5 Strategies to Help Keep Clients Motivated
Your client’s motivation to move forward with their health goals can fluctuate like the weather.
Some days are sunny and bright — and clients easily take actions aligned with their goals. And then there are the dark and stormy days, where clients need extra support to keep going.
You can help guide your clients to better motivation when you dig into your health coaching tools and techniques. Use these five strategies through your client’s coaching journey to keep them on track and boost their motivation.
Motivation Strategy #1: Build Rapport and Trust
One of the easiest ways to keep clients motivated is to build trust and rapport with them. You can do this through consistent communication.
When you enroll your client, you can let them know how often and in what ways you will coach them. Give them the MBODY360 app and let them know that it will be their “coach in their pocket” between sessions. The app will send clients daily messages and reminders, so it will feel like they are hearing from you each day.
You can also communicate directly with your clients through MBODY360’s HIPAA-compliant text and video messaging. This lets you give them a nudge between sessions if you see they need help — or kudos if you see they are doing well.
Have clients track their food, movement, sleep, meditation, water consumption, and other metrics in the app, and let them know that you will be able to see what they record through your portal.
Motivation Strategy #2: Dig Into Their Bigger WHY
Of course, there are superficial reasons why clients hire you — to lose weight, look better for a specific event, or to feel younger. You can get to that bigger motivation by simply asking them a couple of questions:
- Why do you want it?
- What will that get you?
Ask these questions a few times in a row, as if you were a curious child, to keep digging deeper.
You may find out that losing weight for them isn’t just about looking good in wedding photos — the deeper motivation is to avoid dying of diabetes as their grandmother did.
Once you hit on their true why, you’ll know what to do and say to help them stay motivated more effectively.
Motivation Strategy #3: Have Clients Make Micro Goals
Whether they want to lose weight, get their cholesterol in check, support their thyroid, or manage their blood sugar, the big goal can seem far away.
To help them stay on track, you can have clients make micro goals that help them get closer to their ultimate goal. Some micro goals could be:
- Get 8 hours of sleep at least 3-4 times per week
- Aim for 4 days at the gym
- Practice 10 minutes of meditation per day
Remind them that the more often they reach their micro goals, the closer they get to reaching their ultimate goal.
Motivation Strategy #4: Share Relatable Success Stories
Some clients lose their motivation because they don’t believe in themselves to achieve their goals. They lose faith in their ability to be able to do it, too.
Your own personal story can serve as inspiration. It may be the reason why they chose to work with you in the first place. If you can get vulnerable about how you overcame a similar health challenge, you may help them see themselves in your story.
You can also help them rebuild their belief in themselves by sharing success stories of other clients that have gone before them down a similar path.
Remind your clients that success is not a straight line — that sometimes they will take a step back with each two steps forward. And that is OK.
Motivation Strategy #5: Reward and Celebrate
When you start a health journey and start seeing successes, it can be challenging to remember where you were when you started.
You can teach clients to measure their progress at every step of the way and to celebrate their wins no matter how small. When you acknowledge their successes throughout their journey, you are reinforcing positive behavior change.
Implement a reward system to help keep them motivated. For example, you could send them an extra resource when they hit milestones — like reaching their micro goals.
Clients seek coaching because they know that it can be hard to stick with a goal on their own. Great health coaches guide clients to keep reaching for success even when their motivation wanes.