From “It’s Not in My Budget” to Signing Them Up

It was a potential Dream Client.

She wasn't just excited to work with them, she knew she'd could help them immensely. And things looked promising. The potential client gave her an enthusiastic HELL YEAH on the call.

But then they came back the next day with this:

"After giving it some thought, I've realized that my current budget unfortunately doesn’t align with the cost of your services. I truly appreciate your expertise and would have loved to work with you."

What would you do in this scenario?

My client was so happy with the guidance I gave when this happened that she suggested I turn my response into a framework.

So that's what I'm giving you today.

You have to start by understanding that "It's not in my budget" can mean one of three things:

1. They really don't have the money.
   Plain and simple.
   
2. They have a money concern but...
   Actually have the money (or access to it) but just have beliefs getting in the way of them investing in themself. Such as "I can't/am not allowed to invest in myself like this" or "I'm not worth it".
3. They have a different concern and they're using money as a smokescreen to avoid a deeper conversation.
   When this is the situation, it could be that they don't see the full value in relation to the investment price, they aren't sure if it'll work for them, or don't believe it'll truly get them the outcome they're after.

The best way to uncover what's really going on is with genuine curiosity.

It's time to put your coaching hat on.

• Start with acknowledging what they said, ideally emphasizing with them. ("You've got budget concerns? That makes total sense as the average person doesn't have a "coaching budget"").

• Then ask a question with completely open-ended curiosity. Example "When you say your current budget unfortunately doesn't align with the cost of my services.....what do you mean by that? Then pause as long as needed. You'll be surprised at the kind of details that'll come up here if you ask it in a genuine tone.

• Now you can probe + get into deeper questions depending on what they share (after acknowledging them + what they say each time of course).

Powerful questions to ask:

• "If X wasn't an issue (X being the deeper thing they just shared re: cost/budget), is there any other reason that you wouldn't move forward?"

• Or "Aside from cost, is there any other reason that you wouldn't move forward?"

• Or lastly "If we put the price aside, what did you like most about what we've discussed so far" 

This isn't about "overcoming objections" or "being pushy".

It's about actually understanding their deeper concerns, making them feel heard, and learning. This is 1000% better done live on a call because the magic is in your tone + your ability to ask follow-up questions. So I helped my client craft a response that would allow them to get back on a video call with this person.

Not only did they agree to the follow-up chat, they signed up as a client.

Now...

Go put on your kind + curious coaching hat with potential Dream Clients who say "it's not in the budget" so you can help more people + have more impact.

See you next Saturday.

-R

P.S. Want me in your corner so you can grow your coaching business? There's one spot opening up in the Impact Accelerator later this month. You can apply here.

P.P.S. We're down to the last 18 tickets for DO BOLD SH!T!