The following is taken from David’s interview with Leza Danly in 10 Super Coaches.
What was most disheartening for you while building your practice?
I built my practice quickly, reaching my goal of 20 clients in less than 6 months. It was my goal for the end of my coaching certification, to have a full practice before the exam. I got my 20th client on the day of our last group call. I never really had a major block, but I remember the first time I lost a lot of clients in a short period of time and I went into some scarcity about that.
How I dealt with it was to take a deeper responsibility for why I created them leaving. I discovered I was hungry to make a deeper commitment to coaching clients who wanted to do really deep work, and that the clients I lost were not fulfilling for me. It was a shout from the universe telling me to raise the bar on my standards.
What was the most interesting or exciting thing for you about building your practice?
Well, the most exciting thing was watching the dream come alive. The idea that I could create a professional life for myself by loving and supporting people and building intimate relationships was a revelation. It was my dream career, and I was creating it magically. It was a total high! And I was giving it to myself.
The following is taken from David’s interview in 10 Super Coaches.
Do you recommend offering free coaching?
I do recommend offering a free initial session, I think that’s quite smart. This isn’t like the profession of being a doctor where people are looking for you already and they’ve been to a doctor twenty times in their life.
This is a profession that a lot of people don’t know about and they may not trust yet until they’ve experienced it, so I think offering a free session makes a lot of sense. A lot of businesses give a free consultation, so whether or not you call it a free coaching session, or a free consultation, at least have a ten-minute chat to find out what their goals are and to explore ways that coaching could help them.
If you can help them find their goals, if you can help them get clear on what they really want to have in their life, then that’s going to inspire them. They’re going to be excited when they get present to that. The next thing they need to see is that working with you is going to help them get that. So if you get those two things covered – that they get inspred about their goals and the could see how coaching could help, then chances are you’re going to have a client.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Anna Dargitz in 10 Super Coaches.
What advice would you give coaches about charging clients?
Give some of it away knowing that what you give freely comes back tenfold. Give some of it away with the agreement that the client may receive benefit, but they are also giving themselves to the coach so the coach can practice their new skills. And for some, charge what people can afford to pay you, noticing who receives the most from you (your ideal client). Notice who you attract and what it takes to attract your ideal clients.
How did you deal with the coaching/charging friends issue?
After feeling disappointed a few times because of my own unrealistic expectations, I stopped going there! I cross-referred. My coach colleagues sent me their/family and I sent them mine. Always pro bono with the agreement that both coach and client were practicing on each other.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Rachel Pryor in 10 Super Coaches.
Would you advise coaches to pursue certification?
Yes, yes and yes. There are just too many people who set themselves up as coaches – it is getting increasingly clear that those with certifications stand out.
If so, at what stage in their practice, and through which accrediting body?
Certification requires a certain number of client hours, so that might determine how soon you can become certified. I went straight for the highest certification there is (CCMC with CoachInc, and CMC with the International Coach Federation) because I had more than enough client hours (2500+). I certified after 3 years coaching.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Ernest F. Oriente in 10 Super Coaches.
How would you recommend coaches start to build their business?
I co-authored a book with my partner Judy Feld, titled ‘SmartMatch Alliances’. If we were building a business in 90 days and we put the driving principle of SmartMatch Alliances into play, we could catapult our business from nothing to something and be moving forward at a rate that is simply extraordinary.
The interesting piece, or the challenging piece, is that many and most coaches are not using this formula, and quite frankly they’re not building businesses that thrive and exceed their expectations. Many, many coaches are not making enough to even be considered a paycheck.
It took us thirty two thousand words to put this formula together. It took the entire first half of the book to explain the concept of ‘living in the world’ and having maximum exposure and having the foundation in place so that you can serve those who are your exact perfect audience.
The once you have that in place, the alliances, and all the additional services that you might provide for that audience, it just falls right into place like dominoes, it’s extremely easy.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Jim Earley in 10 Super Coaches.
What top three methods, in order, did you use to get your clients in the first 2 years?
Normally I wouldn’t mention this one, but the thing I did the least, but which brought me the client that kept me in business, was cold calling HR directors. I only pursued the torture of cold calling for six months, but netted a client that provided up to $25K in revenue in a couple of years.
I joined the Minnesota chapter of ASTD (American Society of Training and Development), volunteered to serve on the newsletter, became newsletter editor, and was invited to join the board. I participated up to my ear lobes in that organization for about five years. That gave me lots of visibility and credibility with people in the training and development circles.
I also bartered a membership in an Inner Circle group; a facilitated peer coaching group for business owners. This was a miracle of the highest order. It gave me the opportunity to rub elbows with people accustomed to making a lot of money. It also gave me a source of accountability (I didn’t want to look like a chump there). In time, it led to some business.
