There is an idea out there that is costing you both clients and income and literally sinking your business.

Many service providers, coaches, and entrepreneurs think they need to have a huge list, a killer website that comes up on the first page of Google, be posting nonstop on Instagram or have a formalized and intricate sales funnel in place to make any income in their business.

And guess what? It’s a myth. Completely bogus.

The #1 way to grow your business – regardless of ANY of those other elements – is to master having 1-on-1 conversations with potential clients that get them to the point of eagerly wanting to work with you.

Whether you’re just starting out or a seasoned veteran, you can go out there right now and get clients if you know how to purposefully handle what I’ll call the “enrollment conversation.”

And that brings us to the #1 biggest mistake that many well-meaning entrepreneurs are making today:

Let’s say you are a wellness professional, coach or consultant of some kind. In an attempt to get more clients, many of you offer a Free Coaching/Consultation session, or a Free Sample Session. (In fact you may have been taught to do this in coaching school – I know I was!).

So you jump into a session in the hopes that you’ll be brilliant enough or witty enough or enticing enough for that person to say, “Wow, this was a great session, I think I’d like more of these.”

Sad to say, it rarely works out that way. Instead, your potential client says, “Thanks for the tips – I’ll be in touch when I’m done trying them!”

No new client.

An enrollment session, however, is a structured, emotional journey (in the form of a conversation) that you lead your potential client on in order to:

• Get them truly present to the gravity of their current problems and pain…

• Connect to a powerful vision of what’s possible in the future…

• See you as the “bridge” to that future…

• Make an empowered and informed decision about working with you to make these transformational changes.

Do you see the difference between this very strategic conversation and an actual coaching session? Can you also see how this is not a manipulative, pushy, or sales-y “pitch” trying to convince someone to work with you?

This kind of “free session” is a great way to connect with your possible clients on an emotional level and let them feel the cost of staying where they are and the benefits of taking the leap to move forward (by hiring you!).