How do coaches keep clients?
July 9, 2019 8:56 AM Subscribe
How do business coaches build out a plan with clients so that they maintain the relationship?
I've worked in contracting/freelancing for a long time. I have always built coaching/consulting into bigger, more tangible projects - not for free, but just embedded in the overall project. I've never worked on retainer and I've never done 1:1 coaching. Sometimes people approach me about business coaching, but I have absolutely zero idea how you build this out so that people get something valuable from your time. I have read some "how to be a coach" books, but they are very entry-level and don't really talk about how you build things out in a pragmatic way. To me, paying $X for a project with specific deliverables has always felt very tangible and solid. However, I'm getting feedback that I have skills/experience that would help people in a coaching format and that my listening skills and problem solving skills would help. I just don't understand how you create value in 40 to 60 minutes and get $300+ an hour for it. Can anyone suggest where I could learn to build this out in a way that feels solid to me? I don't want to burn clients by doing phone sessions where they are left feeling like they wasted $300 or whatever. I am also loathe to invest in a relationship over and over that ends up with a $300 sale. Thanks.
I've worked in contracting/freelancing for a long time. I have always built coaching/consulting into bigger, more tangible projects - not for free, but just embedded in the overall project. I've never worked on retainer and I've never done 1:1 coaching. Sometimes people approach me about business coaching, but I have absolutely zero idea how you build this out so that people get something valuable from your time. I have read some "how to be a coach" books, but they are very entry-level and don't really talk about how you build things out in a pragmatic way. To me, paying $X for a project with specific deliverables has always felt very tangible and solid. However, I'm getting feedback that I have skills/experience that would help people in a coaching format and that my listening skills and problem solving skills would help. I just don't understand how you create value in 40 to 60 minutes and get $300+ an hour for it. Can anyone suggest where I could learn to build this out in a way that feels solid to me? I don't want to burn clients by doing phone sessions where they are left feeling like they wasted $300 or whatever. I am also loathe to invest in a relationship over and over that ends up with a $300 sale. Thanks.
Response by poster: Thank you. That's a good start.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 1:09 PM on July 10, 2019
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 1:09 PM on July 10, 2019
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During intake, I try to find out where the client is at with all of this, and how the tools, techniques, and systems I use can help them the most. We create a plan together and set goals.
I work on retainer, in 10 hour blocks, as I find that this is usually the minimum timeframes to start seeing results.
Taking a life coaching course helped me a lot with the soft skills of coaching. It sounds like you have a lot of the building blocks already, so you might think about reading The Coaching Habit by Michael Stanier and designing a system based on that which incorporates your current skills and areas of expertise.
posted by ananci at 9:29 AM on July 9, 2019 [3 favorites]