Coaching Business Development

Demand generation ≠ lead generation. Not knowing the difference is killing your business: One is about visibility and interest in your business.  The other is about actual conversions that generate revenue. You need both to feasibly grow a business. Putting the mechanisms in place early will help a lot down the line. Here's a clear breakdown of each: 🫴 Demand Generation ↳ Build awareness and interest before buyers are ready to purchase. Role: Create trust and visibility across your entire market. Where it sits: Top of funnel—before people are ready to buy. Who it targets: ~95% of your total addressable market, many of whom are unaware. Tactics: - Ungated content - Thought leadership - Educational videos - Newsletters - Communities Mindset: Provide value up front so buyers trust and remember you. Difficulty: - Hard to measure with traditional metrics - Requires consistent, value-led content - Takes time before it shows pipeline impact - Must work with sales alignment - Needs strategic distribution channels How success is defined: - Brand recall and recognition - Trust and expertise established - Increase in high-intent inbound over time - Higher conversion when buyers are ready - More efficient pipeline overall 🤝 Lead Generation ↳ Capture contact information and convert people showing buying intent. Role: Move ready buyers quickly through validation to a sale. Where it sits: Mid/bottom of funnel—when people are ready to talk to sales. Who it targets: ~5% of your market that is meaningfully ready. Tactics: - Landing pages with forms - Gated eBooks - Demos - Free trials - Direct-response ads Mindset: Capture and move them through validation to a sale. Difficulty: - Easier to count leads and MQLs - Shorter feedback loops - Conversion optimisation is measurable - Risk of low-quality leads - Can feel productive without creating demand How success is defined: - Number of leads captured - MQL and SQL counts - Short-term conversion from form fills - Immediate pipeline contribution - Optimisation of capture mechanisms Lead gen might be more measurable and feel productive. But the pipeline will dry up if you never build demand. ✅ Demand generation fills the top of the funnel with buyers who trust you. ✅ Lead generation converts that trust into sales when buyers are ready. But be warned, AI is shifting demand generation as we speak.  You need to think beyond Google to the new places customers search... Namely ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and other AI platforms. Not to worry - we built Searchable to help you prepare for this.  It ensures your business gets cited where it needs to be for demand gen. So you can convert that awareness into warm leads and customers. Start your 14-day free trial and see how you get on:  https://lnkd.in/epgXyFmi ♻️ Repost to help other founders increase their revenue.  And follow Chris Donnelly for more on building and scaling businesses. 

I've watched 1,000+ sales pitches fail for the exact same reason. After coaching some of the best AEs in tech, I discovered the real problem isn't what you're saying—it's the entire framework you're using. Most companies create pitch decks that brag about themselves. This NEVER works. Customers don't care about your products. They care about their problems. For years, I've taught my private coaching clients a framework that's completely transformed their close rates. I call it the 5 P's of Pitching: 1/ PROBLEM What high-level business problem do you solve? This must matter to executives—not technical teams. If you sell CRM, your problem isn't "manual data entry." It's "rep underperformance" or "missed forecasts." 2/ PRIMARY REASON Why does the problem exist? Nail the root cause. "Leadership has poor visibility to pipeline and no accurate way to predict which deals will close." Articulating this builds immediate credibility. You speak their language. 3/ PAIN What metrics are suffering because of this problem? Missed forecasts lead to plummeting stock prices, revenue shortfalls, and sales layoffs. This is where you make it personal for the decision maker. 4/ PROMISE How does your solution address the PRIMARY REASON for the problem? "Our AI-driven forecasting prevents inaccurate manual forecasting and low deal visibility." Don't list features. Focus on solving their specific challenge. 5/ PAYOFF What metrics will improve when you solve their problem? For CRM: improved quota attainment, rep productivity, and accurate forecasting—all driving revenue and profitability. The 5 P's framework works because it's centered on the customer, not on your product. The best part? It takes 15 minutes to build and dramatically increases your close rate. If you want a copy of the 5P's template I use with my clients, comment TEMPLATE below.

17,000+ coaches saved this. Most were making the same mistake: They built their business on effort instead of systems. Most coaches: undercharge overwork and rely on guesswork Not because they’re bad. Because they’re missing structure. More content won’t fix that. Systems will. So I stripped everything back after 20+ years coaching… …and built this: A complete coaching system on one page. Here's what's on it: - The GROW Model Reimagined: Beyond basic goal setting - Client Acquisition Funnel: From stranger to paying client - The 5-Layer Session Structure: Never lose track again - Revenue Per Client Calculator: Know your numbers - The Trust Equation: Building rapport in minutes - 90-Day Client Onboarding Map: Set expectations early - The Breakthrough Framework: When clients get stuck - Pricing Psychology Matrix: What to charge and why - Energy Management for Coaches: Avoid burnout - The Referral System That Works: Turn clients into advocates - Difficult Conversation Navigator: Handle resistance - Business Development KPIs: Track what matters - The Coaching Presence Formula: Command any room - Client Retention Strategies: Keep them coming back - Market Positioning Canvas: Stand out from other coaches - The Boundaries Blueprint: Protect your time and energy 16 frameworks and tools. One page. Built to be used, not just read. These are the systems behind 17,000+ saves. Most coaches don’t fail from lack of effort. They fail from lack of structure. This fixes that: https://lnkd.in/eK92iBkm If you’re building a serious coaching business, save this.

How I sold $200K+ without sales calls this year: (step-by-step guide to start using today). Let's go! 1) Create Your End State The "End State" is what your client is seeking. For example, here’s mine: “Craft your $10K coaching offer and turn it into $50K/Month.” You might be thinking: “Cool, but my offer isn’t tied to revenue.” No problem. Here’s a framework: - [undesirable situation] to [desirable outcome] - Example: “Master your inner-critic and become the leader everyone wants to follow.” Here’s one for a Career Coach: “Craft your ‘Value Story’ and turn your experience into a 6-figure salary.” Here’s a short n’ sweet one: “Become the person everyone wants to hire.” 2) 3-Stage-Outcomes Here, your goal is to communicate 3 checkpoints that lead to your final outcome. The checkpoints intensify from introductory to advanced. They give buyers the pathway they’ll walk with you. Think of it as solving 1 problem at 3 stages: A) Introduction B) Intermediate C) Advanced This protocol inspires confidence vs selling with crazy guarantees. For this exercise, we’ll use my offer to illustrate: Stage A) Introduction List the first big outcome they need to achieve. In my offer, this is “Constant Leads.” A Coach who Closes always has someone to sell to. They know how to create clients from scratch. They don’t wait for "organic only” to win. Stage B) Intermediate Here, you build upon the first outcome. For example: If achieving “Constant Leads” is step 1, then closing those leads is step 2. This stabilizes revenue flow and enables mind-freedom. Stage C) Advanced Now, bring it altogether. If you get Leads + Conversion then it’s time to deliver. But we don’t want to serve in a way that’s unscalable. So, in this stage I teach clients how to build a coaching enterprise without working 80-hrs. Their journey starts by fixing the leads issue. It advances by enhancing conversion rates. It stabilizes with the right model. 3) Timeline for Success No one builds this overnight. Show buyers the timeline for each stage of their journey. You can use a range of time for each stage: Stage A) Weeks 1-4  Stage B) Weeks 5-12 Stage C) Weeks 12+ This makes the journey more digestible. Now, the hard part: Put this into a 3 page document. This is the document you're going to send to potential buyers in the DM's. Page 1) Overview of end state and the outcomes Page 2) Timeline for each outcome stage Page 3) Pricing, Recap, CTA This document forms the “pathway to the outcome.” They get well-informed so they can make a decision. It's exactly what you want: informed, qualified buyers. And here’s the easy part: I’m hosting a FREE strategy session about this guide tomorrow at 12 PM CST. I’ll teach deeply, then answer your questions. Free Zoom registration here: https://lnkd.in/d6DvzKq2 BONUS: I’ll outline a pricing model to help you sell a “reason to act now.”

If I had to start my 6-figure business, this would have been my first few steps (with a real example at the end) - Step 1: Identify Your Unique Value Implementation: - Complete a "Before & After" grid: List what clients experience before working with you (pain points) and after (benefits) - Use the "So What?" test: For each feature you offer, ask "so what?" until you reach the true benefit - Tools: Miro for visual mapping, Google Forms to survey past clients about what they valued most Step 2: Analyze Your Competition - Create a simple competitor matrix: List 5 competitors across the top, key service features down the side, mark what each offers - Highlight pricing, deliverables, timelines, and guarantees to find underserved areas - Tools: Ahrefs for keyword research on competitors, notion for tracking competitive intelligence Step 3: Define Your Ideal Client - Draft a "Day in the Life" scenario for your ideal client, focusing on their challenges and objectives - Plot clients on a 2x2 matrix: "Easy to Work With" vs. "Profitable" to identify patterns in your best clients - Tools: Make Persona for creating client avatars, LinkedIn Sales Navigator for researching prospect profiles Step 4: Craft Your Offer - Write your offer using the PAS formula: Problem-Agitation-Solution in under 100 words - Create a bulleted "This Includes/This Doesn't Include" list for clarity - Tools: Hemingway Editor to simplify language, Loom to record a 60-second pitch for testing Step 5: Test and Refine - A/B test two versions of your offer in outreach emails or discovery calls - Track conversion metrics: inquiry-to-call and call-to-client ratios - Tools: Calendly for tracking booking rates, TypeForm for collecting prospect feedback Real-World Example: BEFORE:  "WordPress development services at competitive rates." AFTER:   "7-day WordPress sites for fitness coaches that convert 30% better, with same-day tech support and DIY training included." This focused offer speaks directly to a specific client's needs, timeline concerns, and desired business outcomes. Hope this helps!

If I was launching my first coaching business, here's what I would do: I would *not* try to be the next Tony Robbins or build a million-dollar empire. Other coaches might judge this, but here's why you should think SMALLER and aim for a steady $5k-10k/month instead: 1. It's surprisingly simple to get a coaching business working. (At Paperbell we see this ALL THE TIME.) One extreme is trying to fill stadiums, the other is helping one person at a time. Most successful coaches are somewhere in the middle. Smaller goals mean no team to manage, no complex funnels, no expensive masterminds to run. Just you, your expertise, and clients who need help. 2. It's much easier to start small without debt. If all you're trying to do is replace your day job income, you can very likely find 10-20 clients who need exactly what you offer. You won't need a massive marketing budget or perfect branding. You just need to solve real problems for real people. 3. Your odds of success are exponentially higher when you aim achievable. The coaching industry stats are brutal - most coaches never make more than $1,000. But coaches who focus on steady, sustainable growth? They're the ones still in business 5 years later. As a newly certified coach, you probably don't have the skills yet to run a coaching “empire” nor do you need them. 4. You'll learn INVALUABLE lessons getting to $5k months. Just because you're not launching a global coaching brand doesn't mean you won't learn the exact same fundamentals. You can learn SO MUCH about client transformation, pricing, boundaries, and systems by focusing on your first 10 clients. 5. You can scale up once you've mastered the basics. Start with 1-on-1 coaching at $500/month. Once that's full, add small group programs or raise your prices. This is how sustainable coaching businesses grow - not through overnight success, but consistent expansion. 6. You'll reach coaching "freedom" faster than you think. While other coaches are burning out trying to hit 7-figures, you'll be working 20 hours a week with clients you love, making more than your old job. That's the real dream - not the Instagram fantasy, but actual freedom to live your life while helping others. The most important rule of coaching success is simple: Stay in business long enough to master your craft. Other "gurus" will push you to scale faster, charge more, and build complicated funnels. That won't help you become the coach you're meant to be. Focus on getting great results for a small group of clients. The rest will follow. And if you want a platform that can host your coaching site for you with your packages, payments and scheduling tied right in check out Paperbell. You can actually go live for free without a credit card, here's the link: https://ppr.me/9033

This is for everyone. Entrepreneurs, professionals, business owners, job seekers. You send emails nobody replies to. You make presentations people forget the moment they leave the room. You pitch ideas that don't land. It's not because your work is bad. It's because your message isn't clear. I just finished Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller and honestly, it changed how I think about communication. His one line that stayed with me: "If you confuse, you lose." Most of us make the same mistake - we make ourselves the hero. We talk about our experience, our process, our features. But the person on the other side of your email, your pitch, your slide deck? They don't care about you. They care about themselves. Their problem. Their outcome. That's exactly what the SB7 Framework fixes. 7 steps. Works in emails, presentations, proposals, pitches - anywhere you need to communicate. 1. Character: Who is your audience? What do they want? 2. Problem : What's frustrating them? Go deeper than the obvious - the internal problem always matters more. 3. Guide : Position yourself as the guide. Lead with empathy, back it with credibility. 4. Plan : Give them a clear path forward. 3 steps. No jargon. No confusion. 5. Call to Action: Be direct. Tell them exactly what to do next. 6. Avoid Failure → What happens if they don't act? Make the stakes real, not dramatic. 7. Success: Show them what life looks like after. Specific. Tangible. Worth wanting. Use this the next time you write an important email. Or build a client proposal. Or present to your leadership team. ----x------- This post itself follows the SB7 framework. You were the hero. Struggling to get people to listen, act, respond. The framework was the plan. I was just the guide. The CTA - Use it in your next communication. The failure - Keep sending unclear messages and keep getting ignored. The success - Emails that get replies. Presentations that get remembered. Pitches that convert. That's what clarity does.

I’ve managed 100+ AEs and run probably 100,000 deal reviews. If I got $1 every time we crowned our Main Contact our ‘Champion’, I could've bought a Tesla Model X by now (the meme Will Aitken made for Aligned nails it👇). Here are the 8 biggest mistakes AEs make when selling with champions—and the fix: 1. Main Contact ≠ Champion I admit, it feels good having someone update you on every detail of a deal and doesn’t give you a hard time. But that doesn’t necessarily make them a champion. Can they truly influence execs? Are they willing to fight politics and budget? Motivation is great, knowledge is great—but not enough to close a deal. 2. Settling for One Champion While having a real champion is great, you shouldn't stop there. Latest stats show deals involve 11 stakeholders—That’s a lot of opinions… When two more people make the case together, decision risk drops, and they’re far more likely to get everyone on board. Also, champions can leave or lose political battles—If you can, don't settle on one. 3. Thinking Execs Will Care Executives are busy, stay high-level, and rarely have time for your 25-slide pitch. They need to hear a concise, compelling case—fast. If you don’t help your champion distill it down to a crisp 1-pager or bullet-proof 10-minute deck, the exec will pass or default to “Let’s hold off.” 4. Overestimating Champion Motivation More often than not, reps send champions 5 decks, 4 white papers, and 7 case studies, overestimating their motivation. And if they do have that level of time, are they even real champions? Keep resources minimal, targeted, and easy to share internally. Less confusion = more clarity = faster decisions. 5. ‘Blue Bird’ Champion? Not a Strategy Letting your champion 'work their magic' while you watch from the sidelines is wishful thinking. Co-sell with them: schedule joint calls, get their feedback on internal pushback, and arm them with tight value narratives. 6. Zero Internal Coaching Building on #5, your champion will present your solution in front of their team—have you coached them on your solution’s top 3 outcomes? Do they know how to handle “We have no budget” or “We tried a similar tool before”? Don’t let them wing it. 7. No Mutual Plan, Just Hope Feeling good about your champion being strong enough to lead the way? That’s how deals die. Yes, they know their internal politics, but you know how to buy in your category. Combine both skills. A mutual plan > following hope. 8. ‘Decision Maker’ Myth It’s 2025, and committees rule. There’s rarely a single all-powerful Decision-Maker. Identify both ATL (exec-level) and BTL (manager-level) stakeholders. Use your champion to bring them into the conversation early and build consensus from the ground up. First on the problem, then on the solution. —— Buying decisions happen when you're not in the room. You either influence them by building Champions right, or dance around in circles with a Main Contact. Choose which salesperson you want to be.

Demand. It's a word we throw around a lot in B2B marketing. But what does it mean? Lately, I've been wrestling with this. I think we need to broaden our thinking. For too long, "demand" has been synonymous with "leads."  Sure, leads are important. But they're just one piece of the puzzle. Actual demand is much deeper. 👉🏾 It starts with intent. Do you know if your target accounts are actively researching solutions like yours? Are they engaging with content related to your industry? This intent is a powerful signal. It's more valuable than a simple name on a list. 👉🏾Then there's value. Are you communicating the value you bring to your customers? Are you addressing their specific pain points? Demand is about creating a desire for your product or service. 👉🏾And let's not forget problem awareness. Are your target accounts even aware that they have a problem you can solve? In this case, #demandgeneration can involve educating the market and highlighting unmet needs. 👉🏾It can also spark a realization. So, how do we measure demand in this broader context? ✔️We need to look beyond lead volume. ✔️Consider engagement with our content. ✔️Track website traffic from our target accounts. ✔️Monitor social media conversations. ✔️Analyze intent data. It's about understanding the customer journey, building relationships with key decision-makers, and becoming a trusted advisor. As Gartner states: "Demand generation establishes brand identity and reputation for long-term success, while lead generation captures contact information of potential buyers to drive sales in the short term." This resonates with my thinking... #b2bmarketing #ABM #marketingstrategy

I struggled to get clients, but I found a way out. Here is what I’ve learned the hard way to build my coaching business: ❌ Mistake 1 : Selling Coaching, Selling Processes ✅ Lesson : No one wants to buy coaching. People want to buy OUTCOMES. Share success stories, create possibilities. ➡️ The Shift: Once I understood this, my conversion rate jumped from 20% to 80%. How? By asking the magic question: "What would SUCCESS look like if we were to work together? ❌Mistake 2: Wanting to coach everyone because….“If I “niche down”, I will reduce the number of potential clients”  ✅Lesson: This is the exact opposite. To survive in this crowded industry, differentiate yourself. Narrow down your niche. ❌Mistake 3: Loving coaching, despising the business of coaching  ✅Lesson: Leverage and invest in your coaching skills to become a great salesperson: 1. Listen with empathy 2. Understand pain points 3. Ask powerful questions 4. Create a sense of urgency for immediate action. ➡️ Remember: Your coaching skills are your business superpowers. ❌Mistake 4: Being afraid to post on Linkedin, afraid to be judged. ✅Lesson: People might judge you but people will see you. Stick to your values. Stick to your mission. Share how you want to help and the impact you want to make.   LinkedIn is the best platform to create awareness and generate leads. ➡️ Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. What would you add in # 5 ? What lessons did you learn? I am Geraldine, founder of GoMasterCoach PS: If you enjoyed this, save it and follow me for more on coaching and leadership in future. #mistakes #entrepreneur #business