Leading H.E.R. Way Podcast
What if I told you that building a successful business doesn’t have to mean running yourself into the ground?
Welcome to Leading HER Way, the podcast that challenges the outdated belief that success has to come with burnout.
I’m Nikisha, your disruptive coach, and after 15 years of growing multiple businesses, I’ve learned that working harder isn’t the answer—building smarter is.
Every week, I sit down with powerhouse women entrepreneurs and wedding pros who’ve cracked the code to scaling their businesses while reclaiming their time.
You’ll hear raw, unfiltered conversations, client transformations, and behind-the-scenes success stories proving that your business can thrive without you constantly putting out fires.
Here’s what you’ll take away:
✔️ How to build 7-figure systems that scale—so you’re not stuck in the weeds of your business.
✔️ How to stop being the bottleneck and design a business that runs smoothly without you.
✔️ Social proof from industry leaders who have mastered this shift—and are here to show you how.
So, if you’re ready to work less while earning more, hit play, and let’s create a business that ignites your freedom. 🔥
Leading H.E.R. Way Podcast
76: Build Trust Before the Sale: How to Attract Clients Who Are Ready to Say Yes
Do you feel like your leads are “watching” you and never reaching out?
Are your DMs and website visits filled with curious people… who aren't ready to buy?
The problem isn’t your price.
It’s not your product.
It’s the missing trust between their curiosity and your offer.
In this episode of Leading Her Way, Nikisha King breaks down the 3 most powerful ways to build trust with potential clients before they ever hit the “inquire” button.
Inside this episode:
- The invisible questions potential clients are asking before they contact you
- Why beautiful content alone doesn’t convert (and what to do instead)
- How to use testimonials, behind-the-scenes, and process videos to boost buyer confidence
By the end of this episode, you’ll know exactly how to lead with clarity and confidence—so when someone lands on your page, they feel like they already know you, trust you, and are ready to buy from you.
Join our upcoming Free More Profit, Less Chaos Masterclass at www.nikishaking.com
forget to follow and subscribe—so you never miss a step on your way to becoming an ICONIC CEO.
Want to attract aligned clients with less hustle and more heart?
Follow @nkbizguru on Instagram and get access to Nikisha’s 5-Star SCALE™ Framework at her More Profit, Less Chaos masterclass.
Welcome to Leading Her Way with your host and business guru, Nikisha King. This podcast is the ultimate destination for women, creative entrepreneurs, who want to break free from burnout. If you are overwhelmed by client demands and feel like you're doing this all alone, you, my friend, are in the right place alone. You, my friend, are in the right place Now. Let's dive in for steps to take back your time and simplify your workflow. All right, Nikisha, take it away.
Nikisha King:Hello, gorgeous. Welcome back to Leading Her Way podcast, where we ditch the burnout. Welcome back to Leading Her Way podcast, where we ditch the burnout, ditch the guesswork and build a business that supports your life and doesn't swallow you hold. I am your host, nikesha King, and I am your sales and systems coach. I'm here to disrupt your business in a way that makes you happy. I am your new go-to voice when you need a voice of confidence and a clear roadmap that gets you on your journey. Today we are rolling through our five-star scale framework and this is episode three, our final episode for the S, the signature client journey.
Nikisha King:Now here's the thing by the time someone reaches out to you, to the amazing you, they're already made a hundred micro decisions about whether or not to trust you. Before they even click or inquire, they have decided do you seem legit? Do you get them? Are you someone who can deliver what they actually want? I think about that all the time when I go shopping, when I'm on someone's page and I'm looking and I'm trying to figure out is it them that I'm going to choose? These are the questions I'm asking. Can I trust them? What builds trust? Testimonials? Do they deliver what I'm looking for I'm looking for how much results have they created? That's what all of us are looking for. So I'm going to be speaking today. How do you produce that for your leads, your potential clients? So let me ask you what are you doing before the inquiry to build trust? Let's get into it, because if you're only showing up after they hit the inquire or they hit your inbox, you're already behind. You are late to the game, all right, all right, I'm, I'm pouring on hard, I'm like throwing this at you, but I don't want you to get overwhelmed and I don't want you to feel like you've done anything wrong. I did this. Oh my God, was I late to the game? I'm a candidate of this, but I had to do something different and that's where my five-star scale framework came in.
Nikisha King:So I'm going to tell you about a client of mine. Let's just call her D, of course it's fiction, her name. I don't want to kind of share anyone's information, so I'm going to just give her a name D, so you can relate. She is a photographer, incredible work, gorgeous style, kind soul. But here's what she kept saying. She said Nikisha, I get traffic on my website, but they don't reach out. It's like they're watching but they're not converting. In other words, they're creeping. Does that sound and feel familiar to you?
Nikisha King:We looked at her journey and what we found was her content was pretty, but it didn't build confidence. It didn't answer the unspoken questions. So how did we fix that, you ask? Let me tell you we added trust signals. Trust signals, we use her words, we shared behind the scenes and within a few weeks, something happened. Her inquiries doubled and the clients who reached out were already sold. She didn't change her price, she didn't go rebrand her website. She just started leading from a place of trust, and that's what we are doing today.
Nikisha King:Okay, so let me ask you this what's costing you sales? Let's get into that. If you're only thinking about the client journey after the inquiry, you're missing the most powerful part, because your pre-booking experience is where people decide if they feel safe with you, decide if they see themselves in your brand and decide if you're worth the time, energy and money to pursue. And if your marketing, your website or content aren't building that bridge, you keep attracting curious people who never convert. So here's where you're going to take a second Pause and ask yourself would a brand new lead who's never met me before, never know who I serve, what I do and why I'm different within 30 seconds of landing on my website, of landing on my website, my social media profile and if the answer is maybe or no, don't worry, don't get in your head, don't start beating yourself up. We're not here for that. But I got you. I am going to share with you three core ways you can build trust before they even book you. So the first one is you ready? You got your pen and paper? I want you to make sure you hear me Speak before they ask if you want people to trust you. Okay, let me say that one more time Speak before they ask If you want people to trust you. You got to meet them where they are Most creatives. Talk about the what.
Nikisha King:Let me give you an example. You hear florists say I do florals. You hear imitation or graphic designers say I do custom stationery. You hear photographers say I shoot weddings. But trust is built when you speak to the why and the how. You need to show people that you understand their fears, the thing that they're so scared about, the thing that makes them go. Oh my God, I am so worried. This is going to happen and I don't want to be one of those stories that you solve problems just like theirs through your client testimonials, speaking about your clients, that you have a repeatable way to help them win. So, for example, instead of saying I design invitations, how about if you say I help couples who are overwhelmed by Pinterest? You know, turn their wedding vision into tangible, unforgettable first impressions. See that you hear how first impressions who are scared or overwhelmed by Pinterest. You notice how we're touching their fears and we're speaking about it and answering how we help them. So here's an iconic tip Add this kind of language to your bio, your captions, your inquiry page. This is what you want to do.
Nikisha King:Second, share the experience, not just the end result. People don't just buy the final product, they buy the process. Yes, think about it. Your leads are asking themselves will she answer my questions quickly? Will I feel taken care of? Will I know what's happening along the way? But most creatives only post their deliverables. There's so many beautiful Instagram pictures with all the florals and the aisle and the setup, and that's all you see, and sometimes it feels so boring. Trust me, I did it and I got bored. Hence the reason I did Planet Chronicles. I did other things, because I was just like I want something more.
Nikisha King:You need to show what it's like to work with you. So some ideas are behind the scenes. Right, a breakdown of your process. Little bits of that. That could be an easy carousel. How you ship the final product Some of my photographers do final products and it's beautifully encased in this cloth material and it has their monogram. Show them what to expect, right. How you lead your consults right. Take snippets from your consults answering questions people have for you. Let people feel the energy of working with you before they book you. Oh my God, I love that. Let people feel the energy of working with you before they book you, because once someone says I can already see myself in this experience, the sale is 80% done.
Nikisha King:Show proof early and often Trust is built on evidence. Now let's talk about testimonials, results, screenshots and stories. You don't need a hundred reviews. You need a strategic proof. Use client quotes as captions. Repost a DM someone sent you behind the door. Share before and after results. Highlight stories in your newsletters or your reels. Here's another iconic tip Place at least one piece of proof above the full on your website. Welcome them in and let them see how they can experience your process before they even book with you. And don't wait until the end of the project to collect proof.
Nikisha King:Capture feedback in the middle. What, nikisha? What do you mean? Like you want me to capture their review in the middle of working with me? Are you crazy? I am crazy.
Nikisha King:Capture feedback in the middle, right after that big win. That's when the energy is high and their words are golden. That's what you want to do. So let's do a quick confidence check together. I want you to open up your website or your Instagram and ask yourself these questions. I'll wait, go check it out. Go open it now. And if you're not able to, you're driving. Please don't stop, like, don't drive and don't do your phone. I do not condone that at all, but here's what I'm gonna say and you can come back to this Can someone tell within five seconds what I do and who is it for? So, in looking at your Instagram, looking at your Instagram, looking at your social media, can someone tell in five seconds what you do and who is it for? Two, am I speaking to real problems or just showing off the final product? And three, do I have proof on display and is it recent? I have proof on display and is it recent updated? Sometimes we do our website and we forget about it and we never see it and update it again. That's going to change today. If any of those are shaky, it's time for a little cleanup. You know that song clean up, clean up. Okay, no singing over here. That's what we're doing, that's what we're taking care of.
Nikisha King:So these are some of the things you're going to do to get really clear on your signature client experience or journey. When you build trust before someone ever says I'm interested, you create momentum, you shorten your sales cycle and you weed out the poor fits. Yes, you weed out the price shoppers, the people who are doing too much and have you doing too much? Weed them out. You attract aligned clients who are ready to say yes because they're already believing what you do. You stop chasing and you start leading. Hello, you're an iconic CEO. You don't chase, baby, you start leading. That's the shift, that's the power of an iconic CEO and my. That is how you create a five-star signature client journey that sells itself.
Nikisha King:So, if this is something that was hitting home and you're ready to build the system that backs all of this up, this is what I want to do. I'm so excited. I have my masterclass coming up on June 17th and then I have another one. So don't worry, if you're listening to this after the June date, then you need to run over into my show notes. Click on the link for the more profit. Hear that More profit, less chaos, masterclass. And I want you to save your free seat today. Did you hear that magic word Free?
Nikisha King:I am going to walk you through my full five-star scale framework and this is what you're listening to. You're listening to the areas and how I help my amazing clients transform into an iconic CEO. We're going to map it out for you so you can grow with intention and peace. No burnout, no more starting over every month. Let's get rid of all of the overwhelm. Just systems, clarity and profits with less chaos. Go to the show notes, click the link, grab your seats. Let's make this a turning point in your business. All right, I cannot wait to see you and I'm excited.
Nikisha King:So what's happening next week? Oh, we're stepping into the C of the scale framework and this is going to be confident booking process. Oh, my goodness, it's going to be so good. I love this whole series. We're talking about how to have like sorry, we're talking about how to lead sales conversations that feel like a conversation and not a pitch. No more pitching, just really amazing conversations that are invitations, and how to shift from I hope they book to I lead the booking. No more assuming you hope to get something. No more assuming you hope to get something, you're going to lead the booking. You're not going to want to miss this upcoming episode. Definitely hit the follow button or end. Hit the subscribe. It's not an or situation, it is an end situation. Hit the follow and subscribe so that you can get updates once it's out and above, out and live, and I'm so excited I will see you next week. At the same time, have an amazing week, my love, and I'll speak to you soon.
Welcome:Thank you for joining us today on Leading Her Way. We loved having you with us. Remember each action you take, no matter how small, adds up to big results. If today's episode fired you up, hit subscribe for more insights and visit our resource hub, which is linked to the show notes. There you'll find tools to streamline, organize and grow your business. Keep moving forward and we'll be right here to cheer you on next week.
