How to Build a Certification Empire Mitch Russo

Simon: And m. Welcome back, everyone, to the sales show. Coaches, consultants do not die. Stay alive, have a healthy pipeline instead of dying a slow sales death because you are like everybody else. But the Internet has made everybody a coach and everybody has a presence and everybody thinks they are an expert. So we can go down in a sea of sameness and not be seen as an expert unless we do something against it. And this episode is about what to do against it. Welcome, Mitch Russo.

Mitch Russo: Thank you, Simon. Great to be with you.

Simon: How can we not die as a coach?

Mitch Russo: Okay, so, coaches, this is your wake up call. I don't have to tell you this. You've watched what happened in your own business. Clients started not paying, uh, prospects started not converting, courses stopped getting used and purchased. And here you are looking at all this stuff and say, what am I doing wrong? I've done everything right. I built a great business. I have a lot of expertise. My courses are world class. Why isn't anybody buying them? And how come I'm not making money the way I used to? Well, we have some answers, Simon, and love to jump in and share them with you.

Simon: Let's jump. Let's jump. Stage is yours.

Mitch Russo: Okay, so let's go back just a little couple of years. Uh, probably three years ago, coaching industry was still in pretty good shape. Uh, courses and programs were still selling. Uh, and you guys were alerted to this problem long ago when you heard that people are buying courses but not finishing them. The, uh, process was that somebody would get excited in a sales funnel. Uh, you know, they give a limited time offer, so there's some urgency there. And then all of a sudden they buy the course. And then crickets, they get busy. Life gets busy. They say, say to themselves, well, I got the course. I don't need to, like, look at it right now. And here you are waiting for them to complete so you could sell them the next level or add coaching to their, uh, to their contract, et cetera. Just not happening. And there's several reasons why, of course. The first is very simple. People get busy. They have one intention one day, another intention another. But the, the bigger problem is this. The. They do not feel the urgency to work with you. Now you might say, well, how do you know this, Mitch? Because I'm in the same situation as you. Uh, I've been a strategist, business coach for over 25 years. I've scaled companies. I worked with Tony Robbins directly and ran a coaching division in our company together, uh, well over 50 coaches. And so I know the problems that coaches have. But I also know something that a few people really understand. And that's. What does it take to manage a coaching relationship so long after, um, my relationship with Tony and Chet Holmes, uh, you might say, uh, ended very, very casually, but also at the same time very beautifully. Chet passed away. I was with him on the day he died. And of course I, um, was very sad and told Tony at that time, I think I needed to go do my own thing at this point. And we, uh, both parted friends and still are to this day. But one of the things I started realizing as my own client base was now scaling quite nicely is that I did not have a management tool. Now my thinking was, why don't I just get one? I mean, there's plenty of them out there. I could buy all these different products or subscribe to a coaching platform. And, and that's where I started this journey. So around 2018, I started. I think I started with two, then three, then five different coaching platforms. And none of them worked for me. None of them really gave me the results I wanted. Sure, they kept track of my notes and I could probably put some homework in. But ultimately what I wasn't getting is I wasn't getting the affirmations, I wasn't getting the goal tracking. I wasn't getting the accountability that I want, I need to have with my clients. And so what I decided to do, since I have a background in software, I built and scaled software companies before I decided to build an app. And I did it the hard way. You know, think about it. It's 2018, 2019. I hired developers, uh, and I, and I got a bunch of quotes. I have somebody I favored, and I decided to work with them. But ultimately they were late. The product came in, uh, more expensive, full of bugs. It took a long time to get it working. And as a minimally viable product, it was worth every penny. Because immediately what I saw was my, um, re engagements, all of my subscriptions were, uh, uh, renewing. Uh, my coaches, my clients were signing on for additional terms, uh, with me. And it was great. And there's a reason why. Because I had figured out how to keep people accountable, track their goals, and elevate my own authority in, in the client's eyes. And, uh, how do you do that?

Simon: Every coach right now listening, oh, my God. That's what I need. I need to track their goals. Or at least I need a system where they track their goals when they commit to something and then later, don't do it. I need some loop in there. Hey, you committed to this, what's the next step?

Mitch Russo: Uh, well, you just shared the secret. The secret is they do it, not you. So all of the time that I hear about coaches who are trying to, you know, basically track stuff for clients or keep them accountable, they're the ones who become secretaries and start recording the goals.

Simon: Oh my God, no, that's the wrong path. But even if, even if we know and we say, hey guys, you committed? Now where is it? So for example, in our coaching we use this. It's the, it's the anti Tony Robbins. Instead of massive, massive, uh, action, we call it strategic action. You just pick the four things that move your boat the most forward and then you yourself, and I'm doing it too, uh, you yourself, you have committed to four things. Now you have to actually execute on them. And this thing will visually help you stay on top of it. And guess what, Mitch, 260 people using this right now. And today we were sharing screenshots. 50 of us forgot to do it.

Mitch Russo: Mhm. Makes sense. But here, here's why they did and how to fix it. Would you like me to share that?

Simon: Sure.

Mitch Russo: Okay. So very. Is it okay if I share my screen or would you rather me just talk it through?

Simon: Uh, tell us.

Mitch Russo: Okay, sure. So, so what would happen if every time you, you conducted a session either with a group or with an individual client, they received a branded personalized email from you that looked like it was professionally, uh, created, uh, in on a

Simon: platform that uh, they're getting 600 emails a day.

Mitch Russo: Right, but this is the most important one and you'll see why in a minute. So on this email is a complete summary of everything you guys talked about, their assignment on what you want them to do in the between now and the next session. A login to their portal where they will every single week type in 6 critical stats now up to 10 critical stats about their business, and then finally after they get done typing it, uh, they answer their accountability questions.

Simon: And those answers, we are asking a lot of legwork.

Mitch Russo: It takes 10 minutes. And what really is important here is to lay down the law. So I'm going to tell you a story before I explain what I just said. I had a client and he was a very prominent individual, um, very large company, and he was the CEO and I was coaching him, uh, and he showed up and uh, had not done his homework. And I said to him, look, there's no point in us continuing. You didn't do anything from last week, so I'm not going to be repeating everything I told you last week, um, we're going to cancel the session. You go back and you do your work and then we can start again. And at that point, if you don't do the work, don't schedule another session. And he got all upset and hung up on me. And at that point, about a half hour later, I'm feeling bad now because, you know, look, I, I don't want to waste anybody's time or money. So about half hour later, I get an email from, he goes, you know, I got to tell you something, I got upset and I'm sorry, but you're the first person who's ever held me accountable, really accountable. So this is what it comes down to. If you set down, uh, basically the rules of a coaching engagement is you do the work and I do the coaching and together we make progress and we make progress rapidly. And if you're not willing to do the work and you're not willing to be held accountable, I'm not a fit for you. Sure enough, they go onto the platform, they enter their numbers, they check, they check their graphs because it's all visual. Uh, they at that point answer their, uh, two or three or five accountability questions. If they have homework, um, they do their homework. I mean this all takes 15 to 30 minutes. But here's the thing, it's progress. If you're not being held accountable. And look, you know this, you have a program that does this. If you're not being held accountable, then really what's the point? There's no point in doing the work. You don't pay your taxes because you like to. You pay your taxes on the threat that they're going to come with guns and uh, take their money and probably take you away. So accountability is the key. But here's the part that I wanted to stress. Once you are doing this and you get into a rhythm of doing this every single week with a client, here's the magic that happens. You can start to see changes far more rapidly than you could ever see without it. And again, I proved this over and over again. And here's where now we get to answer the question. You probably forgot the question by now, which is how do I increase my authority? And it's a simple, straightforward process. And I say this on the day I sign a new client onto working with me. I say, if I over deliver in every way possible, would you be willing to leave me a short two minute video testimonial? No one ever says no. Why? Because they want you to over deliver. Right. So now at this Point it's now six, eight weeks, eight sessions in. We're looking at the graphs. The graphs are going all the way up and to the right. We're looking at their progress. Their revenue is up 20, 20%. Their profits are up 6 to 12%. And now I say to them, look, we've uh, completed our, uh, you know, the contract that we started together. And um, how you feeling? Oh, I feel great. This has been terrific. Great. Now you remember that request I asked you for, which is that video testimonial. Oh, yeah, yeah, sure. I'd love to leave your testimonial. Great. So now what I do is I pass them the testimonial formula. Five key questions to help them craft their testimonial so that it showcases exactly who they are, where they were before, where they are now, and how they feel about working with me. I then take those videos and I start using them to, um, ask for, to send them to prospects that I'm working with. Oh, uh, you're in this business. I had a client in that business. Check out this testimonial. In fact, I had two. All those testimonials, by the way, are present on MitchRusso.com under the Testimonials tab. Uh, some of them are like off the hook. Amazing. And it's not just because I'm good, and I am. It's because they received specific instructions on how to do it. They were carefully led through each step of the coaching process and I over delivered most of them had had increases between 20 and 40% in revenue in a single coaching contract, which for me is about two months.

Simon: And your software does that for coaches, right? They don't have to build their system. They can plug and play, do it right.

Mitch Russo: And it's all in one browser. The only thing that you have outside of your browser is a zoom window. And we'll be taking care of that soon too. So. And this works for masterminds, groups, solo coaches or solo clients. It's a universal system. Now here's the revolution. As, uh, I said before, uh, this product and this platform has been hand coded, uh, over the course of six years or so. Uh, but then last year we got this magical tool called Claude Code. Now I'm probably, um, not up to speed on every latest development in AI, but I follow along. Um, and last year I, um, I met up with a friend. His name is Mike Phil Sane. Uh, Mike has built several major companies and he's uh, an incredible, um, business executive and a marketing genius and recently has become an AI genius as well. So he says, mitch, why don't we take over the development of the product? I said, how? I mean, I'm. I haven't coded in decades. He goes, no, no, no, you don't need to. So we loaded up the platform into Claude code and cursor, and we started slowly, little by little, enhancing the product using Claude code. And then Mike taught me. And once Mike taught me, I was like a barn on fire. I mean, I couldn't stop. I now had, uh, a to do list, you know, 100 items long over all the years of people who've asked for features that I just knew would take too long and be too expensive to add.

Simon: And now you just say it and Claude builds it. So it's getting better and better. What about the distribution now? If they use it, they are. Now they have a standing, they have testimonials, they have loops that close the execution. So they're creating results. They can show those results on the website. Still, we need to solve the distribution problem, right? Getting people to the website. Is there a plugin for that?

Mitch Russo: Well, absolutely, yeah. So we have API links to go high level, um, uh, to groove, of course, because that's Mike's product. And Mike has built a series of funnels and templates just for coaches that we include free with the product. We also have a full training environment, uh, where Mike is basically. In fact, he's going live next Friday, this coming Friday, to show everybody exactly how to install, install those templates and start making them work right away. And on those templates are placed for these amazing testimonials that create the kind of change and the kind of authority that we all need as coaches. Look, once a client thinks, oh, I could just ask AI, what do I need a coach for? That's when we know we have to step up our game. And frankly, uh, the experience does not translate well to AI. Knowledge does. Knowledge is now free, as you probably know. The bottom line is that experience understanding an issue and then guiding someone based on experience, that's where a great coach comes in and can make a huge difference. But nobody knows that until they find out about you. Now, one of the other things that we're just releasing, we'll be releasing it in two weeks, is the 2.0, uh, version of Click Coach, which is with all the AI enhancements that I've been telling you about. And one of them is profile pages for all your coaches. So pretty soon it'll be easy for you to launch a directory of all your coaches, all their Wins all their experience, the types of companies they work with, and all the things about them that would attract a client to your firm.

Simon: Nice. So you got the product, you got the distribution, and you know where to get it. Is it m? It's at mitchrusso360.com just go to mitchrusso.com

Mitch Russo: and you'll see, uh, my testimonials there. But to take a look at the current product, go to ClickCoach IE and you'll see what we're offering. And right now, because we're still in launch mode, um, we have a huge package of great stuff that you're getting as part of your subscription. And, um, Mike's products play hand in hand with this as well. So all of the Groove components are going to be API linked into Click Coach. If you use Go High Level, there's an API for Go High Level. Um, it really is at this point, um, at the point where if I have a subscriber, a client who says, you know, Mitch, you have 10 stats, but I need 12, I'd say, okay, let me put it on the list. In fact, I have an open spreadsheet for all of my subscribers to add whatever they desire to the system and I will evaluate it and prioritize it. Now, if it's something only they would need, I would have to tell them that's probably not going to make it into the main build. But I've gotten so many great suggestions from people just using the platform and seeing how it accelerates their workflow and accelerates their exposure and does all of the things that frankly, you know, most people think they could do it on their own. So a lot of people jury rig this process with spreadsheets and notepads and all these different calendars and components. And the bottom line is that you forget to use it, you don't use it. We even have a complete built in communications system right inside Click Coach, uh, with an automated reminder system that you could send three reminders a week if you want. Um, and at the same time check ins. So all of this stuff is available. And here's a little bit of a secret. Coming soon, we're going to have a mobile app for your clients as well.

Simon: Guys, you heard it directly from the source. Thank you, Mitch for being on the show. Please come back soon.

Mitch Russo: Absolutely.