Relationship vs. Transaction: A Coach Approach to Selling Your Coaching Services

I was at an event where a dynamic and successful coach spoke about harnessing your focus to move you towards your goals.  Something about what he said hooked me, and I signed up for a free discovery coaching call.

What became clear, though, as we began our call was that this coach had a specific agenda and process.  There was no time taken to ask what I was looking for, and I had no space to provide context or even ask questions. He clearly owned the agenda.

For me, things moved downhill from there fairly quickly. When it became clear that I was not open to starting a coaching relationship with him, he very quickly shut me and the conversation down.

The transaction was not being completed, so the call ended. I walked away confused, frustrated and a tad annoyed. I also knew my chances of referring others to this coach were slim.

I share this not to disparage this coach.  He was a successful coach adding value to those who chose to work with him.

It is about my lesson: to create value in every interaction I have about my coaching services, even if there is no contract signed, no package purchased, no future work.

For many coaches, selling their services is not always comfortable. While we all agree it is necessary, for some it can be downright uncomfortable.

What If It Didn’t Have to Be?

What if you applied the same skills you use in coaching to how you sell your services?  Think about it.  As coaching, taking a coach approach to a conversation, or any conversation, is what we do.  What impact would this have on your comfort level with selling your services?

Together, let’s explore how to shape a discovery call (a sales call already framed in the coach approach), using some familiar language.

Setting the Foundation

Like a coaching conversation, it is important to spend time at the beginning setting the foundation for the conversation with a potential client.  Gaining agreement on the intention of the exploratory conversation quickly gets everyone on the same page.  This can be anything you want them to know from the onset of the conversation (e.g., process, time restraints, questions).

Creating Awareness

Different from a typical coaching conversation, this part of a discovery call is about creating awareness about your potential client’s goals and about sharing your approach, style, model, impact and coaching services.

Naturally, we begin in service to the other person. Ask questions to explore what their concerns are and what about coaching, and particularly about you as a coach, prompted them to reach out.  Use the listening skills you have honed in your own practice to hear both what they are saying and what they are not saying, and allow them to fully finish. This serves to both model your coaching presence from the beginning of your relationship with a potential client, and it also allows you to tailor information about your services to mirror their needs.

Once they have finished, it is time to share information about you: the coaching services you provide, who your clients are, how you add value to those clients and even share testimonials them. Leveraging the preparation you have done to hone your “pitch” allows this part to be short and focused.

Designing Actions

A discovery call is about giving a potential client an idea of what they can accomplish by partnering with you.  By helping them imagine what working with you would look like at a high level, they can more easily envision how they want to work with you.  And once that seed is planted in their minds, “closing” the sale becomes significantly easier.

Whether or not a decision is made during the discovery call, I always recommend some type of email follow up.  This is where you can share the details of your services and any additional information that was requested during the call.  In addition, include an article, resource or tool that is relevant to the topic of the discovery call.  This highlights that you were listening and are willing to support, regardless of their decision regarding an ongoing relationship.  Then make it easy for them to get back in touch and to schedule their first meeting. Even if a potential client decides they are not interested in working with you, or it is not the right time, your approach to their first interaction with you may increase their willingness to refer others.

Many great salespeople, in all types of industries have been using this type of approach with much success for decades.  What impact could this approach have on you and your coaching business if did as well?

© Copyright 2020 Fiamma Coaching and Consulting and Rosa Edinga