What's your process for creating a custom coaching model?

To stand out in a busy marketplace and become a master at what you do, it helps to focus on a narrow niche. Choose a particular set of clients that you feel uniquely qualified to help based on (1) your skill set, (2) passions, and (3) personal life experience. Triangulate those with a need you spot in the marketplace and you've got your perfect niche! For example, I chose to focus on Health and Wellness coaching for high-achieving women in high-stress careers. Why? As a former banker with a lifelong interest in wellness and multiple certifications in Health, Fitness, and Nutrition coaching, not only do I intimately know the challenges faced by women in demanding careers, but I also have the knowledge to coach them to their best health.

Having a coaching nich also helps you cater your message and service and ensure that when you sell your coaching services, your niche knows you are talking to them. They can relate to your message and understand your message without meeting you.

Recognizing that nobody else has had the experience you have had in life, and do not have your perspective. However, we do have our shared humanity, shared underlying fears and aspirations for life. With this you can create a course that is truly your own, but still can reach others.

En démarrant mon activité de Coach, j'ai très rapidement compris que je devais savoir qui serait mon client de coeur. Ma communication s'éparpillait. Je parlais à tout le monde et donc à personne. Finalement, je suis repartie de mon histoire, ce qui faisait vibrer mon coeur, et qui je me sentais prête à accompagner. J'ai finalement orienté mes coaching vers les endeuillés. Un public que je connais très bien par mon histoire et ma formation me permet de les accompagner. Choisir un client de coeur, ne veut pas dire qu'on ne pourra accompagner que ce type de client. Mais au démarrage d'une activité ?a aide à montrer rapidement son expertise et gagner la confiance de futurs clients.

Ideal client interviews are a powerful tool for developing a coaching model that truly resonates. By deeply listening to their needs, aspirations, and challenges, you can identify common themes and patterns. These insights help shape a coaching framework that aligns with your client's journey, ensuring each step is purposeful and impactful. Incorporate their language and experiences to create a model that speaks directly to them, unlocking their potential for greater success and fulfillment. This approach ensures your coaching is not only effective but also deeply meaningful, helping your clients thrive in living their #yeslife.

Coming from a background in Biological Engineering, it's no surprise that I favour science-backed solutions. That said, I have a holistic view of health and wellness and I'm not afraid to borrow practices from traditions such as yoga and Ayurveda if they yield consistent results. Over the years, I have developed my own coaching framework, combining lifestyle medicine principles with feminine embodiment practices. I have found this particular combination extremely powerful in terms of turning a woman's mental and physical health around. In fact, I wish I knew this framework when I was a career woman in my 20s, struggling with a host of stress-related health issues and feeling on the verge of burnout!

Your coaching journey will dictate which type of approach you decide to follow. I prefer a holistic approach due to my values and also my coaching learning journey. Furthermore, this method works for my clients as they are usually interested/familiar with holistic methods.

To determine the right coaching approach for your clients, start by understanding their unique goals, challenges, and personalities. Engage in active listening during your initial sessions to uncover what truly drives them and where they might feel stuck. Assess whether they need more guidance, accountability, or space for self-discovery. Flexibility is key—adapt your approach as they progress, ensuring it continues to align with their evolving needs. By staying attuned to their journey and focusing on unlocking their potential, you’ll empower them to thrive and live their #yeslife with clarity and confidence.

Developing my coaching process took time and some trial and error. But after turning my health around and helping many clients do the same, patterns started to emerge. Certain exercises consistently produced the biggest ah-ha moments and measurable improvements to people's wellbeing. So, I sat down with a blank piece of paper and brainstormed ways to consolidate everything I do with clients into 5-7 key steps. That's how my own, 5-step coaching process was born.

Developing a process takes time, it took me a while to find my process but also the issue that was going to focus on. I thought carefully about the process my clients would want to go through and the problems they are facing at the moment. Furthermore, it helped to also think about their setbacks, the things that everyone knows and can see about their journey apart from them because they are in it. My advice would be to try your method with volunteers who meet the same criteria as your niche. They will be able to tell you if it will work.

Avoir un accompagnement structuré et clair, permet de communiquer facilement sur ce qu'on fait, et comment on est en mesure d'aider nos clients. Pour ma part j'ai structuré non seulement ma méthodologie d'accompagnement mais également des offres d'accompagnement qui sont en rapport avec le développement de mes clients à chaque étape de leur processus.

To create an impactful coaching experience, start with a discovery phase where you dive deep into your client's goals, values, and challenges. Use assessments and reflective questions to gain clarity. Next, co-create a tailored action plan with clear, achievable milestones. Implement regular check-ins to track progress, celebrate wins, and adjust strategies as needed. Encourage self-reflection between sessions, empowering clients to integrate insights into their daily lives. Throughout, maintain a flexible, client-centered approach that fosters alignment, helping them unlock their potential and thrive in their #yeslife journey.

I've found that a commitment of at least three months is needed to see measurable results in someone's health and wellbeing. Therefore, I take new clients through a three-month coaching programme that includes 12 weekly sessions. Given that my coaching framework has five steps, this means that I aim to spend two sessions on each of those five steps, leaving the first and last sessions in the package as an introduction and conclusion. Some clients will need to spend more time working on a particular step and less on others. The beauty of one-on-one coaching, is that we have the freedom to personalise the programme to each client's needs, which doesn't happen in a group programme.

Creating a package can be difficult due to the saturation of the market. Please think about the value your process will add to their life and the financial power your client may have. I work with people who are starting their careers so I cannot charge them the fees that Executive Coaches charge their clients because their financial power will be different. Therefore, I charge a smaller price but also offer a smaller 3-month package that is still effective. You will need to find a balance.

Les clients sont de moins en moins intéressés par des séances à l'heure. J'ai pris le temps de structurer des offres de Coaching claires, qui répondent aux problématiques principales exprimées par mes clients de coeur. Je suis coach deuil, donc je me suis basée sur les endeuillés et j'ai pu développer 3 offres de Coaching. Chaque offre amène à un résultat différent. ?a permet au client d'avoir le choix mais pas trop et il n'est pas perdu. Le secret est de bien différencier le résultat de chaque offre de coaching pour que le client puisse bien identifier ce qui lui conviendrait. L'astuce si vous n'êtes pas s?r du résultat est d'avoir un panel de testeurs au début. Et ?a aide pour affiner l'offre également son efficacité .

When I first started my coaching business, back in 2014, I didn't have a custom coaching model of my own. Initially, I fell back on frameworks I'd learned through the coaching certifications I'd completed and personal development courses or books I'd studied. Over time, I noticed what truly moved the needle for myself and my clients. I tweaked my approach as I went along and took note of the results both myself and my clients were getting. Once I landed on a model that I felt reasonably comfortable with, I invited a cohort of beta clients to test it. Their feedback and transformation confirmed that my model was solid. Thus I have been using it with clients ever since.

Trial and error. Your coaching model will change as you go along. Keep testing it until you find the product that will solve a problem your niche may be facing. It is your coaching model that will help you stand out from he crowd and attract your clients.

Comme tout service, le coaching n'échappe pas à la règle de l'amélioration continue. Je suis constamment dans l'amélioration continue de mes offres de Coaching. Pour ?a, je me base sur les résultats de mes clients et leur retour après les coaching. C'est pour ?a que les feedbacks des clients sont importants. Donc je ne néglige pas cet aspect là dans mon activité de coach. à la fin de chaque cycle d'accompagnement je demande à mes clients leur avis, ce qui leur a plu, ce qui a le moins plu, ce qui les a le plus aidé parmis mes outils.