This featured article is brought to you by: Chelsea Wallace, Launch Coach & Copywriter

As coaches and course creators, we’ve heard it before…run a launch debrief.

Let the eye rolls begin!

Lol, I’m joking…or maybe not? Because we all hear it but we rarely do it, am I right?

But what if I told you a launch debrief has the potential to increase your launch revenue by as much as 148%?

What if you realized that you were leaving 148% of your launch revenue on the table every time you launch…because you didn’t run a launch debrief?

Let’s break this down in actual numbers…

Here’s the 148% difference: 

If your final number was $10k in sales…it could’ve been nearly $25k 

If you netted $20k…you could’ve netted $54k

If you made $30k…you could’ve created $74k

If those numbers don’t make you think about a launch debrief differently, well, I guess this blog post isn’t for you!

But if you’re fully onboard with my launch debrief indoctrination and wanna hear where I got this 148% from, let’s dive into this.

A CORE LAUNCH PRINCIPLE TO REMEMBER

If you take nothing else from this blog post, recognize that no launch is an island.

You don’t launch your offer in a silo.

Each launch is meant to build on a previous launch.

Think of it this way: 

Your business has certain characteristics and conditions that enable you to create results from your launches. Your list size, your social media community, your messaging, your processes for delivering results for your clients…all of those characteristics combine to create your launch results.

And with every single launch, you add to or take away from those characteristics.

But if you never run the launch debrief to assess HOW you have added to or subtracted from those characteristics…

You’re basically launching blind.

You don’t know what results your launch is likely to create, because you haven’t assessed the foundation that you created the last time you launched.

Any part of your launch can give out and fail at any time, and you won’t know why because you didn’t run the launch debrief to identify the weakness and address it.

This is exactly why coaches and course creators see some of their launches soar to stratospheric success, while others fall dismally flat – without any obvious explanation.

The launch debrief ensures that your next launch is built on the solid foundation of your previous launch.

THE CASE STUDY THAT REVEALS THE POWER OF DEBRIEF

Allow me to show you the power of a launch debrief with a client case study.

One of my past clients was a 6-figure life coach who had been operating her business for a few years. But every time she launched her flagship program (which was a $2k, 3-month coaching program)…

…she’d hit a glass ceiling.

$23k

$21k

$25k

For 2-4 launches in a row, she was stuck in the range of $20k – $25k in launch revenue…unable to move beyond that point no matter what she did.

So she hired me, and literally, the first issue I identified was that she had never, ever, done a launch debrief.

In fact, she was running her business with ZERO data tracking, period.

So it wasn’t surprising to me that she kept hitting that plateau – she was running her business blind!

She didn’t have any data at all, so of course, she had no clue what the gaps in her strategy and messaging were in her launches – which meant she couldn’t fill those gaps and refine her launch strategy or her messaging…so naturally she kept repeating the same actions and creating the same dismal result.

Once I identified this issue, I ran the debrief.

We made adjustments to her launch strategy and messaging based on what the data was telling us.

Fast forward to the end of her launch…

She closed the doors of her program and had gone from a ceiling of $25k to a staggering $62k!

That’s a 148% increase in launch revenue for her!

Now obviously, I’m not promising that kind of 148% result to every single coach and course creator from a launch debrief.

But I’m definitely promising that doing the debrief will keep you from losing out on that potential 148% revenue increase.

Because we ran that launch debrief on her past 3 launches, we were able to:

1. Identify the gap between (1) her strategy and messaging and (2) what her people needed to make a buying decision.

2. Fill that gap by refining her strategy and messaging to meet her people exactly where they were at, and share what they needed to hear, in the way they needed to hear it.

3. Pivot during the launch, making adjustments where necessary based on the debrief data so that we stayed on track and actually surpassed our goals.

DEBRIEFING YOUR LAUNCHES: STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE:

Now that we’re clear on the value of a launch debrief, you might be thinking…how the heck do you actually run one?

I’ll help you with that in 4 steps.

Step 1: Map Out Your Launch Funnel

Identify each stage of your launch funnel, from the entry points into your launch funnel (think ‘top-of-funnel’ touchpoints like social media, podcasts, people already on your email list, ads, etc) to how you close the sale (think bottom of funnel tactics like sales and checkout pages, applications, sales calls, etc). 

You’re going to want to map out every single step of your funnel here.

(P.S. If you want to see examples of what 5-figure and 6-figure launch funnels can look like – including the client I talked about above – and get other detailed behind-the-scenes case studies of my past clients’ launches, download my case studies by clicking here.)

A simple example of a mapped-out funnel could look something like this (note: you’d want to use a mindmap instead of text to properly visualize each stage of the funnel):

Podcast Guest Feature >> PDF Guide >> Webinar Invite Email Seq >> Live Webinar >> Email Seq w/ Application CTA >> Application >> Sales Call

Step 2: Gather the Data and Identify Gaps

Examine the data associated with each touchpoint in your funnel. 

You’re going to want to know the exact conversion numbers for each stage and touchpoint of your funnel.

Using the example above, what was the:

• CTR on your podcast guest feature? How many unique clicks came from that interview?
• Conversion rate for your PDF guide?
• Registration rate for your webinar?
• Show-up rate for your webinar?
• Open and click-through rates of your emails?
• Conversion rate from webinar to application?
• Conversion rate from application to sales call?
• Sales call close rate?

There are a few more data points we could track in this example, but you get the idea.

Track every step, gather the data, and you’ll clearly be able to see where your numbers are indicating gaps in your launch funnel.

Step 3: Analyze the Data to Refine Your Messaging and Strategy

Once you can clearly see the gaps because you’ve gathered the data and looked at the numbers, the next step is to figure out what the numbers are telling you.

For simplicity’s sake, especially if you’ve never done this before, focus your analysis on your launch events, your emails, and your sales mechanism.

Some questions that you could ask include:

• How well did your launch event (webinar, etc) convert? 
• Does the registration and show-up rate, and engagement during the event indicate that people actually want to hear about that topic?
• Did people actually convert from that launch event – during and immediately after it? 
• When you look at your sales emails were people opening and clicking through on those emails? Was the messaging of those emails of interest to them – enough to create action? 
• Did the sales page convert, and if yes, how well? Were your sales calls converting well or less than you’d expect?
• Did you have a ton of no-shows for your sales calls?
• Did you have a ton of applications but then got a sales call and found out they weren’t a good fit for the program?

All of these questions (and so many more than you can ask depending on your launch strategy and messaging) give you a clear idea of how you can fill the gaps in your launch funnel strategy and messaging.

Step 4: Implement the Updates and Pivot

Once you’re clear on how you’d fill the gaps, then it’s simply a matter of refinement and execution. 

Update whichever emails need to be updated. Change your webinar topic. Make your webinar pitch stronger. Update the messaging to ensure you’re speaking to the most qualified ideal client for your program.

Take action to refine based on your analysis from Step 3.

The launch debrief gives you the game plan, and the last step is to run the play as your prepare for your next launch.

REMEMBER

Each of your future launches will build on the foundation of your last launch – whether that foundation is weak and failing or solid and stable.

It’s your job to ensure that you know the weaknesses in your foundation and you do the work to sure those weaknesses up, while maintaining your strengths, before your next launch.

This is what the launch debrief does for you.

If you’ve launched your offer at least once, use everything I’ve shared with you today and go back to the data so you can run a launch debrief.

There’s absolutely ZERO reason for you to leave money on the table during your launches – and this underrated key can ensure that you don’t.

You’ve got this!

This featured article is brought to you by: Chelsea Wallace, Launch Coach & Copywriter

Chelsea is a launch coach and high-ticket copywriter who’s helped thousands (literally) of course creators and coaches launch their offers with multi-5 and 6-figure results. She’s also a mentor to copywriters helping them to raise their rates by becoming launch strategists. If you’re a coach or course creator looking to create highly profitable launch results while feeling at ease, peaceful, and surrounded by lightness, fun, and daily luxuries – she’s your go-to!

>>>>>> Access Chelsea’s FREE 5 & 6 Figure Launch Funnel Case Studies HERE to discover the funnels, strategies, and sustainability shifts that her clients have made to create 5 and 6-figure launches. You will discover: The funnels and strategies my clients have used to create 5 and 6-figure launches with offers priced at $500 – $10k, The challenges and obstacles each of my clients faced in reaching their launch goals and how we addressed them, and The sustainability suggestions and strategies that kept my clients from burn-out and putting their lives on pause while they were launching.

Connect with Chelsea on Instagram here. 

Check out Chelsea’s Podcast: Launching & Learning with Chelsea Wallace & listen on Spotify HERE or listen on Apple Podcasts HERE.