What is a Product Suite?

If you are new to the online coaching space or an online service provider space, your product suite is a combination of products. This will vary based on your offers, if you are just a service provide or just a coach. What this could look like:

• Group Coaching
• 1 x 1 or private mentorship
• Membership
• Retainer services
• Audits
• and anything else.

What Business Models Can you Create?

Accession Product Suite Model

When I got into the online space – the Accession model was the biggest thing since sliced bread. Accession model is a chain of offers that start with the smallest offer and leads to your highest ticket

This means each program should take into consideration a specific stage where your ideal client is at.

So, when we are first starting out, we really want to look at the internal and external pain points. 

Let’s look at my programs, for example:

A lot of people come to me because their offer isn’t selling, and they think the issue is the offer itself, when really they don’t know how to sell. That’s the external paint point.

The internal pain points?

• afraid they’re not cut out for entrepreneurship because no one’s buying from them
• not making money
• scared to really put themselves out there and go all-in on their business

These are the ideal clients for my passive Scale to $5k program, which means they’re not going to be the ideal client for my intensives. Once we address the initial pain point and they’re ready to move beyond $5k months, we continue to educate and eventually they’ll reach a place where they’re ready for more customized coaching:

Teaching offer creation → How to sell the offer → Understanding how people buy and sell → Intensives or 1:1 coaching

The ultimate question is, once you close a loop for an ideal client with one program, how can you open another loop and continue to move them along in their businesses? Your ideal client will be at different stages, so you can create offers for them.

No one looks at their bank account and says “I have too much money” or “I’ve made too much of an impact.” Your ideal clients are always going to want to continue to grow, and this can help you build out a framework of progressive programs to help them get there. 

Creating more than one offer

As an online coach, your programs shouldn’t be a one and done sort of deal. Once your ideal client completes your first program, how are you going to take her to the next level?

Not only do we need to do market research, but we need to consider how you can move your ideal client from one stage to the next.

It’s time to start thinking about the bigger picture of your offer creation so you can continue to move your ideal client through an entire product suite. The ultimate goal is to take them from where they’re at to where they want to  be.

When we think about the client’s journey that they go through in your product suite, we have to ask a couple questions:

• What is their main pain point that you’re helping them with from Day 1? if you don’t know this – it’s time to refine your ideal client and do some market research
• What value would you want to build on throughout your product suite to help them continue to grow their business?

Further reading: How to Launch A new Program, How to Launch and Sell out a group coaching Program

How does this apply to Service Provider?

If you’re a service provider, this will look a little different since you’re not coaching them through something. However, you still need to look at what their smallest pain point and address that first.

Let’s say you’re a Social Media Manager and you want to help people with engagement or hashtags. Maybe you create a passive offer that teaches business owners the basic tools, and eventually you move them through to your service package. Then, you can open up the door to continuing to support them at a higher level as their business grows. 

Whether you’re a business coach or a service provider, always keep in mind that someone who’s in the beginning stages has very different needs from someone who’s ready for a mastermind or 1:1 coaching. Defining where she’s at will define the level of support she needs. 

Looking at the Product Suite as a Whole

When you’re first starting out, ask yourself: Where are opportunities you can have people come in and learn something passively? I can teach someone how to create an offer in an intensive, but I found it could be easier or more widely received if it was offered in a passive form. 

I spent a year building out Scale to $5k to help teach people the foundational pieces in a passive setting, and as they move up my product suite, the offers get more personalized. The higher the investment, the more high-touch it gets, meaning the information is more customized to them. 

Further Reading: A case for Lead generation, Trend Forecasting