With the New Year upon us, it's time to rethink about what you do and how you tell people about what you do. I don't know if this happens to you, but it does happen to a lot of coaches I know: They may start their year with a nice, crisp elevator pitch to describe what they do but as the year progresses, the pitch evolves. It's okay for an elevator pitch to evolve IF it evolves in a good way. But it doesn't always work that way: Your pitch might take on new elements as your business changes or as the market place changes. Frequently, I've noticed that lots of coaches who have heard the objection "your price is too high" will unconsciously add a price clarification into their elevator pitch even though it's not necessary. So a pitch that says "I help people become organized" becomes "I help people become organized and I don't cost as much as other coaches". 

So, now it's time to spend a moment and think about your elevator pitch for this year:

* What are you doing in your business this year that is similar to the past?

* What elements from last year's elevator pitch can you carry over to this year?

* How has your business changed?

* What elements of your business are NOT currently reflected in your elevator pitch?

* What are the top objections you've faced?

* Who are the key clients you want to attract this year?

It's time to reinvigorate your elevator pitch to get ready for another exciting year!

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If any of your coaching takes place over the telephone, one of the services you can offer your clients is to record the telephone call and provide it for their review later. (Disclaimer: If you are recording any telephone call for professional reasons, you should let the other person know and you should ask for permission first). 

Basically, the easiest way to get started now, without any fancy equipment, is to use a system like the ones offered by RecordiaPro.com, RecordMyCalls.com, or FreeConferenceCalling.com… but there are many others. Most of the systems work something like this: You create an account at one of these sites then you call them and conference call your client. You have your conversation, then you end up with an audio file (often an mp3) as a record of your call. 

So, here are a few ways to use this:

1. In any telephone coaching scenario, talk to your client over the phone then deliver a recording of the call. As a bonus, send them a transcription, too.

2. In telephone seminars, have numerous people dial in and listen to you (and they may or may not ask questions, depending on your preference) and have your seminar recorded as an mp3 to use as a podcast.

3. Get a transcription of your call to be used in various ways (as a blog series, in an ebook, as the foundation for a guide or manual, etc.)

Your conversations are valuable and by recording them, you are preserving them to be reused by you and by your clients in the future.

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When I first became a coach, I used to read everything I could about coaching. Everything. If it even had the word "coaching" in it, it was in my reading list. (Which means I can now coach kids hockey whenever I'm needed!) After a while, it all started to sound the same and I began an evolution to where I am today: Now, I read as widely as possible.

Of course, I still have a few key coaching resources that I turn to again and again (insert shameless plug for this blog here). They are in my Google Reader and I'm a faithful and loyal follower. But as soon as I started reading more widely, I found that I became a better coach because:

* I could relate to people more effectively. Chances were, I'd just read something interesting related to what was important to them.

* I began to develop my own unique and creative coaching tools: An article about watercolor painting therapy inspired me to introduce a creative drawing component into my own practice that clients have responded to.

* I could more easily draw a link between "the outside world" and my coaching services, helping me acquire more clients because I could see things from their perspective.

I'd recommend the following:

* Bookmark a handful of coaching resources (of course) and don't ever stop honing your craft.

* Read one national newspaper or newsmagazine

* Read one local newspaper if you have local clients (and if you live in a bigger city, opt for those neighborhood newspapers instead of your city paper)

* Read a general content magazine that covers a wider range of information like Readers Digest or Salon

* Read a magazine of a hobby that you find interesting

* Avoid tabloid or celebrity gossip magazines (well, you can read them in your spare time but I don't think they're applicable here)

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If you've ever been camping, you've probably heard the occasional annoying buzz of a mosquito. Once when I was camping, though, I was swarmed by more mosquitoes than I had ever seen in my life and that cluster of tiny, biting bugs made me run in the other direction! That idea of clustering is something I want to talk about today. 

No matter what kind of coaching you do, part of your job is to equip and empower your clients to make changes in their lives. In fact, there's a good chance that many of your clients have hired you to help guide them into and through changes. If you've found that some changes are particularly challenging for a client, one reason may be that the components of the change aren't enough. So you will need to introduce the concept of clustering.

Let's say that you have a client who needs your help with managing their time and eliminating procrastination. A typical response might be to start them with a time log and then to analyze that time log. That might be enough for some clients. But that's just one component of the change. Some clients need more. Some clients need to have a cluster of components occurring at once in order to help them make the change. For example, the time management client might need that time log, PLUS a timer that dings on the hour, PLUS a software tracking tool, PLUS an encouraging call every day, PLUS the guidance of a mentor, PLUS a daily review of why they are fighting procrastination. 

This cluster of change components can work together more effectively in a way that just one change component cannot. How can you use the idea of clustering with your clients?

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As a professional coach, you have some expertise in your particular subject matter or industry: Time management, productivity, family life, business, whatever. But a lot of coaching involves psychology and helping to guide a client through the psychological complexities of the particular area you are coaching in. There is one part of coaching that we coaches face all the time which we are not really prepared to address, but which psychologists deal with frequently: Enablers.

An enabler is someone whose actions or words make it possible for your client – or even encourages them – to do something that they shouldn't do. A classic example is the parent who believes that disciplining their child will only hamper their ability to grow creatively and thus they encourage and enable their children towards bad behavior because the children crave the attention and loving guidance they need from their parents.

Your clients have enablers, too. Maybe you have a client with poor time management skills who has a friend that calls them up and needs help through crises. That friend's crises – which seem critically urgent – enable your client to put aside anything scheduled for the seemingly more important crisis. Or maybe you have a client who is scared to sell and has come to you for help. Perhaps they have a friend who is also a weak salesperson and has a million reasons ("excuses") why their sales are not very good. 

Spotting these enablers is not easy and breaking their hold on your client is even harder. These enablers are often people who are very close to your client and who are highly trusted. And their advice seems to your client like very wise advice. To spot these enablers, talk to your clients about the times that they want to do something but don't and listen for the same names to come up again and again. Obviously the mere mention of the name isn't an indicator itself, so you need to find out who your client is close to and explore the impact they have on your client's ability to act: How do those friends influence a client. Remember: An enabler will be perceived to be a positive influence on a client's life even though their enabling is often having a negative consequence.

Dealing with these enablers. You won't be successful at dealing with these enablers by telling your client that their friends are enablers. In fact, you'll probably drive clients away. Instead, you should help them to create boundaries and a framework of responses and reactions when an enabler guides them incorrectly. Help them to trust themselves first and foremost and to build a filter through which they accept all advice. 

For example, in the time management situation mentioned above, you might consider helping your client to find ways of saying "I can't speak right now. Can we talk later?" Or in the sales example, consider showing your client how their own successes aren't matching with what their friend is saying.

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Several years ago I was in a business coaching group. There were a number of us – maybe 12 or so? – who would gather for weekly meetings and talk about our businesses while networking. One day, the session opened with the group leader asking us to describe our business experience while using the analogy of a roller coaster. So some people talked about Ferris Wheels and some people talked about Merry-Go-Rounds, and I sat there with a bad attitude, rolling my eyes and asking myself "why did I pay to do this?"

Years later, my thoughts have changed on the matter. Although I think that the roller coaster analogy itself may have been weak (and the leader never did anything with it beyond asking us to describe our experience), I've come to realize the value of the analogy in general.

An analogy is when we describe something and show how it is similar (analogous) to something else. Analogies help us to clarify our thoughts, put words to our feelings and to analyze situations. 

Clarifying our thoughts

Sometimes we can get so caught up in a particular moment that we lose sight of its true importance (or we get stressed out about it even though it is totally unimportant) and an analogy can help to clarify what we are thinking. Sometimes there are so many things to think about in one given moment that we lose sight of the one thing that needs to be thought about.

Put words to our feelings

Sometimes a situation is so complex that it begins to feel insurmountable and we can become overwhelmed with it. The more complex it becomes, the harder it is for us to know how we feel about it and that not only stresses us out but it also causes us to stop acting. Analogies help us to express what we feel, particularly at times when we can't express it with more conventional "I'm sad" or "I'm scared."

Analyze situations

As mentioned, sometimes a situation is complex that we don't know what we are going to do. A analogy helps us to figure out (even in a slightly imperfect way) what the situation really is like and that helps to put us on a path towards figuring out a solution.

If you're not using analogies in your practice, you may want to think about starting. They are a great way to get the conversation going and to get clients unstuck.

A few things you should know about analogies:

* Analogies will always be imperfect. There is never an exactly comparable analogy. Your job isn't to highlight how an analogy is flawed but rather to explore how the client sees the analogy as comparable and why they chose that particular analogy.

* When asking clients to give an analogy, give them some parameters. Don't just say: "give me an analogy" but rather ask them to give you an analogy within a certain definition. The roller coaster is on example. Or you might say, "Imagine that you are an animal. What animal would you be? Why? What animal would your competitors be? Why?" You should try to pick an analogy type that your clients find engaging. (A person with an interest in aircraft, for example, might be interested in creating analogies about how his or her business is like a particular airplane).

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Recently, a friend of mine had to have "the talk" with his son. You know what talk I'm talking about. The Talk. Like many kids, the realization of "the birds and the bees" was alarming and apparently he walked around in a state of shock for a while afterwards.

If you're a business coach, you have a similar awkward job with your clients as you help them understand their business and how it is changing. Things may be really cooking for them as a successful start-up with two or three employees full of hubris… and all of a sudden they realize that they can't handle things the way they are and they need to make changes. They contact you to help them. You talk them through the process of adding staff, creating systems, and all that kind of stuff. It's just like a business version of The Talk: You need to explain how things are really done now that they are growing up.

One of the primary ways that your client's business is going to change is in its culture. Once, a couple of people – probably co-owners – sat around a table 24/7 brainstorming and selling. It was crazy and messy and fueled by coffee and convenience store snacks. Those may have been fun times and the owners will look back on those as fondly as we all reflect on our carefree childhoods. But as the business grows, things change: They can't simply add another half dozen employees and expect business to still take place in that one room 24/7. Non-owners, for example, will have different motivations. They'll want to go home in the evenings. They'll care when they get paid. They won't feel the same sense of ownership.

That is exactly what happened to Method, a cleaning products company that grew. In their early days, they were that fresh-faced aggressive business that was able to combine fun and work in a way that only entrepreneurs can. But then things evolve and they soon found themselves with a group of employees that couldn't be sustained by that culture.

I read about them in an article at BNET called "Taming the Type-A Culture Gone Wild". In the article, author Melanie Warner describes how free spirited and collaborative things were and how they changed as the business grew. Suddenly, the entrepreneurs found themselves needing to formalize a culture where once they let the culture be defined by the few people who worked there. 

The article reports that they successfully created five rules – "Collaborate", "Care", "Innovate", "Keep Method weird", and the odd-yet-humorous "What would MacGyver do?" – to help define the corporate culture.

The article in BNET was just about culture but if you're a business consultant, there's a good chance that your clients will need guidance in far more than cultural shifts. They'll need to be coached in successful hiring (and eventually, successfully firing), administration, vision-casting, and more. They may do these well now but these skills need to be formalized and that is where you come in. You need to walk them through what they need to do and you need to help them formalize and systematize various aspects that were once carefree. But it often starts with culture.

Are you ready to have "The Talk" with your clients?

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It's difficult to pinpoint just one problem and there were other issues at play here (such as how the company didn't seem to notice that the office went from 7-plus-5 staff down to 3). But clearly, leadership was an issue. The manager thought he could lead but he relied on a leadership model of berating, humiliating, and yelling.

If you are a leadership coach, your clients are facing the challenge of how to lead effectively. It was while thinking about this that I came across an article in a Harvard Business School blog that talks about humility as a leadership trait. It was a great find – particularly as I read it in light of my previous negative experience – and considered how different the office would have looked with that kind of leader.

Humility is a terribly misunderstood trait. When we think of humility we often associate it with weakness. After all, a strong, dominant, persuasive Type-A personality may be successful and may be able to dynamically lead the troops but is probably not humble. (Gosh, if I had a nickel for every time that has turned out to be true in my experience…).

Humility, however, is not weakness. Sure, one can go too far to the other side of the spectrum and become a weak and dithering leader who can't make a decision or convince a stapler to staple. But humility done correctly is compelling and magnetic and people want to be around those who are "correctly" humble.

You can read the Harvard blog post here but I'll summarize it quickly for you:

First, they point out that just because a leader has authority doesn't mean that they need to wield it with full force. Second, promote others. This is a great piece of advice to leaders and it makes sense: If leaders take all of the credit for things, they look good. But if their team hits one homerun after another, they look even better. Third, acknowledge others. This was an interesting one and they brought in a great sports analogy to illustrate it.

This blog was a great read and should be on the "must read" for all of your leadership clients.
 

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I had a potential client who called me up and asked about my services and rates. After giving them a quick overview, they suggested to me that they should pay me slightly less and they gave me a rate that "was within their budget". 

I didn't take them as a client and I'd recommend that you don't haggle with people either. Here are the reasons why:

You provide a tremendous amount of value to clients that is far above the monetary value of your rate. By agreeing to work at a lower price, you are cheapening your own services and tying the return on investment to a specific dollar figure (which cannot be done easily).

By lowering your price, you are unintentionally telling this client that you've jacked up your prices with a double dose of profit margin.

And here's the truth about clients who haggle: They are not nearly as loyal as clients who willingly pay your full rate… but they are almost always a lot more work. (At least, that has been my experience when I've made the mistake in the past of working for less). These clients who put price over any other kind of potential value are going to run to your competitor the moment they sniff out a better deal. But until they do, they tend to call more, demand more, and even threaten to take their business elsewhere if you don't do something extra for them.

Do yourself a favor and don't haggle. When a customer wants to pay less, find some lower priced options from among your offerings that can help them. (For example, if they want your 3 hour coaching call but only want to pay one-third of the $300 you normally charge, point out several other $100 options for them). If they don’t want those offerings, don't relent. In the long run, it will be far more profitable for you if you send those haggling clients on their way.

That's not to say that you won't take on clients at a lower rate, but just that you're not open to debate about what you charge. If you find that you have a lot of clients who don't all have the budget you would like charge, create a bunch of different services at various rates so that they have some choice. 

If you set your rates and stick to them, and if you avoid haggling, you'll have a far stronger business and you'll enjoy it so much more.

[After thought: If you don't mind haggling with customers (although I STILL advise against it!) you may want to demand something extra of the hagglers. For example, maybe you'll be willing to work at a lower rate if they meet at 6AM Monday morning which is a time you're up but haven't yet been able to fill with billable work.]

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How you go about earning more money is the challenge. Do you raise your rates? Do you increase the number of hours you work in a day? Do you create passive income?

There are lots of things you can do, but I have one starting point for you and, if you follow this, you will thank me. If you want to make more money, the first thing you need to do is know how much you made. The first number I'm talking about is annual revenue (which might still need to be estimated a bit if you're reading this before the end of the year).

But more importantly, in my opinion is your EFFECTIVE rate. Now, you probably charge by the hour (or, at least, can break down your rate into an hourly rate). But what is important to me is your effective rate: The amount of money you make in a day divided by the number of hours you work. This is what I call the "reality check" number.

Let's say you make $50/hour based on the amount that people pay you for an hour of coaching or a calculation you've derived from charging $150 for a 3 hour coaching call. And over the course of the day you make $250. So a simple calculation might suggest that you worked 5 hours ($50 x 5 hours = $250). But we both know that's not true.  Maybe you put in 8. Or 10. Or 12. So rather than figuring out what your hourly rate is and being proud that you charge that amount, get a reality check and figure out what your effective rate is: If you earned $250 from 5 hours of coaching but you worked 10 hours in a day, then your effective rate is $25/hour. ($250/10 hours). Not so thrilling, is it?

But it does give you a starting point: Now you know what you're really earning per hour of work you do in a day and before you think about raising your prices or working more hours, the first thing you should think about is reducing the amount of hours in which you are not billing and increasing the number of hours in that same period in which you are billing. In other words, don't yet commit to reducing your 10 hour days (if you don’t want to). Instead, find ways of increasing the coaching time from 5 hours to 7 hours in your day while decreasing your non-revenue-generating work by the same amount (from 5 to 3 hours). Doing that will add $100/day to your revenue without changing the amount of work you do!

You can do this by creating systems, by shifting your coaching call times so you can get 2 calls in the afternoon instead of 1, by hiring an assistant, and by automating some of the work you do now.

Want to make more money? It starts with a reality check.

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