The Simple Secret to Enrolling More Clients (Part One)

Courtney Elmer  0:00  

Welcome back, you're listening to the AntiFragile Entrepreneurship™ Podcast. This is episode 156. And right now, right this second, your audience sees their world through the lens of their problem. And today, I'm going to explain why this concept is so critical to understand if you want to sell more of your products or your programs or your services. And then next week, in part two of this episode, I'm going to teach you this subtle and surprisingly simple marketing tweak that you can apply right now, to put this concept into action within your digital business. So you can increase leads in sales, without changing a single thing about your programs, or your offers. That's all coming up next. So stay tuned. 

Courtney Elmer

Globally ranked among the top shows in digital business and education, we're known for one thing, helping overworked entrepreneurs like you learn how to run your digital business like a true visionary leader, because when you get the right systems support, and structure in place, you can spend more time in your zone of genius. So if you're tired of listening to today's digital business influencers teach this same old worn out marketing strategies that aren't making you any money, it's time to take a look under the hood of your digital business and fix the engine itself. Because the truth is, you don't have to work as hard as you are right now to scale beyond six figures, and create the greater influence income and impact that you deserve. A secret to scaling starts on the back end of your digital business. This is the AntiFragile Entrepreneurship™ Podcast.

Courtney Elmer

So in case you are just tuning into the show here, for the first time, I have been running a digital business for going on six years now. And there is a major mistake that I am starting to see more and more frequently in the digital business space. I have seen it a lot within the past year especially. And if you are making this mistake, I can guarantee that this is one of the things that's causing you not to enroll as many clients as you could be. Now chances are, you're doing a lot of things right. In your digital business right now, you've probably got a decent website, you've probably created some lead magnets, you're trying to grow your email list, you've got some nurture sequences set up, you email your lists pretty regularly. Maybe you're even booking sales calls regularly, you're showing up online pretty frequently. 

Courtney Elmer

Maybe you're even booking sales calls regularly. But after spending all that time with your potential new clients on those calls, you might hear things like, oh, this sounds really great. But you know what I need to think about it, I'll get back to you. Or, well, I'm invested in a lot of other programs right now. So I just don't know if I can take this on. Or I really like what you're offering. But I need to talk to my spouse, I need to talk it over with my spouse, hmm, the dreaded spouse excuse, right? Or maybe flat out I can't afford it or it's not in the budget right now. And you know, as well as I do that, even if someone says they'll reach back out to you, they never do. And getting excuses like this, especially after doing all the work that you did to get that lead to a sales call can be so frustrating. Why aren't people buying? You've worked hard to create your offer, and you feel like it's a pretty good offer to because after all the people who have worked with you have gotten great results. You feel like you're priced competitively, you know, without a doubt that you give more value than you're asking for in terms of the price. So why is it that people aren't chomping at the bit to buy your program? Why are they lined up around the corner for months on end, waiting for other people's programs to open. But on your waitlist? It's crickets.

Courtney Elmer  4:04  

I know. It's so frustrating. And this used to stump me too. And to be honest, it bothered the heck out of me because I knew I was a good coach. My heart was in the right place. I knew people would benefit from my programs, I wasn't just trying to sell them into something. If only they could see the value in what I had to offer. This was what I used to say to myself if only they could see the value in what I had to offer. And that, my friend, is exactly what we've got to talk about here today. How to actually get people to see the value in what you have to offer. Because I can tell you this right now if they don't see the value they are not going to buy. No matter how good of a deal you give them no matter how much you discount your program. If they don't see the value, they will not buy now. This does not mean In that your program isn't valuable. 

Courtney Elmer

But it does mean that you haven't done a good enough job communicating that value to them in a way that makes them see that this is something they cannot afford to live without. So first, I'm going to walk you through two core concepts today to explain why more people aren't buying from you. And then in the next episode, I will share a bonus concept along with a very practical action plan for you to take all that I'm sharing in this two part episode series, and put it into practice in your digital business. So the two concepts that I'm sharing with you here today are number one, why features and benefits aren't enough to move a person to action action being to purchase to buy. And number two, how solving problems increases the perceived value of your offer. And I'm also going to give you some examples to help make the concepts that I'm sharing with you here today, more concrete. So I'll be sharing a lot of stories, I'll be giving you a lot of practical examples to help these concepts sink in.

Courtney Elmer

 Because a lot of people out there today are talking in theory, they're talking in theory, but they are not talking in practical application. And this can get really frustrating, especially when it comes to your digital business. Because not only do you want someone to tell you what you're not doing right what mistakes you're making, that you could stop making that would improve things right away. It's also nice to have someone tell you what you need to be doing differently in order to bring about the desired result. And I find that while a lot of people out there are talking about what you shouldn't do and what you should avoid. And while that certainly can be valuable. It's also nice to have the person who says Okay, and here is what you do need to do in order to put this in to action. And so if you've listened to the show for any length of time, then you know, I am all about the concept and the practical application. And that is exactly what I'm going to be giving you inside of this two part episode series.

Courtney Elmer

 Because when I share these concepts with our clients inside our digital business systems program autopilot, first, it completely blows their minds. And then it gets them really excited. Because in that program, one of the things we do is a deep dive into their offer. Because usually when they start working with us, one of the chief complaints is that they're not enrolling as many clients as they want to be, they might have a goal to enroll two clients a month, or four clients a month, or five, or six or eight or whatever the goal is. But across the board, no matter what the goal is, they're not hitting it. And so they've adjusted the goal, they've lowered the goal, they've adjusted it again, but they are still not hitting it consistently. And therefore their revenue is very up and down. And it becomes a feast or famine cycle within their digital business, which is very stressful. And it can be a very frustrating place to be particularly if you're in that famine cycle. And then in the feast cycle. It's just crazy.

Courtney Elmer

 And it's chaos, because you have more work than you know what to do with, believe me, I know because I have been there way too many times. And so once we start to dig into their offer and I start to get my hands on it, and I really look at what they're offering it immediately is evident to me why it's not selling. It's actually rare that I see an offer dunrite Whether it's a client we're working with or an offer that I'm looking at online for myself. Let me give you two examples. Maha copy company. They are a two person copywriting team. They're sisters. They are incredible copywriters. I follow them on Instagram, I stumbled across them on Instagram quite randomly. And I think it was just a one of their posts that got really visible, it must have gone viral I happen to see it started following them because their copy spoke to me. And it spoke to me very differently. And I loved what they do. I love how they teach. And I love the value that they deliver even just on their Instagram, the small tweaks that they teach you to make within your own copy when you're writing to communicate better with your clients.

Courtney Elmer

 So I'm a big Maha coffee fan. Now last year, they put a post out that says Okay, guys, we have 150 people on our waitlist right now. And we only have 15 spots next year to serve you. So we're going to open up applications but we need you to know that a you need to apply quickly and be we're not going to be able to serve all of you. So if you feel like you're not a fit, maybe just save us both the time don't apply that if you really feel like we are fit to work together and you were like dying to get in our inner circle here and have us work with you then you need to apply, right? So they put that post out, they opened up applications, and they sold out in less than a week. Let me be clear, they booked out for an entire year, in less than a week when they opened applications. That's example number one. Example number two, was a health program online that I was looking into recently for myself, because when I first heard about it, I was intrigued. So I went to the website, I started looking it up. But upon looking into it, I quickly realized this was not for me. And the reason why was because nowhere on the sales page, did this coach talk about how her program was going to solve my problem. She was selling me features, she was selling me benefits. 

Courtney Elmer

And she was marketing it at a steep discount. Normally, this program would have been in the 1000s, she had marked it down to just 499. And if you sign up for her email list, you could get a special code that would take the program down to 169 $169. And here's the thing, I have spent 10s of 1000s of dollars on my health if you know me, you know my story. I overcame a severe eating disorder and mental health disorder. When I was in my teens and early 20s. In my mid 20s, I was diagnosed with cancer fought that one came out on the other side victorious. And here I am today, sitting here with you. And health has just been such a part of my life, learning how to take better care of myself better care of my body, to listen to my body. And I've shared as much here on the show. And I have spent a pretty penny investing into my health, my mental health, my physical health, my spiritual health. But there is no way that what she was offering, as it was laid out, was going to get me to spend even just $169 Why? It's not because I couldn't afford $169. But it was because I didn't see how spending $169 was going to solve my problem, period. And that's example number two. Now we're going to unpack this together, as we move through this episode here today, because at the beginning of this episode, I mentioned that right now, your audience sees their world through the lens of their problem. There is no persuasion or sales technique on the planet, to get them to hand you their money. If they do not see how your solution is going to help them solve their problem. I need you to understand this. This is so simple. But it's so subtle, and most people completely overlook this. So let's dive into concept. Number one, why features and benefits aren't enough to get someone to press the buy button.

Courtney Elmer  13:21  

There are two major mistakes people make when they go to sell their offer. First, they're only communicating the benefits of their solution. Without considering the problem they are solving for their audience, they are talking too much about the benefits and about the solution, and about how life will look once the problem is solved. And they are not focusing enough on the problem that they are here to solve for their audience. That's mistake number one. Mistake number two is that often without realizing it, they're selling features. They're thinking that the features are what gets people to buy. A new oven comes with convection and self cleaning capabilities, right? Maybe it has all these other little bells and whistles. But at the end of the day, I guarantee you the person who is going to the appliance store to buy an oven is not buying bells and whistles, those things are nice, but it's not the reason they buy. So when we apply that to our own digital businesses to our own marketing when we speak purely about the features that we're selling and the benefits of those features, because I'll give you credit, maybe you have actually gone a step further and said okay, here's the feature, but here's the benefit of that, right? And we're talking about the feature and the benefit, the feature and the benefit. It's not enough to move someone to action, because literally no one buys features. And if you ever come across a coach who tells you otherwise, please run. 

Courtney Elmer

But to gain a deeper understanding of this, let's first define What features and benefits are. Now if you were to Google this, you would find that features are characteristics that your product or service does, or has, I like to call them bells and whistles. Benefits are what the feature does for you. So let's say your oven has self cleaning capabilities. The benefits of the self cleaning feature would be that you never have to clean your oven, it saves you time, right? So this is why a lot of times you see marketing people telling you, okay, don't just sell the features, but sell the benefits of the feature. So this is where you get an example like, Okay, we've got 32 video modules that are bite sized and easy to work into your schedule, so you can watch them at your convenience. If you're paying attention, the 32 bite sized video modules, that would be the feature, right. And the fact that they're easy to watch on demand is the benefit to you that it saves you time. And this is because what most coaches and influencers out there teaching sounds something along the lines of this customers don't care about what your product can do. 

Courtney Elmer

They care about what it can do for them. And yes, that is true to some degree. But look, this only scratches the surface of what your ideal client really wants. And failing to go deeper is what's costing you clients. Another example, let's say it's a toy, right. And on the side of the box, the feature is that batteries are included. And then it says ready to use. That's the benefit. The problem with these examples that I'm giving you is that the features and benefits alone do not solve problems. Because features and benefits are primarily logical. And if you know anything about marketing, you know that people don't buy based on logic they buy based on emotion. So let's apply this to the health coaching example that I mentioned a few moments ago. And let's say that you were the health coach who was offering me your program. And let's say my problem is chronic migraines, nothing I've tried has fixed the problem, I'm looking for a solution to this problem. And I'm also a busy mom who runs a full time digital business working part time hours, which means that every minute of every day is already designated to something or someone. So in order for me to make time for something, it has to be worth it for me. And because of that, because my time is limited. 

Courtney Elmer

I need whatever the solution is to be as quick and pain free as possible. This is why people like Advil for headaches, right? It's a quick solution promises to solve the problem with a pop of a pill takes none of your time at all, other than the time required for the medicine to kick in. Now, let's say that you're the health coach and I the migraine sufferer. I'm looking at a possible solution your program to help me solve this problem once and for all. But you're telling me that I have to watch 32 bite sized videos and then it will be convenient for me to fit this into my busy schedule. Because I can watch them on demand. Interesting. Okay. So here's where my mind goes, my unconscious mind is gonna push back on you immediately and say, I do not have time for that. Why? Not? Because I'm busy. But because I do not yet see why watching these 32 videos is worth my time. Because Nowhere have you told me how this is going to solve my problem yet, which is chronic migraines. Okay, so let's say I'm still reading your sales page, but let's pretend you haven't lost me at a choose to keep reading. And so I see 32 bite sized videos that are easy to fit into your schedule online. Okay, so I keep looking and I see okay, you include a nutrition plan with meals that I can make in 30 minutes or less. Cool, great. 

Courtney Elmer

But again, what does that have to do with my migraines? will it cost me a lot of money to buy the ingredients I need for this nutrition program? What's involved? What if it's food that I don't like? What if it's food my family won't eat? What if I have a dietary restriction? What if I get bored with this nutrition plan? What if you tell me I have to eat chicken and broccoli every night? And I'm like, No, I don't want to do that. You didn't solve my problem for me with the features and benefits, you actually created more problems for me. More reasons for me to object to your program. And so it goes all the way down the sales page as you explain features and benefits of your program to me without ever telling me how it is actually going to solve my problem. And I see this all the time. and this in itself is a problem. And it's one that's causing you to lose clients to your competition, who are doing a better job of communicating the specific problem that they solve. And the reason that features and benefits fall short is because features and benefits alone without addressing the root problem will only create more problems in your ideal clients mind giving them more reasons not to buy.

Courtney Elmer

 No one cares about the benefits of your solution. Until they understand how your solution benefits them. You can tweet that out if you want, no one cares. No one cares about the benefits of your solution until they understand how your solution benefits them. So going back to my migraine example, you've heard me share transparently here on the show before that I've suffered with chronic migraines since I was a teenager, this is a real problem for me, and you name it, I have tried it to get relief from my migraines. And it is the perfect example to share with you to help you understand this concept. Because here's the thing, through my own research, I have narrowed down what I think is causing my migraines, what I think is the root of the problem. But I'm not a doctor, I am not a migraine specialist. So I don't know for sure what my problem is. Therefore, I'm on the hunt for a specialist who can help me identify the problem, diagnose my specific problem, and help me solve the problem. And I'll be straight up with you. 

Courtney Elmer

I am fed up with general doctors who just want to prescribe medication without going deeper with me to figure out what the root cause of that problem is, I have been down that road. And chances are if you have ever experienced some kind of chronic illness or any medical issue, you might have run into that to doctors who are quick to write a prescription, but they don't have time a day to sit down with you, and help you figure out what is causing the problem that you're experiencing or rather what is causing the symptoms you're experiencing. And to figure out what's causing that specifically what the root problem is. And this is also why generalists make less money than specialists, this is a fact. This is also why today's marketing experts are telling you you need to niche down in your marketing.

Courtney Elmer  22:45  

Because as I am doing this research, literally, within the past couple of weeks, I have been looking to see if I can find a migraine specialist in my area who is not just a general neurologist, and who is not just going to write me a prescription but someone who can go deeper with me. And in all of my research, I'm thinking to myself, Oh my gosh, this niche is wide open, I can find no one who specializes first of all in functional medicine. And second of all, in migraines, particularly in women. And I'm like Goodness gracious. If there are any doctors listening to this show right now, and this is your specialty, please go get someone to help you with SEO. So you pop up at the top of the Google search that I have been doing for weeks on end now trying to find someone who can help me with this specific problem. And it's kind of funny actually sharing this story with you. 

Courtney Elmer

Because I am sitting here observing my own behavior. I am very aware of what I am doing as I am searching for a solution to my problem. And I am sharing this example with you. Because this is exactly what your ideal clients are doing when they're considering you as an option to help them. Because if I am convinced that your solution will solve my problem, then guess what, I don't care how much it costs. I don't care how many video models are in the program, give it to me, I just want you to help me. Because I believe that you have the solution. I don't care what I have to do to get it. So don't shortchange yourself by selling features and benefits. And this leads us to concept number two, which is that solving problems increases the perceived value of what you're offering. So here's where we take this one layer deeper. Here's where we as coaches, as consultants, as creators, as authors, as speakers as service providers where we say I am committed to helping my clients, which means that I owe it to them to help them see the value in what I do. offer, so that they can come to understand how it can help them. 

Courtney Elmer

And to say to yourself, that the way I help them see the value is not by selling features and benefits, but by showing them how my solution solves their problem. Now, of course, this first is going to require you to be crystal clear on what your ideal clients specific problem actually is, and more importantly, the emotional pain that this problem is causing them. And this is another thing that we work closely with our clients on, because surprisingly, very few digital business owners know what the real problem of their audience actually is. And even if they know the problem, they haven't often done the work to get clear on the emotional pain, that problem causes their ideal clients. And remember, this is important, because emotion is what gets people to buy. So going back to my migraine example, I don't know what the problem is, it is incredibly frustrating for me both to deal with the physical pain of the migraines, but the emotional cost, how it takes me out of my day to day life with my family, how it takes me out of my work, how I can't figure out what the problem is, so that I can fix it, right. 

Courtney Elmer

So you can see how one problem leads to another, that's actually a good thing. Because the more problems you're aware of that your ideal person is experiencing, the more that you as a specialist can go in and pinpoint the root of that problem, and thereby solve all the other problems that your person is experiencing. So in this example, and in real life, I am looking for a specialist, not a generalist, but someone who can help me pinpoint and identify what the problem is because they deal with this specific thing, my specific symptoms, how they specifically present every day of the week, it's what they do. I want to find this person because I want them to diagnose my problem, and tell me how to solve it. And this, my friend is the exact same thing that your ideal clients want from you. 

Courtney Elmer

So listen closely. If you want to enroll more clients, first, you've got to intimately understand what the problem is. You also have to understand what the emotional cost is from that problem. And then simply communicate how your solution solves their problem. Talking about the benefits of your solution is not enough to move someone to action, because the benefits only communicate the positive outcome of your solution. Here's the thing about features and benefits. As we've talked about earlier, they're not enough to move someone to action. But one of the reasons aside from being purely logical and unemotional, another reason they're not enough to move someone to action to purchase to buy is because benefits only communicate the positive outcome of your solution. Well, what did you just say, Courtney Elmer? 

Courtney Elmer

Hold on a second. I'm trying to follow you here. Let me wrap my mind around this. Benefits only communicate the positive outcome. So what are you telling me I have to do? Don't worry, I get it. Stick with me. Okay. Let me give you some examples. Let's say the toy example. Okay, the feature is that it comes with batteries. The benefit is that it's ready to play. Great. That saves me a few dollars on batteries. But what problem is it solving? Let me give you a fitness example. Let's say you're a trainer, and you have a 12 week muscle building blueprint. That's the feature a 12 week blueprint to build muscle. The benefit is that it's going to help you increase muscle size. So you can look shredded on your beach vacation. Great, okay, I want to look good. I want to get bigger. But what problem is it solving? Let's use my podcast program as an example, pod launch will help you launch a podcast in 90 days or less. It's a 90 day roadmap to launching a top ranked podcast. That's the feature. One of the benefits is being seen as an expert in your niche. 

Courtney Elmer

But if I left it at that, here's where people would go. They'd say, okay, great. I want people to recognize me as a respected expert. But what problem is it solving? So do you see how the benefit by only speaking to the benefit, we're only talking about what someone will be do or have once the solution once the outcome is achieved, but we're not addressing the problem. And right now because your ideal client is looking at their world through the lens of their problem. They're not yet in a place to be able to even envision themselves having the solution. If you were to tell me that once I found a solution to my migraines, a cure all something that would get rid of them forever, and you were to tell me, you'll be able to have your quality of life back, you'll be able to feel good. Again, you'll have energy. All that is great. All of those are things I want. But it doesn't help me understand the problem that I have.

Courtney Elmer

 I can't yet wrap my mind around what a life like that would feel like or look like. Because right now while I am in pain, all I can think about is getting out of pain. And this is exactly where your ideal client is. So in order to move someone to action to buy, you must appeal to both the pleasure and the pain receptors in their brain. You might have heard of the pain and pleasure principle before. And it's been proven that Headlines, news headlines, podcast episode titles, blog titles, headlines that help people avoid pain and achieve a benefit or a desire outperform headlines that only do one or the other. And as a rule of thumb, in our own testing and research, particularly here for the show, we have found that pain and pleasure headlines work the best, then pain headlines are second. 

Courtney Elmer

And pleasure headlines are third. So pain and pleasure headlines outperform time and again, second to that pain headlines work the best. And third to that pleasure headlines. So let me give you some examples. Here's a pleasure, headline. Steel, my simple visibility system. Not a bad headline. But it only addresses one side of the coin. Why would someone want to steal my simple visibility system, they want to get more visible right? To get more digital business maybe to get more leads. That's great, another pleasure headline how to write words that sell. It's a great headline. It's geared towards what the person wants, which is to sell more, right, and in this episode, we're going to show you how you can use words to sell more. That's a positive outcome. But neither of these examples address the problem. So let me give you a problem example. Three reasons you're getting overlooked in your niche. Ooh, that kind of stinks.

Courtney Elmer  32:37  

But you want to click through and find out what that is, right? Because if you relate to that, on any level, if you feel like you're getting overlooked in your niche, that's a problem. It's causing more problems for you. It's probably causing people to choose your competition more than you are causing it to feel like your email list is growing slow, or you're not booking the sales calls you want, right. So that one is a little more powerful, because it is directly addressing a pain point. Here's another one, the science behind impostor syndrome. Or even better, the biggest thing keeping you from being seen as an expert. Pain, pain, pain. So those and time and again, even though we always do a mix, we do pain and pleasure, we do pain, and we do pleasure. The pain ones outperform the pleasure ones time and again. But when you combine the two pain and pleasure, those outperform above everything. 

Courtney Elmer

So here's a good example of pain and pleasure. Why your program isn't selling like you want it to? And how to fix it. Pain and Pleasure. Do you see how this works? Now again, if this is the first time you're hearing of any of this, especially problem solution marketing, it might take you some time to really wrap your mind around this concept. And these are just a few examples from our own podcasts for this podcast that you're listening to right now. Pain and Pleasure headlines tend to outperform and pain headlines second to that a close second. But the question is why? Well, the reason is because as humans we are wired to avoid pain. And we are more strongly averse to pain, meaning we want to avoid pain more than we want to achieve pleasure. We are very risk averse creatures. We have hardwired survival instincts as part of our reptilian brains, nothing we can do to change it. 

Courtney Elmer

So if this is how we're naturally wired, then why not use that to your advantage in your marketing to communicate the value of what you offer on a much deeper level. So instead of simply telling someone how your offer, your solution is going to help them achieve some sort of pleasure or desire, how their life is going to be so great once they have this solution, tell them how it's going to help them avoid pain first, so that they can achieve the ultimate desire. So let's turn again to the batteries included example. batteries included ready to play. Again, this just communicates a positive benefit. There is no inherent problem, or emotional benefit communicated here. So let's then ask the question, what problem does having the batteries solve? Well, it's one less thing for you to think about. It's already taken care of for you. That's kind of nice. But that's a positive benefit, right? What else might it solve? 

Courtney Elmer

Maybe it keeps your kids from being disappointed on Christmas morning. Ooh, now we're talking. All right. And how would that emotionally benefit you the parent? Well, it keeps you from feeling embarrassed that you forgot the batteries, right? That being the negative emotional feeling, or unpleasant, emotional feeling of embarrassment that a parent might want to avoid. The positive side being helps you feel like a supermom or Super Dad, you know, wink, and a fist bump. Because you're the best parent in the world, you remember the battery's? Now, there are several ways to figure out the root problems of your audience. And this is the part that I love. This is where it gets fun. There are three techniques that we teach our students to do this, and I'm going to share one of my favorites with you here today. And this is actually something that I learned from my friends over at Maha copy who I mentioned earlier in this episode, so shout out to them. 

Courtney Elmer

So this exercise is to envision your ideal client as the protagonist in a TV commercial. Okay, so if you had a video camera and you were following your ideal client around, what would you see? So let's stick with the battery example. Cue scene. It's Christmas morning. The camera follows your kids running down the stairs to the tree. They excitedly grab a gift and they start ripping off the wrapping paper is literally everywhere. They're tearing the toys out of the box. They are so excited. And then the camera zooms in on their finger reaching to press the button to turn the toy on. And nothing happens. Suddenly, the camera swings around on you. And with a look of despair on your face sitting there in your robe, Half shaven with lukewarm coffee. You just realized you forgot the most important thing. The batteries, the camera pans back to the kids. They are devastated. One starts crying uncontrollably. The other throws his toy across the room, he storms off. And as soon as he slams his bedroom door, the camera jumps back to you shaking your head as if you're waking up from a bad dream. And you look at your kids pressing play on the toy. And it works. And they run off screaming and they're happy and they're excited and the dog looks up from where he's sleeping. 

Courtney Elmer

No wonder what all this noise is. And the camera pans back to you as you sip your lukewarm coffee and your robe. And you smile at your spouse with that look on your face. That says you're the best parent ever. Because you remember the batteries. You Super Dad You all right, insane. So now if you were to see that commercial around Christmas time, next thing you know you're putting batteries on your list for your next target run, aren't you? Why? Because you don't want to be the parent on Christmas morning. Who forgets the batteries. You don't want to be the parent on Christmas morning more specifically, who disappoints your kids. So now let me ask you again. What problem do batteries solve? Solve the problem of you feeling embarrassed or disappointing your kids on Christmas morning and looking like a worthless parent. 

Courtney Elmer

This is why mega corporations pay big bucks to their marketing teams Duracell. If you want to talk rights to this idea, feel free to hit me up. This is why mega corporations pay big bucks to their marketing teams. Okay, Duracell you heard that. So if you want to talk rights to this idea, feel free to hit me up. So my question to you listening is this. Do you see the value yet in communicating the benefit through the lens of the problem? Again, it may take a bit for this to sink in. Don't be afraid to come back to this episode and listen again. Because this is a concept that might seem a little foreign at first, but once you get it I promise Miss you, it is going to help you convert your leads, they will not be able to get enough of the content you put out there. And they will be knocking on your virtual door, ready to break it down, ready for the solution that you have to offer them. Because communicating to your ideal customer through the lens of their problem, some marketing skill requires some practice, you're not going to get it right on the first time.

Courtney Elmer

 And for those of you out there who see things in black and white you Type A's like me who like to dot every I and cross every T and make sure you always have the right answer. Let me be the first to tell you, there is no right or wrong when it comes to problem solution. Because chances are, the deeper you dig into your ideal clients world, you're going to recognize that they have many problems. And that your solution can help solve many of those problems. And that's where we get into offer development. Where a good solid, irresistible, truly profitable, scalable offer is one that solves as many problems for your ideal client as possible, as it relates to your specific topic. By saying as many problems as possible, don't think that I mean, general, we're not trying to solve a variety of problems. But we're trying to solve one problem and the myriad of problems that that problem causes for someone. And what I really want you to get here is that your ideal client right now is not walking around looking for your benefits. They don't care if your videos are easy to watch, they don't care if you have two videos, or 20 or 200. Or if the meals you recommend and your nutrition plan only take 30 minutes to cook. They don't care why? Because right now all they care about is avoiding pain. They see their world through the lens of their problem, they cannot fathom what a life looks like without their problem yet, which is why trying to communicate to them what their life will look like and how great it's going to be once they have this solution is ineffective.

Courtney Elmer  42:23  

So in order to speak to your person on an emotional level, you first have to get crystal clear not on what problem you think you solve, but on the real problems that they are experiencing. So put your ear to the ground in online groups and read the comments and listen. actually listen between the lines of what your current clients complain to you about the excuses they make. And start to filter your marketing message through this lens start speaking to your person through the lens of their problem. I'll give you another easy example. As we wrap up part one of this episode today. Let's say that you're scrolling your Instagram and two influencers come across your feed. Both of them are Instagram experts. Both of them have a pretty sizable following. And both promise to teach you how to grow on Instagram to now the first one has a bio that reads, I help you grow on Instagram with proven and sustainable strategies. 

Courtney Elmer

The second one's bio reads, I help you leverage Instagram to get more leads, and exponentially grow your digital business. So my question to you is, which one would you follow? The difference is subtle, but powerful. Because one of these is purely benefits focused. The other one implies a problem. Can you tell which is which? That's gonna be your homework for this episode. All right. And I want you to start looking at your digital business the same way your clients see your digital business through the lens of their problem. They are looking for a specialist who not only knows what the problem is, that is who can help them identify the real problem. But who can also provide them relief from that problem? Because it's something they deal with every day. They've got this it's what they do. You're in good hands. Right? That's what they want. 

Courtney Elmer

So in next week's episode, I'm going to be sharing a third bonus concept with you, as well as some practical ways that you can start applying these concepts within your own digital business right away to increase qualified leads to close more leads on those sales calls. And to enroll more clients in to your programs, so make sure you're following the show on whatever app you're listening on. So you can be the first to get notified as soon as Part two of this series drops. And until next time, go live your EffortLESS Life®.