Coaching Business Startup 103 – Get practice clients from your network.
Coaching Business Advice with JJ Jalopy
Wow.
I had a great time last night. I hope you did too.
I haven’t had that much fun in ages.
I don’t think we really needed all those shots that Steve kept buying, and I’ll forever remember Lisa dancing on the bar at the end of the night!
Now I’ve got a bit of a sore head, but I’m excited to be talking to you all the same.
I’ve made a pot of tea. Tea is a magical elixir of hangover-busting goodness. Pour yourself a cup.
That's better!
Ahhhh. Lovely.
Now let’s make it a big day today and let’s get back to business.
In my post Coaching Business Startup 102 – Build confidence by coaching NOW, we discussed how the main thing holding back most new coaches is confidence.
We agreed that the most effective way to build confidence is to get out there and start coaching.
And I promised that I’d help you through that process. I’m going to start that today.
I’d like you to grab a piece of paper.
On that piece of paper write down the name of every person you know.
They can be friends, family, people you met once at a party, colleagues, neighbors, the man that owns the shop next door. Anyone. Write down as many names as you can think of.
At the end of this exercise I’m going to invite you to call some of these people to tell them about your new business and invite them to experience coaching with you.
At this point, most people have the following reaction.
BUT I CAN’T SELL COACHING TO MY FRIENDS!
And I agree for the most part. It can be difficult to get people to buy into the idea of coaching.
Common objections that people tend to have are:
- I don’t know what coaching is
- It sounds like a lot of work
- I don’t need it – there’s nothing wrong with me!
- Coaching is for losers
- I don’t want to open up too much.
If we wanted, we could discuss all of these potential objections and rationalize them away.
That’s one approach.
I believe the best approach is not to try to convince someone that coaching would be valuable to them. Rather, we could invite them to find out more about coaching by giving them the chance to experience it themselves for one session for free.
There’s a simple but important difference here.
We’re no longer trying to convince someone of the value of coaching. Instead we’re giving them the opportunity to try out a new experience.
We’ve created a win-win situation. You win because you get more experience of coaching and the increased confidence that comes from it. The client wins because they get to find out what coaching is all about – for free! They can’t lose because there is no obligation for them to do anything but take part in this free trial session.
Okay.
Now imagine that your hand is on the phone and you’re just about to call someone on your list to invite them to do a trial coaching session with you. You’re about to start dialing…
Old school
How do you feel?
If you’re like most people, the insecurities that you have about your coaching business will start to bubble up at this point.
The most common concerns are:
- I don’t want to ask someone to put themselves out for me. I don’t want charity or favors.
- I don’t know what to say.
- I’m worried that they’ll think coaching is silly or they’ll make fun of me.
- I don’t want to imply there’s something wrong with them.
- It’s not healthy to coach my friends and family. I’m too close to them.
- I’m not confident in my coaching ability.
Before we get on the phone, let’s address these now.
Have you ever had a friend that joined some dubious pyramid scheme and tried to sell something to you didn’t want?
Have you ever been guilt-tripped into giving money to charity?
It doesn’t feel very good, does it?
Many coaches are hesitant to make an invitation call because they don’t want to be seen to be asking for charity.
This stems from the belief that the trial coaching session will not be of value to the person they are calling.
Understand how beneficial the coaching process can be. Understand that you have a lot to give. Understand that your coaching sessions are fun and fulfilling. Understand that you are not pushing crap beauty products on friends who are too polite to say no!
You’re offering a valuable service for free! What a fantastic opportunity for the lucky people on that list!
Let’s go through the people on that list and find reasons why they might appreciate a call.
How about Julie?
Julie just loves Oprah! She bought the book The Secret last week, and she’s excited about changing her life for the better.
I think she’d love to hear about what you’re doing and I bet she’d jump at the opportunity to experience a coaching session for herself. Wouldn’t it be nice to give her that opportunity?
And you haven’t seen her in a couple of months. Wouldn’t this be a great excuse to see her again?
Write these reasons down by her name so you can remind yourself of this before you call!
This lady runs the world.
And what about Karen?
Karen’s babysitting business is really starting to take off! She’s really going places and you’re impressed with the way she manages to juggle her family responsibilities with the demands of her new business. You’d love to work with her, and you can see the value that coaching could bring to her life and work.
Again, write these reasons down by her name and be sure to tell her this when you call.
Which brings me on nicely to the subject of what to say…
It’s far better to be authentic than smooth.
You’ll get a much better response if you are honest and open about why you are calling than you will if you have a really slick script prepared.
Tell Karen that you’re really impressed with how successful she has been in her new business. Tell her that you’ve just set up a new business yourself. And tell her what you do, using the one-liner we prepared earlier.
Hopefully, she will express an interest in what you’re doing.
Ask her if there’s something that she’d like to work on.
Then invite her to explore the possibilities of coaching with you in a trial coaching session. Tell her that you can set up a course of coaching sessions if you find something great to work on. If you don’t find anything, that’s okay too – she’ll have helped you with your development and she’ll have had the chance to experience the coaching process first hand.
You might be worried that you shouldn’t be coaching your close friends or family. That’s what everyone says, isn’t it?
My take is that, as long as you be totally objective when coaching and suspend any judgment or agenda, you should be fine.
Put the coaching hat on when you’re coaching. Leave it well alone when you’re not. Keep in mind always that your goal is to improve and gain confidence. Don’t pass up the opportunity to coach just because you know someone well. If you don’t think it’ll be a problem it probably won’t be a problem!
Now how about the last item on our list – the worry that you’re not a good enough coach yet?
Sure you can phone someone up and invite them to a trial coaching session. But what if the trial session sucks? What if you can’t think of anything to say? What if you can’t help?
My advice?
Allow yourself to suck.
There you go. There’s wisdom worthy of the Dalai Lama there! 
The Dalai Lama says "allow yourself to suck."
Your primary goal is to learn and gain confidence, not to be a guru.
You’re going to be doing lots of coaching sessions. Some of them are going to go really well. Some of are going to go less well. Some of them are going to go really badly.
And that’s okay. You’re going to learn a lot from all of them!
Tell yourself it’s okay if you don’t know what to say. Don’t expect to know the perfect thing to say all the time. Remember that it’s better to be authentic than smooth!
So I think you can guess what your homework for today will be…
Pick ten people from your list. Pick the ones that you think will be most open to the experience. Write down reasons why you think they’d appreciate a call and then call them and invite them to experience what coaching is like with you.
Do all ten calls one after another. You’ll find that you get into a flow.
Don’t worry about the details of the trial session just yet, we’ll cover that shortly.
Have fun with this. It’s a great opportunity to share something really valuable.
Good luck and good night!
JJ Jalopy.
P.S. A number of people sent me great questions about how to solicit testimonials. I’ll be covering this subject in some detail very soon. Stay tuned!
Comment by Christian Haller
11 April 2009
Your point on congruence between self and actions is absolutely essential to develop rapport with others. Keep it up.
Christian
Comment by Rob Northrup
11 April 2009
JJ,
We can only get experience by going through the exercise and by doing a wide variety of people we find out which sorts of clients we are most simpatico with. That makes it easier to look like more of the same.
I think that the idea of giving away a free coaching session is a true win-win and if you do a great job, then you also have some reciprocity kicking in. At the least, if you’ve done a good job you should end up with a testimonial…
Seize the Day,
Rob
Sales Eagles Soar Above the Competition!
Personal Asset Protection For Small Business Owners
Comment by mark mallen
11 April 2009
Does the Dalai Lama really say’ Allow yourself to suck” Hmm.
I love trial ofers and free samples. They are a great low pressure way to sell a product. Mark
Marketingscoops
Glacier Ice Cream
Comment by Duane Cunningham
11 April 2009
Hey JJ,
Again sound advice from the Wizard himself! An awful lot of people get stopped before they even get started and its all based on subconscious fears held onto from a time long past and are totally without base!
And as Rob said…the only way to blast past them is to take action! By taking action you create new pathways in the brain that forge a new habit!
The habits of success!
Of course you want to create video and audio of these free sessions you are giving away too…so you gain a salable product for your free time!
Duane
Learn Winning Persuasion
Techniques that Work Like Magic by Tapping Into the Psychology of
the Mind with Persuasion Expert Duane Cunningham!
Comment by Steve Chambers
11 April 2009
JJ,
As always you are giving out some very good advice. Friends and family are good people to try things out on, whether coaching or any other endeavor. We all need experience…we need to walk before we can run…and we should do things for free until we gain some experience.
Steve
Comment by Lynn Lane
11 April 2009
JJ,
I agree with the idea you must take some action. And I like the statement, “allow yourself to suck.”
You can’t walk into a gym for the first time and go from a 135lb. squat to a 600lb sqwat. You have to work at it.
Lynn Lane
http://www.Warriorofsuccess.com
Comment by Bob Kaufer
11 April 2009
One of the things I have found is people value something by what they paid for it. If they don’t pay anything, they will not be very good clients.
Bob Kaufer
If you MOVE like the Tin Man, you will THINK like the Scarecrow and FEEL like the Lion
Comment by jc mackenzie
11 April 2009
“Better to be authentic than smooth” I like that, Lord knows I am anthing but smooth now. I discussed action on my blog today as it happens: it has made a difference to me.Action and direction: to shock out of lethargy!
Thanks !
JC
Comment by John Ho
11 April 2009
JJ,
You’ve laid out a logical and workable framework for anyone to start a coaching life.
Good advice, thank you!
John Ho
Understanding Personalities for Better Influence & Persuasion (WordPress)
Understanding Personalities for Better Influence & Persuasion (Vox Blog)
Comment by Sonya Lenzo
11 April 2009
I like what you said about at least you will get good testimonials. I would tell them that upfront. “and when we are done, if you like what I;ve done, or see any value from it, all I want in compensations, is a statement or two, for my website, of the value of the coaching (or whatever)”. That way, they know they are going to have to give something, ie the testimonial, and so it will seem more transactional.
SunnyMarie
Glamour and Glitz
http://www.sunnymarie.wordpress.com
Comment by Yann Vernier - ProfitsTactics.com
11 April 2009
“Allow yourself to suck” is actually brilliant advice.
And a critical habit to create and accept.
It goes against the conditioning most of us get form our society, but prevents us from getting anywhere near our true potential.
Great post JJ. (Can you email me the Dalai Lama’s cell number?)
All the best,
Yann
Comment by April Braswell
12 April 2009
Hey JJ,
wow, after drinking all those rounds with Steve and Rob you can still remember it was Lisa who was dancing with so much fun in the pub? Your tolerance must be EXCELLENT!
indeed, starting with WHOM WE KNOW makes SO much sense for all kinds of selling and relationship building.
All the best,
April Braswell
Online Dating Sites Review, Internet Dating Sites Guide
Comment by Pat Becker
14 April 2009
Great advise for getting past those first objections and hurdles we set in our path. I can see that you are a fantastic coach. I’ll use your model. Thanks
-Pat
Business Owners Fast Track to Internet Profits
Comment by Darryl Pace
14 April 2009
Like the Nike ad used to say, “Just do it!”
Health, Fitness — Darryl Pace
Comment by Lisa McLellan
14 April 2009
You scared me there for a second….the last time I danced on a bar was in the Czeck Republic. In the same instant that I had that flashback, I remembered that I’m not the only “Lisa” in the world (and apparently not the only one that dances on bars!!!! LOL).
Lisa McLellan, Child Care Expert – Babysitters, Nannies, and Au-pairs
Comment by David Power
20 April 2009
Ill join you next time your in Czech..on the bar Lisa!!!
Expert in Medical Hypnosis, Success Thinking and Practical Parenting
David Power’s Hour