Package or program about to expire?
Here are 11 things you want to put in place to increase your chances of clients wanting to continue growing with you!
(a.k.a How to upsell a service)
There comes a time when your client is ready to graduate and move on. But most clients move on too quickly, which results in a collapse of the new skills they've been practicing with you.
Re-enrollments and upsells can be the difference between a quick, one-off win, and lasting transformation and mastery and you becoming a household name!
On top of that, conversion rates tend to be much higher, and you have to focus less hard on your (organic) high-ticket lead generation. Because guess what, they're right there and already excited about what you offer!
Here are 11 things you want to put in place, to increase the likelihood they'll sign up for that crucial next round or continuation of a client package, so you can upsell your services:
Understand their motivation for hiring you in the first place (and remind yourself of it often, keeping it in the forefront).
Client satisfaction is a huge part of an easeful re-enrollment or upsell process. And a beautiful way to increase client satisfaction is to not forget why people choose to work with you (and at this time) in the first place. Of course, adapt if their needs change, but generally speaking… keep this at the forefront. Bring it up during calls. And talk about how they're already surpassing what they wanted to accomplish in their work with you.
Plant the seed of re-enrolment throughout your work together
Mention that most of the success stories they see in your content are from people who stuck around for a few cycles of work with you. Remind them that it's normal and advisable to re-enroll. Toward the final 3 months of working together, talk about what you see for your client long term (vision, strategy) and how you'd support them in making that a reality.Do regular client satisfaction check-ins/surveys (so they don't say no to re-enrolling because they struggled with a problem you didn't even know about).
People don't enroll for reasons that will usually make you go like, “why didn't you tell me that's what you needed?!” because they would've been easy, simple fixes or adjustments in your work together. Instead of missing these small, but crucial bits of information, make sure they share it with you regularly. And if you run a group program, potentially anonymously as well.Leadership/curiosity/calling it out (immense trust is built when you are willing to see the question underneath the question).
Re-enrollments happen when your clients feel you see that next iteration of who they are (and desire to be) and hold them to that. The moment they feel you're letting them off the hook, because it's uncomfortable to push through that painful moment together, trust erodes and the likelihood they'll sign up with you again steeply declines.Creating a vision for after the program (think: how can you help them into something much bigger than they'd even thought was possible within the next 6-12 months?).
They need to be excited about moving forward with you, and not see it as a “I'll stick with what I know” kind of choice. Because that would feel like the safe choice, and you don't want to be the safe choice, you want to be the expansive and exciting one.Make them excited about upcoming program optimizations (what's changing, what kind of support and resources will be added next time around?).
Our work evolves. So do our offers. Make your clients a part of your process of improving and optimizing. Share upgrades. Announce it when you're adding another layer of support etc. This way, they know that they're not signing up for another round of the same thing, they're signing up for the 2.0.
Upsell them with a special bonus (what will recurring clients get as a thank you?).
Add Voxer support. Some extra 1:1 time. A private retreat. A session with a complimentary service provider. Depending on the investment, and your own cash flow positivity and budget, have fun adding in something that'll knock their socks off and make re-enrolling feel really special and like an experience uniquely crafted for them.Create a culture of celebration (it reminds them they're progressing!).
People forget to celebrate. And because they do, they also forget the incredible milestones they've reached through working with you. By downplaying themselves, they downplay the work they did with you. Celebrating wins throughout, and definitely during the last couple of calls, is crucial if you want them to re-enroll.Invite them to send you referrals (every time they talk about your offer, they're enrolling themselves all over again).
It's true. Every time they have an enrollment conversation on your behalf, they sell themselves on your offers all over again. This is why I recommend creating an incentive for sending you referrals so that your clients give it some priority. Every time they see someone they've sent you succeed, they're intimately reminded that their referrals and they themselves are in good hands.Have a clear client trajectory: can they graduate to a new level?
If you can bake a “now that you've graduated from phase #1, and you're ready for phase #2, …” type argument into your enrollment conversation, do it. It makes your client feel accomplished, and excited about that next level of mastery. You can do this for both private client work and group programs. You can also retroactively make that shit up.Keep building credibility (don't think that because they're in your program “they're in the bag,” keep wooing and impressing them!).
If you want to give the enrollment process a helpful push in the right direction, post case studies, testimonials, and other credibility markers when you're in the process of pitching people to re-enroll for another season. In other words, don't take their yes for granted, even if you've done good work together.Would you like to go deeper and get support to make this happen… Book a call and let's talk.
© 2022 Merel Kriegsman Media. For permission to reproduce or repost this post, email team@merelkriegsman.com