"Faith in oneself is the best and safest course."

- Michelangelo

Many experts and course creators jump right into the thick of their program's content after a brief introduction video—which most new customers skip anyway. In the rush to condense our expertise into digestible chunks, we often overlook the unique stage of our customers' journey. This oversight can lead to low course consumption and disengaged customers who quietly seek answers elsewhere.

So how can we increase customer retention, success, and ascension into our higher-ticket offers?

There's a crucial psychological bridge that your prospects need to cross before they can engage with the rest of your course modules.

The Most Effective First Step You Can Take For Your Customers Is To Boost Their Belief In Two Key Areas:

1. Themselves (which reaffirms their decision)

2. The outcome they desire (what they paid for)

NOTE: This implies that your course must not just be good, it must be stellar

To facilitate this belief, I recommend using a Simple Math Lesson inside of Module 0 (more on module 0 in a future post). This crucial segment precedes all other content in your course, setting the tone and establishing the necessary "AHA" moment required to believe your course is exactly what they've been looking for.

Module 0: Lesson 1 - The Math Lesson

One of the most impactful ways to bolster someone’s belief in themselves and your course is by demonstrating the simplest math required to achieve the desired outcome.

For example: a Facebook ads course that helps users secure clients on retainer might be framed like this:

• 20 outreaches per week [Action]

• 2 sales calls per week [Action]

• 1 client secured for every 4 sales calls [Result]

4 Clients @ $2,500/mo each = $10k/month [Outcome]

In a sales training scenario, the math might look like this:

• 5 calls a day [Action]

• 20% close rate (equals 1 sale a day) [Action]

• $500 commission per sale [Result]

This equates to $15k/month earnings [Outcome]

For a course about coding, the breakdown could be:

• Study 1 module per day [Action]

• Code for 1 hour a day [Action]

• Achieve certification in 6 weeks [Result]

• Apply to 1 job a day post-certification [Action]

Secure a job as a coder in 90 days or less [Outcome]

By distilling the desired outcome into simple, accessible math, your customers can visualize the outcome you promised while gaining a clear understanding of the steps needed to achieve it. This increases content consumption, community engagement, and personal accountability, fostering a deeper commitment to the program and the intended outcomes.

This approach helps customers think, “That's so straightforward, I can definitely do this!” or “That explains why I haven’t achieved XYZ yet… Now it all makes sense!”

Pro-Tip: Minimize the numbers associated with daunting tasks, and maximize the numbers tied to desired outcomes.

Remember, once your customers see the math, they're invested in the journey.