Hi Mike, you’re making the classic mistake most business coaches make. You’re offering a free assessment. Stop doing that! It goes against human nature. Let me explain.

Have you ever heard the term “quid pro quo”? It’s often used in politics and it means “I’ll give you something if you give me something.” This is also called “human nature”. When you offer a free assessment, your prospect is saying to themselves… this business coach is offering to give up a precious hour of their time to meet with me, evaluate my business, uncover all the areas where I could make major improvements, create a roadmap for me to follow moving forward… all of which will help me see dramatic increases in both revenue and profits. And they don’t expect anything in return??? They’re doing this simply because they’re a warm, caring human being??? That’s when the business owner’s B.S. meter goes off in their head.

Prospects today know this is nothing more than a ploy to get in front of them so you can make a sales pitch for your coaching services, and that’s why most of them are ignoring your offer. And by the way, you may very well be a warm, caring human being who is making this offer out of generosity. I actually believe most coaches fall into this category. Unfortunately, even in that situation, the offer still won’t work.

The reason – reciprocity! Reciprocity is a tremendously powerful human motivator. If you offer to assess a business for someone… and you DON’T expect or ask for anything in return, the business owner has NO way to reciprocate your generosity, and that makes them feel tremendous discomfort. They will ignore the free assessment offer just so they can avoid being placed in that uncomfortable situation.

So what’s the solution? The QUID PRO QUO!

Ask for something in return. Here’s what I teach the coaches I work with around the world so they get in front of as many prospects as they want. When you’re speaking with a business owner, let them know you have the ability to find them a minimum of $10,000 in less than one hour. Obviously adjust that revenue figure and timeframe to coincide with your actual ability as a coach to deliver specific results, and be sure you can deliver on your promises.

Tell them you’re willing to find them that revenue at NO cost to them… on one condition. They MUST agree to allow you to document their results as a case study that you will then use in your future marketing efforts as a coach. There’s the quid pro quo! Now the business owner is thinking to themselves… “OK, so I’m going to profit from this meeting, and so is this coach. Sounds fair to me!”

The coaches I have using this approach are seeing dramatic increases in their conversion rates across the board. Try it Mike and let me know how it works for you.