It’s actually not true that clients (high-ticket or not) only buy tangible outcomes. 🙂
I often have folks on my Outcome Workshops and in my 1:1 program who are really stressed because their outcome isn’t tangible and they think they have to make it so.
Often these folks offer something that is primarily about how the client feels – perhaps they feel more peaceful and contented, or satisfied with their life, for example.
Usually they’re quite relieved when I say that those are totally valid outcomes!
And they’re even more relieved when I share that I’ve personally invested high-ticket fees in coaching that had those kinds of outcomes. 😉
I think that there are four categories of outcomes for offers: health, wealth, relationships, and personal development.
(I didn’t come up with these four categories myself, but saw others talking about them and realized that I thought they were valid – especially because of the inclusion of the last one!)
The non-tangible outcomes often fall under “personal development.”
Feeling better is a real outcome.
We can’t reach out and touch feelings like we can touch a pile of cash or see our body get smaller, but they’re still real.
Even some health outcomes are about how a person feels (as are some relationship outcomes), so I don’t think that “tangible” is really the best word to describe what a client is buying, or the reason they buy.
After seeing this “tangibility” claim made over and over again, I’ve realized that I think it’s sort of a lazy or imprecise way of making a rather separate point: that we should be talking about an end result, not a process.
Like, when I would sit on calls in huge guru programs with 60 or 100 other people getting feedback on their outcomes, inevitably somebody would at some point say:
“I help professional women overcome limiting beliefs!”
And the guru would say:
“NO! That’s not a TANGIBLE OUTCOME!”
Heh.
Well, no it isn’t, but it’s also not an outcome AT ALL. 😉 So there’s that.
Overcoming limiting beliefs refers to a process, not an outcome.
And someone who signs up with a coach (especially for a high-ticket fee) will usually have a specific TYPE of limiting belief that they want to overcome, for a specific reason.
Or they might just have the “reason” and not even be aware that they have a limiting belief/beliefs.
Buuuut… the reason isn’t necessarily tangible!
It could just be, “I don’t want to feel anxious all the time when I make a call to a prospect.”
So, when I assist people with articulating their outcome, I don’t insist that it be tangible – but I do discern language around what the client would actually be wanting.
And that’s more than enough! 😉
If you want a more detailed breakdown on the different types of outcomes and how I figure out where someone’s offer fits, check out this post (there’s more on the “feelings” type outcomes towards the end).
And if you want my help to be more PRECISE with how you’re articulating your outcome (as precision tends to be the issue far more often than tangibility), that’s exactly what I work on with folks in my Outcome Workshops that I host a couple of times per month.
If you want help articulating your outcome AND building on that outcome language to create all of the copy for your entire offer (in my 500-word framework) as well as the client-attracting content (which needs to have the outcome woven in or implied), I do all of that in my 30-day private intensive.
DM me on Facebook if you’re interested in either of these offers.
Also, I’m getting ready to open up my Strong Method™ certification program that will teach other business/marketing/copy coaches how to teach my methods for all the stuff I do – especially the outcome articulation.
I’ve created a blueprint for helping almost any type of coach or expert to articulate their outcome (there’s a formula that outcomes tend to follow for different types of businesses), and the content and discussions around this will be particularly juicy. 😉
Also send me a Facebook DM if you’re interested in the certification program.