From Complaints To Clients

Being a coach can be incredibly rewarding, but it can also be deeply frustrating. For those of us who have invested years into honing our skills, obtaining the right qualifications, and committing to the craft, it’s disheartening to see the coaching profession flooded with individuals who can call themselves ‘coaches’ with little more than a website and a catchy package. We worry that the lack of formal barriers to entry and the resulting competition from unqualified coaches can undermine the credibility of the profession as a whole.

Here's the thing. Complaining about the situation will change nothing. The word coach existed long before the profession did, and the absence of regulation isn't something we can control. Rather than wringing our hands over, we need to focus on creating a clear distinction between us - ethical, qualified coaches - and everyone else.

We can do this by ensuring we have the right qualifications and credentials in place, maintaining appropriate insurance, and engaging in regular supervision. Most importantly - and controversially - we must get very good at articulating the value we offer. I'm not suggesting this will be easy, but it is entirely possible.

As an entire profession, we sneer at the idea of marketing and self-promotion, perceiving them as unprofessional or inauthentic. This attitude is a huge stumbling block if we are to thrive in private practice. The advent and proliferation of AI coaching over recent times and the next few years means that private practice will increasingly becoming the only way to thrive as a coach. Instead of sneering at marketing, we need to recognise it as a respected professional skill that plays a key role in our success.

Embracing the Reality of Coaching as a Business

As coaches, we pride ourselves on our ability to facilitate transformation in others. Ironically while we excel at guiding clients through significant life changes, we often resist making the necessary changes we need to make in order to build a sustainable business. It’s time to acknowledge that coaching, in its essence, is a delivery skill and that without clients, there is no coaching business.

The reluctance to embrace marketing as a core business skill has long been a problem in the coaching world and that problem continues today. Many (most?) coaches associate marketing with the pushy, loud, or ‘grabby’ tactics that they see in the broader business world. We often view it as something that conflicts with the ethical, client-centred approach that forms the foundation of coaching. Here's the thing. Marketing, when done to a professional standard, is an integral part of building a successful coaching business.

Marketing is not about self-promotion in a flashy or inauthentic way, it’s about helping potential clients understand how coaching can support them to resolve the problems they are struggling with. It’s about communicating the value of the transformation you offer in a clear, direct manner and in language that the potential client understands. I'd go as far as to say that if you are not actively marketing your coaching services, you are denying your potential clients the opportunity to find the help they need.

We need to stop viewing marketing as something that detracts from our credibility as coaches and start recognising it as an essential skill that enhances our ability to reach those who need us most. Coaches often believe that if their coaching is good enough, clients will find them. The simple fact is that without good, ethical and authentic marketing, they won’t.

Moving Beyond Confirmation Bias

One of the biggest obstacles coaches face in embracing marketing is the confirmation bias that plagues the profession. We have been conditioned to believe that marketing is something beneath us, something that taints the purity of our work. This belief holds so many of us back from actively engaging in the very process that will help us grow our businesses and ultimately help more clients.

The idea that marketing is inauthentic or unethical is a dangerous myth. Marketing, when done properly, is a professional skill that communicates your integrity, your expertise, and your ability to help clients achieve tangible results. By refusing to embrace it, coaches are allowing this confirmation bias to dictate our business success - and, in many cases, our failure.

This resistance to marketing stems from the misconception that to market our businesses effectively, we must engage in behaviour that contradicts our professional values. This is simply not the case. Professional marketing doesn’t have to be pushy, flashy, or manipulative. It can (and should) be authentic, clear, and ethical. Marketing is a tool to make potential clients aware of the value you offer and how you can help them solve the problems they face.

As coaches, we must realise that marketing doesn’t diminish the integrity of our work, it amplifies it. It’s about making sure the right people - the ones who need our help - can find us. The only way to do that effectively is to challenge the mindset that sees marketing as something other than professional and valuable.

Articulating Our Value Clearly and Professionally

One of the most significant challenges facing coaches today is the difficulty in articulating the value we offer. Many coaches are excellent at what they do, they are skilled at facilitating change and guiding their clients to achieve profound transformations. However, when it comes to explaining what we do in a way that resonates with potential clients, many rely on using what I call coach-speak to try to do this. Coach-speak is our jargon. It includes phrases like holding space, and coaching container which have obvious meanings to us, but are meaningless to potential clients. Coach jargon is as meaningless to non-coaches as technical talk is to non-technical folk.

This is where good marketing can become a game-changer.

Without a clear, compelling way to explain the outcomes of coaching, potential clients won’t see why they should invest. Too often, coaches are caught up in the process - focusing on the techniques, theories, and qualifications that underpin their approach - rather than the outcomes their clients can expect. Coaches may talk at length about their methods, but this doesn’t speak to the needs or desires of potential clients who are looking for solutions to their problems. Remember, people don't know what we do, but they think they know and they're wrong.

Marketing is not about telling people what we do as a coaches, it’s about showing them what we can help them achieve. The most successful coaches are those who can articulate the outcomes of their work. Clients are not interested in the coaching process. They are interested in how coaching will help them to solve their problems, alleviate their challenges and improve their lives.

A clear value proposition is essential for effective marketing. Coaches need to hone the skill of speaking directly to our potential client’s concerns, showing empathy for their situation, and highlighting how their coaching can deliver tangible results. This isn’t about boasting, it’s about demonstrating genuine value. Coaches who can speak to the real, pressing issues their clients face are far more likely to attract those clients who are ready and willing to invest in the solutions coaching can provide.

Articulating Your Value Clearly and Professionally

One of the most significant challenges coaches have (if not the most significant when we consider its impact), is the difficulty in articulating the value we offer. Many coaches are excellent coaches but when it comes to explaining what they do in a way that actually means something to potential clients, they fall flat on their faces. This is where marketing can become a game-changer.

Without a clear and compelling way to describe the outcomes that coaching can help clients achieve, people won’t see why they should invest. Coaches get caught up in the process of coaching, focusing on the techniques, theories, and qualifications that underpin our approach rather than the outcomes our clients can expect. We can talk at length about the coaching process and how it differs from mentoring, or training, but this doesn’t speak to the needs or desires of potential clients who are looking for solutions to their problems.

In marketing, it’s not about telling people what we do as a coaches, it’s about showing them what we can help them to achieve. The most successful coaches in private practice are those who can articulate the outcomes of their work. Clients are not interested in the coaching process. They are interested in how coaching will solve their problems. They want to know what's in it for them if they invest a professional fee with you. This is perfectly normal by the way. When we are the consumer, we too want to understand why we should part with our money before we will pay. All consumers want to know what they'll get for their money.

A clear value proposition is essential for effective marketing. As a profession we need to hone the skill of speaking directly to our potential clients' concerns, showing empathy for their situation, and highlighting how coaching can deliver tangible results. This isn’t about boasting, it’s about demonstrating genuine value. Coaches who can speak to the real, pressing issues clients face are far more likely to attract clients who are ready and willing to invest in the solution we provide.

My Thoughts On How We Can Thrive

As coaches, we’ve spent years developing our skills, qualifications, and experience to help people transform their lives. Yet, without clients, our ability to make a meaningful impact is not simply limited it's non-existent. This lack of clients is why our profession spends so much time reciprocal coaching and coaching for an exchange of value rather than a professional fee.

It’s time we stop viewing marketing as something separate from our work, or worse, something that detracts from our professionalism. Marketing is an essential skill that enables us to connect with the clients who need us most and to grow businesses that are both financially and emotionally rewarding.

Rather than complaining about the lack of regulation in the sector or dismissing marketing as unprofessional, we must focus on what we can control. We can control how we communicate the value we provide. By articulating the results of our coaching, speaking to the specific problems of our potential clients, and consistently refining our marketing efforts, we can build thriving businesses that set us apart from the noise in the market.

It’s time to embrace marketing, not as a necessary evil, but as a powerful tool to help coaches grow businesses, reach more clients, and, ultimately, make the positive impact we were meant to have. We need to understand that marketing is as powerful as coaching in helping our clients transform their lives. After all if people can't understand what we do, they will never get to experience the transformation that's possible for them.

The coaches who embrace the idea of building an effective client acquisition process (which is what marketing does) will not only survive but will thrive—creating careers that bring both financial stability and a profound sense of purpose.