ISSA CPT Module 9: consultations, sales and your brand

Module 9 quiz: 3 free questions

Answer these first, then read what the module covers. No sign-up.

What this module is about

Module 9 is the business side of coaching: how a first conversation becomes a paying client, and how a trainer becomes someone people seek out. For many new trainers this is the least comfortable part of the job, and the module's answer is to treat sales as service. Listen first, help the person see what they want, and then ask plainly whether they want your help getting there.

It follows the order of a real consultation: building rapport, shaping a vision and goals, closing, handling objections, and finally marketing and brand. Several of its ideas build on the conversation skills from Module 8, so the two modules are worth studying side by side.

Scenario questions describe what a coach says or does in a meeting and ask you to name it. The clue is usually the purpose of the move: is it building trust, setting a goal, asking for a decision or answering a doubt?

The five lessons

1. Consultation & rapport. Running a sales consultation that feels like a conversation: getting to know the person and earning their trust.
2. Crafting the vision. Helping a client picture what success looks like, and turning that picture into goals near and far.
3. Securing commitment. Asking for the commitment clearly and confidently, and agreeing on who does what once training starts.
4. Handling objections. What to do when a prospect hesitates about money, time or confidence, without pressure and without giving up.
5. Marketing & brand. Getting known: reviews and word of mouth, content, and a personal brand that matches how you actually coach.

44 terms in this module

Consultation skills, goals and vision, closing, objections and marketing. The full list of Module 9 term names is in the glossary.

Look-alikes to keep apart

Marketing words and goal words overlap. These pairs are worth a second look:

• Social Proof or Reputation Management

  Social proof is other people's experience persuading a prospect, like reviews and testimonials; reputation management is the ongoing work of shaping and answering what people say about you.

• Short-Term Goal or Long-Term Goal

  A short-term goal is a near step, weeks away, like a daily step count; a long-term goal is the bigger result months or years out.

• Vision Statement or Personal Vision

  Close cousins, so the app never tests them against each other. A vision statement is the written sentence or two a client reads; a personal vision is the picture of the future self behind it.

• Mirroring or Empathic Communication

  Mirroring is matching a client's pace, posture and words to build rapport; empathic communication is showing you understand what they feel.

On the exam

In our reading, Module 9 feeds the NCCPT outline's Professional Practice area, the smallest at 5 percent. See how the exam works.