Hey Reader,

I'm taking my coaching on the road again.

First stop: checking on dad and dropping off Zeke the cat. We're meeting friends for a long weekend in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. There's nothing like New England in the fall. 🍁

On Tuesday, I had seven coaching calls. And the same thing came up in four of them. Not pricing. Not marketing. Not finding clients.

Talking about their own work.

One client rated her confidence at a 5 out of 10. She's a professional organizer. She did everything I asked—two networking meetings, read a book, the one offer worksheet. The meeting with a realtor went better than she expected. She admitted it went really well.

Then she told me about the second one.

A new acquaintance mentioned that she felt really disorganized at home. "Maybe I should hire you!" she said. My client smoothed it over. Said everyone feels that way at times. Moved on.

She was being kind. Kind is not the same thing as helpful.

That potential client went home still disorganized. And the one person in the room who could have helped her said nothing.

Staying quiet about your work isn't humility. It's choosing your own comfort over someone else's problem.

Here's the part that lets most women do this and feel good ok about it. They know that you don't build authority just by talking about yourself.

Another pro organizer client had a new inquiry that came in as a laundry problem. It isn't a laundry problem. It's a too-much-clothing problem. I reminded her that she won't earn this client's trust by listing her years in business. She'll earn it by asking good questions. Especially one that shows how much she knows about the laundry problem — Are you constantly digging through baskets of clean laundry?

That's authority. Naming the pain before they've described it. And yes, highlighting the pain point your client is going through so that you can solve it. Nobody in that conversation is bragging.

Here's what we build in coaching:

• Your client's problem written in their words, not yours — the specific words they use, like "you keep buying duplicates at Costco because you can't find what you already own"
• The three or four questions that describe their pain for them
• The emotional reason underneath the practical one — she isn't embarrassed about the kitchen, she's embarrassed to have anyone over
• Practice with safe people first — a realtor, a neighbor, a friend — long before it's a paying prospect
• One closing line for every conversation: "Would you like to know what it's like to work with me?"

None of that is self-promotion. All of it is diagnosing the problem so you can share your solution because you know it will help them.

My own coach told me years ago to stop being selfish. Ouch. I didn't mean to be selfish. I was being polite. But if I have something that would help you, and I stay quiet to spare myself the discomfort, then I've put my comfort ahead of your problem. So, selfish.

You have a solution. Someone near you has the problem. Tell them.

If you can't say what you do in one clear sentence yet, start here.

👉 Your One Offer Clarity Worksheet​

It's the same worksheet my clients fill out before we build the words they'll say out loud.

You can do this too.

Amy

P.S. If you know your work is good but you fumble over your words when you try to explain it. That's not a lack of skills. It's a clarity problem, and clarity is fixable. Book a call with me. We'll write the sentence together, and you can practice it on me first.