branching out

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 »

When you want to increase your visibility, do you prefer writing, speaking or in-person networking? There are many strategies you can use to increase exposure to, and connection with, your target audience, but none is better than… a combination of several!

And although there are several communication channels you could pursue in addition to the ones I’ve mentioned, most marketing experts will tell you that:

1. Writing, speaking and networking are the “Big Three.”
2. The bottom-line success of your business depends on your ability to tap into the ones that play to your strengths.
3. The more communications vehicles you weave together effectively, the greater the chance of your business succeeding.

As you consider how to make the best use of this information, here are some questions you can ask yourself: Read the rest of this entry »

Although there are numerous reasons a client might respond to a question with “I don’t know,” many of them seem to fit into one of three categories:

1. They’re lost or don’t understand the question.
2. They’re overwhelmed by the number of answers that occur to them.
3. They’re afraid to acknowledge the truths that surface (for example, they might not trust they have the resources to handle “going there”).

As a coach, the first two items are fairly straightforward to address. You can:

1. Ask where they got lost, and if necessary, repeat, paraphrase or dismantle the question.
2. Invite them to sit with the uncomfortable feeling and notice what comes up. Reflect and validate what surfaces; then help them lean into the wisdom of higher self or a series of perspectives. This often provides enough clarity and insight to reveal best next steps.

The third situation, however, can feel murkier. Read the rest of this entry »

Do two or more people in your network share a common concern?

Do you have a topic in mind that would compel a
small group to get together and address it?

Do you know a virtual or physical “place” your ideal clients spend
time, where you could mention a group you’re starting?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you could start your own group coaching program today.

When I first mention group programs, many coaches are intimidated. But group coaching doesn’t have to be complicated or scary. Here are a few tidbits I share with clients, as they begin to plan for their first group Read the rest of this entry »