Why You Should Buck Traditional Marketing Advice About Sharing Your “HOW”
If you’re a doctor, therapist, transformational coach or expert who depends on content marketing to sell your premium offers, you might find this useful. It's about a 5-minute read that I’ve put a lot of thought into ... and it's PART 4 of a 5-part series: Overcoming The Trust Recession. Find PART 1 here, find PART 2 here, and find PART 3 here.
Overcoming The “Trust Recession” — Part 4 (of 5)
This is the fourth in a series of articles about how to beat the “Trust Recession” in the coaching & consulting market.
Part 1 outlined the reasons for the lack of trust — including the rise of A.I.-written content
Part 2 covered “Frame-Shifting”, the first of four “Trust Building” content types I’m sharing in this series.
Part 3 was all about the power of “Story-Based” content.
And today, I want to talk about something that almost no other marketing strategists are talking about …
(In fact, it flies in the face of “traditional” marketing advice.)
This is about a 7-minute read … but if you make the unconventional shift I’m encouraging here, it could literally be worth thousands of dollars in sales to you.
Let’s dive in …
Do your clients only care about the “outcome”?
So, I know you’ve heard this before:
“Clients only care about the OUTCOME” … or
“Don’t confuse them with the ‘HOW’; just show them the RESULT!”
When I first went full-time in my coaching business in 2017 …
All the Big Name “Gooo-rooos” were saying it: “Don’t reveal your ‘HOW’!”.
It was the “conventional wisdom“ taught to all transformational coaches and experts—especially those who (perhaps like you) had a complex or hard-to-explain method or modality.
And despite the massive changes in the coaching industry over the past couple of years (as the market has become extremely sophisticated and savvy) …
The “Hide The HOW” mentality is still being taught.
Why “Hiding The How” is actually faulty thinking
Here’s why I believe this mentality is faulty thinking:
The online coaching & consulting world has changed dramatically since 2017.
The market is saturated — meaning, your potential clients have seen a lot of experts talk about being able to solve the problem you solve.
Your potential clients have likely heard about or tried MANY solutions.
And if those solutions haven’t worked …
They’re now more skeptical (and more savvy!) than ever.
They don’t want to waste their time, money, and energy on something else that doesn’t work. (Can you blame them?)
And this brings me to the third type of “Trust Building” content in this series — and the way you can demonstrate that your process is different from the other processes out there. I call it:
✅ PULLING-BACK-THE-CURTAIN Content
More than the outcome … they need to understand your Unique Mechanism
Your savvy, skeptical audience wants more than just talk about “The Outcome.”
Before they buy, they need to understand the UNIQUE MECHANISM behind your approach (in other words, the “HOW”) …
They also want to know WHY your Unique Mechanism is superior to anything else they’ve tried.
Now, I’m not denying that talking about the “outcome” is still important.
Of course clients want to know how their lives will change after they’ve worked with you — the “big picture” of their transformational result.
But deeply understanding the “how” that drives that outcome is what helps your clients feel safe in investing with you …
While also making you STAND OUT from other experts who facilitate the same outcome that you do.
(Because most of them are still “hiding the how”.)
A practical example of not sharing the “how”
Let me give you a practical example of how this works.
I recently did a “Poised For Premium” audit with an expert who has a huge following, but hasn’t had a new client in months.
As you can imagine—she was pretty concerned about this! (And flummoxed, as she’s had steady clients in the past.)
Her work with clients is incredibly transformative. Once they sign on with her, they’re floored by her skill, and usually end up working with her long-term.
But new leads and clients seemed to have dried up.
During this messaging and content audit I performed for her, I spotted the problem:
Her content was mainly focused on “WHO” she is — rather than “HOW” she works.
So her potential clients know and love her, but aren’t able to “picture” what it’s like working with her. (So they’ve hesitated to sign up.)
And yet she’s an expert in her field — a groundbreaker, really. She has a unique healing methodology she’s used for 12+ years, but she wasn’t clearly communicating that to potential clients.
She was “blending in” with other experts who seemed to offer a similar outcome (but had very different methodologies).
As we explored why she’s not sharing “HOW” content, her answer didn’t surprise me (it’s something I see a lot with transformational experts):
First, she’d been coached by “conventional” marketing experts to “Hide The HOW”. (No surprise there, as I mentioned earlier.)
But mostly, she wasn’t sharing about her unique healing methodology — because she didn’t know how to. She said her methodology “felt unique to each client.”
Once I was able to show her how she could present her work as a “framework” or “process”, a lightbulb went off.
(Because she does actually have a process … even though she treats each client uniquely.)
The benefits of sharing your “HOW” with your potential clientele
“Pulling back the curtain” to reveal a “picture” of how your framework works to get an outcome does a few things to build TRUST for your potential clients.
Once they understand HOW your Unique Transformative Methodology (or your modality or other process) works … your potential clients:
Finally “GET” what you do, and how it’s different from anything they’ve tried
Become totally “on board” with your process before they start working with you — which means they are enthusiastic about the work you’ll do together (no pushback; only great results!)
See the value of investing with you (meaning they’re quicker to sign on, because they “get” the bigger benefits they’ll enjoy)
Feel safe about investing because you’ve demonstrated a framework in such detail that they are reassured that you are truly expert at what you do
Now, in my programs (especially Relaxed Organic Marketing), I teach many methods to talk about your “HOW” — not just presenting your work as a framework.
In fact, writing content about your “HOW” is one of the seven key content types you must rotate through and share in order to consistently win Exquisite-Fit Clientele from your social media and emails.
And in the final installment, we’re going to talk about the fourth (and final) “Trust Building” content type in this series …
It’s all about how to make an offer in your social media posts and / or emails …
In a way that is so transparent, authentic, and compelling …
Your Exquisite-Fit Clients will be eagerly reaching out to you.
See you there.
