Testimonials and Success Stories

Big news! I just closed a new client for $1,750 per month and received a check for $3,500 which pays for the first month of coaching and the Strategic Planning process. They’re a bus company wanting to grow and gain market share in this economy. I got the lead back in April from my telemarketing vendor. 

Eric - thank you very much for spending the day with me. It was an awesome learning experience for me! As I think back on the day, here are the key lessons learned: when you discover a problem area, you need to go into specific questions about the application of the relevant Silver Bullets so the prospect can "experience coaching" with you. If the prospect has not talked for a while or you sense potential concerns or questions, check-in with them. Do this every 30 to 60 seconds as needed. Make sure they are engaged! Make sure there are not any unanswered questions prior to proposing coaching. 

Eric, having you there to personally watch and participate in a live Complementary Coaching Session and give detailed feedback was invaluable. We all learn from feedback. While classroom is great to get you going, live is perfect to help perfect areas that you may not even know you need help with. I would highly recommend to everyone to take advantage of your coaching! Thanks again for your assistance in helping me attain another client!

Frank, Business Coach, USA

I signed a new client last week! So, that’s $2,250 for the first month of coaching and an additional $2,250 for strategic plan. The client is a $5 million market research firm and the owner is a former colleague and he’s putting together four other firms for a merger. We’ll start with the strategic plan for the overall organization and quickly move toward a team day with the four new principals to provide a basis for managing the integration. I also plan to do DISC/PIAV and Team Building System with the total group, a Tactical Marketing Plan, and Employee Acquisition Plan. The client originally gave me a “No” based upon his money situation but I asked him to think about what he had at risk if the integration didn’t go well and how difficult it might be to manage four formerly independent owners were the difference in making this one work out. He decided that coaching will help him through this process. Thanks again for your help in dealing with this one, Eric. It’s Nice to know that persistence really does pay off. It helps to make those repetitive phone calls.
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Good news! I just signed a client I met at a networking event who owns two businesses, a translating business and a new product information guide. The client wants to rework and expand one of her businesses and potentially develop it into a franchise opportunity. We will be working on the Strategic Plan, Employee Acquisition Plan, and a Tactical Marketing Plan for starters. Another coaching program at $1750 per month!

Terry, Business Coach, USA

I signed up a new client last Friday for a coaching program and strategic plan. He wrote me a check for $4,500 when he signed the agreement. The client was a referral from one of my networking contacts. Six weeks ago, I held a call with him and at the end of the call he told me he didn't need a coach because he was working with a marketing consultant and that's all he needs. So, no Complimentary Coaching Session! As it turns out, the marketing consultant is one of my networking contacts so I called him and discussed the client’s situation and we agreed that there was room for both of us. The marketing consultant recommended me to the client and the rest is history. I got two lessons out of this: (1) never let a "no" discourage you. In this case following up with another consultant turned the consultant into a strategic ally. (2) Listen to the client and be flexible in meeting his needs including his time and financial needs.

I got my first new client in the New Year! We met at an Entrepreneur’s and Inventors Network group. She is a successful chiropractor with two offices and five staff members who wants to solidify the systems in her business to create more time to pursue outside interests including speaking and writing. Our phone meeting led to a CCS meeting which went great. She has a life coach and admits that her life coach is helpful to her personally, but isn’t helping her business. Interestingly, as I presented the Coaching Agreement to her during the CCS, she said she “wants to go faster, not slower.” Because of her need to phase out the cost of her life coaching engagement, we agreed on pricing of $1,500 for the Strategic Planning process, $1,500 per month for January and February, then a full coaching program of $2,250 per month starting on March 1!

Another client! I’m a member of my local Chamber of Commerce’s “E-Team,” which offers free counseling to local business people who want to start businesses.  In February of 2008, an architect presented his new business plan to all of us on the E-Team and we stayed in contact.  (I called every month to ask how he was doing!) After a successful and fast start to his business, his pipeline stagnated, and he started to realize he could use some help with marketing and sales. We had a face-to-face meeting and a CCS with his wife. The key to this meeting was my insistence that they talk to me about what they wanted their lives to look like in ten years, not just their business. The wife, who works an outside job she’s not happy with, became emotional as she described being able to spend more time with their 5 year old daughter as she grows up, and having the business allow her to work with her husband rather than in an outside job. Although they wanted to go forward, they hesitated because of the investment, even though his numbers in the Profit Equation showed him creating $220,000 of additional net income in two years with my coaching help! After Christmas, he had a chance meeting with another client of mine who told him that he just had to work with me if he wanted to achieve his goals. On January 6, we set a date for the Strategic Plan and the next day signed an agreement for $1,250 per month with a $500 fee for Strategic Planning process! 
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My latest new client has an HVAC business doing $1.8 million in sales. He’s owned the business himself since 1984 and has been in my BNI chapter for over a year, which is how we met.  We had a CCS meeting in November, but he was reluctant to invest in coaching because he has been burned by consultants and brokers in recent years.  His primary objective is to sell the business and he wants to enjoy the rest of his life without the stress of business ownership.  A couple of weeks ago (after continuing to hear my message every week at BNI) he asked me if we could talk again. The wife, who is the accountant of the business turned out to be very helpful.  Although we focused 90% on how a Comprehensive Exit Strategy could help them, when we talked about looking for increased value the wife was the one who said "we could probably trim a little more cost" and "our sales guy isn't exactly a ball of fire".  I felt as though the turning point came when they expressed concern about how I could help them where the other consultants they engaged had failed.  So I explained that as a coach, theirinvolvement was going to be the difference, but that I also had a system and a plan for how we would implement the strategy. I simply opened up my Comprehensive Exit Strategy "How To" slide, read the strategy point-by-point, putting particular emphasis on maximizing the value of the business. They were very impressed that I already had a plan and a system that made sense to them.  So when I got to the Profit Equation, they stopped me and said "We get it, what do your program and fees look like?" The result was a signed coaching agreement!

I have on my desk a freshly signed agreement for $1,750 per month with my first Business Coaching client!  I was introduced to this client through my Denver Chamber Leads Group. I attended a meeting with the client thinking it was another networking meeting. It quickly became apparent that my client really needed my services to work on several current challenges and I transitioned into setting a CCS. After meeting with her once more and once with her husband (who is involved in the company part-time but looking to retire) they decided to engage me as their coach and they signed the agreement today! It is exciting to think I can have an impact in helping them turn around their company. I will keep you posted on my progress!

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It's official! After just a few months in, I’ve booked my 3rd business coaching client and the largest contract yet. We start on Tuesday. My monthly revenues for October should be at $4,600 and I have three more B2B clients pending!