so in this email follow up, this is a bonus point. You don't have to do this. I recommend you do this. Serve them more, offer them valuable points of insight.
Offer them encouragement, offer them more books. I've done this before, I've actually sent people books. I'm like, hey, I loved our call. Can I send you a book that I think you would love? And I've literally sent people a book from Amazon. I've done this dozens of times. Some of them become my client, and some of them don't.
That's not the point. The point is I'm opening a powerful relationship of service and value, and it's never led me wrong. Like I said, this is a bonus point. You don't have to send the email, but one thing that you could do in the email after you've added value is ps, I work with people for three or six months doing what we did in a longer term capacity.
If you're interested or if you're ever interested in working together, just let me know. I really like that line because it's like, hey, there is more we could do together, but I'm not gonna push it on you. I want this to be about value and service, but if you're interested, there are ways that we can work together.
I really love this because you totally served on the call and you let them know that you have room for clients without any pressure. Some people will take you up on it, some you'll never hear from again, and that's okay. I'm actually gonna share a few stories now about times that I literally did this framework before I knew it was a framework.
I called it, what did I call it? A coaching intensive or something. And I coached people for two hours for free, and I didn't set a limited number of spots. I wish I did. And I coached 10 people. So that's 20 hours of coaching within two weeks. For me as a new mom, it was a lot, but two of those people became long-term clients.
They worked with me for six months, then they joined different programs of mine, and we still have relationships to this day. In fact, I just got a text from one of those clients just recently telling me that she just bought property and all this stuff. I'm like, it came from one of these two hour calls that was, let's see, five years ago, and we are still in contact.
And I coached her on and off for a long time, and now we're not working together, but we're still in contact because of that two hour call. That is incredible, right? And so it's about opening a relationship, not just closing a deal. So anyway, back to what I did, is I just basically said I'm trying to get experience, I'm trying to practice what it would look like to coach someone for two hours.
Cause I had never coached someone for two hours. So I kind of positioned it as like, let's see how this goes, this coaching intensive. And I served my heart out. I coached hard and deep. And I didn't sell and my business is thriving. So I think if you have a fear about not selling your coaching on that call, zoom out.
This is about building relationships that can last five plus years. So I just wanted to say that because I think sometimes we want things to happen now and we sacrifice long-term relationships of value for a short-term, try to get the sale now. And I think we miss the point of our industry as coaches.
We got into coaching. For me, I love working with my clients long term because they can get so much progress. They create miracles in their business and their life because of our work together, because they're willing to be growing long term. Even just the satisfaction of hearing what people are up to, you know, five years later.
It's just so cool. So I wanted to put that little plug in that if you don't wanna sell, you don't have to Often, actually just a few months ago, well, maybe a year ago now, my timeline's getting kind of wonky. That's kind of funny. I offered a level 10 opportunity call. Some of you remember this.
And on that call it was 30 minutes. I have less time on my calendar now. I really just wanted to try out a concept. And so I offered a 30 minute free call where I wasn't gonna sell and I didn't sell. I wanted the coach to feel like their Level 10 skillset was aligned with a Level 10 offer.
Basically, like if you are a very good coach, your offer should be in a level 10 opportunity to maximize your profit, to maximize your impact and all these things. If you scroll through my social media, you can probably find when I was talking about it, but I did these calls and I limited the number of spots.
I booked them out that day. And it was awesome, and I got to meet new people. Some of the people have been in my world for a long time, but I got to coach them for 30 minutes and then actually two of those people became private clients. The point is they became private clients without me selling on that call.
And so the reason that I say that it's not so that you secretly hope people sign up, it's that service literally comes back to you. Value goes out and value comes back. And so when you sell free calls, It has to be in the mindset of abundance and service for the people that will come on these calls. I'm not secretly hoping they become private clients.
Now, if they become private clients, that's great, but I think when you serve people so powerfully, they never forget your call. Like something changes in them and they will want to become your client even if you don't sell your coaching. And so I wanted to put that plug because I think too often we jump to the sale.
And if you think about coaching relationships like dating, right? It's like first date, wanna get married. Some people are a yes, I guess in life, but for the most part, they're gonna want to get to know you. So almost think about selling free calls like a date. Like, hey, do you wanna get to know me and what I do as a coach and experience it.
Sure. Great. You don't have to say you wanna get married at the end of that call. Sometimes they're gonna say, I love this. How do we work together? And I think it's totally appropriate if they ask to bring it up. The reason that I say this is we don't want to deceive people. We don't wanna say, jump on a free coaching experience with me where I pitch you my program.
Now, if you actually let them know this is about pitching your program, that's different. But what I'm teaching in this episode and in this PDF that I'm gonna share with you, it is not about pretending it's not a consult when it really is. This really is about delivering a free experience.
I think that this distinction is very powerful and can't be overstated because it doesn't work. I think my answer is always, is this an integrity? So if I were to say, you know, come get on a call with me and let's see if we're a good fit. That's very different than, come experience free coaching with me on a mindset breakthrough intensive.
And I secretly pitch you like that just doesn't feel good, right? And so if I say it's a free call where they're getting all this service and it's about a mindset breakthrough intensive, I'm only gonna talk about my program if they ask me. And that's just a good rule of thumb that I wanted to offer.
So I cheered a lot in this episode. I'm just gonna recap it because I think this is a very powerful win executed strategy to get your calendar booked with people with real humans. And as a coach, this is what we want. If you want one-on-one clients, book your calls with one-on-one people, right?
Like have one-on-one calls booked on your calendar is a better way to say that. So step one. Like, guess pre step one, pre-work. And this is in the pdf. Create an offer and name it something sexy. Decide what you're gonna deliver. Decide what you're gonna call it. Decide who it's for. Decide the topic that you're gonna be working on with them.
And then step one is tell people that it's coming. Tell people something new is coming, and tease it for as long as you can. I recommend a few days at least, ideally a week. So that people are excited and build hyper on what you do. So your brain is gonna be like, but I need to send clients right now.
And you just go, sh, it's okay. This is for the long term, right? Building hype is not a get rich quick thing. This is a build a longer term relationship with people thing. This is a longer play. So, tease it for a week. Announce what it is, tell them the name of the offer, but do not make it available to preserve.
Just let them know this is what's coming tomorrow. It's my mindset breakthrough call and more details will be dropped. And you can book it tomorrow. The next day you're gonna say, there are three spots available. This is how you book, DM me and I'll get you on my calendar and then we will have our call.
Step number four is to share when spots are filled. So as people book, as people DM you and ask you to have a spot, you let people know on your social media. I recommend, you know, maybe it's your Instagram stories or on your Facebook or whatever, that you have limited spots left, right? If you had three spots and someone just booked, say two spots left.
So excited for a call next week and you keep promoting it and keep sharing when people spots are filled throughout until it is filled. This is where you get to test your willpower. This is where you develop faith as an entrepreneur, is you keep talking about it until it's filled and then you repeat this process and you'll see that in the PDF where I outlined this ideal promotion calendar. Cause I think the more you repeat it, the better you will get. And the more calls you have in your calendar, the more likely you will be able to fill your calendar with real clients, real paying clients. And I think giving people an experience of coaching is the most powerful thing you can do as a coach, not just talk about the theory.
One of the things that really bothers me I didn't realize how much I felt that angst inside my belly when I said it is that there are people who know how to market coaching that aren't big coaches and there are good coaches that don't know how to market. I try to be a great marketer and a great coach because I know that I'm a good coach, but I also need to be great at marketing so that people actually come and work with me.
I want both for you. I think there are two skill sets that trump all others as a coach. One is your skill and coaching, and two is your marketing skills. Especially as a new coach, you need to learn how to talk about what you do. This is one way to do it without talking about your full-blown six month coaching package or whatever you have. This is one call, one experience, super valuable for your client, and it's free.
There's a little downside for your client if they really see the value, and so I think you should try this. If you don't have calls booked in your calendar and you want to get fully booked, start here. If you're a brand new coach and you just got certified, or you just decided to start calling yourself a coach and offering coaching, start here.
Name it something and start getting experience. If you are very brand new, you will probably not be good. I remember when I started offering free calls as a coach. I know I wasn't good. And that's okay. Some people will have to witness you not being your best as you become your best, and that's part of the price we pay.
I know there are people in this world that are like Amber's doing what? Because they probably had a call with me in the beginning and they're like, it was okay. And now my skillset as a coach is so developed. I coach very differently than I did five years ago. I'm a different person. I have different experiences, different skills, different tools, different understanding, different wisdom that I bring.
And I'm very grateful for the people who witnessed me as I was learning. You know, they were part of my journey. And so if you're worried about not being great, that's okay. This is literally how you get better. You can't become a better coach without coaching. You can't become a better coach by reading books or studying other people or even like I will say there is a line that you can become a better coach by watching coaching to a certain degree. And then the only way you can master it is by actually coaching. And so this is how we actually get to practice. Do free calls. Sell free calls, sell sexy free calls, make it interesting, make it appealing, make it helpful, make it useful, make it about service.
And I promise people will be interested in what you do. And like I said, if in the beginning no one's really interested, that's okay. Try again. I think people underestimate how many tries it takes to get this, to get the hang of this. Be a great marketer and be a great coach. Learn how to sell your free calls.
I hope this helps. Like I said, I created a PDF for you. You can opt in using the link in the show notes. And I would love to, you know, get feedback from you. If you try this and it works, let me know. I'd love to hear how it goes. Sell the free call, sell the coaching experience, not just the concept.
And I know it'll change your life and I know it'll change your clients. So I hope this is helpful. Thank you for being a listener of the Conscious Coach Podcast. If you think of anyone that would benefit from this, send it their way and I would very much appreciate it. Okay, love you guys. I'll talk to you today soon.
Bye.
