March 4, 2016 by Jesse Koren

Let Go Of A Client Who Drains You?

Yesterday, one of our Thrive Members posted in our private Facebook group about her decision to let go of a client who drained her. She wasn’t sure if she did the right thing.

In my past, I have drained myself countless times in exchange for money (and it nearly killed me) so, I passionately answered her question... our members loved my response so much that they told me to turn it into a blog post.

Here’s my answer to the question about should I release a client who drains me?

It takes courage to release a client (and the income that comes along with them). I'm glad that you didn't let scarcity over take you.

Exchanging getting drained for getting paid is NOT ever worth it, for any reason! (That is something to write on a post-it note and hang on your desk.)

But, before I would dismiss a client, I would inquire deeply into what was draining about working with this client.

I find that there are 3 Major Client Drainers:

1) Overgiving.
Charging too little or giving too much of your time, almost always leads to feelings of being drained. It takes courage to charge what you want to charge and end the session when you say you’re going to end. Do it anyway. It will leave you with more energy to continue your day.

2) Not speaking your truth.
Those things that you wish you could say to your client (but it might be rude or disrespectful, and after all, they're paying you lots of money...) Those are the things you need to say!!! Just begin your bold statement with a large dose of acknowledgment, compassion and gentleness. It's nearly impossible to boldly speak your truth and get drained at the same time.

3) Getting attached to your clients getting results.
This seems like a good thing... don't we all want our clients to get great results? Of course!

The problem is that when you get attached to your client getting great results, you tighten up. And when you tighten up, you lose connection with your client and you lose connection with your intuition. From this place, you probably push your client too hard, or you protect your client from your inner pusher and you become quiet and withholding. Neither works.

Instead, trust that there is a much bigger picture working here. Sometimes people are ripe for results, and other times, it takes time.

Your clients' results do NOT determine your goodness or worthiness. You can be amazing, even if your client didn't get results. And you can be terrible and still have clients get results.

But... it's helpful to use their lack of results as inspiration to step up your game so that you are holding the most optimal space for your clients to get results.

It's helpful to trust that there is a bigger picture happening that we are not always privy to that goes WAY beyond how much money they made, weight they lost, or soulmate they have found.

It's helpful to celebrate the results they are getting, no matter how big or small.

It's helpful to address your clients' feelings about the results they're getting.

It's helpful to love them completely as they are, even if they don't change a bit. And, at the same time, it's helpful to hold vibrant space for them to become who they are becoming.

But, it's NOT helpful to take responsibility for your clients' results. You can't get results for your client, even if you try your hardest. Because they are the ones doing the work... it's their results. Your job is to hold impeccable space, like a cocoon for a butterfly. The space you hold includes your love, wisdom, energy, and compassion. And it's their choice to become the butterfly.

When you're doing your best to help your client win, it's best to simply hand the rest over to them and to God/the Universe and trust that everything that is happening is exactly what needs to happen.

But, what if you’ve been charging an amount that feels good, sticking to your time agreements, speaking your truth, and giving the results over to God/the Universe. But, you're still getting drained. Well...

Sometimes the arc is simply over and it’s time to complete. After all, even the best things in life have a beginning, middle, and end.

Your work together might feel like a stick of bubble gum that you've been chewing for 30 minutes and it simply no longer has much flavor.

If this is the case, we recommend you set this client free and refer them to another resource that can help them grow.

This will make space for new clients to emerge.

Sometimes, the problem is having draining clients... but other times, the BIGGER problem is simply getting enough high-paying clients to pay the bills. If this is the case, we’d love to help... Check out our life-changing Client Attraction Summit.

Would love to read your comments below.

September 22, 2015 by Jesse Koren

Why You Should Never “Close” Another Sale

If the story I’m about to tell you makes you even a little uncomfortable, I invite you to continue reading because eventually it has a happy ending...

Imagine you’re at a used car lot and you feel a presence lurking. Yes, you need a car but you’re not really finding “your” car in this lot. Suddenly, here he comes sauntering towards you. You notice the way he looks at you, almost like a coyote ready to sink his teeth into the “sale.”

As he approaches, you almost feel him breathing down your neck. You wonder, has he forgotten you are a human being or does he just see you as one big dollar sign?

He approaches with his bright shiny smile (aka baring his teeth) and launches into why this car is the perfect car for you. You want to run and hide, but instead you politely listen to him talk about this “perfect” car you aren’t even interested in. Finally, you use one of your agile maneuvers to distract him for a moment and you make your getaway…phew, that was close!

Okay, so this is a little extreme but I imagine you’ve felt this way at some point in your life…a victim to the salesman who didn’t see you as a person, but instead you became a “sale” and that person’s sole agenda was to “close the sale.”

I know you’re not a used car salesman and I know you’re not ready to sink your teeth into your next victim. But you’ve no doubt felt the impact of this “close the sale” energy at some point. And it is because of these types of experiences that most coaches and holistic practitioners avoid selling at all.

And yet if you want to be successful in your practice you’ve got to learn how to sell. But most sales trainings will tell you that you have to “close the sale.” Let’s take a look at the energy behind “the close” and why you should never “close a sale” again...

First, when you think of “closing a sale,” how do you feel?

For me it conjures up ideas of hunting a “prospect” down just like the coyote metaphor in the story above.

When you’re “closing,” you’re bringing an end to something. When you’re referring to your “prospect” as a “sale,” you’re missing the humanity of the person who’s standing right in front of you or who is on the other end of the phone.

In Heartselling™, you never close a sale. Instead, you support your potential clients to commit to investing in themselves. In essence, you’re helping them open vs. closing them.

For example:

-What if they could be pain free and enjoy picking up their grandkids again?

-What if they really could achieve the dream they’ve been thinking about for years?

-What if they could have 10 times more energy than they have now?

Do you feel the difference in “closing a sale” vs. “opening your potential client?”

Here’s an example of how this works:

At every Client Attraction Summit we do a live Heartselling™ demonstration with a participant. A few years ago at one of our events, I looked out at the hands of volunteers and I was immediately drawn to work with a beautiful, vibrant woman with short red hair and exotic clothes.

As she approached the stage, I realized we had met before at a Tantra workshop, so that’s how we started the conversation. During the course of the conversation, I discovered she had a Vision to help a LOT of people by leading Tantra retreats. I could see her inspiration…and I could also see her frustration with not having the next steps to see her Vision come to life.

First we uncovered what a LOT really meant (in numbers of people and dollars) and I supported her to feel what it would be like to have this dream come true. And she opened and then opened some more. It was like witnessing a flower blooming.

And then I shared with her that we had a step-by-step system to help her earn tens of thousands of dollars leading her retreats…and she opened even more. By the time we were done with the conversation, she was in tears of joy at the excitement of what was possible for her and for her clients to come. By the end of the weekend, she said “Yes” to herself by signing up for the programs that will help her achieve this dream.

It’s conversations like these that remind me why I love selling. Yes, I really said “I love selling.” Because when I have a Heartselling™ conversation with a potential client, I know her life will never be the same. She will see something is possible that she had previously missed, or worse…even felt resigned to never being able to have. It’s about opening her up to deeper parts of herself and having her say “Yes” to what her higher self wants for her.

Do you see how the energy of a Heartselling™ conversation is so different from “closing a sale?”

This is what makes it so powerful and has you become a magnet for the perfect clients.

The next time you are having a conversation with a potential client, remember you’re there to Open them up and notice how different that feels. I bet you’ll be so pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to help them say “Yes” to your services and to say “Yes” to themselves.

In next week’s blog post, you’ll hear from a Thriver who does a beautiful job of opening potential clients and how she thinks about it. If you’ve got any reservations about selling, you’re going to love next week’s post.

Would love to read your comments below.

September 2, 2015 by Sharla Jacobs

Providing Rock Star Service For Your Clients

We’re busy preparing for our biggest Client Attraction Summit ever!

Even though we’ve led this event more than 70 times, we keep asking ourselves, “How can we make it an even better experience for our participants?”

When you create an experience for your clients that is ultra-supportive and you over-deliver on what they expect from you, they are much more likely to feel like they’re getting a “deal,” no matter what you charge.

In today’s article, you’ll get some great tips on how to provide excellent service to your clients so you can raise the bar on how much your clients value your work. And the even bigger and better benefit is that you’ll raise your own level of confidence at the same time.

Whenever we introduce the experiential exercise designed to have you give yourself a raise during the Client Attraction Summit, some participants look excited and others look absolutely terrified! Eventually, they all come to understand what most 6-figure coaches and holistic practitioners know: there are always people happy to pay you more when they get more value.

You may have come to a point where you know it’s time to raise your rates, yet it feels uncomfortable to make that move.

One of the first things to consider when you want to raise your rates is to raise the bar on how well you take care of your clients. You can feel really great about charging more for your work when you offer more value to your clients by providing excellent service.

You’re about to read some easy tips for providing excellent service. These are little things you can do right away to instantly transform the way your clients feel about their experience of working with you (which will make them rave about you to all their friends – you’ll see how this works from our own “rave”).

#1: Provide a luxury experience

One of the best ways to provide excellent service is to give your clients a luxury experience. Don’t worry – it doesn’t involve the high level of the Ritz-Carlton or a Rolls Royce! However, the experience of luxury IS in the details. It’s in those special touches you can add that make your clients feel like they are being really well taken care of.

A great example involves one of our graduates, Tina Ebrahimian, managing director of Ebrahimian Integrated Dentistry (in Scott’s Valley, CA). From her we learned personally why paying more isn’t an issue when the service is over the top.

After we witnessed Tina make over $500,000 in sales in the first month she was in our Client Attraction Mastery program, she invited us to visit their office. Our family quickly became patients of her daughter, Dr. Ariana. What followed was life-changing for us.

Our history with dentists for our children wasn’t a positive one. When our older son Jacob was 2 ½ years old, we learned he had seven cavities (even though we brushed regularly and he ate healthy food—turns out it was from nighttime breastfeeding).

His pediatric dentist told us we’d have to put our son under general anesthesia to take care of those teeth. From the first shot, Jacob had a frightening and traumatic experience and it was heart-breaking for us.

But our experience with Dr. Ariana and the entire staff at Ebrahimian Integrated Dentistry was SO different…

Even though we had brushed our boys’ teeth religiously after that horrible experience with the pediatric dentist – our younger son Zachary also got cavities from nighttime breastfeeding. We were, of course, concerned and scared that we were going to go through the same horror we had gone through with Jacob.

Dr. Ariana assured us she would do everything in her power to help us avoid putting our son under general anesthesia.

The first thing she did was spread the dental work over 3 appointments. Zach had an extraordinary experience and no pain.

While she was doing the work, we held his hand and she told all of us what to expect, every single step of the way.

And his cavities got filled with no anesthesia and no trauma. (Read: Mom and Dad letting out a big sigh of relief.)

This experience had us feel so well taken care of. We have become life-long loyal clients who share about them with everyone we meet! (How many people LOVE their dentist?!)

As for the luxury details: They put sunglasses on their patients, so the bright overhead light doesn’t bother your eyes. They didn’t miss one opportunity to help us feel comfortable – even offering tea! They’re practice is booked because people are willing to pay more for that experience because we felt so well taken care of.

#2: Sheepskin and iPods

What are some of the little touches that you can provide to your clients so they will feel well taken care of, and so they are excited to work with you?

Here are a few examples to get your creative giving juices flowing:

My (Sharla) rock star bodyworker, Yarah Sutra, places a sheepskin underneath a 1,200 thread count sheet so it feels luxurious even getting on the table. Another massage therapist I visited years ago put hot packs under my hands and against my feet. This made me feel so relaxed and luxurious. She also had a shower in her office her clients could use after their massage.

What if you’re a coach? Because we have so many clients in our group programs, we only see 5-6 private clients a year for VIP coaching.

One special thing we do is this: when the client comes to our home for a VIP Day (a day-long intensive) we gift them with a surprise iPod, so we can record the entire day of coaching, and they get to leave with the recording and their cool new iPod.

Let’s say you’re a nutrition coach, and you want to make your clients’ experience even better. Can you do give them a done-for-you menu plan with recipes and shopping lists? Or how about sending them a beautiful basket stocked with some of your favorite organic products that will improve their health?

Be creative and have fun with this!

As you saw in the examples, be sure the things you do are relevant to the service you offer. No matter what your business, there are many things you can do to help your clients feel they’re getting value. And they will be happy to pay you more!

Now it’s your turn!

Comment below and share some ways you’ve received rock star service or share something you can do to add value to the service you’re already providing.

August 19, 2015 by Sharla Jacobs

“If You’re A Healer, You’re Not Supposed To Sell”: A Case Study with Tomasa Macapinlac

Are you a healer who believes you’re not supposed to sell?

Maybe you’ve been working at it for a while and you feel like you’ve hit a ceiling or a block around how big you can grow, how many clients you can get, or how much money you can earn.

Sometimes we are just too close to our own story and can’t see the path that leads to the next level for ourselves.

That’s why I love hearing the story of someone else’s journey and the specific steps they took to break free of their gremlins and evolve in their own business.

Today’s blog post is an excerpt from my interview with $10,000-Month Club Member, Tomasa Macapinlac. Tomasa came to the Client Attraction Summit way back in 2008 (when it was called Rejuvenate Your Practice) as a practitioner of Acupressure and Jin Shin Jyustu. She joined Thrive Academy Platinum and put what she learned into action quickly.

In the interview, Tomasa shares valuable insights about a serious mindset shift about what it means to be a healer and some simple steps she took to break through her money ceiling very quickly.

***************************************************

Sharla: Let’s start from the beginning.Where were you [in your business] when you came to the Summit?

Tomasa: By the time I came to you guys it was 11 years since I’d been in business as a healing arts practitioner. And I was still working part time hours and I couldn’t get past about $3,000 a month. I remember getting to about $1,600 a month and then I got to $3,000 a month.

And I’d been in the high tech world making a lot more money than that! It was like, “Tomasa, if this is the work that you love, then you need to take this to the level that you are capable of. You’re not there and you know what? It’s time to do it now.”

Sharla: So I’m curious, what had you tried before? You couldn’t get past the $3,000 a month mark. And you had previous sales experience. So you would think that with experience in sales you should be fine doing your own business, but it wasn’t like that.

Tomasa: Here’s the thing. I was not sitting in community. To get to that $3,000 a month in sales, it was more like going out and putting my flyers up wherever. There was an Elephant Pharmacy near me at the time which hosted holistic classes. And I would go and teach classes there and NOT make offers.

And I could feel people wanting to work with me more but I didn’t know how to make an offer without feeling like, “Oh God, these people came to get information” and not feeling so salesy about it.

I began to realize after I started working with you [and Jesse] that I was doing a disservice to those people. Because here they were salivating for more of my work and I wasn’t giving it to them. I would just give them whatever I had prepared for them, that one-hour class and I wouldn’t make an offer at the end. I was doing them a disservice and I was wasting my time.

Sharla: So you would teach classes and not get any clients from it. I’m curious, what was your mindset?

Tomasa: I [used to] think that when you’re a healer, you’re not supposed to sell. We’re not supposed to make offers. People are supposed to magically appear to us. Instead of us getting out there and sharing our gifts.

My mindset was, “This is the life of a healer. This is the way it’s supposed to be.”

Sharla: So it was like, “This is just the way it is” and there were no other possibilities.

Tomasa: Right.

Sharla: Wow! So what was the first big shift that you had that caused you to have a big income jump?

Tomasa: The first big shift for me was actually after the [Client Attraction Summit]... I was on a sliding scale with my clients. So they could pay me anywhere from $60-90 for a session. That was the first thing I did. I took away the sliding scale and I gave myself a raise. I think I said, “Anyone who comes to see me, they now pay $90 for a session.”

That was the first big thing that I did for myself. Anyone who was on the lower end of the scale they either went away or they paid the $90 per session.

And then probably the second thing I did was, I wasn’t taking credit cards. I was only doing cash or checks. So I opened up a merchant account and started taking credit cards. I was already offering packages by the way. But my packages took another leap. They went on the higher end.

And I remember, I put them on paper. Oh, that was a big thing! [laughs]…

I noticed that when I wrote it up, people could see what they were saving but I also got more people to sign up for packages. Those who were not in packages, they [moved from one session at a time to a package].

So I began to have more of a loyal following with less sales. I didn’t have to sell as much. People would buy their packages of six. And then I wouldn’t have to keep selling them every time they came to see me. When six sessions were over, usually within 90 days, then they would just buy another package of six.

Sharla: I’m curious, your business has evolved. In the beginning it was just changing over to packages that made a difference. When you and I did a VIP Day together, I remember we really looked at how you were charging x dollars per package and this percentage of people you talk to say yes, and this percentage of people keep signing up for more. And we actually drilled down to exactly how many people you needed to talk to every month in order to have the practice of the size you wanted.

Tomasa: I know that I ended up having about 50 sessions a month and I started tracking all of my numbers after my VIP Day with you.

Sharla: Just the act of tracking your numbers is so valuable.

Tomasa: It is. Because you can get an overview of what your business looks like. How many conversations was I having? How many people would get offered the package? How many would say yes or no? How many were loyal clients? ...about 60-70% [of the people I talked with said Yes].

Sharla: I think that’s a really powerful exercise. Just to write down those numbers of how many people you’re talking with. It was really easy to get clear on how many clients you want and how many people you then need to talk to in order to have that happen.

Tomasa: Yes!

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By implementing just a few things Tomasa learned at Thrive Academy, she has a rockin’ business!

To recap the tips Tomasa shared in her story:

Raise your rates by eliminating the sliding scale.
Make offers when you’ve got an audience. It’s a disservice not to.
Take credit cards to make it easier for clients to pay. (Easier now than years ago…
If you’re not already set up, it’s easy at www.SquareUp.com)
Offer packages so you don’t have to sell over and over again. For more on how to create packages, check out this blog post.
Show your potential clients your package rates on paper so they see how much they will save.
Figure out how many new clients you need each month to earn the income you desire...and then track it.

Years after joining Thrive Academy Platinum, Tomasa continues to consistently enjoy $10,000+ months in her business as “Your Holistic Business Mentor.” She also is the host of the Holistic Chamber of Commerce in San Ramon, CA. You can learn more about Tomasa at http://tomasamacapinlac.com/

Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below.

August 12, 2015 by Sharla Jacobs

How to Raise Your Rates (And Feel Good About It)

Have you ever wanted to raise your rates, but the voices of fear keep you from actually doing it?

These internal voices say things like:

Who are you to think you can charge more?
Is it even spiritual to accept money at all?
If you were really spiritual you would do this work for free!
No one will sign up because they won’t be able to afford it. People will think you’re greedy or in it just for the money.
Other _____________ (coaches, practitioners, massage therapists, nutrition counselors, etc.) charge ________. How can you even consider charging more?

How do we know about these voices?

Many years ago, we raised our hourly coaching rate (to a rate that sounds like a smokin’ deal now, LOL)…

I (Sharla) stood on stage in front of some of our best clients, offering VIP days (which we rarely offer because our time is so limited for private clients). And although I looked confident on the outside, I was trembling inside.

I KNEW that working with Jesse and me privately would help these clients position themselves like rock stars, attract the exact right clients, create a clear path to get from where they were stuck in their business to exactly how much income they wanted to make…while working less.

But suddenly I had the same feelings of insecurity and discomfort that I experienced the first time I raised my fees…and the second and the third.

No matter how many times you raise your fees, it’s common to “not feel ready” or to know you’re ready but still feel uncomfortable, especially when you start actually telling your potential clients about it.

But there comes a time when what you’re charging doesn’t feel balanced with the value you’re providing and you’ve got to do it in order to stay in integrity with yourself and in alignment with your values.

Here are 3 Tips to help you raise your rates:

Tip #1: Avoid looking to other coaches and holistic practitioners to figure out what you should charge.

Many of our members initially say, “Other [therapists, coaches, etc.] charge this much; so how can I charge more?”

Instead, look for how you can INCREASE the value you offer to your clients rather than be just like everyone else in your industry.

When I was pregnant with our first son, Jacob (now 7), my belly got too big to lie face down on the massage table and I noticed I was having a difficult time enjoying a satisfying massage. So, I sought out a therapist with an ergonomically designed cushion for expecting moms like me and was happy to pay the extra dollars for the added value.

Ask yourself, “How can I increase the value of what I’m offering? What do I offer that’s unique?”

Tip #2: “Feel Into” Your New Rate

If you’re charging too little, you’ll likely feel resentful and overworked. If you’re charging too much, you might feel greedy. There is a perfect balance that lies somewhere in between.

Unless you feel like you can truly own your new rates, you’ll stumble and feel awkward when sharing these new rates with potential clients.

To figure out what rate you can confidently own, here’s a short exercise:

Imagine you’re talking with a potential client.
And say the price you want out loud.
Then check in with your body to find out how it feels.

If it feels GREAT, you just might have your new price.

If it feels anything other than GREAT, you’re not there yet.

If you don’t feel anything in your body, don’t worry.

Sometimes the new rate just doesn’t have much juice.

Also, not everyone gets information from checking in with how their body feels. Some people just have a voice of clarity or inner knowing that it’s right or not right. Others need to imagine publishing this new rate on your website (although we don’t recommend this for reasons we can share in the future).

Just use the best way of discovering what’s right for you when you’re making a decision.

Still confused about it?

At the Client Attraction Summit, we will guide you through an exercise to find your perfect fees. Chances are you’ll give yourself a raise because at least 95% of our past participants have done so.

Tip #3: Be Willing to Feel Uncomfortable for a Short Time After You Raise Your Rates

I have always found that whenever I have raised my private coaching rates, I go through an “adjustment” period.

At first, it’s difficult to say (like in the story I shared earlier in the article). Then I justify this increase to myself by thinking about how my clients will get more value at this new rate and how I deserve to be paid well for the great work I do. Eventually, I settle into it as perfect and right.

What usually happens after I get the first big “Yes!” is I’m able to “own” my new fee and it fits perfectly. I have found that this is when the real shift happens.

After having a difficult time at that event sharing our new VIP day rates for the first time (with not one single client saying “Yes” by the way), I could have decided that I’d made a huge mistake and I should drop my rates back down.

Instead, I knew that going through the discomfort of the “adjustment period” was part of my process and if I hung in there long enough, I would eventually feel comfortable and confident.

A few weeks later we got our first client at our new rate. I felt a little nervous just before the initial consultation call, but I showed up with 100% of my energy, now fully aligned with the new fee. And because I owned my value, our client got tons more out of it than if we were charging our lower fee.

We haven’t raised our rates for private coaching for years because we feel so aligned with our rates for private work. (It’s all about alignment.)

When you feel great about your rates, you don’t question them….

But when something is niggling at you that it’s time to raise them, it’s common to experience this adjustment period and then eventual success.

If you’re willing to deal with the discomfort for a short time, knowing that it is part of the process of raising your fees (and not a sign you should shrink back), then you’re on the road to attracting more appreciative clients who will see the value in what you have to offer.

And the good news is:

Over time, you’ll become less intimidated by the prospect of raising your rates. You’ll just know when the time is right and become aligned with it more quickly. The adjustment period shrinks and you’re on your way to serving your clients in a deeper way, because you’re aligned with what your clients are investing to transform their lives by working with you.

Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below.