You may have heard me say, "the riches are in the niches". Far too often coaches and trainers define themselves by the sport they coach, rather than by who they serve and what specific promise or outcomes they are experts at producing. 

This is a huge mistake. 

Consider the following pairs of sentences: 

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

I coach baseball.

VS.

I'm a hitting specialist that helps aspiring college players increase their exit velocity to double their odds of getting recruited to a D1 school. 

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
I teach golf.

VS. 

I help golfers take control of their mental game so they can enjoy their sport and become a single digit handicap in 12 months or less. 

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

See the difference? 

Just knowing the sport you coach isn't enough information for most clients to choose you over the competition.  It's far more helpful to focus on the outcomethat you help your clients produce. When you're too vague, athletes (and/or their parents who often pay for your coaching) will have a harder time understanding why they should give you their business. 

The more specific you can be, the better. 

Being  outcome-oriented and  hyper-specific about your pitch attracts clients that will benefit most from your coaching, while simultaneously pushing away those that aren't a good fit. Remember, a jack of all trades is a master of none. Don't make the mistake of making broad, sweeping promises and underdelivering on the specific skills your athletes are paying you to help them develop. 

Intuitively, we know we can't be all things to all people. Yet some of you are still afraid to really take a stance on who you work with and who you don't. 

You might be surprised to learn that by adding specificity to your pitch,  you'll create more demand for your services, not less. Make your clients prove to  you that they are a good fit – don't underestimate the power of the anti-sale! 

As homework, I want you to think about the following questions: 

  • What niche do you occupy? 

  • What are the common personas in that niche (e.g. age, gender, income, skill level, etc.)? 

  • What value/results/outcome do you provide for that niche? 

  • How can you increase the specificity of your offer to attract the right clients for your niche? 

  • Do you have any current clients that have goals outside of this niche? 

  • Where is one place in your business that you could increase the specificity of your expertise?

With these questions in mind, there are almost certainly low-hanging fruits to act on. Choose one place to make a tweak and see what happens. Maybe that's something simple like updating your website tagline, or maybe it's more complicated, like adding an "application process" to your onboarding. 

Make the change, see the improvement, and continue to iterate. 

The best coaches know their value within their niche and communicate it precisely. If you do the same your business and all of its messaging/marketing will begin to fall into place. 

Here's to taking action! 

P.S. Like this content? Hate this content? Think we’re missing a topic in our growing content library? Submit any and all feedback at this link. We read every submission – don’t be shy!

P.P.S. Still not a member of CoachNow PRO? Click here to sign up for a free 7 day trial and receive 15% off your first year. Hundreds of coaches are raving about PRO - we’d love to have you on board!