Don’t Be Pressured Into Choosing a Business Coach

If you are feeling pressured by the business coach when reviewing your coach, then guess what?  You are being pressured.

Understand that a good business coach will challenge your thinking and may even turnover your applecart, however, some sales techniques are used purely to scare, embarrass or intimidate you into a sale.

Business Coach Sales “Closing” Tactics

Here are some of the high-pressure sales “closing” tactics and techniques that force clients into a business coaching agreement:

The Seminar Close

There is nothing wrong with going to a free (or relatively cheap) seminar to find out about improving your business.  Just understand one thing, that there is no such thing as a FREE seminar.  The aim is to sell you on the benefits of becoming a client.

There are perceived advantages in seminar selling:

• When you attend
• It reduces the level of commitment people need to have to go, you might learn something. (As long as there is something worth learning).
• People feel that they won’t be pressured into signing anything because there is safety in numbers. (This is actually further from the truth, it’s called social proof, people tend to be influenced by groups).
• You feel you can sneak out of the back of the room at the end of the seminar and get info you are after. (If the seminar is tightly run, you won’t necessarily get the chance, “closers” in the back of the room waiting to talk to you, signup tables in the room).

Advantage for those running the seminar:

• Bulk selling is easier.  One good presenter can make up for poor sales practices of all the other coaches or sales people.
• Social Proof.  You see other people signing up on the spot and think well it must be OK, we can’t all be wrong.
• Gives a feeling of scarcity.  Only so many seats, only so much time, the discount is available for only so long. It’s all to force you to make an emotional decision right now.
• Leverage.  Less travel for their sales calls, and they can get more sales in a shorter period of time.
• It’s an easier sell for their telemarketers over the phone.  Do you want to meet a sales person or to go to a FREE seminar?

If you choose to make a decision to go on a FREE seminar, then do it on your own terms.  Rather than being forced to buy a false sense of urgency.

There is nothing wrong with purchasing in a seminar but don’t be pressured into something you are uncomfortable doing.  Don’t be afraid to walk away.  If the offer for this day only is X, tell them you have a friend and want to invite them to the next one, when is it?  If they can give you a rough date then I can assure you that when they are running the same seminar next time, somehow, the same on off deal will be available again.

The Take-Away

The take-away is where your business coach acts like they don’t really care whether they are your business coach or not.  They will walk out of the door, tell you you’re wasting their time, tell you they’re only looking for high-performance business owner, tell you that they don’t think you have what it takes, tell you that you have to prove to them why they should coach you.

A good salesperson knows that when you take something away from people, it becomes more valuable.  I mean, just watch a kid have someone take away a toy that they aren’t interested in, suddenly they become obsessed with keeping it.  Don’t be manipulated by this.  If they didn’t need you, why are they sitting in front of you or speaking on the phone with you?  It suggests that they need you as well.  After all, did you call them or did they call you?

Embarrassing you into a Sale

Embarrassing you into a sale.  The words they use will be something similar to these:

“So (NAME), you want to think about it… what I’ve discovered is that 75% of people I see sign when we complete our meeting.  Those that don’t, they fall into one of the two groups:  The first groups are;

1. Those that know it all – and I can’t work with them because they aren’t interested in learning
2. Businesses who have a poor product or a dead business – and that doesn’t sound like you
3. They have no personal integrity, so I don’t want to work with them anyway.  You haven’t given me the impression you lack integrity.

That leaves the other group, who say they’ll think about it or will call tomorrow.  Well, they simply never do.  So tell me (NAME), which group do you want to be in?”

Don’t be intimidated into signing anything.  If you need to take out some time, do so.

Don’t fear your business coach

You feel embarassed to ask questions because it makes you feel you are challenging someone’s professionalism? Let’s be clear on this, YOU ARE. This is an unregulated industry therefore you have to take a vigorous approach on looking for the facts.

If you are scared of this, imagine how terrified you will be if you aren’t getting results and you have spent 12 months dealing with the wrong business coach and you want to get out of your relationship.

Do your homework NOW and it will save you the pain later.

Find the right business coach for you

This post is part of our FREE Business Coach Selection guide. To find the right business coach for you, just fill in your details to get the complete 33-page guide….

Get a Business Coach With The Right Coaching Style For You

If you’re out to improve your business, then it may seem obvious that you should consider business coaching.  That is a business coach who focuses solely on business, someone with expertise in business coaching and the coaching process rather than experience in your industry.

Business coaches do not use particular expertise to diagnose, direct or design solutions for you (that is what a business consultant does).  A good business coach will open options for you and your business rather than implementing a fixed model or plan that they have used before.

If the business coach stresses that they have background in your industry, it may mean that they are restricted into a fixed way of thinking.  If they already have a ten point plan saying this is how you get to success step by step, it suggests that your business success will be a case of paint by numbers.  You don’t become the best by being like everyone in your industry; you become the best by being different to everyone in your industry.  Look for someone who doesn’t already have the answer pre-made for you.

Good business coaches will not be afraid to show you the results from their current and previous clients.  See if you can talk to some existing clients.

Your business coach is not a therapist

Remember, business coaching is not a therapy. It is not about making you feel good, or reviewing your past.  It is about getting you results.  If the business coach can’t clearly show results that they have got with their existing clients, then that suggests a problem.  If the business coach isn’t keeping the score, how can he keep them on track? A good business coach will always know the score, for both themselves and their clients.

The business coaching approach your business coach use

Choose a business coach with the right business coaching style for you.  Ask them what kind of business coaching approach they use.

Some other things to look out for when choosing the right style of business coaching for yourself:

• Empathy – They understand where you are at but still move you forward regardless of the obstacle.  Shared experience often provides empathy so find a coach who has owned a business.
• Drive – You want a business coach who is going to push you.  If you’re not feeling some discomfort about what you are doing, then you’re not getting the best results out of business coaching.
• Intensity – Passion doesn’t always jump on table tops and scream at the top of their lungs.  A great business coach can be intense about getting you results without seeming to bounce off the walls.
• Developer – A true business coach will leave you empowered with the skills to improve your performance by yourself.
• Sense of Humor – A sense of humor can go a long way into making difficult challenges lighter.
• Honesty – Ask them why they coach.  If they say they’re doing it only for the love, I would suggest you look elsewhere.  A good business coach has an understanding of motivation including their own, whether it’s to feed their own ego or to make money, at least they know.  Self honesty is important.

Regardless of style, a great business coach will bring you two things that are invaluable for your business success: Focus and Accountability.

This is part of our FREE Business Coach Selection guide.  Proceed to our Business Coach Selection Guide page to get the full 33-page guide and for more helpful insights on choosing the right business coach for you and start getting results in your business. Or simply fill out the form below to get your FREE copy now.

Who Is Your Business Coach?

Here are the important aspects  you need to look for in a business coach:

Check Business Coaching Credentials

So what about your potential business coach’s training and credentials?  Is success as a business coach limited to completing different coaching accreditation or training?  The answer is NO.

However, the advantage of having a business coach with credentials is that, it shows they have a longer term of commitment to business coaching (as accreditation can take time and money to achieve).  That may mean that they are more dedicated to higher ethical standards and watching out for your best interests.

Determine Their Commitment

What we mean by commitment here is commitment to be their best.  After all, that is what a good business coach will expect from you.

You need to evaluate the advantages of having a business coach who coaches full time as against part time, but generally speaking, the more time you spend doing something, the more experience you develop and have.  If your business isn’t a hobby, I would suggest you get a business coach that doesn’t have a hobby business.

If your business coach keeps selling how entrepreneurial they are and how many businesses they have apart from business coaching, keep in mind where their focus is.  Is it on developing themselves to be better business coaches and helping you operate at your best or is it just on the next venture they have in mind?

It’s worthwhile probing to find the level of commitment to these businesses as these are often oversold to promote a business coach’s “entrepreneurial” qualifications.

Choose a business coach who is willing and able to help you succeed in the long term.

Know There Is More Than The One Way

If there was only one way to success, then how could you describe the likes of Richard Branson, Warren Buffet, Donald Trump and Bill Gates, all becoming super successful?

Circumstances, personalities, industries, timing can all create variation.  One size doesn’t fit all.

Different business coaching approaches, programs, frameworks and systems (i.e. Steps, Cycles, etc) are useful but not the be all and end all.  You don’t have to buy someone’s model of the world to be successful.  Don’t be oversold on how “the way” is the true way, it’s just a tool and any good business coach will have some form of tool to assist you improve your business.

Make sure what you are offered is suited to your needs and the needs of your business.  Ask them if they have used these tools before or if they have just started using them.  You don’t want to be a guinea pig for a new tool that they are trying out for the first time.

Remember to look beyond the tool at the business coach you are getting.  Although the “system” may be used X amount of times, it is the business coach that is wielding the tool that matters.

Look For Client Churn

What is client churn?  It’s the turnover of clients a business coach has.  It’s worthwhile looking into how long a business coach’s average client has stayed with them.  Now, understand that business coaching is not a marriage for life, but also if the majority of your business coach’s clients have only for a short time (i.e. the past 3 months), that can be an important clue.

I know of two business coaches, both of whom coached 15 business owners at any one time.  The first business coach held 15 of the same repeat clients for greater than 12 months.  The second business coach worked with new 44 clients at the same time.  Both were offering the same coaching system.  I also know of a business coach who took on 8 new clients in 4 weeks, the next month he lost 8 clients, and this isn’t a lone case, last month I spoke with a business coach who said they had lost 5 clients in 3 weeks.  It’s alright, he assured me, I’ve signed up another 5!

A business coach that has difficulties holding clients obviously has problems in working with people, or is still learning his profession or is overselling himself.

A good question to ask is “How long do you work with your clients on average?”  If they are estimating this number that will give you a good idea in itself of how important a focus it is for them.  If they don’t know, chances are, they don’t care.

Find the right business coach for you

This post is part of our FREE Business Coach Selection guide. To find the right business coach for you, just fill in your details to get the complete 33-page guide….

Getting a Business Coach?

For starters, your business coach should be coaching you rather than giving you advice, however, if they are telling you how it should be, make sure that they live by their own advice.

If they’re telling you that you’re supposed to be working in a “commercial enterprise that works without you”, ask them why they are sitting talking to you?  Why are they trading their hours for dollars instead of sitting on a beach in the Bahamas themselves?  If they mention that all their businesses are so successful, then why aren’t they out living that lifestyle they are asking you about?

If they keep mentioning their OTHER businesses, ask more questions.  Why do you have another business?  How do you keep focused on coaching if you have multiple businesses?  Is it a minor shareholding?

Here are some interesting examples of not walking the talk that I and other business owners have come across:

• Coaches that provide training in sales, but they have never sold (they have other sales people or coaches do it on their behalf).
• Emphasizing systems in your business and they have never created any of their own or don’t follow those that others have given them (franchises).
• Stress the importance of having multiple (i.e. 10 or more) marketing strategies in your business, but can only name 2 that they use.
• Testing and Measuring, but don’t know their own conversion rate (and about 20% doesn’t cut it, what is the EXACT percentage), acquisition cost (the cost of generating a lead) or lifetime client value (the total amount of income made from a client over their lifespan)
• Referral Strategies, but they got in front of you via telemarketing.• Leadership but have never lead any staff themselves.
• Time Management but keep turning up late for coaching sessions.
• Outstanding Customer Service but their clients were limited to one call per week.

Does this mean that your business coach should have done everything that you need to?  No.  However, if your coach is misrepresenting their experience and falsely this should get you to ask what else are they telling you?

Do you want your business coach to be someone who is going to follow the X number of simple steps?  Are they just rubber stamping you through the checklist?

Is your business coach a leader or a follower?  How creative can you get if they are working off a checklist?

You want a business coach that has initiative, drive and creativity in their own right.

Are they implementing the lowest common denominator solution on your business?

Ensure that the business coach you are speaking with is the business coach that will be working with you.  You need to feel comfortable with this person as that is where the value of the business coaching relationship is.

How much should I pay for a business coach?

Business coaching cost

Don’t ever mistake cheap price with good value.  Cheap can be a car that breaks down on you two days after you bought it.  Value can be the same car in great running condition but at 25% more.

You evaluate what you would pay for a top doctor based on their level of expertise and knowledge. With a business coach, it’s their level of expertise as a coach and the results they achieve for their clients (that’s why you need to check their testimonials carefully).

What matters is your ROI (Return on Investment).  However, you don’t know how much you will generate up front and you don’t know what is getting you time back with your family, the reduction in financial pressure or the fulfillment of your dreams are really worth.

Business coaching fees differ. Most business coaches work on the basis of a fee.  Some coaches will work on the basis of a retainer on the results.

Remember, when you get a mortgage and they waive the application fee, they will normally pick up the slack in the interest rate.  You still pay; it’s just whether it’s a bit of now or a lot later.  Only you can determine what your value for money is.

Find the right business coach for you

This post is part of our FREE Business Coach Selection guide. To find the right business coach for you, just fill in your details to get the complete 33-page guide….

Know Your Business Coach

Business coaching is an unregulated playing field, so understand that anything can go.  Before I frighten the hell out of you, let me tell you that the vast majority of business coaches are intent on helping you in business.  They operate out of integrity, but like every industry, there are some “bad apples”.  So here are some of the ways to protect yourself.

Beware of outright lies

These are generally easier to pick, you just have to call people on them.  If you are suspecting on a point, ask some open ended questions (i.e. Why? How? Where? When?).  Check the internet about any concerns, problems or rip-offs others may have had with your business coach or others within their organization.

Beware of exaggeration

These can also be easy to pick.  Some business coach oversell:

• Their Results
• Their Experience
• Their Entrepreneurial-ship
• The Speed of the Results they get
• The Size of the Results they get
• The Level of Effort or Change Required on your Behalf
• They Oversell Qualifications

Beware of lies of omission

These are the hardest to detect.  Some business coach can either be leaving things out of the conversation or the telling of half truths that you don’t check the validity of.  They don’t tell you about:

• Their results
• Their results that weren’t great
• Their experience
• How long they have been coaching
• How many clients they are currently working with
• They don’t give you access to their current clients to speak to

 
Business Coach Testimonial Check

Speak to people that are currently being coached by them.  Will they allow you to speak with ANY of their clients or only a few?

Try to speak to those who gave current testimonials.  In all fairness, your excitement about change declines over time (i.e. you most probably aren’t as excited about your 21st birthday party today, compared to the day after your party.  Especially if you are over 35!).  So get recent testimonials because this also reflects that a good business coach should improve their skills with time, so this will give you a snapshot of where your business coach currently is.

Double Check All Your Business Coach’s Testimonials

A.) Ensure they are for the exact business coach that you are using
B.) Make sure that they are specific about the results that they are getting.  If they are all movie style, then you might have someone who is a great cheerleader but not a great business coach.
C.) Call them if possible.  Get the story behind the story.  Do they feel it is worthwhile having a business coach?

Remember, it’s the business coach, not the systems they use that matters.  You can have a locksmith use a lock pick to help you get into your house after being locked out in the dark or a criminal use it to rob you. The system or tools used is irrelevant, it’s the honesty and integrity of the business coach that matters.

If your business coach is willing to misinterpret themselves at the beginning of the relationship, then what opportunity do you have throughout the rest of the relationship?

Find the right business coach for you

This post is part of our FREE Business Coach Selection guide. To find the right business coach for you, just fill in your details to get the complete 33-page guide….

I’ve been asked by a couple of people recently, if they really should be using social media to promote their business.  I mean, there’s a lot of hype that’s going on at the moment.

In fact, it sort of reminds me of when the internet first started moving into business.  Everyone was screaming about how important it was, how world changing it was for your business, there was a real hysteria about it.  You have to be making money out of it now, or else you’d be out of business.

Fast forward 15 years, and it’s partially true, but it took awhile to get here.  You still got some businesses that thought they could avoid the whole issue.  I mean if you look at the Harvey Norman vs. Kogan issue about selling TV’s online, you’ll get what I mean.  But the internet hasn’t been the end of business as we know it, but it has shaken up a number of industries.

So how does this relate to social media?  Well, look, the jury is still out.  The hysteria is here now. Your business is not going to collapse tomorrow by not using it, but you should be laying your foundations now for what happens within the next 10 years, especially when statistics show that 90% of 18 year olds have social media accounts that they use.  In 10 years time that’s 28 year olds.

So what does this leave you right now?

Here are some possible approaches that I recommend for you:

1. Small But Personable – In this approach, you start up only 1 or 2 social media accounts that are appropriate for your target market.  If you’re going for white-collared professionals, it’s going to be LinkedIn.  If you’re going for more creative types, it could be Twitter or MySpace. You’re really using this to connect up to most probably those people you already know and using it to supplement the relationships you already have.

At this level, it’s really about not building a huge list, but just building a closer relationship with those people you already got in there.  Don’t expect massive results, get in there and spend some time putting things together (an article or blog post a month), but in the long run, don’t put a lot of time into it. Keep it as an outpost ready for future growth.

Build a profile and at least have a presence sitting there with links to your website, etc.  Even if you’re not actively messaging, you can be connected to by people.

2. Go Industrial – At this level, you want to be serious about what you’re doing.  If you can imagine writer’s block for every time a writer sits down to write an article, imagine multiplying that out 2 to 3 times a day, everyday for your social media!!
 

Important things if you’re going industrial, either have a content plan of forward things that you’re going to talk about and articles that you want people to see. It’s also worthwhile you spend more time focusing on your niche. It’s not worth going wide, it is worth going deep and having an aim to use it to upgrade people into some form of email communication overtime.

You’re not going straight for the jugular, and expecting business straight away but you are using it as a serious tool to build your business database. Needless to say this can be outsourced.
 

3. Profile Building – This again is an economy of force effort.  Here you’re building profile and using it just to get ideas out there to people.  You’re really using it more as a broadcast mechanism, but not broadcasting your marketing, but broadcasting your ideas.
 

This is obviously suited better for some businesses than others, but if you’re in any service based industry, you can use it to promote any speaking, any writing, any article that you’re finding and inform people like that.
 

4. Hype Avoidant – At this level, it’s “Don’t bother about it”.  For some businesses, they may struggle to get real value out of social media, and it’s  not going to work perfectly for everyone, for every purpose.
 

Do you really want to be getting funeral homes twitter messages?  Some businesses don’t have an ongoing need to engage in larger groups of people.
 

Whichever way it works, have a plan.  Remember even a choice not to do something, as long as it’s an informed choice, is fine.  Don’t panic about the hype, with social media it’s better off to start small with lower expectations and build something that will grow into an important part of your marketing in the future.

I heard a great phrase the other day. It was one of the Aussie soldiers talking about Afghan troops that he’s training up to defend their own country.

He mentioned that these guys were ready to take up the challenge without them.   His comment was … “these guys head to the sound of the guns”.

I thought that was a powerful saying about how these Afghans have initiative, will go and look for problems confidently and seek them out.  Now business isn’t THAT life or death. But the bias for action is crucial in the success of your business.

Whether it’s lifting the quality of your service, or finding better ways to market or sell your products and services, whether it’s proactively looking for better ways to train and develop your team or to find great team players.   A team of proactive, forward leaning people is a competitive advantage that no one can take away from you.   It can be THE GAME CHANGER.

Pause for a second and think. Just think of the faces of people in your business.  Do they have a bias for action? Or are they merely ticket stamping to get through another day?  Or waiting for your instructions on what they need to do next?

Are you creating a culture that encourages people to take action?   Are you creating a team that will head to the sound of the guns?

Get Moving:  Which areas do you need your team to take a proactive stance in? Create a
list, then meet with them and identify what areas are holding them back?
Check for management approaches, systems and processes, and attitudes
that keep them waiting for you.

I’ve got a bit of confession to make.
When I first started coaching about 8 years ago, I thought differently.   And looking back now I know I took the wrong approach with some people.  We’d sit down look at their business and we’d find everything that was broken, and we go out of our way to fix it.   We’d go everywhere to find where they’re weak in terms of leadership and management, and try to develop it into an area of strength.
And you know what?   Replacing weaknesses with strengths requires a lot of work.   Slow, tedious, and painful.

What I’ve learned quickly over the years is this…

It’s important to go with whatever your natural strengths are. If as a business owner, you’re great at relationships and people, you should be gearing your business and your role in the business around that strength.  If it’s around your technical ability to deliver, it should be based around that.  It’s no use trying to be all things to all people.   And sure, there are problems that do need to be fixed, but generally speaking, the time and effort in playing on your strengths and leaving someone else to clean up the weaknesses, will you’ll get far superior results.

Get Moving:   So what would you say your two business strengths are? And how can
you capitalize on them in your business?

I keep hearing people in business talk alot about managing their time at the moment.   A lot of what I see isn’t about time management when I start looking…

It’s about Attention Management

How we spend our time is less important than where we allocate our gaze, our thoughts and our efforts.

We live in a world that is vying for our attention all the time. Our consumer culture tells us
how important it is to make the smallest choices right the first time. Choices that are
mostly splitting hairs but are painted out to be life or death considerations. All these small
demands add up. It feels like we are drowning in a sea of choice. Each lapping wave
seeking our attention in case its a sharks fin, some unforseen problem that we have been
told we should have foreseen. Enough I say.

I suggest we need to let go of our concerns about what to do and become masters of
knowing what not to do.
We need a radical simplification of what we pay attention to … to clear our palette of…

          – Audio Noise (imagine a day where your phone doesn’t ring)
          – Visual Distractions (that pile of paper you use to remind yourself of what to do)
          – Digital Interrupts (the barrage of emails, SMS’s or voicemails demanding your time)
          – People Waffle (the endless to and fro from your staff)

I believe you need to be a zealot of your own cause to simplify your business life. By
getting rid of what you “should” do, and focusing instead on what you choose to do.

On working on those things that will bring you closer to your goals.
To allow yourself time to create, to think, to implement, and to achieve.

Get Moving:  Create a List of The Top 3 Things that seem to keep you busy.
For each of these write a list of things that you can do to eliminate or severely reduce the impact, these have on your workday.  Do something about them now.

I lost a close friend.  He was only 44 years of age, and as you can imagine at that age, even though he was sick for some time, it’s still a bit of a shock.

Things as you know, don’t always go as we planned.  Your expectations on how things are “meant” to turn out aren’t met.  Sometimes the shock of these major events in our lives, can get you to question the meaning of a whole lot of different things.

For instance, you could say any of these:

• It’s not fair (I’ve been wronged)
• What would I do if this happened to me (what do I need to be prepared for?)
• I was lucky to know them (I am thankful)
• Life is short (I better make sure I’m doing those things that are important to me in my life)
• That’s life (Just get on with it!)

So as you can see, depending upon what meaning you use to attach to the event, it can also guide your thoughts, guide the questions you ask yourself and ultimately, guide your actions.

Your meanings make your motivations.

Get Moving: If you’re coming up against a tough event, whether in your business or life, choose your meanings wisely.  This can be just the experience that defines you.