Today I am super excited to invite one of my Health Coach Accelerator students onto the show. Today we are speaking with Bethany O’Toole who joined HCA in the fall on 2021. She was brand new to health coaching and just starting her business. I remember seeing her post in the FB group about how nervous she was to put her newly built program out to her social media. And then the next time she posted, she told me she had 6 sales calls booked from finally getting the courage to promote her program. And then the next time, she told me she had booked 5 out of 6 of those calls – making back her investment into HCA but a lot more!
So today we are going to speak with Bethany and how she was able to achieve a 83% close rate on her first sales calls.
But before we dive into today’s interview, I want to tell you about my Zero 2 Booked sales workshop which I am hosting on April 19th @ 8am PST, which is 11am EST and 6 pm central European time. This is a super popular live workshop where we dive into how to lead an effective and high converting sales call.
I’ll dive into:
- Why energy matters when it comes to sales
- How to use detachment over desperation to close more clients
- How to achieve a higher standard of sales that makes you aligned
And BEST OF ALL…
I’ll be teaching you my 100K Sales Script – based on NLP, Non-Violent Communication and Active Listening – the same script that I personally used to sell out my Mastermind (over 150K in sales in under a month).
Plus, this same script has led to almost a million dollars in sales between me and my Health Coach Accelerator students.
The value of this workshop is OUT OF THIS F*****G WORLD but I’m giving it away for only $27 – – which is pretty damn close to free.
If you want to sign up for the Zero 2 Booked workshop, you can visit https://bit.ly/zero2bookedworkshop
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Listen to the podcast here
How Bethany Closed 5/6 Sales Calls
I am super excited to invite one of my Health Coach Accelerator students to the show. We’re going to be speaking with Bethany O’Toole. She joined Health Coach Accelerator in the Fall of 2021. She helps women heal their gut issues and IBS so they can live free of pain and embarrassment. She was brand new to health coaching. When she signed up, she was just starting her business. I remember seeing her posts in the Facebook group about how nervous she was. She put her newly built program on social media.
She was feeling scared, nervous and hesitant but then the next time she posted, she told me she had six sales calls booked from finally getting the courage to promote her program. I was excited for her but then even better, the next time she posted, she told me she had booked 5 out of 6 of those calls, which essentially, she made back the investment of Health Coach Accelerator, plus a lot more. We’re going to be speaking with Bethany on how she was able to achieve an 83% close rate on her first sales calls, which is huge.
Usually, I tell my students to shoot for the initial goal of 25%, so 83% is mind-blowing. I’m super excited to talk to Bethany but before we dive into the interview, I want to tell you about my Zero 2 Booked Sales Workshop, which I’m going to be hosting on April 19th, 2022 at 8:00 AM Pacific. That’s 11:00 AM Eastern and 6:00 PM central European time. This is backed by popular demand. It’s my live workshop where we dive into how to lead an effective and high converting sales call.
I’m going to dive into how to lead that high converting sales conversation, but we’re also going to talk about the energetics of sales or why energy matters when it comes to selling. We’re going to talk about how to use detachment over desperation so you can close more clients. I’m also going to teach you how to achieve a higher standard of sales that makes you feel aligned. We’re not going to do any fear-based, pushy, manipulative sales tactics. I don’t do that. You are going to feel excited about sales at the end of this workshop. Potentially, sales might become the favorite thing you do in your business. Best of all, I’m going to be teaching you my $100,000 sales script.
This is based on neural linguistic programming, nonviolent communication and active listening. It’s the same script that I used to sell up my mastermind a couple of years ago, which was over $150,000 in sales in under six weeks. Plus, it’s the same script that has led to almost $1 million in sales between me and my Health Coach Accelerator students. Not only am I going to walk you through that script but you’re going to get a hard copy of that script and lifetime access. The value of this workshop is out of this world. You can get it for only $27, which is essentially free.
If you want to join me on April 19th, 2022 and even if you can’t join live, the replay and getting that script is going to be still thousands of times worth the $27. I still encourage you to sign up but if you want to sign up for Zero 2 Booked, you can go to bit.ly/zero2bookedworkshop. I hope to see you there. Let’s dive into the episode with Bethany.
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Bethany, welcome to the show.
Kendra, thanks for having me.
Thank you so much for being here. I am excited to celebrate you and shout you out here on the show because you’ve had so much success inside the program and you’re still in the program. It’s been amazing to see all the progress that you’ve made. I would love it if you could start by telling our audience how you get into health coaching.
It started back in 2011 when my health took a turn for the worst. I was getting multiple diagnoses from different doctors, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, mast cell activation disorder, and things were spiraling out of control. I wasn’t having a life anymore. I tried all the conventional medicine and multiple surgeries but nothing was working. It got to a point where I thought there has to be another way.
I started researching myself, going down multiple rabbit holes regarding history, inflammation and gut health. It all started from there. It’s been over a ten-year journey for me to get here, getting my health to the point where I’m living a very normal life. I want to empower other people to take control and get well.
You had all the chronic things. I’ve been there so I understand. A lot of coaches and probably a lot of audiences have a similar story. Typically health coaches because we have our own health journey. This started back in 2011. When did you make the decision that you wanted to make this a career? Maybe also let us know what you were doing for a career previous to this.
I’ve done multiple careers. I was a primary school teacher and then I went into customer service. I’m a bit of a jack of all trades, a master of none. I opened a health shop with my husband. That started piquing my interest in health coaching. I realized that I didn’t want to be on the shop floor anymore, as much as I love the health shop and it has been amazing for us. I wanted a job that I could do from anywhere because I’m a typical Sagittarius. I love freedom. The shop did take that freedom away from us.
I decided probably in 2018 that that’s the way that I wanted to go. I started studying in 2019. I’ve been hit with COVID and things got crazy with the shops. I had to take a year out to make sure that the business thrived and survived. I qualified for one of my diplomas and thought, “Let’s do this.” That’s when I found you and came into the HCA.
Did you do a diploma program for health coaching?
Yes. I went through The Health Sciences Academy, specializing in gut health. I am nearly finished with my Nutritional Therapy diploma as well.
When you came into Health Coach Accelerator and came across me, what was happening in your business? What was the experience that you were having?
I was coming at this with nothing. Coming fresh out of the course, I’m going, “Now what?” I was drowning in ideas of how I’m going to put the wheels in motion, how this will become a business, and how do you find people online. I was so lost and overwhelmed that I felt I had made a mistake. I don’t know what I’m going to do. No one is going to ever come to me.
I had an Instagram page already that was more about my health journey. I did have some followers on that and thought, “Do I change this?” I felt hugely overwhelmed. When I came across the Health Coach Accelerate, I was like, “My prayers have been answered.” That’s when I enrolled. It has been nothing short of amazing. I’m still on the course and still got loads to work through, but it transformed things from nothing to having a business.
In your health coaching certification that you did, did you get any business training at all?
No.
Sometimes they give you something but a lot of times, they give you nothing.
There’s a small amount. On the course I’m doing now, as you get to the last few modules, they talk about building a business. It’s all very like traditional business building as if I’m going to go into a clinic somewhere. It’s just not what I want. I want to be able to be a digital nomad. That is my long-term goal. It had to be online for me or nothing.
It’s interesting that you say that because that was a similar thing in my coaching certification. There was a business model. It was taught by someone who didn’t have a business. You’re going to go be a consultant and go work in a clinic. Not many health coaches do that. There are not that many jobs for that. It’s funny that that’s what they teach.
It’s a bit backward. Everyone I’ve ever worked with in my health journey has been online. I’ve worked with people all over the world and I’m thinking, “This is the way forward.”
Essentially, you had nothing in place, which is great. It’s a perfect time to come into Health Coach Accelerator. As you started to build your business and put some of the things that we teach inside health coaches accelerate into action, what did you find the most challenging?
I still find the most challenging is managing my time and social media. I have a love-hate relationship with Instagram. I’ve stopped Facebook. I’m so over it. I came off Facebook during the pandemic. I find it challenging. It’s quite time-consuming.
Is it the actual creation of the social media that you find challenging or is it the scheduling and keeping it organized?
Organized and scheduling is fine. It’s content creation. I’m quite creative. I don’t mind the canvas side of things. My head is so full of ideas and things that I want to tell people. Sometimes I’m like, “What am I going to pull out here today?” There’s so much going on in my head.
What did you decide to niche in with your business?
Gut health. I’m a Gut Health coach. Simply because my journey came down to gut health at everything that I was trying to heal. When I was solely on the gut and healed the gut, they all started disappearing one by one. I was like, “This is the pillar to good health.”
Were you set on gut health from the get-go or did you toy with any other niches?
I did toy with hormonal balance because of my journey. The hormonal balance falls into the gut health niche as well. The clients I’ve been working with all fall under something like hormonal balance, acne and eczema. It’s not the stereotypical, “I have IBS and I don’t know what I’m doing.”
When you started, I remember seeing a post from you in the group. You were like, “I have this program. I have no idea how to get clients. I’m scared to even put it out there.” Can you speak a little bit to that and the fear you were experiencing?
I’ve got imposter syndrome in a big way. That’s one of the blocks that I’m trying to work through. I decided I was going to do the program and I offer a test called GI EcologiX, which is a bit like a GI map. I trained with them and how to read that. I thought, “This is going to be a great tool for the program.” I had no problems coming up with the idea for the program and the content.
Thanks to your step-by-step guides in the HCA because it puts everything into order, which is what I need because my brain has got a brain. When I was finally doing all that, I was like, “Why are people going to pay me to do this and help them? Have I given them enough or too much information?” Everything was a block. I was sitting and looking at it going, “I’ve got this program but I’m afraid to put it out there.”
What did it look like when you put it out there? Did you just rip the Band-Aid off and make the announcement? What did that process look like?
I was like, “I’ll just do this live.” My husband went into the shop one day, I have been talking to him and he was like, “You need to do it. You’ll be fine when you’ve done it.” I was like, “I can’t.” I recorded a video for Instagram saying, “I’m ready to take on some clients. I’ve got so many spaces. If you’re interested, let me know.” People were interested. A lot of people reach out. I reckon I’ve had about fifteen people come forward and six solid sign-ups so far.
I remember you got six sales calls right off the bat. Were you crapping your pants a little bit?
Yes, because I was like, “Now I have to talk to these people. Now what?” Once I got into the flow and did the first call, the first person was like, “Yes, I know.” That boosted my confidence straight away that in the first call, they want to sign up. They have been subsequently dropped out of the program but by that point, I’ve already got five of the sign-ups so it didn’t bother me. It gave me that confidence boost like, “People do want to hear what I have to say. They do believe in me enough to help them.”
It felt good but it was nerve-wracking. It’s the tips that you have given at Health Coach Accelerator and the tips of talking to these people about how they’ll feel once they feel better. Not selling myself all the time. Most people were interested in what the program entailed. As soon as I told them, they were like, “I’m in.”
Is there anything you did before that first sales call? Did you have to pump yourself up or did you just jump into it?
I pumped myself up. I’m a good Northern English girl so I had a cup of tea. That’s what we drink for everything. I let the cat out of the room because my cat will destroy every call that I do. I had to let her out because she sat at the door. It’s all these little preps that I’ve got because if this throws me off track, I could lose my mind a little bit. I had a cup of tea, let the cat out, I word myself and went for it. I’m finding in this process that throwing myself into these things and doing it anyway is proving very successful.
With these sales calls, how much did you utilize the sales script that I gave you? Did you stick to that script or did you just run with it?
I’ve read the script and I run with it. The one thing that I think I need to work on is when people are like, “Sorry, I can’t afford that.” That’s the one thing that I know going forward I need because I’m like, “Okay. Bye.” “No, they can afford it.” I slipped that one but otherwise, I had read over the sales script, went with it and thought, “Let’s get in some flow.” I worked better when I’m in flow so rather than trying to be rigid and structure it, I just see what comes up.
It’s nice to have the script to give you the idea of what you need to do but sometimes, you can let it flow. It sounds like a lot of these people who were signing up for these calls with you were almost ready.
That makes my job easier.
There’s a beautiful way you can do that with your content. If you do well with your content, you get these people on a sales call who are like, “I’m already ready. You don’t even need to say anything.” What was the time period between when you threw your program out there and you started posting niche-specific content?
Not long. I started posting niche-specific probably about 4 to 5 weeks before I put the B2 program out and started doing my calls. It wasn’t long at all.
How many clients did you say you signed in the end after all was said and done?
In the first round of calls, I’ve signed five. I’ve signed another one and got a lady that I’m speaking to as well, which I will sign.
You’re going to be moving out of your beta testing mode soon.
For this one that I’ll do, I will be asking for full price. That’s another step. I’ve got six on beta, then I’m going to go into the full price and see what happens.
How much did you discount your beta program? Did you go 50%?
It was under 50%. It’s a big jump but I’ve got confidence in doing it.
If you’ve been able to sell that many that easily then I don’t think you’ll have any problem selling full price. How is it going with running your beta program? Tell me a little bit about that experience, what your clients are thinking and all of that.
It’s been slow simply because we run a test. I had to wait for all the tests to be sent off. It’s like chasing people to make sure they’ve sent that test and all those things. I’m starting. The one person that I was meant to start with got COVID so they had to cancel. Nothing has been straightforward in terms of getting the clients on board. I’ll go in and we’ll see what happens but it’s starting.
Are you excited?
I am. I’ve spent prepping and running three things. I feel confident, which is good. That’s not the feeling that comes naturally to me. I’m like, “I got this.” I’m looking forward to getting it going. Sometimes the anticipation is way worse than doing it. I’m just getting everyone in, getting their feedback and taking it from there, then the hard work starts.
When all was said and done, it sounds like you’ve made back your investment in Health Coach Accelerator.
I did already.
Bethany, what do you think is the most valuable thing that you’ve learned so far inside HCA?
There is so much content in HCA. I was shocked at how in-depth it is, which is amazing. It gets your money’s worth because sometimes you sign-up for these courses and you’re like, “This is it?” It’s disappointing. I like the fact that you start with things like, “These are your blocks and you need to work through them.” I needed to hear that. I didn’t realize how many of the blocks were the reasons that were stopping my business.
It wasn’t my lack of knowledge. It was the fact that I didn’t believe in myself so I love that. Honestly, all of it. I’m blown away by the continent. I always say to my husband, “This cost us so much. It gives so much.” I’m ever grateful to you for doing it because it has allowed me to start a business from scratch. I would not have had a clue what to do otherwise.
Do you want to continue to work one-on-one? Do you have aspirations of having a group program or a course? What do you see in your future for your program?
It’s hard to say. I like the idea of a group program but I also like to get to the nitty-gritty with individual clients. I call myself a bit of a health investigator. Finding the root cause is my bag. I will spend hours researching like, “Could it be this? Try this.” The idea of the group program from a business perspective is where I need to be looking but I need to stick with one-to-one for now, build everything up, build the basis up, and then do groups.
What do you see as your ideal lifestyle? You talked about being a digital nomad. What would that look like for you once you’ve achieved the goals?
To be able to go, “We can go on holiday or travel for a month,” and still work as long as I’ve got WiFi. Travel is my thing so being tied down during COVID is such a best world problem for what it has driven me. I’ll lose my mind if I don’t see any things regularly. The idea of being able to pick up and go is my ultimate dream and always has been. We don’t have kids. It’s for that reason that we can have that freedom. That would be amazing to still be able to work and earn money no matter where I am.
Where would be your dream destination if you could get on a plane and go somewhere?
There are so many. To live, it would be the Balearic Islands, a beach in Mallorca. I always wanted to live there. In terms of getting up and traveling, I want to go to Pakistan.
It’s funny that the only reason I know Mallorca is because I watch Love Island. They always do it in Mallorca. It is not like a party place.
It has one side that has parties but it is one of the most beautiful places. It has historic cities, beaches and mountains. It’s beautiful.
That’s good to know because I associate it with Love Island.
Please don’t.
Thank you so much, Bethany, for hanging out with me and sharing your experience. It’s inspiring. I’m wondering, for the audience who wants to connect with you, what’s the best way for them to get in touch with you?
You can get me on Instagram. It’s @BethanyOTooleHealth. It’s a crazy Irish surname. I’m married into that one as well.
Thank you so much and thanks, everyone. I appreciate everyone who is taking the time out of their day to tune in to the show. I will see you again at the same place and time where I help you become wealthy AF.
Important links
- Health Coach Accelerator
- Bethany O’Toole
- @BethanyOTooleHealth – Instagram
- https://bit.ly/zero2bookedworkshop
About Bethany O’Toole
Bethany helps women heal their gut issues and IBS so they can live a life free of pain and embarrassment.
