The reason your offer isn’t selling is… your offer

The reason your offer isn’t selling is… your offer

We’ve been talking about the challenges in bringing in clients and money, without compromising your integrity. Thankfully, you don’t have to break your heart for your business to work.

We’ve discussed about skills that don’t look like skills , and why it’s so painful to tell people what you do.

Here’s a third topic that rarely gets a close look: the offer itself.

All those amazing people out there doing amazing work, I’m guessing you might be one of them. Well, maybe you’re too shy or humble to say “amazing,” but you know what I mean. (Amazing!)

Here’s something that’s really surprising, though: your clients don’t want to buy that. They don’t want to buy what you do. They don’t want to buy a “session.”

What the heck are they going to do with a session? Store it in their garden shed, or back room closet?

I’m joking about something that I’m really serious about. It can be hard for a passionate practitioner to grasp- no matter how cool your modality and approach is, no matter how amazing even the experience of it is, that’s not what your clients really want.

They want to get somewhere.

I know, I know. The spiritual truth is to “be here now.” I’m a big advocate of that. But that truth doesn’t stop them from wanting to get somewhere.

Maybe they are struggling with their health. Or with a relationship. Or they need a building designed. Or they need their financial records accurate and up to date so they can easily do their taxes.

Whatever it is, they are looking for an outcome.

Let me ask you a question. If you do some kind of transformational work, how many times have people said to you, “Wow, that sounds amazing! I want to do that just as soon as I… “ And the thing they mention is what it is they most need help with, and haven’t been able to get through.

Or maybe it’s just something that has their attention more than your thing.

Here’s the problem. It’s not even conscious, but your potential clients see your session, your thing, as a roadblock or a distraction.

I’m just south of Ithaca and let’s say I want to get to New York City. Not sure why I would want to go there, but hey, why not? Bright lights, big city.

Now, I want to get there, and then someone comes up to me and says, “Hey, I’ve got this really comfy chair. Why don’t you sit down in it?”

Am I going to sit down? No, I’m going to tell them, “Wow, that looks great! I’ll sit down in it just as soon as I get back from NYC.”

It’s not your price.

You may be thinking it’s your price. You may be thinking that no one really likes what you do. But a big sticking point is simply that your work doesn’t look relevant to them.

Now, if you told them: “Sit down in this big comfy chair, that happens to be in a bus that’s headed to NYC.” That’s a different story. Now I’m ready to sit down.

How to tell if your offer isn’t as clear and as buyable as it could be

• You’re only selling it session by session. Not that you can’t sell individual sessions, but it’s the only way you offer your work.
• You talk about it in terms of what you do, and what the experience is, rather than what we call the client’s “destination.”
• Potential clients won’t prioritize it, and never get around to working with you, no matter how great they say your work sounds.
• You feel uncertain, even nervous, when someone says, “So, what’s next?” When they are ready to work with.

If any of these come up even semi-regularly, then your business could benefit *tremendously* from bringing clarity to your offer.

When you become clear, your offer will practically sell itself, because it will be something someone wants. This is true even (and perhaps especially if) you do some strange esoteric healing modality that is hard to explain.

And hey, if we can do this with Sufi-based spiritual business healing, then you can do it with whatever kind of modality you use. 🙂

There’s a whole lot more to say here.

In our teachings, we take people through the Crafting Your Offer module to help gain that clarity, including pricing! I will say that I’m an advocate of people also creating packages rather than selling in single sessions, but we don’t force anyone to do anything. You do what’s comfortable for you.

We just ask you to get the clarity, so your client knows what they are buying, and why. So you can start working with clients, and getting paid what will really sustain you.

What comes up for you with this topic? How clear do you think you are with your offer? Is it “flying off the shelves?” Is it super clear to you that your clients really want what you’re selling?

With love and compassion,
Mark and the team at
Heart of Business, Inc.

Every act of business can be an act of love.

If you’re unclear if your business needs to start at the very beginning, and maybe you need a different kind of help, then check out our free Readiness Assessment.

It will help you pinpoint where your business is in the stages of development, and where exactly you need to focus for your business to continue to grow.