branching out

• Figure out where your target audience already spends time and go be there.This sounds a little obvious, but I’ve seen coaches spend lots of resources creating a fantastic blog with loads of interactive features and wonder why their potential clients aren’t swarming. Why create a new place for them to go, when they’re already looking for someone like you elsewhere? For example, on LinkedIn:
  • Search for groups that are relevant to your potential clients – for example, by interest or industry
  • Ask your current clients what social media sites they would use to find someone like you
  • Connect with current and prospective clients to see what groups they frequent
• Spend some time observing, before you join the conversation. Remember: most of what you post on various social media sites becomes public and available to search engines. You’re better off establishing a presence in one or two online communities, rather than having one or two posts on every site under the sun.
• Once you decide to participate, do so consistently. One of the most important things you’re trying to establish is credibility, and it’s hard to do that when your name only pops up in front of someone every few weeks. Devote a little time every day, instead of getting bogged down for hours.
• Don’t spread yourself too thin. Focus on one or two online communities – maybe even on the same website. Trying to be everywhere at once just doesn’t work. Or if it does, you probably won’t have much time for anything else!
• Make sure your profile is complete and include a photo. If you’re going to spend time building relationships in a social media community, be sure people who make their way to your profile find some substance. Think of this profile as you would a resume, even on sites that feel more informal, like Facebook.
• Focus on giving, not marketing. Don’t waste your time telling your audience about your expertise; instead, simply show them you’re a generous expert. Answer questions, chime in on conversations, provide resources. That said, your posts should end with a brief signature that lets readers easily find out more about you.

Many coaches ask each client to sign an agreement before launching their coaching journey. In this document, most at least cover the basics: frequency and duration of sessions, as well as the negotiated fee for services.

But just as often, coaches get caught in thorny situations that could have been avoided, had they spelled out some clear policies.

For example, consider the following:

• How often are you willing to be contacted for “tune-ups” between scheduled calls?
• Do you prefer to be contacted between sessions by phone, email, or some other means?
• How late can a client be before you consider a session “missed?” Will you allow them to make up a missed session? If so, for how long?

These and other “sticking points” have the potential to become full-blown problems, if they aren’t addressed in advance. And if they’ve yet to come up between you and your clients, chances are, it’s only a matter of time!

Here are some ideas to help you create an agreement that “covers your bases:”

1. Make a list of potentially difficult or awkward logistical situations you’d like your agreement to address:
   • Think through your own experience and make note of preventable situations that have surfaced between you and your clients
   • Brainstorm potentially difficult or awkward scenarios you imagine could happen
   • Consult colleagues to see what issues have come up for them
2. Get clear on your position for each issue on your list
3. Put your policies in writing (create your agreement)
4. Get your client to send you a signed and dated copy of your agreement before your first session
5. Attach your signature and return a mutually-signed copy of that agreement to the client

With a little forethought, many coach-client predicaments can be avoided. That said, it’s tempting to assume what hasn’t happened yet won’t happen down the road. Being clear from the outset often means the difference between a dissatisfied (or even lost) client and a harmonious coach-client partnership.

If there’s one question I get asked most, it’s “How do I get more clients?” While the answer I give is succinct, that doesn’t mean it’s always achieved quickly: “Determine your niche and make yourself known as an expert within that community.”

While both parts of the process involve some research (both of the market and internal varieties), that doesn’t mean you need to stop being a coach or building your business while you’re working on them.

Building Your Business While You Work On Niche I.D.

In the article, Attracting More Clients (available from the Coaching Tree Resources Page), there are a number of ideas you can use to grow your client base. One of the easiest and most accessible is a “Coffee with a Coach” event.

The idea is simple: talk to the events coordinator or manager at your local bookstore, library, coffee shop or community center. Explain that you’d like to offer them an opportunity for their members to learn more about what you do by experiencing coaching.

Getting The Host On Board

The key to getting the host enthusiastic about your session is to frame your request in terms of “WIIFM” (“What’s In It For Me” – or “them,” in this case): they provide the space, a couple of chairs and a little publicity. In return, they get an increase in foot traffic, interest, and maybe even a boost in sales.

Help them understand that you won’t be a drag on their resources or staff, but that the format of your presentation (allowing participants to hang out, get coached, and browse through your materials) will encourage participants to spend more time in their establishment, most likely, spending more money during their visit.

Preparing For The Big Day

Once you’ve got the host on board, it’s time to get your own ducks in a row. Would it help if you brought your own sign? Would it be of benefit to be ready with brochures, cards, pens and a basket of candy? Sure! But when it comes down to it, the critical feature is the quality of your exchange. To make the most of each interaction, remember the following:

• Begin with an enticing opening question, such as, “What’s your biggest challenge right now?” You won’t have much time, especially if demand is high.
• Be sure to end with a “call to action.” If possible, schedule an initial consult (or maybe even their first coaching session!).
• Be yourself. Share your humor, inspiration and feelings – the real you.

With very little preparation and minimal investment, “Coffee with a Coach” is a great way to hone your coaching skills and get exposure as a professional coach. Because of the potentially high volume of prospects, once you get comfortable with initiating these conversations, “Coffee with a Coach” may prove a staple marketing strategy – even after you’ve pinned down your niche!

Every coach knows that the last five minutes encapsulate some of the most important – if not the most important – moments of a coaching session. This time offers the coach an opportunity to review the client’s breakthroughs and lock in their learning, while helping the client synthesize the content of the session and design how they want to carry their insights forward.

Blogger Peter Bregman suggests a summative questioning exercise that applies equally well to the end of a coaching session as to the end of an executive’s day (as he had originally envisioned it*). He advises comparing what actually happened in your day with your plan for what you wanted to happen.

Once you’ve collected this information, he recommends asking yourself the following:

• How did the day go? What success did I experience? What challenges did I endure?
• What did I learn today? About myself? About others? What do I plan to do – differently or the same – tomorrow?
• Who did I interact with? Anyone I need to update? Thank? Ask a question? Share feedback?

Just substitute “session” for “day,” and you can use these same questions as you wrap with each client, to help them integrate what they learned from your time together.

Don’t forget: you could create “last 5 minutes” exercises to keep any number of your own goals moving forward, including the growth of your business, your client relationships or your professional development. By investing just a few moments of each session, and a few at the end of each day, both you and your clients could be moving forward with newfound momentum!

* You can find Peter Bregman’s original article, The Best Way to Use the Last Five Minutes of Your Day, here.

Have you thought about what’s first on the docket for your clients this year? If you had your clients complete an “End of Year Survey” in December, then it’s likely you already have your next steps mapped out.

If you didn’t do this last month, it’s not too late! Feel free to download and customize the free survey template posted on our resources page:

Using This Template

Once your client has returned the survey, spend some time celebrating the successes of the past year. Then, invest your focus on the forward-looking questions (questions 5 – 22 in our sample).

Besides the obvious benefits of debriefing their survey responses, this is your opportunity to build a year-long strategic roadmap with your client, not to mention a healthy list of next-step actions. As an added bonus, you might even find that clients who complete this exercise extend their alliance with you, since they’ve just refocused on a new set of goals. If you work with a client for more than a year, consider having them complete this survey each December as a way to measure their long-term success.

An annual review process (like our End-of-Year Survey) systematically addresses both “little a” and “Big A” issues, all while generating an up-to-the-minute map for the next year’s coaching journey.

You know the one. He seems like a great client – playful, punctual, open to new perspectives. Just one snag: he consistently fails to complete assignments he helped co-design. Now what?

“Well,” you say to yourself, “I could fire him. But this is the only hitch in our alliance. Maybe it’ll work itself out.” Sound familiar?

Not so fast – there’s a more co-active approach to this. After all, if you want your client to walk his talk, you’ll have to walk yours.

Putting Responsibility Where It Belongs

It’s time to put the onus where it belongs – on the client. The next time a client neglects to follow through, ask:

1. “What got in the way?”*
2. “On a scale of 1 – 10, how important is it for you to complete this assignment?”
3. “How would you like to forward the assignment now?”
4. “What needs to be in place in order to successfully complete the assignment?”

Be prepared to redesign the terms of the assignment.

“How close you hold his feet to the fire” depends on what level of accountability you’ve designed with the client. If that client had said, for example, that he had his homework “totally covered,” you could explore how his choices aligned with this commitment.

If, however, the two of you had agreed on more “hands-on” accountability support, it might be helpful to divide accountability for his assignments into smaller chunks. For example, he could break an assignment into individual action steps and inform you of his progress when each is complete. Or he could send you a daily summary of his progress by email or voicemail (whether you respond to each message depends on what you’ve designed, of course).

One Last Tip: Don’t Lose Another Week

However you and your client choose to reconfigure the assignment, invite him to inform you immediately of any obstacles preventing progress, instead of waiting until the next session. This way, you’ll be able to nip the issue in the bud; meanwhile, the client has a pre-planned strategy to prevent another “lost week.”

Occasionally missing an assignment doesn’t necessarily mean a total loss. However, having a specific “safety net” in place can mean the difference between timely insight and an unnecessarily long learning-arc. Perhaps most importantly, if you’ve discussed how to handle this situation in advance, it’s clear to the client that the choice is always theirs.

So, when you’re tempted to get discouraged by a client who claims to have a house full of famished pooches, remember that yours is a designed alliance. Not only do you get to name counterproductive patterns as they emerge, but you have every right to renegotiate how you will best work together going forward. The result is an improved coach-client partnership and a client who’s accelerating toward his goals – a success by anyone’s definition!

*For most clients, there’s a big difference between “What got in the way?” and “What happened?” The first invites an exploration of obstacles, while the second frequently draws “story” or defensiveness.

In our September issue, we discussed various marketing strategies you can use to increase visibility for your coaching business. If you chose “speaking” as one of the communications channels you favor, you’ll also want to check out a related opportunity: The Coaching Salon.

Choosing a Location

No, I’m not talking about renting office space in the back of your local beauty parlor. A Coaching Salon is a marketing event where one or more coaches collaborate to offer prospects sample coaching. Salons are hosted at any of a variety of locations that might share a target market with a coach, in exchange for increased walk-in traffic.

One of the biggest perks you get from these events is a steady stream of potential clients (where else can a coach get “walk-ins?”). Additionally, your credibility gets a boost, based on the participant’s existing relationship with the host.

Potential hosts could include, for example:

• a bookstore
• a coffee shop
• a community center
• a library

Getting Ready for Your Event

Once you’ve secured a venue, it’s time to get the word out. This is a great place to remember to ask for help. Remember, your presence can potentially help the business hosting you. Don’t be afraid to ask if they might be willing to post signs or advertise the event to their mailing list, for example. Also, consider having participating coaches promote the event on their websites and mailing lists.

On the day of the event, provide an easel with a poster promoting the event, or ask the host if they are willing to do so. Also, have forms available for people to join your mailing list. And don’t ignore the potential for cross-promotions between your business and the host, for example:

• at a bookstore – ask the host to create a display of coaching or self-help related titles near the signs that advertise your event, or make a short presentation based on a pre-selected book they’ll display at the event
• at a coffee shop – offer to have take-out menus or business cards at your table, and ask if you can put your brochures or cards near the register
• for a non-profit host (like a community center or library) – offer to take donations at or near your table

Structuring Your Salon

If it’s well-planned, this kind of event can be a win-win-win: the host gets increased traffic and business, the coaches get increased exposure and the prospective clients get a sample of your services.

Consider structuring the event so that participants are coached in front of other participants and an audience. While this requires the volunteer to be willing to be coached “publicly,” it also gives you the chance to host a discussion about the coaching process after each demonstration finishes. This is an opportunity to address questions, concerns or even fears about the coaching process. And even though not every person who stops by will get a chance to be coached, don’t forget that “spectators” can sign up for your mailing list or request a sample session of their own!

At times, marketing can feel like a uphill climb, especially for a solopreneur. Consider banding together with like-minded coaches to offer a Coaching Salon. Chances are you’ll leave the event with a boost of confidence in your skills as a coach, new energy for your marketing efforts and, perhaps most exciting of all, a long list of warm leads!

So, your clients complete a prep form, and you emphasize the importance of being prepared in your design sessions. Yet this particular client comes to her sessions, week after week, without a clue as to what she wants coaching around.

Unfortunately, this is an all-too-common experience for coaches. The good news is that it’s easily addressed. First, “cover your bases” by making sure all of your clients know:

1. why completing a prep form is crucial to the coaching process, and
2. that they’ll get much more from the call if they arrive with a topic in mind.

Once you’ve covered these fundamentals, it’s time to dig a little deeper. When a client shows up unprepared, try the following “catalysts:” Read the rest of this entry »