by Eric Dombach | Business Coaching Tools
It’s the new year and many of your coaching clients are looking to you to help them reach their objectives. One of your most important tasks is holding your business coaching clients accountable.
Why did you get into the coaching business? Think back to journey that lead you to this industry at this time. What convinced you that this was your life’s work?
The answer to that question will vary from coach to coach but for many business coaches, the answer lies in their clients. The best business coaches are the ones who are excited about helping and motivating business owners to become their best.
The number one way to do this? Accountability.
Anyone can set a goal. Anyone can dream big. But as a business coach you know what most people are missing. The follow-through. So many entrepreneurs are like a baseball player that steps up to the plate but only squares up to bunt the ball. If they never learn to swing all the way through they will never have the power they need to knock it out of the park.
The good news, you are a business coach and you have the tools to teach them how.
5 Secrets for Holding Business Coaching Clients Accountable
1) Concrete goal setting. Plenty of people set goals, but not all people set them well. The first way to teach your clients accountability and follow-through is to help set clear, measurable goals. Just saying, “I want more business” is too vague. But saying, “I want to increase my lead generation by 20% each month” is specific and therefore easier to meet.
2) Say what you mean and mean what you say. This is an oft-used maxim in parenting, but it works great for businesses as well. As the coach you set the example for accountability. Use specific language and avoid vagaries. When you say you will do something do it.
3) Keep on top of the billing. Money is a huge motivator. People like it, people want it, and people will do things to get it. Make sure you are billing your clients predictably and that they are paying you on time. Nothing says accountable like paying the bills.
4) Effective time management. Time is another finite resource that we all love and are highly motivated by. But not unlike money, many of us don’t spend our time wisely. Help your clients learn to manage their time as efficiently and they will thank you.
5) Teach them the importance of the follow-through. For a baseball player follow-through starts with the correct body position and is created by staying with that position even after the bat has hit the ball. It’s the same in business: follow-through is about the whole process, not one particular part.
Looking for other ways to maximize your effectiveness as a business coach? Try a free 30-day trial of our comprehensive business coaching system.
by Eric Dombach | Business Coach Marketing
One of the best ways to establish your credibility is to collect and share killer business coaching testimonials.
Testimonials are powerful for a number of reasons…
- They help your prospects believe in you and in themselves. The number one reason you lose sales is lack of belief. Business owners don’t really believe that you can help them; or, in some circumstances, they might believe in YOU but they don’t believe in themselves. Testimonials paint real pictures of real people who have been helped in real ways, and they can provide the proof your prospects need to invest just a little faith in you and the process.
- They make your prospects feel safe. Signing a business coaching contract is a big commitment! No wonder some prospects hesitate! But like a rock-solid guarantee, testimonials can help your prospects feel as though their risk is limited and provide them the confidence they need to move forward.
- You can make big claims without boasting. There’s something so much more believable about marketing promises when they’re coming from a third party! Plus, you never have to come across as bragging…you can let your clients do it for you! There’s nothing more fun (AND effective!) than saying to an interested business coaching prospect, “But please — don’t take my word for it!”
A Simple Process for Collecting Business Coaching Testimonials
But despite the fact that testimonials are proven to increase conversion rates and sales numbers, so many business coaches either forget or hesitate to collect them! Don’t let that happen to you. Here’s a simple and easy process for getting all the testimonials you can handle…
1. Wait for Your Client to Score Their Next “Win.” Your clients will be excited and energized when something you’ve worked on together is having a positive impact on their business. When that happens, ask them, “Hey, is it all right if I capture some of what you’re telling me right now?” Of course they’ll say yes.
2. Type it All into Word. Write down everything your business coaching client is telling you. Ask follow up questions and get as much detail as possible. Be sure to celebrate with them every step of the way.
3. Ask: “Is it Okay if I Turn All This into a Couple of Paragraphs I Could Share with Others?” You’ll never be refused. Edit the notes you’ve taken, and send it over for their approval.
4. Get Your Testimonials Verified. In a world where some unethical people invent or exaggerate testimonials, you can have a third-party service like Vouch for This confirm your client’s story and provide a “seal” you then display alongside the testimonial. This gives you a HUGE leg-up on the competition and makes you even more credible.
5. Use Video Testimonials. Save this for your best success stories and most loyal clients, but there’s nothing more powerful than having a client tell the camera in their own words how your business coaching made them money.
6. Use Your Testimonials Everywhere! Include them in your sales binder, website, sign-up forms, contracts, business cards, flyers, ads…anywhere prospective clients are lurking!
Here are a couple of testimonials I’ve collected using just this method:
“It took a leap of faith to let my coach show me that my business can run well without having me at the counter, but I’m glad for it. Now I’m spending my newfound time developing marketing and enhancing operational strategies that will grow my business. Before coaching in 2002, I was working 60 hours a week, had no team, and was losing about a $100,000 per year.”
“After coaching, three years later, I work 45 hours a week within a very systematized, highly profitable structure we developed. All the startup debt is paid, and now we want to franchise our business!”
“The new yellow pages ad my coach helped me with WORKS! I made four sales totaling $14,400, compared to no sales off the old ad last year. And the sales conversion results I’m getting are awesome, too. During one week, I landed four new sales with a 50% conversion rate–up from 20%!”
Want more guidance on growing your business coaching practice and improving your sales? Check out my FREE ebook, Secrets of a Business Coaching Rock Star! Learn how I went from $0-$1 Million in just 4 years as a business coach.
by Eric Dombach | Business Coaching Systems
It’s been a year of upheaval around the world. As we await the coming of Christmas, a quick note of encouragement and holiday hope for today and the year to come.
Remember that, at the end of the day, change is only constant. As a business coach, your job is to help clients navigate the changing world to build stronger businesses–and lives–by providing products and services that benefit others.
But it’s not just about the good your clients’ businesses do. It’s also about the way you help them develop as leaders and entrepreneurs. Through coaching, they become stronger, more resilient, more flexible, and more responsive to the needs of their employees and customers. That’s because, at its heart, business coaching is really about servant leadership.
As Robert Greenleaf, who coined the term in the 1970’s, said:
“The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.
“The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?“
Regardless of your religious affiliation, this is the time of year when many in the world commemorate the model of the ultimate servant-leader. A divine leader, so the story goes, who was born in a dirty barn and laid to sleep in a feeding trough to demonstrate commitment to and solidarity with the least privileged in society.
If we do our jobs right, our work does something similar, by elevating not just our clients, but the communities they serve.
In a time of change and restlessness, there is hope for the future. We can be a part of bringing that hope. That’s why I got into business coaching. I hope it’s why you did, too.
So from all of us at the Coaches’ Coach, we wish you a safe and happy holiday season. It’s an honor being involved in your lives, as you build stronger business coaching practices and help your clients build great businesses. Thank you for letting us be a part of your journey!
by Eric Dombach | How to Become a Business Coach
Whether you’re becoming a business coach or are already in mid-career, one of the worst diseases you can have as you market your practice is “hot lead syndrome”–the process of constantly looking for and chasing potential clients who need what it is you have right now.
It sounds rather innocent. What could be wrong with trying to find people who are ready to buy right now? Cuts out all that faffing around waiting until the time is right.
The trouble is, when what you sell is a valuable professional service, you need to build up a high degree of trust and credibility with potential clients before they’ll be ready to hire you.
And that doesn’t happen overnight.
Why “Hot Lead Syndrome” Will Prevent You from Becoming a Business Coach or Reaching Your Full Potential
A hot lead may be ready to buy right now, but 99% of the time they won’t be ready to buy from you if you haven’t built that relationship with them.
Hot lead syndrome sees you hopping from prospect to prospect, losing out the vast majority of the time to service providers who’ve invested in nurturing relationships.
It’s a losing game.
Instead, identify who your ideal clients are and catch them earlier when they’re first exploring their problems or establishing their goals and aspirations.
Build credibility by helping them get clear on where they should be headed and giving them insights on what they should be focused on to get there.
Keep in touch, regularly adding value as they get closer to making a decision. Do this through regular email marketing with high-quality content; webinars; sharing relevant information on social media; YouTube videos/tutorials that instruct on a business growth; blog posts like this one; ebooks; reports.
Then when they finally become a “hot lead,” you’ll be the person they turn to.
It takes courage to invest in building relationships like this. Confidence that it will pay off. And the strength to hold off from desperately chasing hot leads.
But it’s far, far more effective.
Ian Brodie helps consultants, coaches, and other professionals to attract and win more clients. He’s the author of the #1 Amazon bestseller Email Persuasion and has been named as one of the Top 50 Global Thought Leaders in Marketing and Sales and one of the “resources of the decade” for professional services marketing. You can get more of his in-depth tips on starting and growing your business at www.ianbrodie.com
by Eric Dombach | Business Coach Training
Do you struggle with the frustration of problem business coaching clients? You’re not alone. One of the hallmarks of my advice is that it’s vital to love your clients, but that can be tough sometimes. I had a chat recently with an old friend who was telling me about the problems he was having with many of his clients.
“They’re all tough b*stards”‘ he said. “They’ll screw me down over anything. Always trying to get something for nothing. Your thing about ‘loving your customers’ doesn’t work in my world. It’s dog eat dog.”
My friend is a lovely guy, but his “world” sounds like a terrible place to be.
And in my experience, you can choose whether to be in a world like that or not.
By that I don’t mean you can somehow change your mindset and the world will bend to your will (though I’ve definitely found that having a sunny outlook changes the way people react to you).
What I mean is that you can choose to take action to make sure you’re living in a world with great clients that are a pleasure to work with.
What to Do to Avoid Problem Business Coaching Clients
That action is to get good at lead generation. To have a steady flow of new potential clients coming into your business.
If you’re in a lead desert with very few leads, you basically have to work with whoever you can get. And sadly you’re going to end up with tough customers unless you’re lucky.
If you have a surplus of leads, significantly more potential clients than you could work with, then you get to pick and choose. You can focus on clients who are the very best fit for you and who you’re going to enjoy working with.
Simple in theory. But generating lots of high-quality leads isn’t easy. For many people, it’s the hardest part of marketing. That’s why they end up desperately negotiating and bargaining with the few leads they have to persuade them to become clients.
It’s a simple distinction, but it makes all the difference. More leads = more choice.
Ian Brodie helps consultants, coaches, and other professionals to attract and win more clients. He’s the author of the #1 Amazon bestseller Email Persuasion and has been named as one of the Top 50 Global Thought Leaders in Marketing and Sales and one of the “resources of the decade” for professional services marketing. You can get more of his in-depth tips on starting and growing your business at www.ianbrodie.com
