How Coaches & Consultants Lose Out on Corporate Clients by Answering These 2 Questions Wrong

There are two questions that I have new clients who want to position themselves as corporate consultants or trainers answer in under 10 seconds:

(1) Who do you work with?

(2) What problem do you help them solve?

Simple, right? No, as my years of experience have shown me. Rarely do these two questions receive instant, straight-to-the-point answers.

This is often symptomatic of a bigger issue – the lack of specificity.

When I started working with Angie, an executive leadership consultant her vague responses to the two critical positioning questions revealed she lacked clarity on her niche and ideal client. 

When asked who she helps, her reply was “professionals and executives.” On the problem she solves, she said “helping them become better leaders.”

These vague responses make it impossible for a potential client to recognize if they fit her audience or have the issues she addresses. Angie blended into the sea of other leadership coaches.

The root of the problem was Angie didn’t have clarity on her niche or the specific transformations she enables. We had to dig into defining her “zone of genius”:

To help Angie get specific, I took her through my 3-step framework:

Step 1: Unpack Her Zone of Genius

First, I had Angie do a brainstorming exercise listing all of her past experiences, skills, credentials, passions, and talents that make up her unique genius.

The goal was to unpack everything in her head to identify reoccurring patterns and themes.

For Angie, these included:

• History of coaching 5-10 year old companies through rapid growth phases

• Deep understanding of the startup founder mindset

• Helping founders transition from individual contributor to executive leader

• Methodology for teaching strategic planning and financial skills

• High emotional intelligence and empathy

Step 2: Define the Transformation

Next, we looked at the common problems Angie's genius is best suited to solve. This revealed she excels at guiding founders stuck in startup mode to become empowered executives capable of scaling a company.

We defined her core transformation as:

“Helping founders let go of doing everything themselves to build an executive team that doubles revenue and valuation within 12 months.”

Step 3: Identify the Ideal Client

Finally, we identified titles, company sizes, and scenarios indicating a prospect would strongly benefit from Angie’s offering:

• Founders of 5-10 year old companies

• Stuck doing everything themselves as their startup scales

• Lacking executive and strategic planning skills

• Wanting to double revenue and valuation in 12 months

This 3-step framework allowed Angie to clearly articulate her zone of genius, the transformation she enables, and her ideal client profile.

First, going through this exercise builds the foundation for your entire messaging and positioning. 

Clarifying your zone of genius, core transformation, and ideal client gives you a reusable blueprint to inform your branding, marketing, and content creation.

Second, identifying your niche and archetypal client allows you to speak directly to the pressing pains and desires of your perfect prospects. Your content becomes a magnet attracting exactly the right audience.

Third, the clarity this framework provides builds confidence in your own expertise. When you have conviction about the unique value you offer, it shines through in client conversations and thought leadership.

Fourth, it helps to powerfully differentiate yourself from competitors. Articulating your transformation and unique expertise is what makes you distinctly valuable so you don’t blend in with others offering similar services.

Finally, it opens up new monetization opportunities you may not have considered before, like complementary services, group coaching, info products, and licensing your methodology.

This is why this asset is the first one (1 of 5 assets) my clients complete in my 6-week 1:1 intensive.

The great thing I like about these assets is you only have to build it once. You can reuse what you learn over and over again for your LinkedIn profile, other opt-in pages, product descriptions and sales pages.

With 75% more time on your hands, you can serve clients or sit back and enjoy your family

It becomes the backbone of their entire marketing and launch strategy.

This asset  gave her a crisp answer to who she helps and what problem she solves specifically. 

Now her reply is:

“I work with founders of 5-10 year old companies struggling to transition from entrepreneur to executive as their company scales up. In 12 weeks, I guide them to let go of start-up habits to become CEO-level leaders capable of doubling revenue and valuation.”

When Angie could easily explain her niche and impact, it became obvious which prospects matched her ideal client profile. 

Lack of specificity was no longer an issue messing up her engagement and sales.

While the exercise may seem simple on the surface, the clarity and confidence it provides in who you help, why you're distinctly needed, and the valuable outcome is well worth the time.

This level of clarity will help ideal clients instantly recognize that you can solve their problem And the compound benefits are well worth it for your business growth and impact.