Business Coaching Practice Audit: Where Do You Stack Up?

It’s a new year and a new opportunity to spend some time renewing and planning for the future. And one of the most effective ways to do so is to compare yourself against proven criteria that signal success in business coaching. So, today, I’d like to invite you to evaluate the status of your practice with this business coaching practice audit to see where you stack up!

Here’s how it works.

I’ll walk you through the four core areas of business coaching success: tactical marketing, sales, coaching system, and lifestyle.

Give yourself a point for each strategy, discipline, or statement for which you can answer “yes.” At the end, add up your score—and I’ll show you where you stand!

Tactical Marketing Plan

Which of the following strategies are you using to generate leads? Give yourself one point for each you can say “yes” to.

1. I attend at least one high-quality networking event per week and come away with at least five qualified leads I can follow up with the next week (Covid-permitting, of course).
2. I complete weekly site visits to local businesses to introduce myself to business owners who may qualify for coaching.
3. I send monthly targeted direct mail or email campaigns to specific industry sectors in which I’ve gained expertise.
4. I use an outsourced telemarking resource to generate opportunities with qualified business owners in my target market.
5. I have a referral generation process that allows me to generate at least 10 qualified leads every time I meet with a friend or colleague for this purpose.
6. I meet with at least five potential strategic partners each week to develop working partnerships leading to revenue sharing opportunities and co-sponsored marketing events.
7. I have a process for getting referrals from my clients, including referral rewards. My business is growing by word of mouth.

Sales Process

Which of the following disciplines do you follow in your sales process? Give yourself one point for each you can say “yes” to.

1. I have diagnostic tools I use to discover growth opportunities in prospective clients’ businesses.
2. I prepare myself mentally before each complimentary coaching sessions with pre-meeting affirmations.
3. I conduct myself professionally with timely arrivals, adapting my language and style, and building rapport.
4. I use a purpose statement at the beginning of my sales meetings to remove any pacts they’ve made with themselves to not buy from me and to gain their commitment to following my system.
5. I demonstrate my competence and value by reviewing my sizzling hot bio, stories, and testimonials.
6. I effectively use quality sales materials including a sales binder or presentation, coaching agreement, and testimonials.
7. I position my price with confidence at the beginning of my sales meetings to avoid sticker shock at the end.
8. I explore at least three significant problems and related emotional pain as I meet with my prospects.
9. I present and explain at least three business solutions in detail during sales meetings.
10. I read through my coaching agreement aloud to a level of detail suitable to the prospective client’s DISC profile.
11. I offer at least three different coaching programs and invite my prospects to choose the most suitable one.
12. I use a profit equation to demonstrate how my coaching program will deliver a quick return on invested cash.
13. I give plenty of homework after the sale in advance of the first coaching session to eliminate buyer’s remorse.

Coaching System

Which of the following disciplines do you follow in your coaching process? Give yourself one point for each you can say “yes” to.

1. I complete a strategic planning process in the first month of each coaching engagement so that the engagement lasts multiple years instead of just weeks or months.
2. I gather the business owner’s team together in the second month of each coaching engagement to make sure all stakeholders are involved.
3. I have business coaching systems and processes that can solve problems in each of the following areas (score one point for each):
   • Marketing and advertising
   • Sales and sales management
   • Client service
   • Operations and business systems
   • Human resources
   • Cash flow management
   • Financial reporting
   • Leadership and strategic planning
4. I conduct business coaching sessions on a weekly basis to ensure that I get bottom-line financial results with my clients.
5. I limit coaching sessions to no more than one hour per week to ensure my clients do the work of implementing my systems and protocols, thereby increasing their learning in the process.
6. I provide high quality educational materials to my clients so that they can educate themselves on their own time, thereby making our coaching sessions even more efficient.

Business Coach Lifestyle

How is your work-life balance and overall success? Give yourself one point for each question you can answer “yes” to.

1. I’m making a fantastic living as a business coach and I’m proud of the amount of money I earn.
2. I have recurring monthly coaching engagements so I don’t worry about cash flow from month to month.
3. My average monthly coaching engagement is more than $2,000 USD (or equivalent) per month.
4. My recurring monthly revenue is more than $15,000 USD per month.
5. I work a normal workweek (no more than 50 hours) and I’m happy with my lifestyle.
6. I have so much work that I need to add (or already have added!) associate coaches to my business coaching firm.

How Do You Score?

So, how do you rate in our business coaching practice audit? Tally up your marks and compare your score to the categories below:

0-20: Beginning Coach

You’re in the beginning stages of building your business coaching practice. You haven’t yet established ongoing systems that generate consistent, reliable results for you and your clients. You may experience something of a “feast or famine” cycle in your business, as opposed to enjoying a steady flow of leads and ever-expanding partnerships and opportunities. Client engagements may last weeks or months instead of years. Your task here is to systematize your efforts, in terms of sales, marketing, and client management, so that you can stabilize your practice and then scale it.

20-30: Established Coach

Your business coaching practice is well-established and effective. You’re beginning to experience the results that come from a systematic approach to practice-building. Your clients are getting results, and you’re seeing the impact in terms of your practice’s success. You might be entering a period where you’ll either plateau or continue to grow more quickly than you can keep up with demand; now is the time to start thinking about how you might approach bringing on associate coaches.

30+: Business Coaching Rock Star

You’re making an excellent living as a business coach and your coaching practice is thriving. Your systems are well-established and effective. You probably have one or more associate coaches already; if not, now is the time to bring them on. You’re at the stage now where you can pivot to firm-building, and creating a business coaching practice that can thrive without your day-to-day involvement.

So, are you pleased with your results? Want to inch closer to rock-star status? Check out our FREE ebook, Secrets of a Business Coaching Rock Star to learn how!