The following is taken from David’s interview with Rachel Pryor in 10 Super Coaches.
What top three methods, in order, did you use to get your clients in the first 2 years?
In the first 2 years, I committed to never getting a client through my network – I wanted to start again. So I attracted media attention, and clients came through articles. It took around 3 years to have a totally self-sufficient, referral-based practice.
However, coaching is no longer ‘news’ so I would recommend that coaches get clients through doing what they enjoy – if it is speaking, writing (internet-based publications are always looking for new material), or finding more original ways to enjoy themselves and become known.
I also mentored other coaches for 5 years or so, though I made sure that I never had more than 1/3 of my practice made up of coaches, because I felt that would become unreal.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Ginger Cockerham in 10 Super Coaches.
What was the most interesting or exciting thing for you about building your practice?
Number one – creating my own business.
Number two – results for my clients.
I had a client who was a professor in a major University who was on her way to becoming tenured and was miserable. She came to me to help her put more zest into her life outside her work so she could accept the fact that she wasn’t happy in her job. I challenged and encouraged her to look at alternatives to what she was doing. She loved to travel, spoke several languages and enjoyed cultural diversity. She also liked to work intensely for short periods and then have a break.
She explored how she could use her strengths and expertise in another model. When I asked her about being a Global Trainer, she replied that she had never heard of such a thing. After days of research, she found herself in all the descriptions of a global trainer. Soon she was headed out on her assignments to Turkmenistan training managers for a Multi-national company. She doubled her revenue and had four to six months off a year working in new environments intensely for a few months. She is happy in her work life now and in her personal life.
I have so many examples of people having the courage to make changes in their lives that I feel the excitement for each one of them and the joy that I was part of the coaching partnership.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Mike Turner in 10 Super Coaches.
What advice would you give coaches about charging clients?
Set a fee rate that reflects the most value you can deliver. Be very clear with clients that this rate reflects the value you deliver. If the client can’t afford this rate, find trade-offs you can make which reduce the amount you charge. For example, you might suggest that if the client commits to a certain number of sessions that you will reduce your rate by, say, 10%. But be clear that the value of your coaching has not been reduced.
Do you recommend offering free coaching?
Generally not, unless their hunger for coaching is very high. If someone is paying, even if only a nominal amount, they are more likely to value and get value out of the coaching.
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 Rachel Pryor in 10 Super Coaches.
Do you recommend offering free coaching?
I offered free coaching to my first 3 clients, for 3 months, and they helped me to identify the documentation I needed for my practice. After 3 months, I found I began to resent giving away for free, so I stopped. I also occasionally offer free coaching in return for some service, however this is not very effective for me.
Never get into a situation when you have offered free coaching without a limit on the timescale.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Mike Turner in 10 Super Coaches.
Would you advise coaches to pursue certification?
Yes, if only because, as the profession settles down, organizations will increasingly only use certified coaches.
If so, at what stage in their practice, and through which accrediting body?
From as early as possible, be clear what the accreditation criteria are and work towards satisfying them. That way, if the accreditation question comes up, you can say that you are working towards accreditation and state which of the requirements you have met or are close to meeting.
Are there any particular school(s) you would recommend?
The London-based School of Coaching, which is part owned by the Work Foundation (a charity that campaigns to improve the quality of work life). Whilst the fact that I am on the faculty might suggest that I would be biased, the reason I work with the School is because of the high quality of its work.
