How to Get Your First Life Coaching Client Without Cold DMs

Pick one problem people would pay to get rid of

Nobody wakes up wanting to buy coaching. They wake up thinking "I don't know who I am since the divorce" or "I've hated my job for three years and I can't work out what's next." A website that says "I can coach you on anything" asks them to translate your service into their problem, and most won't bother.

Look for the overlap between what you care about, what you are good at and what a group of people badly want fixed. Then choose one problem for now. Solving five at once makes the first client much harder to find, and you can widen later. A painful problem helps too, since people are more likely to pay to fix something they can't stop thinking about.

Sketch a simple offer before you talk to anyone

Single sessions are hard to sell because a session says nothing about the result. Package your coaching as a route from where someone is now to where they want to be, such as a 12-week program that takes women from stuck after a divorce to confident, with a plan for the next chapter.

Write down the steps you would take someone through. One page is plenty, and it will change once you hear how people react on calls. Pricing works the same way: ask what the change is worth to the person, pick a number and move on, because you can always adjust it. One coach trainer on YouTube says most of the coaches in their program price a first package between $2,500 and $5,000, with some starting lower depending on where they live.

Set up a way to take payment now, with a service like Stripe or Square, so you aren't scrambling on the day someone says yes.

Start with research conversations

List the people who already trust you and who fit your client, or come close: a friend, an old coworker, an acquaintance from your kids' school. Ask each one for a favor. You are building a coaching program and want to interview a few people you respect so it is useful to someone like them. Tell them you aren't trying to sell them anything and that you may ask at the end whether they know anyone it could help. With your agenda on the table, the conversation stays relaxed and most people who like you will say yes.

Then ask about their life and keep your program out of it. For a coach who helps people after a divorce, the questions might run in this order:

• What do you struggle with most from day to day since the divorce?
• What worries or frustrates you most about it, and what are you afraid happens if nothing changes?
• What would you most like to be different, and how do you think you'll get there?
• What is the biggest thing slowing you down or stopping you?
• If anything were possible, what would your wildest-dream version of this look like?

End with one question, and don't pitch

When someone explains how they plan to reach their goal, they also have to look at what they have already tried, which often shows them they could use some help. Write down the words people use for the obstacle in question four, since those words belong in your marketing later.

When you finish, thank them and take two minutes to describe the program: who it is for, the problem it solves and what you promise. Then ask, "Can you think of three people who might benefit from this?" Some will give you names. Others will say, "This sounds like me, can you tell me more?"

If that happens, hold back. You promised you weren't selling, and a pitch at that moment would make the whole conversation look like a trick. Say you would be happy to explore it and that it deserves its own conversation, then book a separate call.

Research or direct invites?

Coach trainers disagree here. One camp says to avoid selling to people you know and only ask for research conversations. The other says to message your warm network directly with a soft invite, by DM, text or an old-fashioned phone call. The direct message works when it is about them. "I'm launching my program" gets ignored. "I'm putting something together for people going through what you went through last year, worth a chat?" gives them a reason to answer.

We would use both. Offer research conversations to people who fit your client and whose opinion you respect, and send short direct invites to looser contacts, like the college friends you only see on Instagram now. Sending these feels uncomfortable for nearly every new coach, so set a daily number and send them before you open anything else.

Run the call, then ask for the sale

A first sales call can be simple. Ask about the problem and what it is doing to their life. Ask what they want instead and how that would change things. Repeat it back in their words: here is where you are, here is where you want to be. Then ask if they would like to hear how you would help, explain the program and say the price out loud.

The step new coaches skip is the last one. They have a lovely conversation and then wait for the other person to bring up money, which rarely happens. Ask directly whether they would like to work with you. Our coaching discovery call script has the full wording. If someone mentions a crisis, self-harm or a mental health condition at any point, stop selling and point them to proper support.

Free clients, nerves and when you are ready

A free beta client is a fair way to start if you have never coached anyone or the idea of a discovery call makes you freeze. Keep it to one to three people and treat each one as practice for the call as well as the coaching, including inviting them to work with you. After that, charge. Plenty of new coaches stay stuck giving sessions away.

Trainers also disagree about when you are ready. Some say to master your coaching first, with hours of practice on real people and a mentor watching. Others say to pitch now and fix things as you learn. Books and videos alone won't make you ready, so get some observed practice if you have had none. Beyond that, we would start the conversations this week and improve as you go.

If you keep putting off asking for money, look at what you believe about it. Guilt about charging tends to show up as low prices and calls that never reach the ask. It also helps to walk into each conversation planning to be useful to that person whether or not they ever pay you. People can feel the difference, and they are more likely to ask what you do.

Example: asking an old friend on Instagram

Example conversation (illustrative), for a life coach who helps women rebuild after a divorce, messaging an old friend:

• Coach: "hey Maya! been a minute 😊 I'm building a coaching program for women rebuilding after a divorce and I'm interviewing a few people I trust so it's actually useful. not selling you anything, I might just ask at the end if you know anyone it could help. up for 20 min this week?" Friend: "omg of course. thursday night?"
• After the interview, Friend: "ok honestly this sounds like me. can you tell me more?" Coach: "I'd love to, and I don't want to rush it at the end of a favor 😊 want to grab 30 min just for that? sunday at 4 or monday at 7?"
• Friend: "monday" Coach: "perfect, you're in for monday at 7. I'll text you a reminder that morning"

When strangers start messaging you

You don't need any automation to land your first client. These conversations should come from you, and you will learn a lot from having them. It changes once you are posting and people you have never met start replying to your stories at 10pm, because that is when replies start to slip. DMclose is an agency that builds a custom AI appointment setter for coaches at that stage. It replies to Instagram DMs, story replies and comment keywords in seconds, asks your qualifying questions, books calls into the calendar or booking tool you already use and follows up with people who go quiet. Our case study shows what that looked like for one men's coach.

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Related

• How to get life coaching clients
• How to get coaching clients: 9 channels
• Coaching discovery call script
• How to get coaching clients on Instagram
• Instagram DM scripts for coaches
• Case study: UK men's coach
• DMclose AI appointment setter for coaches