Episode Summary:

In this episode, Kirsten shares how to scale your group coaching program without losing intimacy. She discusses what intimacy is, why it matters, and how not hiring co-coaches actually impacts your client results.

Register for the webinar: The Team, Systems and Mindset You Need to Scale from $100K-$1M a Year, Peacefully at kirstenroldan.com/webinar.

Transcript:

*Please Note: This transcript is based on an outline and may contain typos, word switches, abbreviations, etc. These are provided for your convenience and are not proofread prior to being made available.

Hello peaceful millionaires, today’s episode is going to be so good because I’m covering a frequently asked question about how to double your enrollments and intimacy in your group program.

I have over 200 people in my group program, Million Dollar Email and I want to talk about how I’ve scaled while maintaining intimacy.

In fact I have had so many clients tell me that my group program gave them hope for groups again and made them love groups again because we’ve done such a good job at this.

In this episode I’m going to share:

• What intimacy is and isn’t
• Why you need a head coach curriculum to have intimacy
• Why hiring a co-coach is vital to your intimacy and client results
• Examples of myself and my clients and how we’ve scaled large groups that have a lot of intimacy
• 3 strategies to add more intimacy into your offers so you never have to worry about clients being mad at you for growing

So first let’s talk about what intimacy is and what intimacy isn’t.

Intimacy can be defined as feeling close, connected and supported.

When we are talking about group programs, intimacy is defined as a range of support offered to your clients for them to feel close, connected and supported without needing 1:1 face time and a small group.

Intimacy does not mean small.

You can have a large group that has a ton of intimacy. I have been in groups with thousands of people that felt very intimate.

The key to having intimacy in your group is a strong curriculum aka a head coach curriculum. 

Your clients need to get intimate with your curriculum. Your curriculum needs to get them results. Your curriculum needs to be set up in a way where another person can deliver on it for you.

I am in a group with thousands of people and I feel so connected to the coach even though I’ve never talked to her, never been on a coaching call and never ask questions in the community because of her curriculum. I really don’t need anything else.

Having a head coach curriculum is necessary for your clients to get results. If you’re worried about growing because your current clients aren’t getting the results you want, you have a curriculum problem. 

Your program right now isn’t intimate, it’s low impact and boring.

Something I’ve really had to drill into my clients is that intimacy is not possible if it’s just you.

When it’s just you, there are very limited opportunities for your clients to feel close, supported and connected. They are limited by what you personally can give. They are limited by your calendar, your preferences, your life. If you’re done, they’re done.

It’s simply not fair for your clients to purchase a program that is fully reliant on you, your group needs a co-coach and I’ll tell you why.

I had a client who was the only coach delivering in her mastermind. She thought she was doing her clients a favor by answering every slack message, taking all the calls and staying on super late so everyone got coached, doing all the reviews they submitted, and more. She thought intimacy meant her.

But she started to get resentful and frustrated. She was burning out and it was showing up in her coaching.

She ended up having a client for the first time in a long time that didn’t get the result they paid for. It shook her. As someone who is obsessed with getting their client’s results and having a robust track record, she did not expect that to ever happen.

I had been telling her for months that she needed to hire a co-coach, but she couldn’t imagine doing that. She was scared her clients would be upset and riot against her.

So when this happened, I reviewed the coaching, aka the client delivery. Immediately I found something she missed in the coaching. Something that would’ve gotten her client the result she promised. And I said one simple thing:

A co coach would’ve caught that.

It finally clicked.

I said a co coach would’ve caught that because the co coach would’ve actually spent more time with the client. But because you’ve been so overwhelmed and frustrated, you rushed the coaching and the client suffered because of it. A co coach wouldn’t have rushed the coaching because that’s their only job.

You’re trying to coach and be a ceo, so you’re missing things.

Because she cares so much about client results, she was like that’ll never happen again. So I helped her hire a co-coach that she could trust. We doubled the support channels in the program, and she had a $500K launch.

She’s about to go on a 3 week offline vacation, and she told me that she’s not worried.

One thing she also mentioned to me was that whenever she had a problem client, she would get so frustrated and want to pull away from them, which only damages the coaching relationship. But now, problem clients get double the support rather than damaging the coaching relationship.

Having a co-coach in your program is so important for your client results. You need someone that will spend time with your clients in ways you can’t. The reason why my client’s group students love their co-coaches so much is because they get more intimacy with them than the coach.

Here are 3 strategies to add more intimacy into your offers without 1:1 face time with you so you never have to worry about clients being mad at you for growing:

1. Define intimacy in your community

• I define intimacy as speed and convenience. I believe my clients receive the most intimate support when they receive quick and convenient support. That’s why I have on demand copy reviews, fast slack channel replies, and multiple ways to receive support inside the program.
• Another client of mine who is a coach defines intimacy as results. They believe that if their clients are getting results, then the program is intimate. So they have results focused features like a form they can submit that diagnoses their sales problems.
• Another client defines intimacy as community. They want their clients to feel like they have a community no matter how big the program gets. So they have policies and features that promote community inside their offer.
• Another client defines intimacy as custom. They really want every client to receive as much customized support as possible. So they’ve infused systems in their offer that leave a lot of room for customization.

So define what intimacy means for you. That’s step 1.

2. Then, set the standard in your onboarding. If you want to promote community, let people know how they can do that. If you want to promote results, let your clients know how they can best get that. Intimacy oftentimes is all about clarity for your customer. Your customer feels most intimate when they feel clear.

3. Next, create unique features that promote intimacy. I have on demand copy reviews and writing retreats in addition to my weekly calls, curriculum and slack channel. I also have systems that send my clients custom progress reports whenever they submit a win and we have a process where we celebrate those who hit our rewards program on the calls. Another client of mine has a quiz that automatically sends clients strategies based on their unique problems. Another client has community events every month.

By doing this, you’ll have the confidence to enroll more people and you’ll have really marketable features in your offer. So you grow your client results and your program at the same time.

You may be asking, well I don’t want to complicate my program. But adding unique features actually simplifies it. Ex: copy reviews replaced coaching call submission reminders, people having to wait, having to send people emails that their copy was reviewed when they weren’t there, etc.

When clients get results they don’t care how big the group is. The only reason some clients have the objection that they want more face time with you is because they think you equals results. Because you think you equals results. You just have to show them that your curriculum equals results.

To recap: you will double your enrollments and intimacy into your group by:

• Not equating intimacy to small and defining what it means for you
• Improving your curriculum so your clients want to get intimate with it
• Hiring a co-coach that can focus on your clients in ways you can’t
• Teaching your clients how to interact with your program so they feel close, connected and supported quickly
• Adding unique features that promotes intimacy

I can help you do this in just 90 days inside the Million Dollar CEO program. We’ll start by clearing 20 hours a week off your calendar so you can focus on improving your curriculum and program. Then, we’ll strategize what unique features you can add or update that simplifies your systems while doubling the support for your clients. Then, we will hire your dream co-coach to help you so you can launch and enroll more clients than ever with peace of mind.