The key to selling bigger programs isn’t sales: it’s solutions
If you want to learn how to sell programs at a higher level, the answer isn’t necessarily a better sales pitch. It’s about solving bigger problems.
One of my clients had published her book and built her credibility, but she wasn’t sure how to turn her expertise into larger commercial opportunities. Instead of asking, “How do I sell more?”, we asked:
“Who has the biggest problem that my work can solve?”
Through research, she identified a global retail leader responsible for developing hundreds of leaders across multiple countries. He was facing a significant leadership challenge she could help solve. She found a way to get her book into his hands, which led to a series of large-scale leadership programs worth multiple six figures.
What changed? She didn’t become a better salesperson. She stopped trying to sell a program and started trying to solve a problem.
Good organisations invest in outcomes
Larger organisations aren’t simply looking for another coach, consultant or facilitator. They’re looking for someone who can solve a business problem that matters and someone who understands them.
Every investment competes with other priorities such as marketing, technology, operations, recruitment and acquisitions. So decision-makers want to know:
“If we invest this money, what business outcome will we achieve?”
Instead of focusing on workshop days, methodology, or program features, demonstrate how your expertise can solve a significant challenge, improve performance, or create measurable value. That shifts the conversation from selling a program to making a worthwhile business investment.
To play bigger, get more specific
If you want bigger opportunities, don’t broaden your focus. Narrow it.
Instead of saying you want to work with “CEOs” or “large organisations,” identify:
The specific organisation you want to help
The person responsible for the problem
What’s happening inside their business
What they’re trying to achieve
What’s getting in the way
How your expertise can help
Then do your homework. Research annual reports, leadership changes, growth strategies, acquisitions, and other clues that reveal what’s happening inside the business.
The more you understand your prospective client’s world, the less your conversation feels like a sales pitch and the more it becomes a discussion about solving a problem already on their agenda.
Think big, act small
When you stop trying to sell a bigger program and start focusing on solving a bigger problem, your positioning becomes stronger, your conversations become more relevant, and the opportunities can become much bigger.
The key isn’t simply learning how to sell programs.
It’s learning how to identify the right problem, the right organisation, and the right person to help – then showing the value of solving it.
