The following is taken from David’s interview with Leza Danly in 10 Super Coaches.
When did you first increase your fee, to what did you increase it, and why?
I increased my fee when my practice was full and I felt I could “hold” an increase. What I mean by that is that I felt I could include it within my self-image. I could imagine people saying yes to the new rate. If I couldn’t imagine it, I didn’t raise my rate.
First I raised it to $200, then $250 then $300 over the first two years. Then I went to 3 sessions a month for the same $300, then $400. A couple of years ago I went to $400 per hour, and my clients split that up in a few different ways-three half hours, two 45 minute sessions, one session a month for $400, or some work with me in groups of three.
What advice would you give coaches about charging clients?
Don’t make up a rate you think you should charge and wish you could get, but don’t feel willing to receive. I think it’s better to coach 20 people at $100 per moth than having a rate of $300 or $400 and only having a few clients. You need to coach. Coaching will develop your self-image as a coach, and as you witness your impact you will naturally increase your rate. Of course, this is only true if you are a GOOD coach. So make sure to develop your skills and your personal depth.
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 with Leza Danly in 10 Super Coaches.
Would you advise coaches to purse certification? If so, at what stage in their practice, and through which accrediting body?
Absolutely. Coaching certification is absolutely necessary. There are many people who are innately gifted coaches, and that’s great. Even so, coach certification offers a maturing of your skill and an opportunity to discover more of the artistry of coaching. I encourage certification through a coaching school and then to also purse credentialing through the ICF.
As for the pace, it’s a personal decision. I think there’s a lot to be said for riding the momentum of moving through the training process and into certification in a short period of time to keep a hard focus on skill and to solidify the self-image as a coach. You need to coach a lot to see yourself as a coach. Seeing yourself as a coach, having that self-image, has everything to do with your ability to create clients. If you drag it out over a long time it can sometimes feel more like a hobby than a profession.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Leza Danly in 10 Super Coaches.
What words of advice would you give to a coach starting out?
I think the most valuable thing I could impart is that people are not just hiring a set of skills. Most of all, it is your PRESENCE that will have the biggest impact on your client. You can’t fake this part. If you feel powerful in your own life, you will model this for your clients. If you are personally courageous and loving and responsible for your impact, that orientation to life will shape the questions you ask, the compassion you bring and the strength you believe exists in others.
The other piece of advice is to understand that good coaching is emotional. People don’t change by just changing the “doing” in their lives. They change by being different, and that new being produces different actions. The “Just do it” approach can get the ball rolling, but it must be followed up with fundamental change at the level of being. This means emotions! You must be extremely comfortable being with a full range of intense emotion if you want to be a coach. Emotional expression is the fuel of change and the path to reclaiming power.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Leza Danly in 10 Super Coaches.
What are your coaching niche(s)? How did you discover this?
In the beginning, I had a niche of actors and entertainment people just because they were the people I knew. I loved helping actors make successful careers for themselves. It had been my favorite part of being an agent.
Now my niche is defined not by profession, but by personal depth. I only work with people who know they are on a spiritual journey of embracing responsibility and magic, people who want to become skilled at transforming reality magically and powerfully.
How would you suggest coaches find their niche?
Look to your passions. What do you love? Who do you like to talk to? Who would you most want to support? It might be a particular group, like mothers or prisoners or artists, but I find that niches defined around BEING issues are more powerful than defining it by what one DOES.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Leza Danly in 10 Super Coaches.
What top three methods, in order, did you use to get your clients in the first 2 years?
My top three methods were:
- Magic
- Referrals
- Public Speaking
I am not joking when I saw magic was my primary enrollment method. In fact, it was really important to me that I create my practice magically, meaning that I visualized it, I programmed for it, I spent time regularly in meditation imagining my full practice and seeing myself happily coaching a full practice. I made a schedule of where my client appointments were going to be and I absolutely allowed myself to desire it, imagine and expect it to happen.
Then I would delight as the phone rang and people called and I would set up sample sessions. I got so excited about the opportunities for growth for the people who called. I think I held an authentic space of possibility in such a way that they could more clearly see who they were becoming. Then I imagined people saying yes to coaching, and they did.
Again, I want to be clear I am not talking about a child’s magic that is about wishful thinking and looking the other way. I’m talking about the true, adult magic of consciously creating reality.
Once I started getting clients, then they referred other people. Also, even though I don’t recommend coaching friends and family, I did give them sample sessions so they would know more first-hand what I was doing and they were more likely to refer people.
Later, I began training coaches and speaking at conferences, which is another way for people to see you and get the power of your presence. But I didn’t do any public speaking in the first wave of practice-building.
