Having clients show up consistently over time for most business owners means two things: the client gets the deep help they actually need to see change, and the business gets the stability it needs to be profitable.
But, whoa… why, then can it seem so hard to have clients book for more than a single session? Or if they do come in for more than one, they disappear way too early?
It has to do with how you set expectations with a client. About 4 and a half minutes, take a look:
How are you with setting expectations? What’s your take-away here?
With appreciation,
Mark Silver, M.Div.
Heart of Business, Inc.
Every act of business can be an act of love.
P.S. Our next public Virtual Retreat is August 28
If you didn’t know, since 2005 I’ve led around 100 Virtual Spiritual Business Retreats, to help heart-centered business owners access a deep sense of connection and clutter-clear their heart in the context of business.
It’s a nourishing 24 hours, led by me as a Sufi spiritual teacher, and open to folks of any and all spiritual paths (or none at all).
They are deeply nourishing, and can be quite profound and healing. And they are priced at pay-from-the-heart.
If you’re interested, take a look: Heart of Business Virtual Retreat
Ask questions, or just jump in with us.
3 Responses
I love this, Mark!
I am just starting out, and I did set expectations for 6 sessions at a time.
What I did is: in the exploratory/sales conversation, I put that out there that I have a package called “6 sessions for success”, are they interested? They are curious. I ask us to take an inward glance to notice what 6 weeks of one session/week *feels* like. When the feeling of that time-frame is in the room, THEN we choose a chunk of the client’s goal that feels both ambitious and possible. On the edge of amazing, but not over-promising.
It’s nice, and it’s worked because we start sussing out what a reasonable chunk of work is, what issues may get confused, and what would be scope-creep. This instead of feeling like we’re maybe not on the same page re: what we (I) know as possible, or what we (they) know is affordable. My first clients accomplished their goal and thanked me and moved on… 🙂 so I’m being clearer now that we can work in 6-week ‘chunks’ but still have bigger goals.
And until I niche better, that may work okay. Integrity is everything.
However, I’m joining you for Foundations 1 & 2, with a niche in mind, so I will eventually get more niche-specific experience and be better at predicting results…
*This* video has me realizing I could ask myself:
Was I only asking to work with people for 6 sessions because that’s all the progress I could reliably forecast?
Or was it because that’s all *I* could imagine my clients being able to afford (it was un-niched and un-advertised, so people even finding me was humbling) …
Or was it perhaps, also, that my practice wasn’t really a business, then, and I couldn’t really imagine *myself* committing to being available for longer periods, back when I had an up-and-down lifestyle?
Being available to follow through for a year and a half without faltering (I hear the intolerance in those additional 2 words “without faltering”, so I take those back, but the first bit is thrilling!!!) Being able to follow through for a year and a half is not going to be an issue this time. Complete with fail-safes, my business is a business, now, and it’s a humbling and honoring priority.
Thanks for prompting me to dare think much more long-term, eventually. For now, 6 weeks are my (confident) ‘baby steps.’
This is so important for any service-based business, and an especially important one to learn for those just starting out in business and finding their first few clients.
The information has been very useful to me.
I learned a lot from this discussion.
Thanks for sharing the discussion