Confidence communicates value fast. Learn how to show conviction in your offer, keep your tone calm and direct, remove pressure tactics, and guide prospects to a clear yes or no.
Welcome back to the Deep Dive. So if you're one of our listeners, maybe an ICF accredited coach, perhaps focusing on executive performance or life coaching or business strategy, you know the power of your work, you see transformation happen, but uh, there's always that tricky part, isn't there? Turning that incredible, sometimes intangible value into, well, consistent sales.
How do you ask for that high investment with real confidence? Okay, let's unpack this. Today we're zeroing in on a pretty specific, maybe even radical insight. We've been looking at some material from Don Markland. He's the CEO of Noomii. Uh, that's N-O-O-M-I-I, pronounced Noomii, and he has a really sharp take on the absolute biggest lever for coaches in sales, right?
And our mission here really is to pull out the core idea. Mm-hmm. How can you, as a coach who thrives on empathy and deep connection, sell effectively? Mm-hmm. You know, without feeling like you're being pushy or, well, fake. Mm-hmm. And looking at the source material, the main argument that jumps out is honestly, it's surprisingly simple.
Good. But simple doesn't mean easy. Right? Definitely not. It basically bypasses all the usual sales techniques and lands squarely on one thing: absolute confidence. The idea is that your sales ability is fundamentally tied to how much you believe in what you offer. Yeah, that's the bit that really grabbed me.
Markland puts it so bluntly. He says the easiest way, and I think that word easiest is key. The easiest way to sell coaching is just to be absolutely confident that it works. Mm-hmm. He's basically saying sales struggles aren't usually about your funnel or your script. They're about conviction. Or lack thereof.
Confidence: The Prerequisite for High-Value Sales
And let's talk about the level of confidence required here because it's—Yeah, intense. It's not just, oh, I'm pretty good. No, the source sets this incredibly high bar. It says, you need to be absolutely confident that you're the best in the world at what you do. Okay, well. Best in the world. That sounds daunting.
For our listeners who are highly skilled, that raises a question, right? Does that mean literally better than every single other coach on earth? Well, that's the crucial point, isn't it? Yeah. If you take it literally like that, comparison kicks in and boom. Imposter syndrome. Exactly. Which the source does mention as the big blocker.
Right? So reading between the lines, it seems less about some kind of global ranking. Mm-hmm. And more about owning your specific area of excellence. Your niche. So it's like, for this particular client with this specific problem they're bringing to you, exactly. You have to believe, like deep down, with total clarity, that you are the best possible person to help them solve that.
Your unique mix, your training, your experience, your approach makes you the world-class solution for them. Okay. That reframes it. So if you come from that place of certainty, then the whole sales conversation changes, doesn't it? It stops being about proving yourself and starts being about checking if it's the right fit.
Yeah. And so this is really clear about what happens if you don't have that conviction. If you, the expert in the room, don't truly believe you're the best option for this person, then they won't believe it either. Simple as that. The conversation's basically dead on arrival because that foundation of certainty just isn't there.
The Imposter Syndrome Barrier: How Doubt Kills Deals
So let's talk about that reality check. Yeah. Because we know highly trained coaches, people with amazing client results, they still wrestle with this thing. This is what the source calls the imposter syndrome barrier. Why? Why is that internal feeling so lethal to actually closing a sale? Well, think about what a high-ticket coaching sale really is.
It's fundamentally about trust, isn't it? Yeah. And managing the client's perceived risk. Mm-hmm. So when that little voice inside your head starts whispering, Am I really worth this much? or, What if I fail them? That doubt. It doesn't just stay inside your head. It leaks out. It leaks out, yeah. Yeah. Into how you act, into tangible things.
Like what? What does doubt actually look like to a prospect in that sales chat? Oh, it looks like hesitating when you state your price. It looks like rambling over-explaining your process to try and justify the fee instead of just confidently stating the outcome you deliver. Okay. It shows up when you sound almost apologetic about your rates, or you know, you jump to offering a discount before they've even pushed back.
Yeah. All those little things signal, yeah. You don't fully buy into your own value, which makes that question from the source so powerful. It asks point blank, If you don't believe what you do is the best thing in the world, how in the world are they going to believe it? Exactly. We tend to think of self-perception as just like an emotional thing, maybe something for personal development.
But Markland's framing it here is: your number one sales tool. And if your main tool is dull, the job doesn't get done. The sale falls through. Your confidence level is the price tag in a way. So for coaches listening who might be feeling anxious about discovery calls or struggling with pricing conversations, the insight here is that the root issue might not be the market or the prospect; it might start with the belief system you brought into that call. Absolutely. If your own belief is shaky, you can't expect someone else to take that leap of faith that honestly, you're struggling to take yourself.
The Confidence Transfer: From Self-Belief to Client Action
Okay, so if that self-doubt is the problem, how do we move towards projecting certainty? Let's get into the mechanism, because this is where it gets really practical, right? This is key. The source analyzes confidence, not just as a feeling, but as this transferable force. It's dynamic. Dynamic, how? It explicitly says confidence is infectious, like a cold, but a good one. Ah, okay. The implication is your self-belief doesn't just stay with you.
It actually jumps across the phone line or the Zoom screen, and it compels the other person. It's contagious, and frankly, prospects want to catch it. They're often looking for someone else's certainty to latch onto. And the metaphor used for how you deliver this confidence is so physical. Mm-hmm. It says coaches need to wear it on your skin.
That's striking. What does that even mean in practice? Especially if you're just talking on the phone? Well, it means embodying composure. Right? Your voice isn't rushed or shaky. It's measured, it's assured. Okay. It means when you state the investment, you pause. You let the silence sit there, projecting that this number is fair because the transformation is real.
It's in your posture. Even if they can't see you, it's in your breathing. It's about refusing to let the conversation slide into pleading or justification. That focus on the physical embodiment is really helpful because it suggests it has to come from somewhere deep. Not just putting on a brave face.
Exactly. You have to genuinely, truly believe that what you do changes lives. That core conviction is the engine. That's what generates the projection. They feel it, right, and that's what ultimately connects with the prospect. When they sense your confidence, they aren't just hearing confidence in your coaching techniques, per se. They're hearing your certainty about the outcome. They hear, Work with me. Your problem gets solved. Precisely. Your life will change. Yeah, that fundamental belief cuts through their hesitation, their caution about spending. It connects emotionally, viscerally, which leads us right to the payoff: the actual sale.
The Payoff: Selling by Connecting
Yeah. So if we follow this logic:
Coach builds absolute confidence in their specific niche. Mm-hmm.
Coach projects it by wearing it on their skin. Right.
That confidence becomes infectious, connects with the prospect based on the promised outcome. Right?
Then what? Then the source says the transaction becomes almost simple. The summary is blunt: When that absolute infectious confidence connects, the prospect will buy your services. It sort of strips away the need for complex closing tactics or persuasive loops. Mm-hmm. Because the core connection, the confidence transfer, has already happened. You shift from convincing to connecting.
That really pushes back against the idea that sales has to feel slimy or high pressure, doesn't it? It does. The implication is if you find yourself relying heavily on hard closing techniques, it might be a sign that your own confidence wasn't strong enough to begin with. You're using external tactics to patch over internal doubt.
Mm, good point. And linking this back to our listeners, the Certified Pros, this whole analysis is a powerful call. Really, Markland nails the goal state: Being a badass in selling your services starts with confidence. So confidence isn't just nice to have. It's the prerequisite, it's the starting block. It reframes sales ability away from just external skills and towards an internal state, a mastery of your own self-worth and the value you bring.
So what's the big takeaway here for you, the coach listening? It seems to be that all the hard work you put into mastering your coaching craft needs an equal, maybe even greater focus on mastering your own belief in that craft's value. Yeah. It means really internalizing that you aren't selling hours or sessions.
You're selling guaranteed transformations, certainty in a sea of uncertainty, and your fee just reflects that guarantee. So to boil it all down: When it comes to closing those high-value coaching deals, maybe spend a little less time tweaking sales scripts. Mm-hmm. And a lot more time intentionally, maybe even ruthlessly cultivating that absolute belief in your service and your unique power to change this specific client's life. That certainty does the heavy lifting in the sale. The self-work becomes the sales work.
Okay, so here's a final thought for you to chew on, building on that idea that confidence must be worn on your skin. Think about your most recent undeniable client success. That moment you knew you delivered, knew you were the perfect fit. If you could bottle that feeling of absolute efficacy, that certainty, what's one small visible action, or even just a powerful internal declaration, you have to make right now to prove to yourself beyond doubt that you are that world-class solution? Try bringing that energy, that conviction into your very next client conversation. Go own it.
The core strategies are based on the insights and data of Don Markland, the CEO of Noomii (N-O-O-M-I-I), a major coaching platform. His insights are derived from observing the execution and conversion rates of thousands of coaches.
Based on Noomii's data, the benchmark for high-ticket services like executive coaching is between seven and 12 follow-up activities (or "touches") across multiple channels. Stopping at two or three is often described as "leaving too early" for complex sales cycles.
Silence is often due to busyness and cognitive overload, not rejection. The core reframe is to assume busyness, which justifies persistence—provided every touchpoint is value-driven and aimed at reducing friction.
The blueprint consists of four core steps: 1) Define Undeniable Authority (based on your story); 2) Package expertise into a Tangible Program (specific outcome, clear timeline); 3) Leverage Existing Platforms (for immediate SEO and visibility); and 4) Master the Enrollment Conversation (by reframing it as coaching).
Undeniable Authority is competence validated by real, lived experience (your story or biggest achievement). It builds immediate trust because the client sees someone who has already navigated their specific challenge ("walked that exact path").
Reframe the sales call as a highly structured coaching session focused on discovery. Master The Rock (the client's urgent, costly pain/why now) and The Gem (their emotionally detailed desired future/why future). The program becomes the clear bridge between the two.
Absolute Confidence in your service. The coach must cultivate the conviction that they are the best possible solution ("world-class") for that specific client. This infectious certainty bypasses the need for hard-closing tactics, making the sale feel like pure service.
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