I’m curious: do your clients follow through and get results?
I would really love your feedback on this if you’re a coach, trainer, or mastermind leader — if you run membership sites or groups of some kind, whether it’s a 4-week teleseminar with homework and a forum, or a one year mastermind.
These questions are for you if you run any kind of group where you’re giving wonderful content/instructions and you hope that your clients will love the information, use it, get accountability from your forum and classes, and be transformed.
The questions are:
Do you ever run a group, and find that people just seem to drop off the map? They stop showing up at your classes, don’t interact on the forum, and you never hear from them again?
Has the same thing happened on your membership site?
Does it break your heart that the great content you’re giving them just isn’t being used? Do they seem not to care about being accountable to the group?
I realize I have a second set of questions for people who have been clients/group members:
Have you ever signed up for a teleclass series, webinar series, or any kind of mastermind group, and noticed that some people just disappeared? Or maybe it was you who dropped out. I’d like to hear about your experiences. You don’t have to name names! As a matter of fact, please don’t name any names.
I’ve had the experience of being a dropout myself. I’ve signed up for a teleseminar series, all excited to be part of it, and I end up getting distracted and dropping out, thinking, “I’ll listen to the recordings, some day.” Of course, some day never came.
Please tell me if you’ve experienced anything like this. I need to do research on this!
12 thoughts on “I’m curious: do your clients follow through and get results?”
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Michelle, I never thought of it that way. You get what you give. I’d better step up to the plate, too. And thank YOU, Michelle, for such a nice comment!
WOW! Did this ever hit home today! I’ve been expecting my people to show up big time, and I’m the one who starts programs and then gets overwhelmed and doesn’t finish strong – or sometimes not at all! How could I possibly expect other to show up, if I’m not? This has been a wonderful “Ah-Ha!” moment for me, Gina. Brilliant question.
I have to agree with everything each person has said. It certainly applies to my life and my practice. So here’s to a renewal of commitment to myself to actually schedule time each day, follow through with the materials I have fallen behind on – or actually dropped out of – and finish what I’ve started. I don’t have to finish them all this week – but I DO have to begin showing up again for ME. 🙂
Thank you again, Gina, for your brilliance and the drive you have to help us all be winners!
Blessings,
Michelle
I’ve seen this happen in groups I’ve been in, and I’ve done it myself. What I’ve noticed for myself is that if I lose sight of the big picture of the benefits that I signed up for, I can get a little lost. When I manage to keep that vision always top-of-mind and apply the learning towards meeting that goal, I have a better time of it. Breaking it all the way down into step-by-step accountability can make it more organized, less overwhelming and more likely for me to actually get through it.
I’ve also had the situation where “life gets in the way”, and I get wrapped up in client work or something else – but then I kick myself at the end of the class because I made a (typically big) financial investment but didn’t invest the time in myself to really get to that next level! What a waste.
It really is ridiculous how many times I’ve signed up for something, paid a lot, and didn’t follow through. I did keep the recordings, and I’ll definitely listen to them some day. I hope.
And you’re right on about keeping the big picture of the benefits in mind. It’s so easy to lose sight of that.
Thanks for posting, Erin!
It can be really easy to fall off the periphery of group classes if there’s not some focused and connected accountability, and I think there also has to be some way that it stays top of mind. And I definitely agree that you have to get and stay engaged and involved to really get the value from it…. AND… I think you also have to be clear about the level at which you are maximizing the value you give/receive, and when it tips over into yet another distraction. Like many things in life, I think you have to find that Goldilocks level that works for you. I was in a group class a few years ago, and there came a point where keeping up with all the recordings and assignments and the forum activity was a full-time job unto itself! It was really important to me to stay involved, so I had to be really strategic about how much time I could devote to it each day. Which is another thing all together… there’s so much great information and learning available out there, and it’s WAY too easy to sign up for this or register for that… without ever turning around and looking at your calendars to schedule room for all the calls and the prep and the homework.
I never heard of the Goldilocks level — love it!
I know what you mean about all the great information and then being enticed into buying things that you really don’t have time for. We need a way to be the one service that grabs the clients and keeps them invested and tuned in to us.
Thanks for writing, Jodi!
Great question and so far what Jeanne and Patti shared are all valid. I’ve been part of a group, and I also facilitate a group. I find that what keeps a group intact for the most part is definitely accountability, easy access to the system to connect with the group, inspired actions to take, and relevancy of the information/teaching to your life as to why you signed up in the first place. Having an effectice & easy structure is key, I’m a member of a couple of groups with also groups within the group and I personally have a hard time with all the different formats/ usernames/passwords/diff. call times, etc. Call it lazy but in this modern technological times, it’s a challenge to have to go through so many steps just to share myself or respond to something. So a great system and structure that inspires group members to want to keep participating is key. Having said all that, we have to take into account human nature.. because sometimes we can have the best system and structure but our minds, beliefs, and emotional take at any moment will derail any kind of participation. So incorporating something perhaps that would support that, that will inspire them to get in there anyway will be great plus. (outside of calling the coach for a quick session:)
From what I know so far about your system, I think what you created is wonderful and I already see tons of possibilities for all of us entreprenuers, coaches, and mentors. I can’t wait for the unveiling!
We all want to serve our tribe the best way we can, I want the technology to support it along with the human touch and spirit. Merging the two powerfully will be such a blessing.
Thank you, Joy! I love your last paragraph — I might use it in my marketing copy!
I have seen this regularly in group learning situations and have also experienced it myself. While I believe there are times that it is an unwillingness to be accountable, my observations and experience is that this behavior is common when the content builds from one session to the next and (life happens causing) af a person to fall behind. Unless there is an active buddy system, as people fall behind in implementation, they initially continue to attend, but become quiet on the calls or in the forum. Then, as the pressure mounts their motivation begins to reflect their perceived value as they realize that they will probably have to listen to a call or review all of the content again at a later time. Eventually, they cut their losses until they have an opportunity to come back to it.
While this is understandable, it is also a shame because investing in ourselves is really the only investment where we really can control or heavily influence the return on investment. All to often, people don’t return to the learning. Even if they do, a large part of the value is gone because the group is no longer there to share the journey.
Yes, that feeling of falling behind is so bad. You feel you don’t have the right to ask questions, because you haven’t done the homework, so you don’t know if they’ve already taught what you don’t know. It really is a shame. That is a good description of the situation, Patti.
I’m a part of a mastermind, and this is what I’ve noticed. Actually, it’s similar to all of life. What you put in is what you get out. If and when I participate in the lives of others that are a part of the group, the more people are going to want to participate in mine. We ALL long to be seen and noticed, on some level. When we don’t contribute, and add value, it doesn’t come back to us. Thus, in a mastermind group, if you stay on the outskirts and not deal in to the relationships, it’s a lonely place. And who hangs around being lonely for very long? Not i. I find I must point the finger at myself first, (how am I contributing to my dissatisfaction) before I point the finger at the group, placing blame on it.
How true, Jeanne. And yet people can be overwhelmed and wish they could make themselves participate. It’s sad when those people are feeling lonely and left out. I’ve been in that position, too. Thanks for your comment!