Hiring a business coach is a BIG decision! Here, we’ll suggest some questions to ask a business coach to find out if he or she is the right coach for you.
Are you a coach? This list is a valuable resource you can offer your prospects to add value for them as they consider hiring you.
What Does a Business Coach Do?
A coach can help you make progress when you’re stuck. Even when you feel everything is good – you have clients, you’re making money…you have untapped potential!
A coach will help you make improvements in your business and life. They won’t do anything for you except open your eyes. You’ll be the one doing.
Wherever you are in your life and business, you can’t see the forest for the trees! A coach can bring things to light for you that you are completely blind to.
A business coach will focus on the business aspect of your life. Yet a good coach will help you see new possibilities in all aspects of YOU. Your business is part – a BIG part – of your life. You should consider it one of the things that make your life what it is – good or not so good.
Though business is important, so are your family, your finances, your health, your spirituality, your relationships, etc. All these parts of your life must be in balance for you to be a fully functional human being. A good business coach – like any coach – will help you achieve this balance while primarily focusing on their specialty.
I’ve always maintained that life coaching and business coaching are not so different. While the issues they deal with may differ, the same attitudes and ways of being work in every aspect of your life, including business. Keep in mind that business is done by people! You’re in the people business, everywhere in your life.
Why You Need to Know These Questions
If your coaching relationship is to be effective you and your coach will become partners. Partners trust each other enough to share intimate details with each other. Sometimes your coach will have to work hard to get you to recognize, let alone divulge, some of these details. Some of this may be difficult and painful, but it’s essential.
To enter into a partnership of this depth, you must like and trust this person. The big question is not “How good is this coach?”, but “How good is this coach for me?” If it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.
How does it help you or your business?
First, I’ll refer you to the section above headed What Does a Business Coach Do?
By helping you see things that have been invisible to you, you can begin to improve those things.
You can break ineffective or destructive habits. You can replace them with effective and constructive habits.
You can replace relationships that aren’t serving you well with ones that do serve you well.
You can face the fact that you may be spending money in ways that don’t help your business. If you eliminate those expenditures, you’ll have money to fund more effective resources, or to save.
The Most Important Questions to Ask Your Business Coach Before Hiring Them
As I mentioned before you will invite this person to become your trusted partner. There’s a lot you need to know about them. Especially if this is your first coach-hiring experience, you may not get it right the first time. That’s OK – start over!
Here are some of the ways to find out more about your prospective coach.
Check References
No doubt the coach you’re considering will offer references. That’s fine, but what will those references tell you? “This guy or gal does wonderful things for me. My business is thriving because of their help.” Right?
It’s fine to check out some of these references and testimonials. A better way to see a more balanced view is to go to independent rating sites, such as Yelp, Better Business Bureau, Next Door, etc.
Competence Measures
- Ask your prospective coach for his or her certifications. There are numerous coach training and certification organizations. Examples are International Coaching Federation, Coach Traning Alliance, and many others. Many coaches are affiliated with franchise companies like Focal Point, Strategic Coach, John Maxwell, etc. These companies have their in-house training and certification programs.
Desire to Serve
Businesses survive and grow by providing something of value to their customers and clients in exchange for money. Coaches are no different. In fact, they’re a special case. A good coach lives and breathes helping and supporting his or her clients. That’s the only way they can become the trusted partner you want.
Get a sense for this trait in conversations with them and from the references you check.
Commitment
This goes hand-in-hand with the desire to serve. They must be as committed to your success as you are. Actually, depending on your mindset at the beginning, part of their work may be to instill that commitment in you.
Again, conversations with them and what you learn from references are the guide in checking this out.
Chemistry
Now that you’ve checked all these things and found satisfactory answers, how does it FEEL? As I pointed out in the beginning of this article, this person, if they’re right, will be a partner with you. You must like and trust them. The fact that someone else found that comfort with them doesn’t mean you will.
Make sure it’s right for you!
All the best in finding the business coach that helps you take your business to the next level…and the next!
Note: Archived issues of The Unity Community are available here. Search that page for keywords representing your particular interest. Most articles offer suggestions for ways of improving business and personal relationships. Keep in mind that business is done by…people. Every business concern is essentially an inter-personal concern.
A “Shot in the Arm” Every Week!
Eric Lofholm, my friend, mentor and sales coach, hosts a 15-minute motivational call every business day. (For a short time, he switched to doing the call weekly, and it seems nobody liked it.) The call is at 7:45 AM Pacific time. Register for it here. You’ll find instructions on how to join the call on Facebook, Zoom, by phone, or on a recording.
Leadership is an important coaching topic, and vital to doing good business. Want to add your thoughts on leadership? Reply to this message or click here if you’d like to chat on the phone.
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(Hint: What painful issue do you resolve for your clients? If your LinkedIn profile describes how you make your clients’ lives better, it’s rare! Most describe the merchant’s qualifications and expertise. They say little about what he/she does to remove clients’ pain.)
- LinkedIn has 740 million members. We find the few thousand who match your ideal client profile. You define your best prospect for us. Then we go find them.
(Even if you can find these people by yourself, it will take hours away from your work with your current clients.)
- Invite about 100 of these best prospects every week to connect with you on LinkedIn.
- Send a welcome message to those who accept your invitation and connect.
(Typically 15% or more. Currently, over 25% of those I invite are connecting!)
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- Begin a “drip campaign” of carefully timed messages, providing more value. These messages give…give… give…and then ask. No pitches!
All these messages come from you personally. We want and expect your input in developing them…unless you want us to just do it. You can follow the threads and adjust your messages as you see better ways to engage your prospects. We’re always ready to talk with you about improving your messaging.
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