Converting interested prospects into coaching clients

As coaches in business we will spend the majority of our time “marketing” (yes even when you are an established coach). To leverage your marketing efforts you want to ensure you have captured contact information.

Once you’ve attracted someone’s attention and captured their contact info, you’re in position to seal the deal – by converting interested prospects into committed clients.

No matter what kind of marketing activities you’re doing – online marketing, speaking, networking, or something else – the goal is to create your community (through your blogs, social media, weekly newsletter etc) and steer people toward a complimentary coaching session.

Before jumping into how coaches specifically can create community, it is helpful to look at how other local businesses are successful. For this example we have chosen local bakery and brand name, Terra Breads. Terra Breads was one of Vancouver’s first artisan bakeries, they have a strong commitment to community and authentic artisan baking remains stronger than ever. They operate four bakery locations around Vancouver. So, how do they garner a community?

First, let’s look at what they do offline:

This screenshot from their website shows how many different existing communities they get involved with. Helping other communities is a great way to introduce yourself into the right circles and start to get your name out there. Depending on what kind of coach you are will make a difference with what existing local communities you can start to penetrate. For instance, if you are a life coach who has experience in personal finance, then making yourself known and offering some hours at the local nonprofit credit counselling service is a great way to meet new people within your community.

Let’s turn our attention to online marketing. Terra Breads have an easy to navigate, well branded and informative website. It tells the visitor everything about artisan breads, shows the visitor some rich media in the form of photos and gives great detail about Terra Bread's story. This on its own is not enough to garner community; however it is imperative to facilitating an online following. Without a central place to find information, how will people find you? Terra Breads also run a Facebook Page and Twitter Feed to keep their followers up to date on company news, local events and promotional offers. It is important to notice that they do not just talk about themselves on social media, they share and comment on other companies Page's in their community (see below). For coaches this means getting online friendly with your local ICF Chapter, nonprofit organizations and other relevant businesses to your type of coaching.

Now for some coach specific points; this is the lynchpin of the marketing process, and there are a few ways to work it.

• At regular intervals, invite the prospect to contact you and inquire about coaching options. (Have your tiered menu of offerings and new-client package ready).
• Periodically let your list of prospects know that there is an opportunity for them to get the support they need to move ahead. (“I have three new spaces open in my practice at this time. If you’d like to see if coaching is for you, I’m offering a complimentary coaching session to anyone who may be interested in exploring new ways to get what you really want”).

Another pathway into your practice is to enrol people in a group program. Often, this eliminates the need for a complimentary coaching session. (“In two months, I will be starting a 10-week tele-class series, and the first 10 people to sign up will get to register for half price”).

 

A word to the wise: As you nurture leads and aim to convert prospects, be sure that the majority of your messages are value driven, not promotional. If you’re consistently delivering value in short, bite-sized pieces, people will stay on your list. If you’re too heavy handed with promotional messages, your prospects will soon abandon ship. So be sure you honor their interest and maintain their loyalty by consistently delivering more value than they ever expected.

 

Passion Into Profit Coach Challenge: Be consistent in sharing value with your community and be clear of your call to action strategy.

 

Teresia LaRocque MCC, is Director of Entrepreneurship and Business Building Mentor for the Erickson Business Center –  www.ericksonbusinesscenter.com at Erickson College International www.erickson.edu. Teresia is a pioneer in the booming profession of personal coaching, the first recipient of the International Coach Federation’s Master Coach Credential in Canada and cofounder for the Vancouver International Coach Federation chapter. Teresia is committed to supporting coaches to take their talent and passion for coaching and make their entrepreneurial dreams come true. Teresia is the founder and facilitator of the Passion into Profit Program, a customized business building program offered through the Erickson Business Center.

Making the gift of neuroplasticity work for you

Your brain changes all of the time. What was once described merely as learning now has a neuro- label: neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is notion that mental experiences and mindfulness can change the actual structure and function of the brain. The idea of neuroplasticity is good news because it means we can change and grow up until our very last days of existence. It can also be bad news if we don’t attempt to direct our brain toward experiences that will change our brain for the better.

There are at least three ways that the neuroplasticity process occurs:

One way neuroplastic change can take place, is when some sort of dampening down of the usual mind map occurs. So for example, if you were going to learn a new language, you would do well to eliminate as much use of the native language as possible so the new language can build resilient neuro-connections in the brain. The brain doesn’t like competing stimuli. That is why language immersion programs seem to work. Basically you direct your efforts toward a new behavior while resisting the use of an old, competing behavior.

Another way is to bring about can bring about neuroplastic changes in the brain is a mindful, goal-directed approach. Either through self-driven intent or the external guidance, the brain can adapt to the demands placed upon it. The result is resilient change. An example of this would be setting goals around becoming a more effective networker.  Ultimately networking begins to feel more natural because you have deliberately pushed yourself through the learning process via goal setting and the motivation to embrace the process of learning. Your brain changes as a result of this.

Finally, changes can take place in the brain as a result of passive learning experiences. This can either be positive or negative depending on what you are exposed to, but it is generally not goal directed or mindful. Human beings have a tendency to adapt to their current environment, whether positive or negative. It’s probably built into us for reasons of survival.  Unfortunately, this tendency can also derail us from our goals unless we deliberately pay attention to our environment. Are we surrounding ourselves by stimuli that support our vision?

I recently came across the term Self-Directed Neruoplasticity (You Are Not Your Brain, Jeffrey Schwartz 2011).  The author describes the term in this way:

“Using the power of focused attention, along with the ability to apply commitment, hard work and dedication, to direct your choices and actions, you can thereby rewire your brain to work for you and with your true self. “

Actively focusing attention on developing new healthy brain circuits is achieved by having a clear sense of goals and values. It is one of the best ways to get the most out of our capacity to adapt and change at the level of the brain via the wonderful gift of neuroplasticity.

Ann C.Holm, MS ACC CCC. Ann is an ICF certified coach with a lifelong interest in brain science. For 25 years, she coached brain injured clients toward cognitive recovery with an emphasis toward optimal functioning in the community. In 2009, she started a coaching practice in order to serve any client who wishes to uncover personal potential through increased awareness of how the brain works, and knowledge of psychological type preferences. Ann holds a B.A. in Psychology, Speech and Hearing Sciences (1983) and a M.S. in Speech and Language Pathology (1986), both from the University of Michigan. She received Life Coach training from the Coaches Training Institute in 2008.  She is also an MBTI Master Practitioner and currently one of less than 100 MBTI practitioners worldwide certified to administer the newly released MBTI Step III.  Her website is www.annholm.net/.

Need to generate Chapter community? Serve others

One of the biggest challenges for ICF New England (ICFNE) is helping our members get to know each other. It is a problem that raises its head during important events throughout the year – when we are in search of board member nominations, soliciting volunteers or when we are voting for the annual Coach of the Year Awards. At these times, when maximum participation is imperative, it is difficult to rouse significant response when our members don’t feel like they know the other people in their coaching community.

We seem to be up against a “barrier of perceived familiarity.” Although our members see each other at events throughout the year, they are not connecting on a community level. We have incorporated a variety of networking activities into our live events, engaged the community through social media, and invited members to participate as volunteers but still the barrier persists.

When we announce that it is time to vote for the annual Coach of the Year Awards, we inevitably receive requests for our membership list because they “don’t know anyone.” While our members may know each other better than they think, there remains this persistent barrier of perceived familiarity preventing a sense of community within our membership - until now.

Finally, we may have found the answer – not surprisingly – in serving others.

On December 6, 2012, 40 ICFNE coaches gathered in Boston at the Massachusetts Conference for Women to volunteer their coaching services to more than 200 conference attendees. As a Chapter, we saw this as a wonderful opportunity to place ICF on a public stage and reach out to the larger community. What we did not anticipate was the benefit experienced by the 40 coaches: how it fed their sense of belonging to ICFNE, and their sense of community with one another.

Attending coaches agreed to set aside personal marketing initiatives and instead represent the coaching industry as a whole. This meant that we were creating a cooperative environment rather than a competitive one; coaches were working together to help the conference attendees, not against each other in search of clients.

Our agreement with the Mass Conference for Women included a well-placed booth in the conference marketplace. Coaches took turns representing ICFNE at the booth and the cooperative environment we’d structured enabled them to work as a team and to connect and get to know each other.

When it was time to gather for the scheduled coaching event that afternoon, all 40 coaches emerged from various corners of the conference to take their places to do some speed coaching. It was really a wonderful thing to see: 40 coaches each sitting at their small tables, talking to each other, energy building. Close by, the coachees were in line, eager for the event to begin. There was no shortage of clients; we were originally scheduled to work with 200 women and managed to connect with 240 by the time all was said and done.

The post- event energy was powerful—and now there was a connection between all of the coaches.

Nothing describes the experience better than their direct the feedback immediately after the event:

“It was a highlight of my career and my life to be a part of this Fabulous 40 - to meet other coaches and connect so instantly and strongly." – Kim Ravida, CPC, ELI MP

“It was fabulous to get inspired about women finding their voices and then to have an opportunity to coach individuals doing exactly that!!” – Tracy Fitzpatrick, PCC

“I was honored to be one of the "fabulous 40." The Conference was energizing and inspiring--I was so glad to be able to attend. And, the "speed coaching" was meaningful and FUN.” – Lisa Kleitz CPCC, PCC

In the role of serving others, these 40 coaches stood together to represent the coaching industry through ICFNE and ICF Global. It is in that stance that they connected as a community. Unlike so many attempts during ICFNE events throughout recent years, we didn’t encourage the coaches to connect and meet each other; it simply happened.

During the annual ICFNE events where members are nominating, voting and volunteering, we are still going to need to provide a membership list to participants because they still don’t “know each other.” We have a large Chapter and that issue will not go away entirely. Even so, we are hopeful that the level of recognition and maybe even the level of participation in those events will increase.

The best feedback of all? 100 percent  of the participating coaches indicated that they would like to participate in this event again next year. Now that we know what we’re getting into, it can only get better.

Suzan Czajkowski, M.A., ACC, is a Communication & Online Marketing Coach, working with entrepreneurs and small business owners to design and implement online marketing strategies that are customized to their specific business marketing goals. This work often includes developing and integrating WordPress websites, newsletters, blogs and social media. As a coach, Suzan’s goal is to help her clients understand and execute their own online marketing strategies effectively and efficiently. Suzan serves as V.P. of Marketing for ICF New England. You can find her at SuzanCz@mycommcoach.com or visit Suzan’s blog at http://mycommcoach.com.

Get LinkedIn®! Leverage LinkedIn to Build Your Coaching Practice

You go to networking event after networking event, meet lots of business people, but when you get back to your office you leave the business cards you collected on your desk.

They seem to multiply. Lurking in dusty little piles.

From time to time you look at them, and think: Who are these people? What did they want? Were they interested in coaching? You know you need to do something with all of those business cards! But what?

One of the biggest mistakes coaches make is not maintaining a personal connection with their valuable business contacts. But there’s a free tool that can help! LinkedIn® is a business-oriented social networking site that enables users to stay connected with their business contacts and create new business relationships.

Why LinkedIn?
Because LinkedIn has 187 million members, who have an average income of $109,000 (40 percent of which hold a position of manager or higher). And LinkedIn is one of the most used social networks in the world, with an average of 2.8 visits per member per month.

What Can LinkedIn Do for You?
LinkedIn can help you connect with important business contacts on a regular basis and it can help potential clients find you.

All you have to do is type in the names of your business contacts and send a “LinkedIn Invitation” to them (or better yet, scan the business cards and upload them in batches). Once a business connection accepts your invitation, they become part of your LinkedIn network.

LinkedIn is a contact database on steroids. It’s got a wealth of information on each contact:

• Name
• Contact information
• Picture
• Headline
• Work and education history
• List of connections (who they know)
• Recommendations and information on the writers of their recommendations
• Group memberships
• Status updates

Each piece of information will help you in a different way. Their picture can help you recognize them at a networking event. Their work and education history can help you see what you have in common (e.g., you both went to UCLA or worked at United Healthcare). Their work history can help you see if they are part of your target market. Their group memberships can help you determine if they can help you access your target market.

What LinkedIn Can’t Do
LinkedIn is an incredibly powerful tool. But business won’t magically appear just because you’re on LinkedIn. As Chef Gordon Ramsey of “Hell’s Kitchen” has said, “... business doesn’t just come and sit on your lap, you’ve gotta go looking for it and if you don’t you’re going to fail.”

So that’s why most people have a LinkedIn account, but don’t get much out of it. LinkedIn is not a replacement for the in-person contact needed to build business relationships, rather it’s a tool to enhance relationship building.

You still need to talk to people on the phone, meet with them for coffee, see them at networking events, or at the very least, send them a personal note via LinkedIn or email. You still need to interact with them on a human level.

How Can You Use LinkedIn to Build Business Relationships?

Maintain connection:
1. Send “LinkedIn Invitations” to every quality contact you meet. Personalize the invitation to build a foundation for the relationship: “It was nice meeting you at the MGMA Meeting. I enjoyed our discussion about Pay for Performance. I would like to continue to build our business relationship and am inviting you to link with me on LinkedIn.”

Build relationships:
There are many ways to use LinkedIn to build business relationships, for example, you can:

 

1. Review a contact’s LinkedIn profile, once they accept your “LinkedIn Request,” send them an email highlighting the experience, education, or connections that you have in common.

 

2. Review a contact’s LinkedIn profile before a phone call so you can target questions to address their business needs.

 

3. Take a contact’s LinkedIn profile with you to coffee or lunch and use it to build rapport.

 

4. Review the profiles of key people in a networking group, prior to attending an event, to:

• Select people to look for
• Help you recognize them
• Prepare questions to initiate meaningful business conversations

Meet new business contacts:
There are many ways to meet new business contacts on LinkedIn.  You can find them in:

• A “people” Search
• A friend’s connection list
• A group
• A comment they made in a group or the “answers” section
• They can also find you in one of the ways listed above

How You Can Use LinkedIn to Enroll Clients
Once you become more active on LinkedIn, you will begin to get more “LinkedIn Invitations” from people. Converting them from a stranger to a client does not have to be a difficult process. Here’s an example of the process I use:

1. Let’s say a woman named Sara sends you a “LinkedIn Invitation.”

2. If you don’t know Sara, look at her LinkedIn Profile (occupation, work history, education and connections) to determine if she is a potential coaching candidate.

3. If Sara is a potential coaching client, write a LinkedIn email to her to ask for a “get to know you” phone call. NOTE: Don’t accept her “LinkedIn Invitation” until after the call and make it easy for her to schedule the call by offering three times you’re available. If Sara doesn’t look like a viable candidate, either accept the invitation (if being linked to her could be beneficial) or archive it.

4. Before the phone call, review Sara’s LinkedIn Profile and create questions to build rapport: “I really enjoyed attending UCLA, did you?” And uncover her pain points: “What keeps you from accomplishing what you want to accomplish?”

5. Come to the call with curiosity and the intent of building a business relationship with Sara.

6. On the call, ask:  “What attracted you to send a ‘LinkedIn Invitation’ to me?” 

If she is considering hiring a coach (I get this response about 25 percent of the time): 

• Ask: “What is compelling you to look for a coach?” 
• After letting her know how coaching can help her with her issues, make an attempt to enroll Sara into your coaching practice: “Are you ready to sign up for coaching?”
• Or if you sense she’s not ready to enroll or your enrollment attempt fails, offer her a sample coaching session.

OR

If she isn’t looking for a coach:

• Ask her questions to uncover her pain points.
• Tell her how coaching can help her.
• Offer her a sample coaching session. (I have enrolled many clients this way).

7. After the sample coaching session, ask if it was helpful. If it was, ask if she would like to engage you as her coach, explain the pricing, and give her three options of dates/times when she can start her coaching sessions.

8. When she chooses a date and time, send her your welcome package.

Works Cited
1. LinkedIn process: www.linkedin.com
2. Gordon Ramsay quote: I wrote this down while watching the show. Here a reference to it: http://ventstation.blogspot.com/2007/12/marketing-advice-from-gordon-ramsay.html
3. Definition of LinkedIn from PC Magazine: http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=LinkedIn&i=60336,00.asp

Donna Schilder, MCC, Leadership, Career, and Business Coach (and Coach U Graduate) is the creator of the “6 Weeks to More Success Through LinkedIn” Video E-Course: getlinkedinnow.com. In the E-Course, in teleseminars, and in individual coaching sessions, Donna helps coaches and businesspeople leverage LinkedIn to get more clients and/or job offers (with step-by-step instructions for the online process and real business strategies). In addition, Donna coaches executives, consultants, coaches, and public speakers to break through what blocks them from achieving wild success. Connect with Donna on LinkedIn, donnaschilder.com, and @GetLinkedInNow. This article was first featured in the February 2013 issue of Coaching World.

Modelling the ‘dream warrior’

When I started my coaching practice, I was bright eyed and excited about the future.

I organised my website, business cards and started a mailing list. I met with potential clients and talked to those who might promote my business.  I did free talks. I even advertised. I did lots of things.  “If I build it, they will come” was my philosophy. 

But I waited. And waited.   

And you know what? I received more calls from telemarketers than new clients. I spent far more money than I brought in through client revenue.  This was not what I was expecting. What was I doing wrong?

Getting clients as a new coach can be a very challenging process, and I know many new coaches face a similar dilemma. For me the question about what to do next was answered by taking a look inside.

As coaches it can be a challenge to practice what we preach. I myself had put off travel for 12 years as I busied myself with work and day-to-day life.  When I started my coaching practice I did what I had always done- took action.  I thought that I had to spend all my time working on my business, and felt terrible guilt taking time out to do the things I enjoyed.  Putting myself first was still something I viewed as an indulgence rather than a necessity.  But all this activity covered up that inner voice which was begging for a break.  When I started getting colds and viruses every two weeks, my doctor sat me down and explained that I had suppressed my immune system.  She ordered me to take five days off work and do nothing more than watch Dr Phil.  Did she know who she was talking to? I was always doing something- well lots of things, actually.  To do nothing at all but rest was something I found hard to do, but my body was making it clear that I had to change my ways.  After this experience I looked inside myself and asked what it was I really wanted at this point in time. Not what I thought I should do, or what I thought I had to do.  The answer was clear- go on a holiday.  No plans, just go with the flow and experience life in a different setting- my idea of heaven. So I went.

Coming back, I was far more focused and gentler with myself. I pared down the ‘to do’ list and put more energy into myself.  It was interesting that I began to get calls from people who wanted to talk about starting up a new venture after a secure corporate job.  Funnily enough, my ups and downs were just the sort of issues they wanted to know about.  They wanted to hear about a real life ‘dream warrior’- not a seemingly perfect person for whom things happened effortlessly.  I realised that it was okay that I shared the struggles faced by my clients in trying to balance personal and professional commitments, paying the bills, self-care, and striving towards goals.  My experiences began to make sense.

So, dream warrior, what is the most important piece of advice you would give to new coaches?

If I could give one piece of advice to new coaches, it would be to make personal foundation work a priority when starting a coaching practice. The journey toward developing a solid personal foundation provides an abundance of experiences that clients will be drawn to you for, as I found when I returned from my travels.  Another recommendation would be to enlist the help of a coach to support you through the journey. Mine provided me with invaluable insight and gentle, consistent encouragement.  Without it I may have given up in the middle of the road, missing those experiences I needed to help me achieve my goals, and ultimately, make me a better coach.

“Never give up on something that you can't go a day without thinking about”- Author Unknown

For all those new coaches out there who feel like their coaching practice will never get started, keep believing in yourself and your dreams and working toward them little by little. Trust that you were drawn to coaching for a reason, and that you will be supported in sharing your gifts. As Richard Bach said, “You are never given a dream without also being given the power to make it true.” Every time something seems to go wrong or nothing seems to be happening, tuck that away as a ‘dream warrior’ experience that will come in useful one day.  Most importantly, keep moving forward. You owe it to yourself and your current and future clients to model the ‘dream warrior’ spirit by working towards your dreams.  May the New Year give you abundant opportunities to make them your new reality. 

Kristina Pawliw is an Australian based coach and writer. Kristina’s professional passions include helping people make their dreams a reality; and developing capacity in individuals, organisations and communities. As a step along her ‘dream warrior’ path, this year Kristina released her book Steps to Success- Sustainable Capacity Development following her experience working in a mentoring and coaching role in Papua New Guinea. Kristina can be contacted via her website a http://www.keytosuccesscoaching.net.