At a Titans Mastermind meeting in September of 2021, one of our speakers, Melinda Cohan, said something super powerful that resonated with everyone in the room.
I believe it resonated even more with the Titans because they are all marketers of a different breed…marketers that think impact and relationship over money and profits…and that’s without anyone in the group being a “non-profit.” 🙂
Melinda is the founder of a business called The Coaches Console—which helps coaches with the technology and the back end of their businesses…so the coaches can do their coaching on the front end, playing full out, for their students, without worrying about the behind-the-scenes details.
She has since sold that business…but she is still going strong as a results leader. Melinda’s leadership and smarts haven’t diminished…she has taken her career to a new level since 2021…details on that in the P.S.
Note that “coaching” in this context is much more than the person who coaches your kid’s soccer team.
In fact, Dan Sullivan, the top coach for entrepreneurs in the world, says that what management was to business in the 1980’s, coaching is to business today.
Everyone needs coaches…and dare I say much more than anyone needs a management consultant.
Now that we’ve established coaching as “management redefined,” the influence that coaches have in the marketplace is obviously huge…not just in marketing…and they need folks like Melinda to become even more influential.
Melinda got to working on the back end of coaching by understanding the front end of all the businesses she coached and worked with over the years…which led to the quote that became the subject line of this post (and led off her presentation in 2021):
Onboarding is not housekeeping
“Onboarding” is something to master in all aspects of our lives…it’s not an “anyhow” task …and in terms of marketing, if you don’t get it right, it will be a weak link leading to ruin for any business (and that is not hyperbole).
Merriam-Webster has three definitions for “onboarding”:
- The act or process of orienting and training a new employee
- The act or process of familiarizing a new customer with one’s products or services
- The act or process of converting data to digital form
I’ll mostly focus on #2 for the purposes of this post…but I’ll also touch on #1 and #3…because they are all related.
Regarding #2–“familiarizing a new customer with one’s products or services” –is the absolute minimum when it comes to onboarding…it’s woefully insufficient…and much closer to “housekeeping.”
For the purposes of this post, I will define housekeeping as doing the least you can do to keep your house (i.e. your business) clean…but far from spotless.
Here are 6 key elements of what I’ll call, “Extreme Onboarding”:
1. Create a success path for new customers…before, during and after
My friend Stu McLaren coined the phrase “create a success path” as one of the keys to his business…and for many other people he coaches…which number in the thousands.
Your customers, students, readers, buyers, prospects (and even suspects) all need to see a bigger future for themselves every step of the way in their journey with you (and as you coach them).
And it’s up to you to remind them regularly with your unique brand of coaching and tools.
Onboarding is not a one hit wonder.
It’s about getting them on board your boat with A-plus service and care…and then have them stay on the boat (with you as their captain) for a very long time.
2. It’s not bragging if you did it
Public acknowledgment and rewarding students who have signed up with you in any way, whether they have paid you or not–and are succeeding at a high level because of your coaching–is a mandatory requirement of any onboarding process that will stand the test of time.
Have your students brag…which of course is not bragging when it’s backed up by their successes.
And backed up with numbers too.
It’s not bragging if they did it.
Realistic aspirations on top of what they have already accomplished are also mandatory during their customer journey, running parallel with their success path.
It’s all part of extreme onboarding which goes way beyond the first encounter or sale.
I could have named this post using what seems like an oxymoron…but it’s not:
Perpetual Onboarding
And everything must be acknowledged at every step.
3. Secret shoppers are a not-so-secret way to create excellent onboarding
I’ve spoken about the importance of using secret shoppers in your business—folks you hire to go into the depths of your business, buy everything, break everything, make a nuisance of themselves…and then document their experiences by asking one question with every interaction with your employees and staff:
How did that make me feel?
The example I have shared previously was from world class marketer Dean Graziosi…whose company was selling a $15,000 coaching program for real estate investors…and when he sold it from the stage at a live event on a Sunday and there was no follow up with the buyers until the following Wednesday (as reported by a secret shopper), that was a leak in the selling (onboarding) process that needed fixing immediately.
Those customers went from having buyer’s remorse (i.e., too many refunds on Wednesday) … to surprise and delight on Sunday evening when all the buyers got an immediate coaching call and reassurance that they were a partner rather than just another “$15,000 buyer.”
Realizing you and your team are often too close to what’s happening “on the ground” is the first step to find out where your boat is leaking—in the onboarding process and everywhere else.
4. Third party input (kissing cousin to a secret shopper)
Don’t be afraid to seek out bad news about your onboarding—not just from secret shoppers who might know your business through experience and interaction with it—but also from close friends, relatives and colleagues who can give you gut reactions (and some useful gut punches too) on what makes them feel good about your onboarding process…and everything about your customer service and fulfillment.
And if you are a member of a mastermind…say Titans Xcelerator for instance 🙂 …take a hot seat regarding your onboarding process. Multiple members of my mastermind have done that exact thing, creating actionable (and profitable) results. In some cases epic results.
5. Using technology for good rather than evil
This relates to definition of #3 of onboarding:
The act or process of converting data to digital form
Last week I wrote about my new love affair with Bots…and being a hypocrite for embracing them…because my business focuses much more on human-to-human, rather than automated, communication.
That is, I am sensitive, almost allergic, to over-automation, both in the onboarding process and throughout the customer experience.
Automated emails, digital content, funnels of all kinds are here to stay (and I use them all regularly) …they obviously have their place…but nothing can replace the additional touch of personal emails, physical content and products, and funnels with designed “interruptions” (i.e. some form of personalization) …maybe even a surprise phone call or Zoom.
Pro tip (if you meet with your customers regularly or even occasionally):
Always begin with a “positive focus check-in” or “share your recent wins” (“bragging,” “accomplishments,” and “acknowledgments”) with every interaction, allowing them to let you know what they are learning with your content, coaching or teaching.
It’s another chance for them to brag…for you to acknowledge them…which creates mutual respect…and assesses the value of the relationship in real time.
And to make sure you are both tracking towards a long-term relationship with tons of success.
I am aware that going more personal is costly…but losing customers is more costly…and adding some additional tender loving care (TLC) within your cost structure, whenever possible, should at least be a consideration (whether you pull the trigger on those elements or not).
Use A.I. and automation to shorten the time you spend on preparation of that TLC…but at some point, you need to go at your customers and prospects with a human touch.
You can also use the one-on-one elements as an incentive to raise your prices (i.e. “touching the robe”—yours—becomes the premium version of everything you have to offer).
Spending more time with your prospects and customers…with appropriate revenue attached can be the secret sauce (i.e. personal attention) which will add significantly to the lifetime value of those prospects and customers.
They get what they pay for…as do you.
As Melinda said in her Titans presentation, and I am paraphrasing:
When you make conscious choices for your students, they will, in turn, make their own conscious choices…and you don’t have to rely on them only making unconscious choices based on the automation in your processes.
I believe that a customer who is onboarded as personally as possible—within cost constraints—has a better shot at becoming a customer for life rather than for a month or a year.
The formula:
Content (delivered in multiple ways) …to coaching…to community.
That’s a success path for your audience…and your business.
6. Self-care is part of the mix
Melinda’s cherry on top during her presentation was a topic she has studied and implemented in every business she coaches…including her own business.
It’s the foundational concept of “self-care.” Which she has studied in a profound way and it is the cornerstone of what she is doing today…as evidenced in the P.S.
And she described at least three types of self-care for everyone in business:
- Self-care for yourself (as the founder, owner, teacher, coach, entrepreneur).
You are the million-dollar racehorse…you need to care and feed that racehorse with the utmost love and compassion.
Put another way, you must put “the oxygen mask on yourself first” before you can serve others most profoundly. - Self-care for your employees (i.e., your team) …and this relates back to the #1 definition of onboarding (“the act or process of orienting and training a new employee”).
Self-care within “Extreme Onboarding” includes embracing new employees and existing employees—and it encompasses everything beyond orienting and training as well.
Keeping your team together for the long haul should always be a top priority.
There is a direct relationship between the longevity of employees and the overall health of a business.
It’s about creating consistency…congruence…and stability. - Self-care for your students, customers, prospects, suspects…anyone who is (or could be) part of your world…and it can’t simply be “dusting (housekeeping) around the edges.”
You can get a maid (housekeeper? domestic engineer?) for all the aspects of onboarding discussed above, with the equivalent of a rag and a vacuum, just to get the basic cleaning accomplished.
A better idea might be for you to become the “On-Boarder-in-Chief” of your business, focusing on each one of the items above with laser precision.
The “how to” on that laser precision:
- Getting your processes equipped with a fully loaded success path at the outset (i.e. perpetual onboarding)
- Putting acknowledgement (e.g. “celebrate wins”) tools in place, based on actual results
- Creating secret shoppers and other expert feedback loops inside and outside your business
- Add a healthy dose of your own personal touch…including self-care and empathy for yourself…and everyone around you.
That seems like a “clean” model to me. 🙂
Warmly,
Brian
P.S. Melinda Cohan is no one-hit wonder.
Everything she has taught throughout her career (with “onboarding being the furthest thing from housekeeping” as one of the highlights for me) is cumulative wisdom…and today it culminates with her new book (although she is far from done teaching).
And… you can get the book free…please read on.
The book represents the next chapters (pun intended) in her teaching journey. 🙂
Her thesis:
That as entrepreneurs and business owners we have been sold a lie about what it takes to succeed in business.
She calls it “The Broken Model.”
And it’s the result of what she sees as the “Hustle Hangover.”
While strategy matters, so does execution.
The key is to sustain your success without burning out.
It is sustenance that doesn’t come at the expense of your health, peace, or passion.
That’s exactly what Melinda Cohan reveals in her newest book:
Sustainable Success:
Thriving in Business & Performing at High Levels Without Burning Out
Most business advice suggests the usual Band-Aid solutions such as better time management, more organization, and smarter delegation.
But those tactics miss the deeper issue.
You’re operating from a model that wasn’t designed to support you.
Sustainable Success isn’t just another book to manage burnout.
It’s a manual that shows you how to shift your foundation entirely—so you’re not just recovering from burnout, you’re preventing it.
The shift?
Self-care becomes self-leadership.
I talked about how important self-care is in the post above in the context of onboarding.
In her new book, Melinda goes much deeper, as she does with everything in her life…never satisfied with initial conclusions…because she is always on a more profound inquiry after solving the previous inquiry.
Self-care is not a reward at the end. It’s your core business strategy from day one.
I learned these lessons directly from Melinda by being in the same room with her over many years, inside Jeff Walker’s exclusive mastermind…and now she has put her best thinking into her new book.
These insights—and hundreds more—are explored and demystified in Melinda’s new masterpiece, Sustainable Success.
And from July 29-August 2, you can download the Kindle version of Melinda’s book on Amazon at no charge.
👉 Download Sustainable Success here after July 29th– and pay nothing on Amazon
I’m sharing this because I believe in the message (and Melinda)—and I know how much it’s needed in this business landscape.
This book isn’t about working less.
It’s about working from overflow instead of depletion.
Download your complimentary copy by August 2 (but not before July 29th)
And let this be the moment you build your business differently.