Let’s talk about cancellations.
You know, when you get that wonderful “yes” and deposit (or even full-pay) at the end of a sales call…
…and then the person writes you back the next day to say “you know what, I thought about it and I really can’t afford this right now, please refund me.”
I used to be part of a coaching program where this would be a near-daily occurrence… someone would post in the Facebook group about how they got a “yes” that turned into a “no” the next day and freak out about what to say/do.
They’d invariably get all sorts of coaching about how they should get the person back on the phone and talk to them about the cost of their problem and how they can’t afford not to take action right now.
Blergh.
I got tired of reading that sort of post over and over, because I don’t think it’s our job as service providers to convince someone to take action on their problem.
I also don’t think that’s necessarily the reason why they change their mind (or say no in the first place).
It could be that they’re unsure that our program does what it says it’ll do, or they’re not sure that our method is the one they want to use to solve their problem, etc.
(I could go on and on about how condescending it is to assume that someone doesn’t want to take action or solve their problem just because they say no to you… as if you/your offer have no part in this equation. Actually, I have gone on and on about that in other posts so I’ll save it in this one 😉 )
So, want to stop getting yeses-turned-nos?
The answer is to stop rushing people.
Stop telling them that they only have until the end of the call to make a decision.
Stop making the call all about how much their problem sucks and how badly they want to solve it and not at all about how you’ll help.
It was so amusing to me that the coaching program where people were getting all the cancellations also happened to teach that you needed to always get a “yes” by the end of the call and also that you shouldn’t share too much information about your program because it might “confuse” the prospect.
Heh. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
Because guess what? When people feel rushed and don’t get much information, they tend to second-guess their decision later because it was not fully informed.
Medical professionals are required to fully inform their patients before they say “yes” or “no” to a treatment.
Patients aren’t given a deadline to decide, and they can change their mind at any time before making the official commitment of signing an agreement, paying, etc. (and sometimes even after that)
I don’t know why people think that coaching or professional services should be any different. They’re usually a big commitment of time and money, and there’s no reason to rush the decision.
Want to know how many cancellations I’ve gotten in my current business?
ZERO!
I’ve sold over 130 high-ticket programs and not one client has changed their mind after paying and getting into the program.
(Actually, even when I was trying to follow the program that taught that you should rush people and not give too much information, I still didn’t get any cancellations… I just got fewer “yes”es in the first place. I think I sometimes gave more information than we were “supposed” to 😉 which helped the people who did say “yes.” But I still did the rushing-them part which I believe lost a lot of the others.)
In my current business I use my own unique model of preparing prospects to know what we’ll do together before they ever sign up – and I think it’s a huge part of why I don’t get anyone changing their mind.
I’ve never seen any model that gives as much detail to prospects as mine does. It’s been an interesting journey, experimenting with going where no coach of my own has led me before (and specifically going where they told me not to go!).
But I’m really glad I did, because the results have been phenomenal – 1-2 clients signing up for high ticket programs every week without deadlines/rushing and without even doing sales calls! (Yep, I phased out sales calls 2 years ago and everyone signs up over Messenger now)
It turns out that when people feel like they really understand what your program will involve and are on board with it, there’s no need to rush them or give them an incentive to say yes – they’ll do so all on their own.
And when they get into the program, it’ll be exactly what you told them it would be – (of course!) because you explained it so well. They’ll feel like they got what they were promised, they’ll be satisfied and you won’t get daily requests to refund people. 😉 Imagine that.
If you’d like to know what it really looks like to give enough information to prospects, I suggest watching an epic training I did last year on how to present your offer in a 500-word post:
I also suggest watching a recent training of mine on how to write posts that generate leads – these posts give even more detail than what’s in the 500-word offer:
You can also read a lot of examples of these kinds of posts from me and my clients in my free Facebook group – check the hashtags “offers_approved_by_eleanore” and “belief_shifting_posts_approved_by_eleanore” under “Group Topics.”
Clients and I have collectively made millions from these posts – and not only that, but we have drama-free businesses because our prospects need no convincing and there’s no friction before, during, or after the sale.
Check out the resources and let me know if you have questions.
Also let me know (via Facebook DM) if you want help implementing these methods. I help my clients with this in my 1:1 30-day intensive program.
More info on that program is available here.
You can also send me that Facebook DM if you’re interested in becoming certified to teach my methods to your clients. I have a certification program, and you can learn more about it here.