I was running a discovery session the other day and asked my client this question…
“What factors influenced you when you bought your last car?”
He told me, “I’m blind.”
Embarrassed, I apologized awkwardly…
…until he interrupted me…
“But… I have a car.”
He went on to describe the leather seats…
…the rims on the wheels…
…the smooth ride.
He obviously loved his car.
Weird?
Yes.
He confessed as much…
…that owning a car he couldn’t drive didn’t make sense.
As impractical as it was…
…someone had sold a blind man a car…?
Inconceivable!
How could that even happen?
The blind man bought that car…
…not for what it could do for him…
…but for the dream it represented.
It was at that moment that I realized that people don’t buy coaching…
…they buy the dream.
Coaching is a means to an end.
The coaching your client gets can serve to help your client fulfill a desire.
That fulfillment of your client’s desire is called a ‘benefit’.
Those benefits may ultimately make some of your client’s dreams come true.
Here’s a more tangible example of DREAMS versus BENEFITS:
Let’s say a guy buys an electric drill.
He’s not buying the drill because he wants a drill…
…it’s because he wants a hole somewhere.
A drill is just a means to an end.
The hole is the benefit of having that drill.
But even that simple hole represents a dream that goes way beyond the hole.
The DREAM…
…of fixing something for your kids…
…or installing new shelving to organize your closet.
…of being the handy hero…
People don’t buy the product or service…
Whether it’s a drill…
…or your coaching.
They buy the benefits.
The drill is just a product…
…but the hole is where the value is…
…and what that hole represents…
No one really wants a drill…
…or even the hole made by the drill.
They want the dream.
It’s the same with your coaching clients.
They want the benefits that your coaching will provide…
…and the dream that those benefits make possible.
What makes a dream different from a benefit?
Dreams are like hair extensions…
…they make benefits bigger, longer, and fuller.
They put your client’s desires on steroids…
…by pushing the value beyond what those benefits alone could provide.
There are 4 main ways that your client’s dreams go way beyond plain old benefits:
DREAM BIGGER: More complicated or grander results.
When your client achieves a benefit, that benefit can trigger bigger results.
This ‘bigger’ domino effect isn’t guaranteed…
…but it might epitomize the dream that your client imagines for themselves.
EXAMPLES OF DREAMING BIGGER:
- Instead of just losing weight so your client looks good in a bathing suit at the beach, they might enter and win a bodybuilding competition.
- Instead of just making a single sale, your client could sell so much that they double their business.
DREAM LONGER: Results that are farther into the future.
The long term benefit is part of the dream…
Benefits tend to be shorter term in nature while your client has to think long term to access their dreams. On a long enough time line, almost anything your client desires might be possible.
Think about it…
- What do your client’s short term benefits make possible in the long term?
- How might a short term benefit open the door to a long term dream for your client?
EXAMPLES OF DREAMING LONGER:
- Buying an amazing house might become a dream life in the long term.
- Finding a soulmate might lead to a dream family in the long term.
- Saving money day to day might make a cushy retirement dream possible.
DREAM DEEPER: Emotions and results that are more intense, more important, and have deeper impact.
Instead of trying to get clients to buy into what they think they need…
…give them a chance to experience the depth of what they desire most.
This includes:
- Their highest aspirations and values.
- Their ideal identity for who they could become.
EXAMPLES OF DREAMING DEEPER:
- Your client achieving their ‘ideal’ weight offers the deeper dream of becoming someone who is healthy and beautiful.
- My blind client with the car felt good about it because it hit a deeper nerve for him… perhaps status or confidence.
DREAM WIDER: Results that impact more areas.
Some benefits will create a ripple effect on other parts of your client’s life…
…or even their entire life.
EXAMPLES OF DREAMING WIDER:
- If your client achieves great communication and connection with their kids, they could also improve how they manage their team at work.
- Increased income allows your client to contribute to their favorite charity.
- If your client becomes more disciplined in one area of their life, it will likely offer them broad benefits over the rest of their life.
Do you see how dreams walk the extra mile…
…beyond where benefits stop?
If you get nothing but a single benefit, the journey ends there.
The dream keeps going…
…far beyond the fulfillment of your desire.
Coaching is more valuable than most products…
…because coaching is all about the dream.
It’s not about losing the last 10 pounds…
…or making 6-figures.
It’s the DREAM beyond the benefits.
So if people aren’t buying your coaching…
…it’s because they don’t connect working with you to achieving their dream.
If you can discover your client’s dreams…
…even when they’ve forgotten them (or given up).
If you can serve your client’s dreams…
…despite the barriers your client faces.
If you can communicate your client’s dreams…
…more clearly and concisely than they can themselves.
…Then your client will automatically see your coaching as the key to their dreams.
Colette “Key to Your Dreams” Coiner
Dr. Colette Coiner, PCC, PT, DPT, FAAOMPT
Associate Dean, Master Coach University
