Skyrocket Your Coaching Business Using the Power of Marginal Gains

Do you ever think of THE?breakthrough moment?in your business? You know what I mean — that tipping point when everything will change: you’ll work fewer hours, make more money and have an inbox full of enquiries and offers to collaborate.

Of course you do, who doesn’t? When I started my coaching business in 2017, I imagined this moment as a well-deserved victory following some earth-shattering effort or move on my part. I was mistaken.

The breakthrough moment turned out to be the result of a series of what seemed like insignificant tweaks and small improvements. British Cycling’s performance director Dave Brailsford called it?the aggregation of marginal gains : "The whole principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, and then improved it by 1%, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together."

Instead of holding our breath waiting for the big moment to come, this theory suggests that we don’t underestimate the effect of consistently making small improvements. James Clear has taken the idea further in his book Atomic Habits, where he illustrates the power of getting 1% better every day over the course of one year *.

* Source: Atomic Habits by James Clear, p. 16, screenshot by the author

The difference a tiny improvement can make over time is astounding. Here’s how the math works out: if you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty‐seven times better by the time you’re done. Conversely, if you get 1 percent worse each day for one year, you’ll decline nearly down to zero. What starts as a small win or a minor setback accumulates into something much more. (James Clear, Atomic Habits )

This article will give you a few ideas for the main areas in your coaching business where you can make 1% improvements so you can see them accumulate into your breakthrough moment.

Business infrastructure

You might be able to handle everything manually for a few months, but as your business grows you need systems to support it: a scheduling tool, accounting software, hosting platforms (for videos, courses, etc.), a CRM (customer relationship management) tool, email marketing software, etc. Automation will save you time and increase your credibility by making your business look more professional.

Beyond the advantages of automation, the marginal gains when it comes to your business infrastructure lie in making these systems communicate and integrate with each other.

Your email marketing software can talk to your CRM system which can integrate with your scheduling tool. The scheduling tool can take payments at the moment of booking and integrate with your accounting system. A purchase via your course hosting platform can trigger an email sequence in your email marketing tool and an entry into your CRM system.

Every time one of these connections is formed, your business becomes more efficient and requires less manual input.

Business processes

This includes anything from general administration to client onboarding, financial management, and other processes based on your?business model . I assume you’d rather spend the majority of your time coaching instead of dealing with processes and procedures. So would I.

However, looking for efficiencies in your processes and implementing small improvements in this area means that you will likely spend less time dealing with it in the future and your clients will have a better experience working with you.

Here are some examples of tiny improvements for your coaching business processes:

• Create a document with information and guidance to send to prospects after they book a discovery call with you. Set it up so that your scheduling system automatically sends it when confirming the meeting.
• Invest in electronic signature software for your contracts. Add automatic reminders to prompt clients to sign them.
• Use time blocking and perform similar tasks on the same days.?I talk more about productivity for coaches and how I manage my business in less than 6 hours per day in?this article .
• Put together a survey for your clients to complete after their last session with you. Share the link with them during your final meeting and get verbal agreement that they will complete it within the next week.

Your skills as a professional

I’m not only referring to improving your coaching skills, but also getting better at running a coaching business. I have identified no less than?eight roles that I need to play in my business , each requiring a different set of abilities: coaching, marketing, selling, financial acumen, etc.

You might be tempted to get 1% better at skills that you’re already very good at, such as coaching. Come on, admit it. You’d rather attend a workshop on outdoor coaching than learn more about the numbers in your business. Practising NLP techniques sounds a lot better than honing your negotiation skills.

Is that you? If so, I suggest you first identify the areas where an improvement would make the biggest difference in your business and start with those.

If you get lots of enquiries but not a lot of clients, becoming a better coach is unlikely to make a big difference. Getting better at negotiating and closing a deal might. If you have a full practice but you’re not meeting your financial goals, understanding pricing principles and how your business model influences your revenue will make a bigger difference than knowing how to use values in your work as a coach.

I explain in more detail the business development skills coaches need in a previous newsletter edition - you'll find it linked at the end of this one, use the arrows to browse through.

The compound effect of getting 1% better every day at any of these skills is astonishing. When I look back at the first few pieces of content I released and compare them to the articles I write today, I cannot believe the difference. My first YouTube videos were terrible — I stared at the camera like a deer in the headlights. I’m not particularly proud of them, but I am proud of myself for persevering and getting better.

Here are a few suggestions for making improvements when it comes to your skills as a professional:

• Take one principle or technique you learned from a book or course and apply it consistently for at least a month.
• Make more offers. At each stage of the?customer journey , a prospect needs to know what to do next and it’s your job to guide them.
• Ask for feedback from both the clients you win and the people you don’t end up working with. What went well during the discovery call, what could be improved on and what was the defining factor that influenced their decision to (not) buy?
• Have regular meetings with your accountant or bookkeeper to discuss the finances in your business.?Ask them questions to understand what is behind those figures and how heavily each number should weigh in your decision-making.

Your mindset

You knew this was coming. No matter how great the systems and processes in your business and how skilled you are as a professional, your mindset can still sabotage your work and therefore the results you’re getting in your business.

The greatest mindset shift you need to make as a business owner is to?stop thinking and acting like an employee . Doing so is a lengthy process — it took me more than a year to get there — so be patient with yourself. The other mindset work you do will depend on your own circumstances and beliefs.

As a coach, I trust that you have enough self-awareness to admit which areas need addressing and the wisdom to understand that you don’t need to do it on your own. If you don’t recognise the value of working with a coach, can you expect others to see the value in working with you?

Building a coaching business happens one step at a time and success is the accumulation of small improvements done consistently. Improving something in your business by 1% every day for a year is the equivalent of that thing becoming 37 times stronger. What better way to skyrocket your coaching business?

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This article was originally published on?Medium.com .

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