Video Business Academy's clients spent up to $50K in total on a program that started at $4K.
The gap between those numbers is the offer ladder: the things a client is sold over time, each one chosen by where the client is. Most coaches sell one package and never solve this, so their lifetime value is the price of the package, about $5K. The ladder has five rungs, and the client's situation picks the rung.
What do you sell a client who hit the goal?
The next problem, solved. Once someone hits the promised goal they feel done and want the next chapter. You cannot sell them the same thing again. At Video Business Academy the goal was a videographer's first $10K month, and the upsell was the next problem: $10K to $25K, a second offer.
Upsell one, two and three each carry no ad cost, and every one of those sales goes straight back into cash collection. If the next offer is relevant, up to 30% of everyone buys it and 40% or more of the winners. The close rate on those conversations runs 40 to 50%. After a while clients want one-to-one anyway, which makes it a good premium upsell.
Offboarding is the moment. A client who hit the result still feels the next gap. The conversation starts at least 60 days before the end, or the upsell and the extension are both missed.
What do you sell a client who wants a second run?
A resell: a second run for a bigger result. The client finished, got a result, and wants to do the whole thing again at the next level with the same team. A resell restarts the path with a new goal. An upsell moves to a different problem; a resell keeps the same problem, bigger.
Video Business Academy's 30% resell and upsell rate came from these rungs together. Lifetime value went from $4K to $50K and more, and clients stayed two to three years.
Result from a named client with written permission. Typical clients of this cohort saw a range of outcomes; nothing here is a guarantee. How we handle claims.
What do you sell a client who is close?
An extension. People close to the goal who want a bit more time buy more time in the same program. It is the simplest rung and the easiest to miss, because it has to be sold before the end date. Extensions and next offers together stretch how long a client stays by another 30%, up to 50% depending on the offer.
Once someone hits the promised goal they feel done and want the next chapter. You cannot sell them the same thing again. The next thing to sell is their next problem: at Video Business Academy, from $10K to $25K, a second offer. People close to the goal who wanted a bit more time bought an extension. That took us to a 30% resell and upsell rate and clients who spent up to $50K in total.
What do you sell a client who is not ready?
A downsell: the video training only, no calls, no chat. It sells rarely, liquidates ad spend and covers the closer's time on a call that did not close. It is a front-end tool for the prospect who could not pay, and it must never compete with the main offer.
It is the wrong rung for an existing client. A client who paid $7K and finished does not want the training they already have at a lower price. They have a new need, and the answer is a rung higher up. Video Business Academy ran downsells under its $4K to $7K main offer, next to the upsells and resells above it.
When is continuity a real offer?
When it is a value loop: something the client buys ongoing because they need it, ongoing value for ongoing revenue. A service they use in their business, a tool, an ad service. A gas station is an endless value loop. Coaching on its own is not one, because a learning experience ends.
So continuity is the last rung and the most misused. A $97 a month community for the same access is the worst upsell or extension there is.
People who paid a lot to get in prefer another high-ticket offer, and it rarely sells. As a rung for winners, only a real value loop belongs there.
| Rung | Client situation | What it is | What we see |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upsell | Hit the goal | The next problem, solved | 40%+ of winners; close rate 40 to 50% |
| Resell | Wants a second run | The same program again, for a bigger result | Part of Video Business Academy's 30%+ from resells |
| Extension | Close to the goal, wants more time | More time in the same program | With next offers, a 30 to 50% longer stay |
| Downsell | Not ready, or no money | Video training only | Sells rarely; liquidates ad spend |
| Continuity | Ongoing need | A value loop, monthly | Only something they need; never $97 for the same access |
How do you know which rung a client is on?
From the Monday.com board. Every client is on track or overdue against a milestone, and every client has an end date. The trigger is data, never a feeling.
A client past the final milestone is a winner and gets the upsell conversation. A client on track and inside 60 days of the end who wants more time gets the extension. A client who says they want to go again gets the resell.
The survey does the rest: every client is asked what could be done for them, and what they wish this offer helped them with. The answers are read next to each client's milestone and write the next rung.
Watch out. Build the rungs from what the team can deliver. An offer built purely from marketing that the team cannot deliver breaks the whole business. It breaks fastest on the back end, where the buyer already knows what your delivery is like.
Further reading: Upsell, downsell, continuity: the coaching money model · What a resell is, and how it differs from an upsell, an extension and a downsell
