I hear this all the time: “There are so many coaches nowadays—anyone can say they are a coach, and it is almost impossible to stand out from the masses.” It’s true. The competition is fierce. Coaching has achieved critical mass.
Everyone knows what coaching is. Most people understand why they might want to hire a coach. There are plenty of well-trained, ethical coaches to choose from. This is all good. As one of the founding board members of the International Coaching Federation, my goal was to ensure that coaching is recognized as a respected profession.
Why have so many hung out a coaching shingle? There are many great reasons. Two come to mind:
• Good coaching is so effective that many people who receive coaching are inspired to become coaches themselves.
• Coaching can be a perfect fit for people who are naturally inclined to help others.
There are some not-so-great reasons, too. The coaching profession has achieved so much success that there has been a marked increase in scam artists who make wild promises of overnight financial success. This is shameful and regrettable. It should be said that there is no shortcut to building sustainable coaching revenue. There is also no shortage of marketing schemes that promise to bring a coach clients. I guess they aren’t all shady, but I can attest that people hire coaches who come highly recommended by someone they trust. Coaching, like any other profession, takes solid commitment and investment: years of training, building a network, getting savvy about marketing, and continual development. Once a coach has developed expertise, coaching, like any other business, is based on relationships.
The question is: how can someone who has done everything right stand out in the noisy, crowded social media scrum? Call me old fashioned, but there are some ancient (i.e., pre-internet) tactics—all of which I learned from my mentor, Thomas Leonard, and from my own trial and error—that are still relevant today.
1. Don’t quit your day job. It is possible to make a decent living as a coach, but not in three months. Or six months. Or even a year. Don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise, especially if they are asking for your life savings in exchange for the secret to how. There is no secret. If you are desperate for money, you will accept clients who are not ideal—clients who really need the help of other professionals or who aren’t ready for coaching. But clients who are not ready, able, or willing to grow with a coach will drain you. They also won’t pay your invoices and will almost certainly end up ghosting you anyway. All of this will distract you from finding the right clients—those who stay, who pay, and who refer their friends and acquaintances. Which leads directly to the next point:
2. Ask for referrals. This takes guts and can make you feel extremely vulnerable. But clients who think you do great work are almost always happy to be a reference for you or share their experience with others who might be interested. It is a simple statement and request: “I work mostly with people who are personal referrals, so if you are happy with your coaching, I would very much appreciate referrals from you.” Most clients will assume you don’t want or need more clients, so this lets them know you are always open to the right candidates. It will also open up the conversation if a client is not 100% happy with the coaching so that you can do something about it. You really want your clients to be absolutely thrilled.
3. Become an expert—not just at coaching (that is non-negotiable) but at something you already know and have experience with; perhaps an industry, a specific life or job transition, or a growth area that will resonate with people. Gone are the days when anyone could stand out as a generalist. Know exactly what you bring to the table and find ways to express it in no uncertain terms.
4. Deliver exceptional value. Do more for your clients than others who charge the same fees. Follow up between sessions, send links to resources (not too many, just ones that are a perfect fit), and have an amazing referral network to support clients in finding exactly what they need. Be available to connect by text or voice. Yes, it is important to have proper boundaries, but if a client needs help thinking through a problem on a tight deadline it is important to be there for them. I have never had a client abuse the offer. If your coaching practice is so full that you can’t possibly offer anything extra, then it is time to raise your prices.
5. Finally: Charge proper fees. The traditional adage is to charge what you are worth—but honestly, how does anyone figure that out? The trick is to charge more than you think you are worth. So whatever the going rate is for coaches like yourself, you should charge just that little bit more that makes you uncomfortable. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you’ll get used to it.
If you are frustrated with your ability to attract enough clients, take a step back and make a plan to try a couple of these tactics. Some may feel counterintuitive—but as a thirty-five year veteran in the coaching profession, I can assure you that you will see a difference.
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