I remember when I first started out in business I had an idea of what a “business person” looked like and seemed like. She wore a blazer, had a photo of her in a bland background with her arms crossed, and she was TAKEN SERIOUSLY DAMMIT.
At the time, this was a far cry from where I was at, and who I actually was, which was an alternative lifestyle person only a couple years out from being a touring musician in a “down and dirty three chord rock n roll band.” I was only a couple years out from showing up in leopard print platform wedges to a Hollywood party where I entered through the back door with a famous legendary rockstar.
Nothing about me said “blazer” or “professional,” and at first, this worried me.
At first, I thought that in order to be taken seriously, I had to take all my personality away. I thought that in order to have a business, I had to not show any of the things that made me unique. But I learned a few things early on that really helped me, and I’m going to share them with you and Jess today who asks…
Dear Sally,
I’m just starting out with my coaching business and while I have a lot of passion for what I’m doing, I don’t have a lot of experience. I’m afraid that because of that, people won’t take me seriously and won’t want to hire me. What can I do to come off as professional and get more clients even though I’m just starting out?
Jess
Dear Jess,
Great question and the thing I love about your ask is that you recognize where you’re at and what fears are coming up for you. Awareness is the first step to change, so you’re already doing a great job.
I think it’s really common, especially in the beginning of business, to have some fears and doubts about your work. After all…you haven’t done it for that long, so it’s natural and normal for it to feel uncomfortable.
Whenever I think about this, I remember something I learned in coaching school which is that there is a process and four stages we all go through when we learn or do something new…
Stage 1 - Unconscious Incompetence: You don’t know how much you don’t know
Stage 2 - Conscious Incompetence: You know how much you don’t know
Stage 3 - Unconscious Competence: You don’t know how much you know
Stage 4 - Conscious Competence: You know how much you know (ie Mastery)
Most people who come to me with this question are in Stage 2…they’re newly aware of how much they don’t know, and it makes folks very uncomfortable. Often in this stage, people want to seem more competent than they are, because they’ve seen all the Instagram quotes telling them to “fake it til you make it!” but my approach to this is not in this realm.
My advice instead is this…
If you don’t quite have the skills yet to help your customers solve their problems and be excellent at your work, get the skills, by practicing with anyone and everyone. The strength of any business is your ability to help your customers and get them the results they want. If you can’t help them that much yet, practice so that you can.
Do free or cheap services in exchange for feedback. Trade or barter your services with people in a mutually beneficial experience. Get training if you need it. Making money shouldn’t be the top priority in the very beginning of business…it should be growing your skills (which…spoiler alert…money won’t come before you get these skills).
But basically, don’t pretend you’re better at your job than you are. Your reputation is really important in business, and no one likes to be duped into buying something that promises what it can’t deliver. Which brings me to…
Be honest with people about where you’re at. Transparency and honesty go a long way in business and at the end of the day, people want to be informed when they purchase something, especially something as personal and intimate as coaching.
If you’re just starting out, tell people that. If you’re doing discounted sessions in exchange for feedback and testimonials, make that super clear. Don’t be afraid to start “small and sucky” (as my mentor and colleague Marie Forleo says).
As a customer, I would MUCH rather know that a coach is new so I know what I’m getting into, than a coach who projects that they’re amazing and super skilled when they’re not. Telling someone where you’re at allows them agency in purchasing from you, which creates trust, which eventually leads to more sales.
As far as being “professional,” the good thing about having your own business is that you get to do it however you want to do it. There’s no objective such thing as what a professional person looks or acts like, so it’s important that you decide for yourself what’s important to you.
Additionally, I think it’s important to portray to your customers a clear picture of what they’ll actually get from working with you. If you’re full of wit and personality, but have a meh blazer-ish brand, that could feel out of integrity for your clients. So make sure you try to match your brand to the truth of what your customers will get when they work with you.
Personally, I wanted a business where I got to bring in my full self and full personality. Would some people not want to hire me from having a photo like this on my website? Would some people think I wasn’t professional?
Sure. But would some people, MY people, think this photo was awesome and be intrigued and want to hire me? Absolutely. And that’s what happened. From me being myself, it weeded out the people that wanted something different, and it saved both of us time, money and energy.
I hope this helped and now I’d love to hear from anyone reading this. In the comments below, let me know…
Have you ever felt like you needed to be something you weren’t in order to get more sales? How did you approach it?
I look forward to hearing from you and if you’d like to ask your own business/marketing question, drop it here anonymously.
Also…my mission is to help as many folks as I possibly can with free business advice. I believe business can be a beautiful and fun experience that allows for a life of fulfillment and freedom, instead of an overwhelming rollercoaster. I want to save you that overwhelm.
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