The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.
So coach a LOT. It’s OK if you’re nervous, or even terrified of doing your initial sessions – coach anyway. And don’t worry, we’ll cover many tips in later chapters to help increase your confidence and make the whole process much easier for you.
In the extreme, if you had 20 pro-bono (i.e. non paying) clients, you would attract many more clients and feel very comfortable charging them your full fee. You would also be getting a lot of training and experience under your belt. However, it doesn’t have to be for free…
Once you have 10-20 clients, with the assistance of your mentor coach, your practice will naturally grow in number of clients, client retention (how long they stay), and income. Once you have say ten clients, you might begin to look at longer-term, sustainable marketing methods.
The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.
Suppose coaching comes up and the person says: “That’s interesting”.
Here is a series of questions which will often lead to a strong trial session:
“Really? Have you ever considered working with a coach?
[PAUSE/LISTEN]
What’s one area you would focus on first, if you had your own coach?
[PAUSE/LISTEN]
Do you think coaching might make an impact in that area?
Well – why don’t we find out? I’d be happy to offer you a 20 minute consultation – no obligation, and no charge. If it turns out coaching can’t really help, at least you’ll leave with a good sense of what coaching is all about. If it turns out it would have a big impact, we’ll look at what kind of coaching structure would best support you.
[PAUSE/LISTEN]
Great – how do I reach you? How’s Friday for you?”
The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.
There are a multitude of specific coaching niches, with more being identified every day. The major areas of specialization at present include: Life Skills, Business Coaching, Executive Coaching, Corporate Coaching, Career Coaching, Relationship Coaching, Financial Coaching, Study Skills, Fitness and Weight Control, and overall Personal Development.
A typical life skills program may look at clarifying values and visions, setting goals and new actions so that an individual may lead a more satisfying, successful, and fulfilling life.
Business coaching can be useful in any type of business, small or large, and may range from individual skill development to overall team coaching in larger corporations. Areas that often benefit from coaching include communication skills, time management, strategic planning, increasing market share, improving workplace efficiency and productivity and dealing with specific conflicts within the workplace.
If you were working with small business owners and possibly their staff, you would normally call it Business Coaching. If you were working with staff within a corporation, usually paid for by the corporation, or working with the board or leadership team, you would call it Corporate Coaching. Working with individuals in executive positions is of course Executive Coaching, but clearly there can be a lot of overlap between this and Corporate Coaching.
The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.
Always ask for a letter from each group you speak to; this will build your testimonial file. When you go out to speak for money, these letters will come in handy.
Use a feedback form (see ‘Preparing Your Handouts’ above) to get testimonials from participants, collect their personal information for your newsletter, and to see if they would like a free session. Follow up promptly, or better still, find someone else to input and follow up!
The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.
Create product
Once you’re out there speaking, you’ll want products to sell. Create a tape series, book or video. Also partner with someone else who has something you don’t sell, so you sell their product and they sell yours. Give away one from the platform as a prize. If you have a speech, you have a tape. Once you get your talk perfect, go into a recording studio and record it, or even better – record it professionally during a live speech. Have it professionally packaged and sell it in the back of the room at all your talks.
