With the number of products and services in the diet industry, it can feel tough to be heard as an RD nutrition coach. The diet industry is a huge market with a plethora of voices. Unfortunately, not all voices in the diet industry are those of qualified nutrition professionals. You’ll always have Joebros and detox ladies in the market selling your potential clients things they don’t need, and there is always a new diet or new diet trend vying for attention. As RDs, sometimes it can feel like we are fighting an uphill battle when the voices of those who don’t stand for science seem to lead the diet industry.
You may be asking yourself, “How can I compete with the newest diet trends when I only can use evidence-based approaches?”. Or you may be asking yourself, “How do I cut through the noise and show my potential clients that my nutrition coaching is worth their investment and time when there are so many low-priced products and services out there in the diet industry?”
In this article, I’ll give you 3 tips to cut through the noise as an RD nutrition coach. My name is Tony Stephan, and I’m a dietitian business coach. I help RDs make more IMPACT and more INCOME through nutrition coaching. However, before becoming a dietitian business coach, I was an RD nutrition coach (just like you!). I served thousands of nutrition coaching clients over a time span of 12 years. My successful nutrition coaching business is what led me to where I am today. Let me show you how I cut through the noise during my time as an RD nutrition coach.
SHOW POTENTIAL CLIENTS HOW MUCH YOU CARE AS AN RD NUTRITION COACH
I’m so grateful for my education as a Registered Dietitian, but here is the thing about education alone. Very rarely does anyone pay attention to the credentials behind your name until they know how much you care! Many times I hear RD nutrition coaches talking mostly about themselves when they speak with a prospective new client. However, here is the thing. If you’re doing most of the speaking instead of the client, you’re doing it backward! If you want to show prospective clients that you care, you shouldn’t be doing most of the talking. Your prospective client should be doing most of the talking! As an RD nutrition coach, you show that you care when you actively listen and take an interest in your client’s life.
MEET THEM WHERE THEY ARE AT
When you start taking on nutrition coaching clients, you’ll find that you will work with many different people. Your clients will likely come from all walks of life. That is why it’s important to meet them where they are at in their health journey. If your client has been following a particular fad diet for 6 months, they will likely not respond well to,” You’re wrong! Don’t do that diet.” Instead, meet them where they are at and state the facts about the diet in an unbiased way so that they can make an informed decision on their own. It’s crucial to make sure your client is the hero in their health goals and health journey. It’s our job to enable our clients to make decisions best for them. In the Dietitian Nutrition Certification, we teach our students that it’s our job as RD practitioners to enable our clients to achieve long-term success.
BE THE RD NUTRITION COACH THAT YOU WISH YOU HAD
Although it may be second nature not to speak highly of fad diets, as RDs, it’s imperative to be empathetic towards our clients and their feelings. Oftentimes speaking negatively of a particular fad diet or health approach can offend clients and make them feel upset, especially if it is a diet approach that the client has dedicated themselves to for the past few months. Often, it’s not what you say, but it’s how you say it that creates trust and compliance with clients and potential clients. Always be kind even if the person you’re speaking to decides to stick with a stance that isn’t necessarily backed by science. That person may end up coming back to you for help one day as an RD nutrition coach if you have left them with a pleasant conversation.
If you’re looking to start your own nutrition coaching side hustle, you’re in the right place. I’m proud to be a part of the movement of dietitian entrepreneurs who are making more IMPACT and more INCOME! In the Dietitian Nutrition Coaching Certification, we teach our students how to cut through the noise as an RD and create a solid business structure for their online businesses.
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