Top 100 Challenges Faced by Coaches and Consultants

I recently challenged some of my clients to write a list of 100 pain points experienced by their clients and customers.

So, I thought I'd share my own list...

Do any of these resonate? Drop me a COMMENT below.

The typical coach/consultant…

1. Lacks time
2. Lacks income
3. Struggles to sell
4. Cannot articulate their value
5. Sells time for money
6. Isn’t aware of how amazing they really are
7. Balances doing, selling, marketing, networking etc is a struggle
8. Wants to help more people than they currently do
9. Get overwhelmed by technology
10. Doesn’t know the numbers/economics behind their business
11. Doesn’t understand customer lifetime value
12. Only have one offer
13. Gets bored running one business so pivots every few months
14. Isn’t clear on their core offer
15. Doesn’t upsell a follow-on product
16. Hasn’t got any marketing assets
17. Have no marketing assets meaning…
18. If they stop their business stops
19. Finds holidays stressful
20. Are constantly tired
21. Finds some of their clients “annoying”
22. Wants more autonomy
23. Set up in practice to fit their hours around home life
24. Struggle to find/create new clients
25. Hates asking for money
26. Has clients drift away before completing their programme
27. Charge an hourly/day rate but are rarely booked to 100% capacity
28. Would never offer a 100% money back guarantee
29. Is often led by their clients (rather than vice versa)
30. Lacks credibility/authority
31. Which results in them experiencing Imposter Syndrome
32. Struggles to differentiate themselves from other coaches and consultants
33. Can’t see their practice scaling
34. Struggles to know what to outsource
35. Or who to outsource is to
36. Does all the heavy lifting for their clients
37. Thinks they must solve their clients’ problems
38. Struggles in having the “tough conversations” with clients
39. Hasn’t been taught how to get clients
40. Don’t have a structured framework for their coaching
41. Has no systems in place
42. Fails to qualify prospects
43. Who then become troublesome clients
44. Don’t know how to deliver a “powerful” consultation
45. Make poor decisions based on their current circumstances
46. Lack confidence
47. Rarely have referrals from happy clients
48. Find networking meetings don’t really help
49. Offer discounts and offers to attract new clients
50. Rarely follow up and
51. Allow clients to “self-select” themselves onto their programmes
52. Have too broad a target market and…
53. Are afraid of niching
54. Don’t walk the walk
55. Get caught up with administrative tasks
56. Spend their time procrastinating
57. Don’t believe in themselves or their ability to deliver
58. Has lots of certifications and are super intelligent
59. Always stressed about the lack of clients
60. Haven’t built a community/tribe around them
61. Are always “trying” instead of “doing”
62. Think their coaching practice hinges around having a website
63. Don’t understand the concept of traffic and audience building
64. Lack basic business knowledge
65. Haven’t evolved deep and meaningful relationships or partnerships
66. Don’t trust their gut instinct or intuition
67. Think it’s all about them
68. Want to grow a team but don’t know how
69. Deliver what they were taught and…
70. Don’t innovate
71. Haven’t learned the art of storytelling
72. Don’t have compelling testimonials, case studies
73. Won’t ask clients for reviews
74. Haven’t built diagnostic tools
75. Overcomplicate things
76. Sometimes sell coaching just because they need the money
77. Hate hearing someone say, “No!”
78. Are afraid of detractors and…
79. Are fearful of tearing down skyscrapers
80. Choose to hide behind the internet rather than use it as a powerful tool to help deliver value to prospects
81. Would be afraid of spending ￡5 per day advertising your coaching/consulting business in case it “didn’t work”
82. Think that their way of doing things is the only way of doing it
83. Don’t enjoy working alone
84. Get overwhelmed managing clients
85. Doesn’t track their client’s progress
86. Think they need to customise everything for every client
87. Doesn’t have a simple pricing structure in place
88. Doesn’t put content out daily
89. Wings it
90. Never launches their coaching practice or consultancy business
91. Sees the task as too big and overwhelming so do nothing
92. Hides behind proposals
93. Is afraid of picking up the phone
94. Says everything is ok to colleagues even when it sucks
95. Is afraid of what their friends might think
96. Won’t use Facebook for business
97. Can’t see the value in hiring a coach for themselves
98. Sells comfort instead of emphasising pain points
99. Leaves getting new clients to chance
100. Would struggle to write a list of 100 pain points their niche struggles with