EP 25: Misaligned expectations will be the downfall of our offers

I’ve been having this conversation over and over on repeat lately, and it’s time to share it here. Because if I’m thinking it, someone else is thinking it, too. It seems like there are a lot more whispers behind closed doors about programs that are amazing, and programs that missed the mark. And all of those conversations have one thing in common… misaligned expectations. Here’s my take.

Episode Transcript

Becca 0:05

Welcome to probably bothered the podcast that cuts through online business man's so that you can redefine your version of success. Because I believe if you aren't a little bit bothered, you probably aren't paying attention.

Becca 0:25

All right, here we go. My London Fog is hot, I have cosied up on the floor in front of my coffee table, and Huxley is snoozing on the couch. You know what this means? It is another solo episode of Probably Bothered.

This episode is built entirely out of a Voxer conversation that I have been having with a friend and client recently. And that is about creating new offers. Whether you are launching your business, or you are pivoting your business.

Welcome to the club, launching something new is intimidating. And there's an element of am I doing enough? involved, right? Because we all want to feel as if the amount that we are commanding for our offer is valid. And how do you know that.

But I'm going to take it a step further. In this episode, I'm not just going to talk about how you have structured or created your offer. I'm also going to talk about the customer experience and expectations around an offer. Because I think that that's really important. And understanding when people have historically missed the mark will help you to reframe the idea that you have to add more and more and more to make your offer feel like it is enough. I think it's time for my friendly neighbourhood disclaimer here that I am in no way shape, or form telling you how you should structure your offer.

What I'm trying to do here is offer an alternate perspective that if you agree with and you don't have to agree, allows you some freedom of choice in this process. Instead of feeling like you have to do what has been modelled before you. Maybe hearing this episode will allow you to take a step back and put your own perspective on it and decide actively decide what it is you are comfortable creating and what you feel like you might not have to create anymore.

So let's first start with customer expectations. Because I have noticed this thing lately, I've noticed these whispers behind closed doors of friends and clients telling me, Hey, I invested in X program. And it was awful. It was wrong. It didn't work. I didn't get the results, like whatever the case is. I'm combining a lot of conversations here. And I'm not just talking about one specific program, of course. But that got me thinking, what is it that gives someone an incredible experience with the program? And what is it that makes people feel like they're disappointed in what they were given from whatever program they've invested in? And I think it comes down to one thing in my mind, I think it comes down to missed expectations.

Hear me out as a service provider or a coach in this online space, I have noticed a trend. There's this trend where it feels like we're never promising enough. And that's when you see the course sales page. And it's got these incredible lessons. And you're like, Yeah, this is awesome, this is exactly what I need. And then you get down to that section at the bottom that says But wait, there's more. And they just dump every PDF, every freebie, every webinar, everything that they've created at any point or have to create for this course to offer it for free that they can. And at a certain point, it's not realistic, right?

At a certain point. If you offer a sub $50 A month program where you are promising to go live in this group once a month. You don't have to offer every other thing that you've ever created under the sun and free Voxer coaching, right? Because it's just not realistic at that price point. And it's not realistic for your time. And that's what's even more important, because yes, there is a conversation of price point too, to promise, whether that is end result or the journey. There's a conversation that needs to be had there.

But there's also a conversation of, are you promising what you can deliver? And if the answer is, yeah, but I'll be working 24/7 to deliver all of these things that I promised because my sales page just needed some bulking up. That's, that's a recipe for missed expectations, right? Because at a certain point, you're going to be burnt out, and you may have a bad day. And if you are promising, X, Y, and Z, on top of this incredible thing that you've already created, you're bound to miss the mark, because we're human, we all miss the mark sometimes.

So I think that that's the first case where this trend of feeling like we haven't ever offered enough. So we keep stacking on the offer, to the point that we're humans, and we might not be able to deliver all of those things. I think that is the first recipe for mix. missed expectations. The second is when programs market based on the end result. And I'm not talking about okay, I'm just gonna say you guys know, you know what's coming, I'm talking about the six-figure business or the 10k month, if you market a program based on achieving a very, very specific numerical definable thing that isn't realistic to promise in a one month or three months, a six-month program, it's going to bite you, right?

Because if all of your messaging and all of everything that you say about this program and working with you, and all of your testimonials, maybe you have gotten that result for a few people, wonderful. If those testimonials say, oh, yeah, look at my six-figure business, but 100% of the people in your program are not achieving that, it will bite you. And it will bite you in the form of people saying she promised this thing and didn't deliver and it's not legit.

That is just another case of missed expectations. If a client enters into this space, into this program, and expects a very specific numerical definable results, and doesn't achieve it, regardless of why, regardless of if they weren't fully committed, or didn't listen to every lesson or didn't execute this one thing perfectly, regardless of the why it's hard for us to see fault in ourselves, right? So they're not gonna say, oh, man, I didn't do this piece of the program, right. And that is why I didn't get this result.

They're going to look at the program itself. So again, it is just one of those things about missed expectations. So instead, let's talk about what we can do instead, I think the first thing that we could do instead is promise what is realistic for you to deliver and what is realistic for that price point?

Becca 8:29

Because that is what's most important. I see so many questions in Facebook groups that I'm in where people say, What should I price for a website designer? Or what should I price for a logo, or X, Y and Z? And this is the flip side of the conversation, right?

This is the piece of the conversation that reflects 100% on the service provider or the coach. And that is you need to price where you feel that you are fairly compensated for your work, what you're delivering, but also for your level of skill and level of experience. And that's something that I think is hard, especially at the beginning, when people are telling you to automatically raise your prices. But you have zero experience, possibly literal zero experience. When I did my first website design years ago, I have literally zero experience and you know what I charge for that I charged $500 Which to be honest, time and labour-wise, I probably lost money. But I learned and it was fun. And I'm glad that I did it. Now I'm not saying that's the right answer for you. Right?

It, it comes down to what you feel is fair for your time, your effort, your skills, your experience and the end result. And that's the conversation that I wish that we were having more because if we looked at pricing, a program or service based on the was things that I feel like we wouldn't feel the need to shove in everything that we can shove into that program.

The other piece of this is, now that you've looked at your program, what you're adding to it and what makes sense to be in that program, based on what you can reasonably deliver and deliver a great experience for them look at your messaging. And I know, I know, it makes it so much easier to sell a program if you can promise a six-figure business at the end of it. So I understand why people do it. And maybe your intention is to get every single person through those doors, as to a six-figure business. But if that has not happened, or it is an untested program, if you don't have a 100% success rate, I would look at other value points to add to that program.

I personally have bought programs because they simplified my business because they created systems for me because helped me better understand how to message what I was creating. And I've also bought programs that promised a six-figure business and I was disappointed in a lot of those programs. I'm being completely honest.

Okay, the point of this was not to rag on anyone or anyone's messaging. And I'm not saying of course, that everyone who has a lot of different line items in that but wait, there's more section is doing something wrong. Maybe they can realistically and consistently deliver those things. And everyone in their program has a great experience. And that is wonderful. But as you're creating your next program, I just wanted to throw this out there that you don't have to work yourself so hard, that it isn't worth it.

The real value of this conversation comes down to these three things. One, when you create an offer, only promise what you know you can consistently and accurately deliver and focus on the value. Maybe the value is in the journey. And that's okay too.

But make sure that you set expectations ahead of time with every person who is in that program. So they know what they can expect. before, during, and after that program. And make sure that you're not working yourself to the ground trying to deliver it. Because setting realistic expectations and meeting those realistic expectations will do so much more for your business and for your relationships with your clients than anything else ever.

Well. All right. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. As always, if you resonated with this conversation, if you would like to pass it along to a friend, I would be endlessly grateful. And if you want to subscribe or leave a review as well. That would make my day it would make my week if we're being honest. Until next week, this was probably bothered

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