I’m a huge fan of business coaching – of course. I chose to pursue this career direction and operate this business because I truly believe that it works. Whilst there are many fabulous business coaches out there, unfortunately, there are also some, well, less than ethical business coaches operating. In this blog I’m going to cover:
- What to watch out for
- How to find a good coach
- How to maximise coaching.
What to Watch Out For
True Experience
Ensure that the person you are speaking to has years of practical experience. Not just experience in doing (ie in business) but in coaching. Knowing what to do isn’t always the same as teaching what to do. Also knowing what not to do doesn’t always equate to teaching what should be done. Clearly, I’m not a fan of teaching from failure.
Marketing Promises
It’s fine if a coach is good at marketing, but I’d be cautious of lots of huge promises. We see the emails “Make 7 figure incomes”. Anyone with a financial background knows that turnover is vanity and profit is sanity. A business with a huge turnover doesn’t necessarily equate to profit at the end of the day, or solid cashflow. A quality coach won’t make specific promises. The reality is that we cannot. We can promise to do our best, we can promise to bring 30+ years of experience, we can promise that if you follow our guidance, you will see improvement … but we cannot promise exactly what results will be achieved. Every business is different and every client and situation is different and how hard you work is a variable too.
Personal Displays of Success
A coach who puts on their Instagram feed images of expensive houses, or flamboyant parties, or luxurious cars, does make me wonder. How does their car equate to you getting quality coaching services? For a start, we’ve all heard of leases – the person might not even actually own the car, but even if they did, marketing should be about the service they provide, not the assets they have acquired.
Decide Now or Miss Out
This is an old sales strategy. Buy in the next 10 seconds and get a free set of steak knives. I do a lot of sales training, and yes, you do want to ‘close the sale’ but for coaching or any larger purchase, you should be afforded time to think about it, talk to other potential suppliers and generally have the opportunity to think, ask questions or yes, change your mind or go in a different direction.
How to Find a Good Coach
Ask!
Ask those around you, who do use a coach, if they recommend their coach, and why.
Research!
Do a Google search and look for coaches that resonate with you. Remember, these days, that person doesn’t need to be in your town or suburb, but really, could be anywhere in the country. From their website, find out what areas they specialise in, or work mostly in. Find out their background, experience and read some of their blogs. Do they look like they know what they’re talking about and share great knowledge. Of course, this is only the tip of the iceberg in your research, as remember, some service providers don’t even write their own content – but hopefully you’ll get a sense of the person.
Do your due diligence
Review their online presence, check out their Google and Facebook reviews and generally get a further sense of the person and whether they seem to do a great job. Take the time to read all their reviews – the good and the bad and see what the responses were like. No one who’s been around a long time will be perfect, but expect at least a 4.8 star rating. I’d expect a professional business coach would absolutely have a website.
Ask questions!
Do not be afraid to ask questions. You shouldn’t ask for other clients’ specific results, as that is confidential. If they tell you, you’ve no way of knowing if it’s true and they should never agree to tell you their client’s name. To me, a true professional will be 100% confidential.
Balance emotion with logic
You should feel comfortable with a potential coach; this is a person you’re going to be sharing your fears, frustrations and faith with. It needs to ‘feel’ right, but it also needs to ‘be’ right and that you know they can do the job, will understand your business well enough and have the skills and experience to help you. If you’re in say manufacturing, and the coach (just like myself) mostly helps service-based clients, then ask more questions to ensure their knowledge will be useful.
Agreement Periods
Personally, I’m not a fan of long-term contract periods; that is 12 months or more. How can you (as a client or as a coach) know what a client will need in 6, 9 or 12 months? Often big results aren’t achieved in a single month, so it’s good to commit to 3-6 months to allow time for results to occur. This is why I don’t lock clients into long-term contracts, even as little as 3 months; simply asking for notice to stop or pause.
Contracts
Your coach should have a contract (or clear terms as part of their quote). Be absolutely sure to read the small print and terms. I say this to a new client – asking they read, sign and return the agreement. Never sign anything before you read it, or if you don’t understand it – then seek advice.
Tips to Get the Most of Coaching
Listen and be engaged and present
Not just physically, but mentally. When I do sample coaching sessions and I can hear the potential person is having their ‘free’ half-hour whilst washing their dishes (yes, it did happen once), I’m not inclined to take that person on. I know they are not really serious and are not truly committed to improving their business. I want my client to be as invested in their business as I am.
Ask questions
If there is ever anything you don’t understand or need to know, then ask. Questions are a fabulous way to learn; I love clients asking them; it tells me (a) they are listening and thinking (b) they are considering different options and (c) they are keen to learn. When I used to do classroom group training, I always started off saying “There is no such thing as a dumb question!”
Don’t follow blindly
Business coaches are not know-all Gods! Often the business owner knows the specifics of their business operations well. Listen, but if you disagree on something, then have that open discussion. Perhaps you’ve tried something that didn’t work. The coach might suggest that item, but rather than doing it again blindly, or nodding yes, and thinking ‘no way am I doing that again’ – talk. It may be the approach just isn’t right for you, or perhaps the approach you had before needs a good tweak.
Take notes
Although I always give ‘homework’ after a session of things the client needs to action (part of this is the accountability process), feel free to take your own notes. People learn in different ways (and I truly believe business coaching has a learning component to it) … and for some, note-taking helps them learn.
If you’d like to have a discussion with me about my coaching services, I’m more than happy to do so – obligation-free, without pressure of a hard sell or ‘buy now for free steak knives’. : ) Simply reach out to in my contact page. My passion is your potential!
If you are interested in Business Coaching, Leadership Mentoring or Life Coaching, book a sample coaching session here.
