Ten years ago I was fortunate enough to be heavily involved in the implementation of a company wide coaching program me, both as an employee who was to receive coaching but also as a manager and coach who was expected to regular coach my reports and my peers to enable them to achieve their objectives. I say, fortunate enough, because I found that when I was coached effectively I became really motivated and focused, and when I finally became a proficient coach, I again found it motivational in that I was able to support and enable my direct reports to achieve more.
There were though many pitfalls along the way to achieving total acceptance of coaching as a skill that not only motivated but also enabled employees to become more capable and productive. In this short article I will outline the necessary steps I feel an organisation must take in order to ensure that they implement a coaching programme effectively. Ten years ago I feel that although we made great progress we also made some mistakes which I would encourage organisations to be aware of when deciding to go down the 'coaching' route.
1. Ensure coaching starts at the top and is supported by the 'top'!
Many organisations are recognising that coaching is a skill that all managers of people and teams must possess. However, many organisations only concentrate on ensuring that 1st and perhaps 2nd line managers are trained in the skill. Suddenly middle or junior managers become skilled in coaching but never experience the power of coaching from their own senior management. In relation to ensuring that everyone who will be involved in the coaching programme 'buys -in' to the coaching philosophy they need to hear that the 'top' executives are committed to coaching both in terms of promoting the skill but also to be seen to utilise the skill themselves in that they are coached and that they coach their own direct reports. In other words everybody has to 'walk the talk'.
In my last organisation before going self-employed this was not the case. A few senior members of the Board and a couple of key HR personnel promoted the skill of coaching well and 'practiced what they preached'. Unfortunately some very senior managers did not and continued to use very directive behaviours towards their staff whilst communicating that coaching was a 'fad' that would soon pass! This caused confusion at middle management levels with the result that a number of managers did not take their coaching training very seriously. Fortunately other managers did and their teams eventually experienced the benefit.
2. Will everybody understand what coaching is and what it can do them?
This was one of the first hurdles that we had to overcome. Simply, people did not understand why the organisation was implementing such a programme and also
people did not fully understand what coaching was exactly. Some believed it was training and that all it meant was that you told people what to do and showed them how to do it. After all that was what their sports coach did! Others thought it was more about counselling and you only used coaching when there was a deep problem causing under-performance. All in all not everyone had a good understanding of what coaching was and how it differed from the likes of training, mentoring and counselling. Also many people because they had not been exposed to effective coaching had no experience or idea of why coaching could be a benefit for them; either as the coach or as someone being coached. Before employees can move on and take part in a coaching programme they must be 1005 aware of what the skill of coaching entails and what it can do for them.
3. Those who are going to act as coaches must be trained effectively.
Most companies will take on the services of a training provider or consultant to support them to implement the coaching programme. Beware. Make sure you do your homework! There are numerous coaching schools, training companies and consultancies who now offer 'coach training'. Some will be excellent; some not so hot. We had some major problems with the group that we used in that not all their trainers/coaches had the necessary skill and experience with the result that not everyone in the organisation received the same quality of training and coaching. I was extremely lucky in that I had an excellent coach who was also a fantastic trainer.
What should you look for when selecting a coaching training company or consultancy?
The most important thing to look for in selecting a provider company is to ensure that you are comfortable that you can form a powerful and productive partnership with them. There are a number of questions you should be asking in order to ascertain this.
o What is their experience of supporting coaching programmes? (Years of experience, types of situations, companies worked with, references)
o What is the experience of the individual consultants? Business backgrounds? Coaching experience? Coaching Qualifications? Any experts within the ranks? (There are a lot of 'life coaches' now offering corporate manager-coach training and many do not come from a corporate background. Although this does not mean they won't be good coaches, it may mean that their credibility in the eyes of the trainees/coachees might not be all it could be, and this could present problems)
o What coaching models does the provider use? Do they stick to one model or are they able to utilise a number of coaching models which they can fit to the purchasing company?
o How flexible is the provider? It is all very well putting together a coaching programme to satisfy an initial proposal but are they able to flex this programme as befits the needs of the organisation as they go through the programme? Flexibility is key in any coaching programme as not everything will go to plan and not everybody will progress at the same pace!
o Does the provider offer variety of interventions within the programme? A good provider will ensure that the programme is varied with it being a mix of classroom theory, role-play and other experiential practices together with assignments, action plans, review days not forgetting 1:1, group and telephone coaching support.
o Are they prepared to ensure that they measure their success and agree with you what exactly success looks like? If they are not then forget them!
o Are they affordable? Some companies and consultancies charge very high rates and deliver excellence and are value for money. Some are the opposite and some charge very reasonable rates and are also excellent. The main point is that you should also do your sums and make sure you can afford the programme because it could last a fairly long time, particularly if you are a large organisation.
Coach training takes time and although there are some very good two -three day courses available the real secret to establishing and reinforcing coaching skills is to ensure that once the basic theory is learned, these skills are immediately put into practice. A good coach training provider will always offer follow up support either in the form of review days, 1:1 coaching, group coaching (action learning sets) and telephone coaching support. Having said all this in many instances it will depend on the budget available but whatever the situation please ensure that you do your homework on the outfits that you have singled out in your tendering process. If your managers and coaches do not get the required and proper training then the whole coaching programme could collapse before your very eyes.
4. Ensure that those who are doing the coaching have some form of measure.
Firstly it was my experience that although everyone went through the coach training not everyone was prepared to go away and start coaching! Reasons for this were varied. Some cited too much pressure of work and not enough time; others simply outlined that they didn't believe coaching would work for their reports; some stated that they were already coaching, whilst others decided that they needed to coach more because they now believed that this was the way to motivated and up skill their staff. The end result was that although some managers had a strong motivator to coach, others did not. How did we get round this challenge? Well we got half way there, in that in every manager's measures of performance there was an objective around how much time would have to be spent on a one to one basis with individuals in their teams. This at least got people to make sure they put time in their diaries in order for this to happen. However this was only half the battle as it was no guarantee that within this dedicated time, the manager would actually do any coaching! What I believe should have happened (and what I now believe is happening) is that the manager on a regular basis now asks for feedback on their coaching skills from the people they are coaching. Each coachee will have a list of the competencies and behaviours that an excellent coach should exhibit and every so often the manager will ask the coachee for feedback on these. Only by taking both the objectives and feedback approach will you ensure that coaching is taken seriously.
5. Regularly review progress against agreed measurement and success criteria.
Finally the success of the coaching programme overall should be measured. As with any training intervention it is not always that easy to measure how successful the intervention has been. Sure, the feedback following the course was great and the trainer/coach was superb, but did any lasting change happen and did this result in improved behaviours and subsequent improvement in productivity?
Organisations should look to both qualitative and quantitative measures where possible. Qualitative measures include written feedback about how the coachee or employee feels about the coaching - do they feel more focused, more motivated, has morale improved, do they look forward to their coaching sessions etc. Qualitative measures though do not always satisfy senior management who, in many respects, do not respect 'happy sheet' feedback. What they want is hard evidence based on data and results. If they do not get this then suspicion about how effective the interventions often occurs and future investment in such 'soft skill' ventures can be difficult to access.
Where possible if you are looking to demonstrate a return on the investment then you should look to measuring outputs such as sales or production; look at sickness rates, employee retention rates together with improvements in individual competency ratings where possible. We were constantly being pressured and challenged to prove a return on the huge investment that the company had made and although we struggled in the early days to prove that coaching worked we eventually gathered together enough quantitative data to prove our case.
In Summary, in order to support your organisation to successfully implement a coaching programme at all levels the do the following:
1. Get 'Buy-In' from the top and ensure they are committed to the skill of coaching and that they lead by example. Others will follow.
2. Make sure everyone involved understands why coaching is being implemented, what coaching is and how they as individuals will benefit' not only as a coach but as someone being coached.
3. Choose your coach training providers very carefully. Are they experienced coaches? Can they train effectively? Do they have a list of satisfied clients? Do they provide ongoing follow-up support?
4. Are there enough motivators in place for managers to coach? Is coaching part of their specific objectives and are they being measured on these objectives? Are they asking for feedback on their skills?
5. Make sure you put both qualitative and quantitative measures in place and that you review these regularly, always remembering to communicate these to senior stakeholders.
Another important point is that all this takes time. If you think you can implement a coaching programme in a matter of weeks then think again. You will need time to get the support of senior management; time to put a training plan together and then time to implement that training plan. Then there should be a re-inforcement and sustainability period when the newly found skills are being implemented and developed through feedback. Time should also be put aside to ensure feedback is collected and measurement against the success criteria is monitored and communicated. Give at least six months to a year for your implementation and then be prepared to continually assess and develop the skills on an ongoing basis.
Coaching programmes are lengthy and can be exhausting given the continual training, monitoring and influencing of stakeholders, but ultimately they are very worthwhile as the organisation and its people grow as a result.
http://business-square.com/coaching/our-coaching/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/27772
Friday, July 8, 2011
Personal Coach Training
Do you remember when you hired your first coach?
I am about to tell you a BIG secret about hiring my first coach AND why most coaches don't "get it" when it comes to selling their coaching simply because of HOW they hired their first coach.
I remember when I hired my first coach. I wasn't a coach myself. I was just a guy with a lot of problems.
I had lots of stuff I wanted to change. I was...
* out of shape
* in a job I hated
* sitting on a business I started that was going nowhere
* in an unhappy relationship. So...
I hired a coach to help me turn it all around. And, guess what? I did! I started exercising regularly, quit my job to focus on my business, turned the biz into a success, and ended my 4 year relationship. The key point here is that I hired my coach for "real" reasons.
You see, most coaches hire a coach for themselves because:
A) Their coaching school says they need to hire one. Or...
B) To get help growing their coaching business
Because most coaches didn't hire their first coach based on their own challenges, pains, etc. They don't know what it's like to NEED to hire a coach. To feel like "I've got to spend this money on a coach". So...
What happens is, they hire a coach for these "contrived" reasons. Understand that I'm not against coaching schools telling their students to hire a coach. It just creates a different expereince for "why people buy coaching". Plus, coaches get hired by students who are told to hire a coach. That also creates an "artificial experience" of why people "BUY COACHING"!
KEY LEARNING POINT:
People want to buy coaching. Let me say that again.
PEOPLE WANT TO BUY COACHING! In fact many people ENJOY hiring a coach.
Here are 3 reason why this is true:
1) People want to buy coaching simply because they enjoy buying things. Some people just like to buy stuff and coaching is one more (potentially) fun thing to buy!
2) People want to buy coaching because they want to get serious about their achievement. They feel like it's time to get more focused, stop being scattered, etc. They want to stay on track and they "get" that coaching will help them do that. These people WANT to hire a coach.
2.5) An offshoot of the group above, there are some people who just want to grow. They have an inner drive for personal growth and see that hiring a coach could push them, challenge them, and help them see themselves in different ways. These people are rare, but they exist. They want a coach simply to enjoy the process of faster growth.
3) People want to buy coaching because they are desperate for a change and they realize they can't do it alone. This is why I hired my coach. My life was a total wreck! I was a mess and I couldn't take it any more. These people are like, "please let me hire you!" They REALLY want to hire a coach.
This is important to understand for a few reasons.
First, if you're one of the coaches that hired a coach because it was a mandatory (or highly recommended) part of your coaching school, then you may run into doubts and wonder if people really hire coaches in the real world.
NOTE: The bigger part of the problem is that you probably weren't taught how to get clients OR worse (like most coaches) you might have been taught a lot of the WRONG THINGS to do to get clients. And when these "flawed" approaches don't work, you have had a little voice in your head wondering if real people actually hire coaches.
Second, if you hired your first coach because your school said so, you just don't "get" what it feels like to be in a situation where you feel like you NEED to hire a coach.
You missed out on knowing what it feel like to be so stuck or lost, that you are willing to spend $300/month (or more) to fix it! And then...
You might not know the gratitude you feel for your coach helping you turn it around and thinking that it would have been worth twice as much as what you paid! But...
What you might experience as a coach growing your business is:
1. When you give out a sample coaching session, the person you're having the session with is doing YOU a favor.
2. People tell you coaching is "expensive" and people say no to hiring you and you start to believe them.
3. People don't "get" how coaching will help them, and say that they'll "think about it" and (never) get back to you.
You're experience as a coach growing your coaching business is different than that of the client that wants to hire you. Why?
Two reasons:
1) You're doing the "wrong things" in the "wrong ways" to get clients and because you were told to do these things you think they should work, but they rarely do.
2) The reactions some people have to you and your coaching make you feel uncomfortable and that discomfort "colors" your expectations of how the next person you talk to is going to react. So, your expectations falter and you start expecting negative reactions.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
People actually DO want to buy coaching and if you have people that are having intro. sessions with you, then they probably want to hire YOU. It's just up to you to help them see how coaching will help them with what they are hungry to change.
I don't think there's 1 single thing more important for coaches to learn than how to conduct sample sessions in a way that compels people to hire you. It may be even more important than coach training because this will actually GET the clients for you to work with!
- Christian Mickelsen
COACHING CHALLENGE:
1. Erase your previous unsuccessful experiences from your mind. Keeping these around, won't help because there's not much to learn from them.
2. Recall experiences you've had where you made a purchase and enjoyed it! Buying things can be fun and when you remember that, you can bring that back into your own experience of selling your coaching. People are going to enjoy buying from you.
3. Remember how excited you were when you hired your first coach! The fun, the "scary excitement" of knowing your going to have to grow. Knowing your life is going to change in interesting and wonderful ways! Your soon-to-be new clients will be in for quite a treat!!
http://business-square.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/681328
I am about to tell you a BIG secret about hiring my first coach AND why most coaches don't "get it" when it comes to selling their coaching simply because of HOW they hired their first coach.
I remember when I hired my first coach. I wasn't a coach myself. I was just a guy with a lot of problems.
I had lots of stuff I wanted to change. I was...
* out of shape
* in a job I hated
* sitting on a business I started that was going nowhere
* in an unhappy relationship. So...
I hired a coach to help me turn it all around. And, guess what? I did! I started exercising regularly, quit my job to focus on my business, turned the biz into a success, and ended my 4 year relationship. The key point here is that I hired my coach for "real" reasons.
You see, most coaches hire a coach for themselves because:
A) Their coaching school says they need to hire one. Or...
B) To get help growing their coaching business
Because most coaches didn't hire their first coach based on their own challenges, pains, etc. They don't know what it's like to NEED to hire a coach. To feel like "I've got to spend this money on a coach". So...
What happens is, they hire a coach for these "contrived" reasons. Understand that I'm not against coaching schools telling their students to hire a coach. It just creates a different expereince for "why people buy coaching". Plus, coaches get hired by students who are told to hire a coach. That also creates an "artificial experience" of why people "BUY COACHING"!
KEY LEARNING POINT:
People want to buy coaching. Let me say that again.
PEOPLE WANT TO BUY COACHING! In fact many people ENJOY hiring a coach.
Here are 3 reason why this is true:
1) People want to buy coaching simply because they enjoy buying things. Some people just like to buy stuff and coaching is one more (potentially) fun thing to buy!
2) People want to buy coaching because they want to get serious about their achievement. They feel like it's time to get more focused, stop being scattered, etc. They want to stay on track and they "get" that coaching will help them do that. These people WANT to hire a coach.
2.5) An offshoot of the group above, there are some people who just want to grow. They have an inner drive for personal growth and see that hiring a coach could push them, challenge them, and help them see themselves in different ways. These people are rare, but they exist. They want a coach simply to enjoy the process of faster growth.
3) People want to buy coaching because they are desperate for a change and they realize they can't do it alone. This is why I hired my coach. My life was a total wreck! I was a mess and I couldn't take it any more. These people are like, "please let me hire you!" They REALLY want to hire a coach.
This is important to understand for a few reasons.
First, if you're one of the coaches that hired a coach because it was a mandatory (or highly recommended) part of your coaching school, then you may run into doubts and wonder if people really hire coaches in the real world.
NOTE: The bigger part of the problem is that you probably weren't taught how to get clients OR worse (like most coaches) you might have been taught a lot of the WRONG THINGS to do to get clients. And when these "flawed" approaches don't work, you have had a little voice in your head wondering if real people actually hire coaches.
Second, if you hired your first coach because your school said so, you just don't "get" what it feels like to be in a situation where you feel like you NEED to hire a coach.
You missed out on knowing what it feel like to be so stuck or lost, that you are willing to spend $300/month (or more) to fix it! And then...
You might not know the gratitude you feel for your coach helping you turn it around and thinking that it would have been worth twice as much as what you paid! But...
What you might experience as a coach growing your business is:
1. When you give out a sample coaching session, the person you're having the session with is doing YOU a favor.
2. People tell you coaching is "expensive" and people say no to hiring you and you start to believe them.
3. People don't "get" how coaching will help them, and say that they'll "think about it" and (never) get back to you.
You're experience as a coach growing your coaching business is different than that of the client that wants to hire you. Why?
Two reasons:
1) You're doing the "wrong things" in the "wrong ways" to get clients and because you were told to do these things you think they should work, but they rarely do.
2) The reactions some people have to you and your coaching make you feel uncomfortable and that discomfort "colors" your expectations of how the next person you talk to is going to react. So, your expectations falter and you start expecting negative reactions.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
People actually DO want to buy coaching and if you have people that are having intro. sessions with you, then they probably want to hire YOU. It's just up to you to help them see how coaching will help them with what they are hungry to change.
I don't think there's 1 single thing more important for coaches to learn than how to conduct sample sessions in a way that compels people to hire you. It may be even more important than coach training because this will actually GET the clients for you to work with!
- Christian Mickelsen
COACHING CHALLENGE:
1. Erase your previous unsuccessful experiences from your mind. Keeping these around, won't help because there's not much to learn from them.
2. Recall experiences you've had where you made a purchase and enjoyed it! Buying things can be fun and when you remember that, you can bring that back into your own experience of selling your coaching. People are going to enjoy buying from you.
3. Remember how excited you were when you hired your first coach! The fun, the "scary excitement" of knowing your going to have to grow. Knowing your life is going to change in interesting and wonderful ways! Your soon-to-be new clients will be in for quite a treat!!
http://business-square.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/681328
The Secret to a Successful Coaching Business - It Isn't Where You've Been
Are you more focused on doing coaching than on running a business of coaching?
Your Success Comes From Designing a Business, Not Just in Doing What You Do
Here's the difference.
* If you find yourself wanting to coach, and avoiding marketing and sales, then you are playing at coaching and not running a business of coaching. Your chances of success are small.
* If you are wanting to coach, and not spending time designing and redesigning a business of coaching that delivers exactly the DOLLARS that you WANT, in the TIME that you want to put into this, then you are playing at coaching instead of running a business of coaching. Your chance of making a lot of money coaching is small.
I've seen that same pattern among most of the small business owners I've coached, and it's even more rampant among the coaches that I coach. Strange, isn't it, that coaches have the same problems that their clients have? But it's very true.
Are you more comfortable coaching than in marketing and selling? Do you know what needs to be done to successfully bring in tons of new clients in marketing, and getting them to buy in sales? And stepping back even further, from the 10,000 foot level to the 30,000 foot level, where you'll start designing and redesigning the whole business, that's where you'll be asking questions like, how do I go from $150/hour to $500/hour, and then from $500/hour to $1,000/hour. As long as you are working as a coach and not as a business designer you'll be stuck making $150/hour decisions and never selling many of those. So, in reality you are making way less than $150/hour.
In any business, the more focused the business owner is on "what they do" instead of building a business around what they do, the less likely they will succeed.
Coaches, who discover the principles to resolve this will be even better at helping their own clients design and redesign their business for more success and higher income.
More Time Thinking . . . Coaching . . . Than Designing and Then Redesigning the Business of Coaching
Do you spend more time thinking about coaching than designing and redesigning a business of coaching? How much time do you spend working on coaching, and how much time on building a business of coaching?
As a coach, don't you work with people to help them get focused?
So, what should you be focused on as an owner of a coaching business?
Obviously you want to focus on becoming a better coach, thinking about how you coach, however, if you never spend time thinking about marketing better, selling better, and, at an even higher level, how would you design this business to make more money, to find clients that would spend more money, and on making exactly what you'd like to be earning from your coaching business, then it's likely that you aren't finding those answers that are even more critical to your success than coaching itself. Am I right?
Let's look at one of my clients who was a cook in a restaurant. As the cook, he believed he could run a business better than his boss. However, do you want a bet that his focus was around making a better meal than in how to become successful at a restaurant business? So, he went across the street and started his own restaurant.
Where do you think he was working? In the kitchen! He believed that his success depended upon how well he cooked and what kinds of fantastic meals he cooked, yet no one was walking through the door. Does that sound like your coaching business?
It Doesn't Matter How Good You Are at What You Do If You Can't Sell Any
One of the things I preach to my clients would likely be defined as sacrilege in business schools, but it is the truth. It doesn't matter how good you are in the kitchen (or in coaching) if you aren't getting anyone to walk in the door (that's marketing), and if you aren't getting anyone to set down to buy (that's sales).
To restate that: It doesn't matter how good of a coach you are if no one is walking in to discover you, nor to buy your services. You could be the best, or the worst, and your results will be exactly the same if no one is there to buy it.
You Can Have a Successful Business If You Can Get Tons of People Walking in and Buying Even If You Aren't Good at Delivering
In fact, let's look at it from the other side. Let's say that you are absolutely fantastic at marketing and sales, and aren't any good in the kitchen (or coaching) at all. In that case you are good at getting people in the door and getting them to set down and buy, but the food (or your coaching) is absolutely horrible. The money is flowing (imagine what that would be like for coaching), yet the food is horrible. What happens is that there are a ton of people coming through the door and buying, but they'll never come back. As long as you are out there marketing and selling there are still people flowing through the door and you are successful.
In no way am I suggesting that you do it this way, only emphasizing to you that without marketing and sales you'll never be successful, and that with them you could be even if you aren't any good at coaching, so marketing (the ability to get tons of people in the door), and selling (getting those that do come through the door to buy) are critical, and the ability to design and redesign a business that includes all of the pieces of your business, marketing, sales, coaching are all critical pieces.
Coaching, and how good you are at it, doesn't even come into the picture until you've got them coming in the door, wanting what you have, and then getting them to buy. Sounds logical, however, most coaches start with coaching and never have many clients.
How to Become the Top 1% of All Coaches
Do, you know the statistics are that over 90% of all coaches and consultants will fail within months, and that, of those that do succeed, most will never make more than $20K? Your success will come only when you can get your hands around the BUSINESS of coaching, learn what makes less than 1% of all coaches the top earners, and design the business that not only works in all of those areas, and then focus on how to make that business deliver EXACTLY what you want it to in dollars and cents, and in the time you want to put into it.
One of the coaches I worked with was having problems getting enough people to even show an interest, let alone someone who would buy. She kept saying, but I'm good at coaching, but I can't get anyone interested in coaching. When I finally got her to look at how to refocus on the RIGHT customer, how to sell, and THEN even how this business was to make her more and more in less and less time, she changed everything and went from less than $10K in a year to $6,000 an hour. Yes, I said that correctly.
It wasn't just learning to market and sell, which is very important, but it also was a total redirection of what she was doing, and how she was doing it. It was redesigning her business so that it will deliver the dollars you want in the time you want to spend, and the way you want to do it.
Instead of focusing on selling at $5,000 per client, which wasn't working the way she was doing it, she developed a marketing funnel that leads people in steps toward coaching. Each step moved from giving a free taste of coaching, to a low cost group session, to full blown coaching. She's now making $5,000 an hour, not just per job, doing Intro to Coaching at $250 a month for groups of about 100, and has a waiting list for her one-on-one coaching, which, by the way, she now charges a lot more for and spends very little time doing. She spend 4 1-hour sessions a month with about 100 people, $25,000 a month total income for 4 hours of work. And that leads to a waiting list of people wanting her coaching.
Your Job Isn't Just to Coach . . . It's Designing and Redesigning a Successful Coaching Business
So, your job isn't to coach. It is to design, and redesign a business of coaching that delivers exactly the dollars you want in the time you want to put into this. And, of course go do it.
It's designing the business at the highest level around what you want to make and how you'll do it, and then breaking it down to how many leads are needed from marketing, what percentage of those will be closed in sales, and, finally the delivery, your coaching.
Do you know how to deliver exactly that many leads each and every week?
Are you delivering that many each and every week?
Is your sales process converting exactly the percentage of those leads into sales that are necessary to hit your target sales in number of customers and dollars per customer?
Do you know how to fix your marketing to make it deliver at that rate, or better?
Do you know how to fix your sales to deliver at that rate, or better?
What are you going to do next to start delivering on all of those critical goals? Those are critical in that if you deliver each and every one of them each and every week, you will get the dollars you want this year in the time you are willing to put into it.
And, if you miss even one of these goals you not only won't hit your goals for amount sold in the time you want to put into it, but you are likely going to fail in business. That's critical!
Do you know how to make marketing work to deliver the number of leads a month you need?
Do you know how to close 40-50% of those leads?
What would it be worth to you to be able to do that?
So, would you like to do a quick assessment of your critical business goals? The things that are absolutely critical to your business?
Be sure to look for the next article, "Assessing You and Your business success, The Critical Issues of Coaching Business Success" to grade just how well you are doing at building a successful coaching business.
Do you want to learn more about how to increase your coaching business?
I have just completed my brand new guide to coaching marketing success. You'll also get a free invitation to join a mastermind group of other coaches as they build their business. Hear what works and doesn't work.
http://business-square.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1739073
Your Success Comes From Designing a Business, Not Just in Doing What You Do
Here's the difference.
* If you find yourself wanting to coach, and avoiding marketing and sales, then you are playing at coaching and not running a business of coaching. Your chances of success are small.
* If you are wanting to coach, and not spending time designing and redesigning a business of coaching that delivers exactly the DOLLARS that you WANT, in the TIME that you want to put into this, then you are playing at coaching instead of running a business of coaching. Your chance of making a lot of money coaching is small.
I've seen that same pattern among most of the small business owners I've coached, and it's even more rampant among the coaches that I coach. Strange, isn't it, that coaches have the same problems that their clients have? But it's very true.
Are you more comfortable coaching than in marketing and selling? Do you know what needs to be done to successfully bring in tons of new clients in marketing, and getting them to buy in sales? And stepping back even further, from the 10,000 foot level to the 30,000 foot level, where you'll start designing and redesigning the whole business, that's where you'll be asking questions like, how do I go from $150/hour to $500/hour, and then from $500/hour to $1,000/hour. As long as you are working as a coach and not as a business designer you'll be stuck making $150/hour decisions and never selling many of those. So, in reality you are making way less than $150/hour.
In any business, the more focused the business owner is on "what they do" instead of building a business around what they do, the less likely they will succeed.
Coaches, who discover the principles to resolve this will be even better at helping their own clients design and redesign their business for more success and higher income.
More Time Thinking . . . Coaching . . . Than Designing and Then Redesigning the Business of Coaching
Do you spend more time thinking about coaching than designing and redesigning a business of coaching? How much time do you spend working on coaching, and how much time on building a business of coaching?
As a coach, don't you work with people to help them get focused?
So, what should you be focused on as an owner of a coaching business?
Obviously you want to focus on becoming a better coach, thinking about how you coach, however, if you never spend time thinking about marketing better, selling better, and, at an even higher level, how would you design this business to make more money, to find clients that would spend more money, and on making exactly what you'd like to be earning from your coaching business, then it's likely that you aren't finding those answers that are even more critical to your success than coaching itself. Am I right?
Let's look at one of my clients who was a cook in a restaurant. As the cook, he believed he could run a business better than his boss. However, do you want a bet that his focus was around making a better meal than in how to become successful at a restaurant business? So, he went across the street and started his own restaurant.
Where do you think he was working? In the kitchen! He believed that his success depended upon how well he cooked and what kinds of fantastic meals he cooked, yet no one was walking through the door. Does that sound like your coaching business?
It Doesn't Matter How Good You Are at What You Do If You Can't Sell Any
One of the things I preach to my clients would likely be defined as sacrilege in business schools, but it is the truth. It doesn't matter how good you are in the kitchen (or in coaching) if you aren't getting anyone to walk in the door (that's marketing), and if you aren't getting anyone to set down to buy (that's sales).
To restate that: It doesn't matter how good of a coach you are if no one is walking in to discover you, nor to buy your services. You could be the best, or the worst, and your results will be exactly the same if no one is there to buy it.
You Can Have a Successful Business If You Can Get Tons of People Walking in and Buying Even If You Aren't Good at Delivering
In fact, let's look at it from the other side. Let's say that you are absolutely fantastic at marketing and sales, and aren't any good in the kitchen (or coaching) at all. In that case you are good at getting people in the door and getting them to set down and buy, but the food (or your coaching) is absolutely horrible. The money is flowing (imagine what that would be like for coaching), yet the food is horrible. What happens is that there are a ton of people coming through the door and buying, but they'll never come back. As long as you are out there marketing and selling there are still people flowing through the door and you are successful.
In no way am I suggesting that you do it this way, only emphasizing to you that without marketing and sales you'll never be successful, and that with them you could be even if you aren't any good at coaching, so marketing (the ability to get tons of people in the door), and selling (getting those that do come through the door to buy) are critical, and the ability to design and redesign a business that includes all of the pieces of your business, marketing, sales, coaching are all critical pieces.
Coaching, and how good you are at it, doesn't even come into the picture until you've got them coming in the door, wanting what you have, and then getting them to buy. Sounds logical, however, most coaches start with coaching and never have many clients.
How to Become the Top 1% of All Coaches
Do, you know the statistics are that over 90% of all coaches and consultants will fail within months, and that, of those that do succeed, most will never make more than $20K? Your success will come only when you can get your hands around the BUSINESS of coaching, learn what makes less than 1% of all coaches the top earners, and design the business that not only works in all of those areas, and then focus on how to make that business deliver EXACTLY what you want it to in dollars and cents, and in the time you want to put into it.
One of the coaches I worked with was having problems getting enough people to even show an interest, let alone someone who would buy. She kept saying, but I'm good at coaching, but I can't get anyone interested in coaching. When I finally got her to look at how to refocus on the RIGHT customer, how to sell, and THEN even how this business was to make her more and more in less and less time, she changed everything and went from less than $10K in a year to $6,000 an hour. Yes, I said that correctly.
It wasn't just learning to market and sell, which is very important, but it also was a total redirection of what she was doing, and how she was doing it. It was redesigning her business so that it will deliver the dollars you want in the time you want to spend, and the way you want to do it.
Instead of focusing on selling at $5,000 per client, which wasn't working the way she was doing it, she developed a marketing funnel that leads people in steps toward coaching. Each step moved from giving a free taste of coaching, to a low cost group session, to full blown coaching. She's now making $5,000 an hour, not just per job, doing Intro to Coaching at $250 a month for groups of about 100, and has a waiting list for her one-on-one coaching, which, by the way, she now charges a lot more for and spends very little time doing. She spend 4 1-hour sessions a month with about 100 people, $25,000 a month total income for 4 hours of work. And that leads to a waiting list of people wanting her coaching.
Your Job Isn't Just to Coach . . . It's Designing and Redesigning a Successful Coaching Business
So, your job isn't to coach. It is to design, and redesign a business of coaching that delivers exactly the dollars you want in the time you want to put into this. And, of course go do it.
It's designing the business at the highest level around what you want to make and how you'll do it, and then breaking it down to how many leads are needed from marketing, what percentage of those will be closed in sales, and, finally the delivery, your coaching.
Do you know how to deliver exactly that many leads each and every week?
Are you delivering that many each and every week?
Is your sales process converting exactly the percentage of those leads into sales that are necessary to hit your target sales in number of customers and dollars per customer?
Do you know how to fix your marketing to make it deliver at that rate, or better?
Do you know how to fix your sales to deliver at that rate, or better?
What are you going to do next to start delivering on all of those critical goals? Those are critical in that if you deliver each and every one of them each and every week, you will get the dollars you want this year in the time you are willing to put into it.
And, if you miss even one of these goals you not only won't hit your goals for amount sold in the time you want to put into it, but you are likely going to fail in business. That's critical!
Do you know how to make marketing work to deliver the number of leads a month you need?
Do you know how to close 40-50% of those leads?
What would it be worth to you to be able to do that?
So, would you like to do a quick assessment of your critical business goals? The things that are absolutely critical to your business?
Be sure to look for the next article, "Assessing You and Your business success, The Critical Issues of Coaching Business Success" to grade just how well you are doing at building a successful coaching business.
Do you want to learn more about how to increase your coaching business?
I have just completed my brand new guide to coaching marketing success. You'll also get a free invitation to join a mastermind group of other coaches as they build their business. Hear what works and doesn't work.
http://business-square.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1739073
How To Choose The Right Business Coach For You
Ask any successful business owner, Olympic champion, pageant queen, or executive about their success, and they will likely thank a mentor or coach. So, when you seek out a coach yourself, you can be sure you are in the right track.
But, is it just me or is there a new "Speaker, Author, and Coach" on every corner nowadays? Lately it seems that every other person I run into is "launching" their own coaching business. (And they are SMART... because the coaching industry is BOOMING in this "new" economy.) So, how do you choose the right coach for you?
Before I begin, let me tell you why I am qualified to "speak" on this subject. I am a coach, I have been coached, and I will never be without a coach in my life. I have spoken to others who cheerfully pay $150K per year to be coached, and I have spent an eye-opening afternoon with the man who commands such a fee. I have also spoken with people who have invested in coaching and considered it a WASTE. I have listened in pain as people have shared with me how they have been misled and maybe even deceived by a coach who over-promised and under-delivered. While I would never assert that I am the right coach for everyone (I know better.) I can certainly speak with confidence on how to choose the BEST coach for you.
Choose a coach who values her own practice... enough to insist on making sure that you are a right fit for her as a coach. Be very wary of coaches who will take on "any client" without first meeting with them to discuss their goals, obstacles, challenges and reason for seeking out a coach. How do they know they can help you without even knowing your name? A coach who values her own practice will be very choosy about the clients that she takes on and is not shy about referring business to other qualified coaches when a prospective client is not an ideal fit!
Choose a coach who cheerfully offers references, not just testimonials. Do people even READ testimonials? You bet they do. But, don't stop at just reading. Ask your prospective coach if you can actually speak to a couple of her past or current coaching clients. Make sure these "EXCITED CLIENTS" actually exist!! But also, make sure they are actual paying clients and not simply trying to increase their SEO ratings by being featured on another person's site! (You would be surprised to learn how often these glowing testimonials are from people who have not actually been helped by the coach!)
Choose a coach without an agenda. As a coach, my agenda should be based SOLELY on your goals. NOT based upon the coaching "system" through which I was certified. NOT based upon what I am comfortable addressing or handling. NOT based upon my "need" for money. A coach's agenda should be simple: TRANSFORMATION through SERVICE. If a coach is going to try to squeeze you into a pre-set agenda, you are better off saving the money and buying one of those "success in a box" offerings. A good coach begins each relationship LISTENING and ASKING QUESTIONS. AFTER doing this, a good coach should be able to provide feedback that evidences her attention to what you said as well as what you DIDN'T say.
Choose a coach whose coaching style is a great FIT for you... Don't hear what I am not saying, here. I did not say an EASY fit... but a GREAT fit. Sometimes coaching can be downright uncomfortable because a coach will SEE the best in you and demand you live up to your potential. The Olympic champion, Michael Phelps, didn't hire his coach because he was easy, or comfortable, or because he "let him slide" a little. He hired his coach because that person demands and brings out the best in Michael... His coach pushes him beyond his perceived limits. At the same time, you want to make sure you and your coach are a good fit values- and personality- wise.
For instance, I was once rejected by a coach with whom I was trying to enter into a coaching relationship. She said simply that I "was not her client". OUCH!! But later, I was so glad I did not invest in a coaching program with this woman. See, once I got to know her a bit better through tele-seminars, I learned that her solution for Moms with young children is to hire a full-time Nanny or Au Pair so you can work uninterrupted. Well, the reason I quit my job was so I could raise my own children and be there MOST of the time. So her solution would not have worked for one of my TOP obstacles... TIME to work. Next, I learned that she relies heavily on the power of palm reading for guidance. Again, not something I can personally "buy" into. Bottom line: Make sure that you and your prospective coach have a good connection, a good chemistry and will make a good team.
Choose a coach who inspires you and leaves you hopeful, but also propels you to ACTION. My coaching tagline is simple, "Encouraged, Empowered, and Equipped". I think that these three words certainly encompass a LARGE part of what I do as a coach / consultant. However, if I do NOT propel my clients to action, I have fallen way short. There is a saying (and a book) that says "Nothing Happens Until Something Moves". So true in business. There is such power in being positive, being encouraged and visualizing where you WANT to be or what you WANT to create... BUT, quite simply Nothing Happens Until Something Moves. Period. ACTION is the only way to take your business or your life to the next level of success. A coach should always hold you accountable to ACTION.
Before I close, let me give you a few "warning signs" that should serve as red flags for choosing a coach.
"BUY NOW" buttons for coaching on their website... HOW do they know who is buying coaching? HOW do they know they can even HELP you overcome your particular obstacle or maximize the new opportunity you just uncovered? In short, they have no idea if they can help you if they have never met you before. They should be unwilling to take your money and you should be wary of giving it to them. Have a conversation FIRST...maybe two!!
"Anything for Money" coaches... new mom coach, executive coach, health coach, business success coach, marriage coach, singles coach, political coach, Christian coach, etc. There is no way to be all things to all people! A great coach has been coached through this already... and knows better than to be on an "Anything for money" tour!
"Uh... um.. well" answers to questions about their own personal coaching. A coach should be being coached... and should have no hesitations expounding - not only on how they have transformed the lives or businesses of their clients - but on how their own lives or businesses have been transformed by their own coach.
http://business-square.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1983561
But, is it just me or is there a new "Speaker, Author, and Coach" on every corner nowadays? Lately it seems that every other person I run into is "launching" their own coaching business. (And they are SMART... because the coaching industry is BOOMING in this "new" economy.) So, how do you choose the right coach for you?
Before I begin, let me tell you why I am qualified to "speak" on this subject. I am a coach, I have been coached, and I will never be without a coach in my life. I have spoken to others who cheerfully pay $150K per year to be coached, and I have spent an eye-opening afternoon with the man who commands such a fee. I have also spoken with people who have invested in coaching and considered it a WASTE. I have listened in pain as people have shared with me how they have been misled and maybe even deceived by a coach who over-promised and under-delivered. While I would never assert that I am the right coach for everyone (I know better.) I can certainly speak with confidence on how to choose the BEST coach for you.
Choose a coach who values her own practice... enough to insist on making sure that you are a right fit for her as a coach. Be very wary of coaches who will take on "any client" without first meeting with them to discuss their goals, obstacles, challenges and reason for seeking out a coach. How do they know they can help you without even knowing your name? A coach who values her own practice will be very choosy about the clients that she takes on and is not shy about referring business to other qualified coaches when a prospective client is not an ideal fit!
Choose a coach who cheerfully offers references, not just testimonials. Do people even READ testimonials? You bet they do. But, don't stop at just reading. Ask your prospective coach if you can actually speak to a couple of her past or current coaching clients. Make sure these "EXCITED CLIENTS" actually exist!! But also, make sure they are actual paying clients and not simply trying to increase their SEO ratings by being featured on another person's site! (You would be surprised to learn how often these glowing testimonials are from people who have not actually been helped by the coach!)
Choose a coach without an agenda. As a coach, my agenda should be based SOLELY on your goals. NOT based upon the coaching "system" through which I was certified. NOT based upon what I am comfortable addressing or handling. NOT based upon my "need" for money. A coach's agenda should be simple: TRANSFORMATION through SERVICE. If a coach is going to try to squeeze you into a pre-set agenda, you are better off saving the money and buying one of those "success in a box" offerings. A good coach begins each relationship LISTENING and ASKING QUESTIONS. AFTER doing this, a good coach should be able to provide feedback that evidences her attention to what you said as well as what you DIDN'T say.
Choose a coach whose coaching style is a great FIT for you... Don't hear what I am not saying, here. I did not say an EASY fit... but a GREAT fit. Sometimes coaching can be downright uncomfortable because a coach will SEE the best in you and demand you live up to your potential. The Olympic champion, Michael Phelps, didn't hire his coach because he was easy, or comfortable, or because he "let him slide" a little. He hired his coach because that person demands and brings out the best in Michael... His coach pushes him beyond his perceived limits. At the same time, you want to make sure you and your coach are a good fit values- and personality- wise.
For instance, I was once rejected by a coach with whom I was trying to enter into a coaching relationship. She said simply that I "was not her client". OUCH!! But later, I was so glad I did not invest in a coaching program with this woman. See, once I got to know her a bit better through tele-seminars, I learned that her solution for Moms with young children is to hire a full-time Nanny or Au Pair so you can work uninterrupted. Well, the reason I quit my job was so I could raise my own children and be there MOST of the time. So her solution would not have worked for one of my TOP obstacles... TIME to work. Next, I learned that she relies heavily on the power of palm reading for guidance. Again, not something I can personally "buy" into. Bottom line: Make sure that you and your prospective coach have a good connection, a good chemistry and will make a good team.
Choose a coach who inspires you and leaves you hopeful, but also propels you to ACTION. My coaching tagline is simple, "Encouraged, Empowered, and Equipped". I think that these three words certainly encompass a LARGE part of what I do as a coach / consultant. However, if I do NOT propel my clients to action, I have fallen way short. There is a saying (and a book) that says "Nothing Happens Until Something Moves". So true in business. There is such power in being positive, being encouraged and visualizing where you WANT to be or what you WANT to create... BUT, quite simply Nothing Happens Until Something Moves. Period. ACTION is the only way to take your business or your life to the next level of success. A coach should always hold you accountable to ACTION.
Before I close, let me give you a few "warning signs" that should serve as red flags for choosing a coach.
"BUY NOW" buttons for coaching on their website... HOW do they know who is buying coaching? HOW do they know they can even HELP you overcome your particular obstacle or maximize the new opportunity you just uncovered? In short, they have no idea if they can help you if they have never met you before. They should be unwilling to take your money and you should be wary of giving it to them. Have a conversation FIRST...maybe two!!
"Anything for Money" coaches... new mom coach, executive coach, health coach, business success coach, marriage coach, singles coach, political coach, Christian coach, etc. There is no way to be all things to all people! A great coach has been coached through this already... and knows better than to be on an "Anything for money" tour!
"Uh... um.. well" answers to questions about their own personal coaching. A coach should be being coached... and should have no hesitations expounding - not only on how they have transformed the lives or businesses of their clients - but on how their own lives or businesses have been transformed by their own coach.
http://business-square.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1983561
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