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Why sales are suffering for knowledge workers
Contrary to what you might be hearing on the internet, coaching is not dead, and it never will be.
But the way people are selling it sure looks tiring.
The market is still there. People still want help. And they’ll still gladly pay for outcomes, guidance, support, expertise, accountability, and the myriad of other human things that will always make life more worth living.
But the days of easy trust are gone.
And I think a lot of coaches, consultants, and knowledge workers are feeling the squeeze right now. Because for years, the internet business playbook was fairly simple.
Create a free PDF, get people on your email list, invite them to a webinar, then invite them to a discovery call where you tell them all about the really expensive thing you sell, and as long as it was a good fit, you were in business.
But now, a free PDF doesn’t prove much.
They’re still useful, but from what I’m seeing, interactive resources are taking the cake.
Webinars are tired too. Who has time to sit through another 90-minute sales pitch dressed up as a “masterclass” wearing a tiny little teaching hat? … Not me.
And discovery calls?
Most people show up, arms crossed, braced for the pitch. Which is bad news if your whole business model depends on strangers trusting you quickly.
But this doesn’t mean anyone has actually stopped buying coaching.
If anything, they’re buying more.
People are just becoming a lot more selective about who they trust and how they’ll buy from them. That’s because the old proof model is broken. Information is cheap and everywhere.
But discernment and diagnosis are still rare.
A real-time conversion with someone who can look at your specific situation and say, “Okay, here’s what I’d do next” is more valuable than ever. That’s why I like themed calls so much.
A themed call is not a vague “book a call and let’s see if we’re a fit” situation.
It’s a specific working session built around one useful outcome.
If you can get someone on a call where they know the exact problem you’re going to help them with, and you deliver it for them on the call, right before their eyes, then it’s like magic, and suddenly you’re a wizard.
Where everyone else was focused on pursuing and persuading just to get them on a sales call.
You stand out and restore trust by proving you can actually help by… well, helping.
And if you’d like me to guide you through how to put together one of these themed calls for your business inside the community, I put together a training on the premium tier called:
Themed Calls to Clients
Inside, you’ll choose the name, design the structure, and create all the promotional content for it using a downloadable Claude skill that will guide you step-by-step, all the way through to completion.
And you can have it all mapped out inside of thirty minutes to an hour.
Whereas before it might have taken you five, or ten.
If interested, here’s the link:
Talk soon,
Kevin Hood