Calling All Coaches- The Dirty Little Secret The Gurus Forgot To Tell You!
Jane Viljoen
Corporate Psychologist and Executive Coach #coaching #motivation #EI #engagement #resilience #neuroscience #trust #positivepsychology #backtowork #consciousleadership #communication #teams #leadershipdevelopment
And I am talking about it!
Are you a Coach or an aspiring Coach?
When I ran a search on Linkedin Sales Navigator, it generated almost 5.2 MILLION results of people calling themselves a ‘coach’.
So, if you are one of those 5.2 million how on earth do you set yourself apart, show your worth, your impact and get a competitive edge?
If you have seen social media ads and the posts by the coaching industry ‘gurus’, you will know there are certain things you need to have a successful coaching business.
Different experts offer various ‘solutions’ and MOST will tell you that you ABSOLUTELY need:
??To know your ideal client profile
?? Lead magnet processes
?? Consistent Leads
??An irresistible offer (ideally based on your own story)
??Be great at storytelling
??Have the right mindset to believe in your worth – you CAN charge high ticket
??Personal resilience
?? Have a sales process
??An Ad strategy
And the bits that will set you apart to be the very best at getting clients:
??Copy writing skills
??Sales and closing skills
?? Positive mental attitude
?? Offering great value
??An attitude of service
BOOM! ?? ??
(Have I missed anything?)
I walked into this mass industry, blindsided ?? by all the things great coaches need to run a successful business. Let me say here, I have worked with one of THE top marketing experts who helps coaches very effectively with all the above ??. And, I got what I paid for..he is an expert marketer who has helped me a great deal. I have no issue with marketers showing you how to market.
BUT, I soon realized that the experts, gurus and top ‘coaches’ do not teach their clients the really fundamental skills that they will need when they deliver their coaching offer, like:
??How to actually change someone’s behavior
??How to elicit internal motivation so the client is driven towards their goals
??How to help their clients get sustainable results
??How to consistently and reliably create the conditions of transformation for your clients
??Having clear boundaries regarding the nature of coaching
??How the coach’s internal belief system influences the way they interact with clients
??How the coach’s words, language and approach can create resistance to change
??How to handle resistance from clients and work with it
??What to do and say, when clients are not following through
??How to fully understand what clients are aspiring to.
??Indeed, nobody is teaching the coaches HOW TO COACH! ??
This is the missing ingredient holding back talented coaches from gaining the trust and credibility to easily enroll clients as well as get repeat clients
How can it be that nobody is talking about this???
How can there be such a huge industry (and growing) where coaches are not being taught the fundamental ingredients to coaching success?
I have not heard any of the gurus talking about THIS.
Why the dirty little secret?
It goes something like:
''Hey Coaches, spend your money with us and we will help you set up the ideal lifestyle business, generate perfect leads, working from anywhere, streamline your processes, be your own boss, make lots of money doing what you love''
AND I speak to so many coaches who believe that they can go change the world based on the business strategy they have been taught. They are paying thousands and thousands to learn how to redirect their career as a coach in a specialist niche. They are fired up and ready to serve. They have their great offer, their sales process, their mindset is right, but it doesn’t take long before:
They are DISAPPOINTED that their clients lose motivation after the initial engagement- health or fitness coaches realize this is pretty much going to destroy their business ??
They are WORRIED that clients feel disappointed in them!??
They are DOUBTING their ability and worry that they won’t be recommended… and at worst they may even be slated for POOR PERFORMANCE ??
That their clients are paying them really well for results that they CAN’T SEEM TO DELIVER ??
The coach is EXHAUSTED- having to over-deliver to make up for lack of commitment on the client’s part ??
The coach is FRUSTRATED having to go over the same content over and over with some people ??
Clients seem to BLAME the coach for their poor results ??
It is a negative downward spiral that knocks the coaches’ confidence, has them holding back with new clients and even leads to some self-sabotage because they come to believe that some clients cant be helped or worse, that they are not ‘good enough’ to help some clients.
There is a lie that people are buying into...Why would a business coach, health coach and life coach use the exact same coaching approach with their clients?? It seems many are taught to simply show up and teach their content. Not to use science based coaching methods that flex depending on the clients needs.
I believe they are being fed a lie.
5.2 million coaches? That’s potentially some really, really dissatisfied clients out there!
This is going to get us all a bad name.
A wealth of knowledge is at your fingertips, but where do you start?
If you were to head over to a general search engine right now and type “how to coach”, you would get over 1,680,000,000 results.
Even a specialized search engine designed for academic research, you will find millions and millions of research papers on “Mind Transformation”,“The Neuroscience of Coaching”, “behavioral science”, and 164,000,000 research papers on “coaching psychology”.
And that’s just a small handful of search terms. The wealth of information out there is overwhelming. It can leave you asking yourself…
?Where do I start?
?How do I know if something is truly scientifically sound?
?Which sources can I trust?
?Who do I trust
?How do I decipher the jargon, graphs, and statistics reported in research papers?
?And most importantly, how do I know what will work for my clients?
The fact of the matter is it’s impossible to answer these questions and become an expert on your own.
The only way to become an expert — in any field — is to stand on the shoulders of teachers and on-ground experts who can guide you through the most essential information in a systematic and progressive manner. Like I did to learn marketing and the art of selling. It just wasn't my area of expertise and i needed help.
That’s why aspiring doctors go to medical school, aspiring inventors pursue an engineering degree, and aspiring lawyers go to law school.
So where can you, the coach who aspires to help people create shifts that can powerfully change their lives, go to?
??What is the answer?
Very early on in my career as a Psychologist, I learned the techniques and models of coaching that tackled ALL of the fundamental ‘how to’ issues listed above. I spend 15 years and a great deal of money attending academic, training and certification courses to learn impactful delivery of a whole range of coaching solutions. Now, as a Coaching Psychologist, I use my expertise and take all the relevant and most effective skills, from various psychological theories and coaching modalities, to coach coaches how to coach!! I feel it is my absolute mission to help people who genuinely have the desire to improve other peoples lives.
Many coaches already have the desire and motivation. They have helped people naturally and want to translate that into a win/win business. That's where I come in...
??I have developed a coaching road map that looks at three core elements
??The coach- which helps coaches move beyond unknown barriers and significant blind spots that can only be drawn out with the application of psychological tools and diagnostic questionnaires. Once coaches learn this core
??The competitive edge- having the right coaching modality for the coach’s specific client group.
??Transformational, long lasting change. Coaching skills to pay the bills- all of the essentials regarding the actual skills required to be an effective agent of change (PS-this goes way beyond asking great questions)
These core elements elevate coaches to be in the top 1% in their industry. Under each pillar are 3 modules, teaching the neuroscience of coaching, emotional and conversational intelligence, coaching methodologies and techniques to guarantee transformation and deeply satisfied clients!
I call it the Super Coach Mastery Program and am offering to coaches who do not want to get left behind.
Don’t just be one of the 5.2million – be one of the best!! Discover how you can set yourself apart and elevate your clients experience of coaching
Turning Recruiters into Industry Leaders. Build An Irresistible Brand and Attract More Opportunities to your inbox | ￡5.5M generated for Clients | Our Website: Taketwobrothers.co.uk ??
5 年Great article Jane! So true, there's so much noise out there and I think this factor in itself can put a lot of people from actually seeking help when they need it most. Learning from people with the experience and knowledge is so vital, and paying them to get you to your destination faster is a wise investment. The hard part is doing the research and choosing the right person for the right problems.?
HR Director | OD Consultant | Executive Coach | Change Agent | Project Manager
5 年As you know , Jane, I am at the beginning of my journey as a coach offering coaching aside consultancy on OD, building my confidence day by day and using all the tools and advice. This is such a great article helping people like me crystallise our signature as a coach, clarify how can we help the coaches and perfect our practice. Thank you!
Strategic & Corporate Communications / Project Manager / Producer
5 年This is right on point. At the end of the day, people want results and if you can't deliver them consistently for your clients then expect a frustrating experience for everyone!... You are right when you say the marketing gurus "don't tell you this"... because their job isn't to help you retain clients and deliver results, but to simply attract clients... You've got a big whole in your bucket if you can't do the former... Thanks for posting this Jane... So needed!
Founder, Board Director, Non Exec Director, Trustee, Chairman. Listed/private companies and family owned businesses.
5 年Kath Lord-Green BA(hons) - I can highly recommend Amana Walker if your team need any coaching ,she’s fab x
Helping you attract committed leads in only 30 days! Without Confusion & Overwhelm
5 年This is one of the most important skills you need to master to turn your clients into raving fans and generating a flood of referrals.? Well said Jane Viljoen - Coach of Coaches???????