The key to having high-quality marketing is to have a high-quality offer! So for today’s post, I’m going to dive into Merchandising – my signature tool to help my clients build an offer that attracts Rich Clients.

Let’s start out with a banger, shall we? What is merchandising and why the heck should you care!? 

What is Merchandising

I won’t bore you with the techy details but Merchandising is the combination of your strategy for the price, client experience, buyer, and messaging. It is predominantly used in the product-based industry, but it’s such a valuable concept that I wanted to teach it to service providers as well!

Traditionally in the online coaching industry, you are taught that

1. Your ideal buyer is basically the same thing as your niche
2. Your price is something you just pick at random, or you choose based on competitors 
3. Client experience is a systems thing, and all you need is a client management tool and you can put anything you want in your offer. Just look to your competitors to see what to include. 
4. Messaging is about creating engaging content that gets comments and likes that eventually lead to sales.

 

Merchandising is the exact opposite of this. Merchandising does not view these as individual things instead it brings all 4 of these things together to create a cohesive offer. When you have a cohesive offer you can then position that offer to solve your clients’ problems. You know who you are talking to, why they should buy from you, and how you fix their issues. 

Fixing issues is how you create demand. That is the differentiator between why someone would want to buy from you today versus a year from now. It’s how you get your audience to go from “she’s cool..I can’t wait to work with her” to “ I gotta find the funds because I need her offer asap”. 

Here’s an example of a well merchandised offer: My 1:1 coaching 

Industry-standard: Just pick a niche and talk to people in your niche

My Merchandising Strategy: Pick a specific person. In my 1:1 coaching I work with grad students, 9-5 workers who have very demanding scheduler. They are high achievers, highly skilled at their craft, and want to learn how to turn their unique expertise into a business. 

Industry-standard: choose any price for your coaching offer that is similar to what other coaches charge.

My Merchandising Strategy: Let your buyer influence your pricing structure. My monthly installments are 6 months long and less than $1,000 a month to accommodate the lifestyle of an emerging entrepreneur. My buyer has student loan debt, kids, and is currently using their full-time income to build their brand. They have alot of expenses!!  

Industry Standard: Add things into your service based on what other coaches are including. 

My Merchandising Strategy: I intentionally do 2 calls a month instead of 4 because I know my buyer is busy and may not have time to meet each week. I also offer call times that are later in the day to accommodate their school and work schedules. I also include Voxer coaching M-friday so that my buyers can receive business coaching & get their questions answered even while they are at work, on their commute or walking between classes. 

Industry standard: Make engaging content like reels and tiktoks to draw in ideal leads. Create How to content, and showcase the value of your offer. 

My Merchandising Strategy: For my content I don’t focus on the style of content I focus on messaging that positions my offer as the solution to their problems and needs. I teach them how my coaching helps them market their business even with a demanding schedule. I talk about how my coaching can help them take their corporate expertise and build a business. I highlight all the transformations my coaching offer provides and I’m positioning myself as the one who can help them solve their problems. 

When you use merchandising to create your offer then every single detail of your offer is specific and intentionally suited to your ideal buyer. 

Once you have a cohesive offer you need to focus on marketing so that people know you have the solution they are looking for.

Ok but how do I even know if I need this. I mean my offer isn’t merchandised and my marketing still seems fine? 

Well you can tell you need merchandising if 

• The majority of your audience likes your content but signing a client feels really difficult. 
• It seems like you are making great posts, and you have some brand awareness but trying to get people to book takes forever. 
• People are constantly in your Dm’s telling you
  • “I love your stuff! I’m saving to work with you,” 
  • “I’m going to come back in a few months when I’m ready for your offer”. 
  • “I can’t afford you right now” 
• You are slowly getting clients but all your clients are Broke clients & not Rich clients. 

 

This is happening because people don’t see you have the solution they need now. They see you as a nice to have which is why they aren’t in any hurry to pay you. 

If you are tired of just being on someone’s “dream coach wishlist”, then you have to tell them why and how you solve their problems. They don’t care about how cheap the offer is, or how expensive it is. They don’t care about how many worksheets you have. They only want solutions. 

For example: I could sit here all day long and tell you how amazing merchandising is. But the real thing you wanna know is…. Why should I care and how will merchandising make me money?

That’s why this blog post is not focused on me blabbing about how I have 10years of experience in this field.  Instead I’m very clearly saying

• This is what merchandising is so you understand the concept
• Here’s how it fixes your marketing (My client #1 issue is they are struggling with marketing)
• Here’s how it helps you make money (the result all my clients want)

This is exactly how you should be creating content. Explain your method and how it fixes the problem and gets them the result they want. 

What Happens Once you have a Merchandising Strategy

When buyer, price, client experience & messaging work together, you will have a cohesive offer that is well-positioned and easy to sell. You officially have the solution to your clients’ needs and you understand exactly how your offer fits your ideal buyers’ lifestyle, business etc. 

This merchandising strategy opens the door for you to sell your offer anywhere and still attract leads. 

And here’s why. Once you have the solution to your clients’ problems

1. You can get your current audience (let’s say on IG) to follow you to a new platform. This is how I was able to get my IG followers to join my email list without a freebie and how I got subscribers to my podcast. They tuned into those mediums (despite them telling me they didn’t want to LOL) because I was sharing information that solved their issues. 
2. You can get a new audience from a new platform. Let’s say you want to start a LinkedIn page but you’re worried because the majority of your followers are on Instagram. You can still get new leads on LinkedIn even if you are brand new simply because the content you create will be relevant to the problems they have. 

 

That means you will have the luxury to choose marketing methods that suit their schedule 

You can 

1. Write emails in between classes at grad school
2. Write your blog on the commute home from work
3. Schedule your LinkedIn posts on your lunch break instead of designing IG graphics. 
4. Or sign clients from the treadmill like I did during my morning workout routine. 

 

You can ditch whatever medium is currently causing you to feel overwhelmed and choose a marketing platform you can consistently be on.  No more forcing yourself to be on Instagram just because everyone is there. No more stress about how to get people on your email list even though you don’t have a lead magnet. 

You can take back control of how you want to sell your offer and you can grow your brand even with a busy life.

In my 1:1 coaching, I teach my clients how to merchandise their offer so that they can create urgent demand for their services. Without price discounts, or “limited spots” type of marketing. Then I help my clients use omni-channel marketing so that they have the freedom to sell their offer wherever they want. 

Here’s how it’s gonna go down: 

We kick off your first coaching call with a workshop to merchandise your offer so that everything is cohesive. You’ll get all your questions answered about your offer, who your buyer is, what price to charge, what you should be saying to sell the offer, and more on day one. You won’t have to flounder for months with lingering questions. 

Then once we are clear on the offer we will build out your omni-channel marketing strategy so you can learn which platforms beyond Instagram are the right fit for your business. I’ve had clients who have always wanted to start a blog, finally launch the blog, and start signing clients from it. I’ve had clients decide to cancel their podcasts and switch to email. I help you transition into the content medium you want and I help you create messaging that will attract the right leads. 

We will create your merchandising and marketing strategy in one day. Then we will spend the next 3 months together selling your offer!!

I can’t wait to be your coach! 

Sign up for 1:1 coaching here! 

PS: If you are reading this before May 11th there is a bonus to get a 4th month of coaching for free!