The Coaching Gym

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Let me start by saying this is not THE way to build a million dollar coaching practice – but it is A way and a method that has allowed me to bring the benefits of coaching to many clients, to enjoy a profitable business and a wonderful balance between work, rest and play in my own life. I’m going to share with you the thinking and concepts behind the system that I use for delivering coaching to my clients. Take what works for you and leave the rest.

First, a few ground rules, definitions and personal history, to put what I am about to share with you into context.

Ground Rules and Definitions:

1. Don’t chase the money – chase the outcome for the clients. I never set out to develop a million dollar coaching practice. I set out to increase my income, sure, but the focus was on how to properly coach as many clients as possible, have them rave about the service and its results and yet still take 12 weeks vacation every year, three-day weekends in the other 40 weeks and work a four-day, 32-hour week as a coach;

2. I own a practice, not a business - I use Michael Gerber’s definition here (see The E-Myth Revisited and The E-Myth Physician). A practice being ME plus one permanent support team member and, as Ernest Oriente would describe, a Personal Board of Directors made up of accountant, lawyer, banker, financial planner, graphic designer and web master – all paid as external consultants and all of whom I trust, respect and like;

3. We train, consult with and coach our clients – for me, these are important distinctions and I believe that, as trainers, we sometimes show our clients what to do, as consultants, we sometimes help our clients to apply the training to their own situation and as coaches we champion them and make them accountable – to themselves, to us and to others;

4. The best way to become a coach is to become a coach - I started my practice in January 1997 and started my coach training the same month. It took me 5 years to complete my coach training and 5 years to build my practice. The training was essential – the hands-on coaching of the clients was equally priceless in learning my profession. My first coach, Marlene Panet-Raymond (www.marlene.net) advised me to go out and find clients – she was right;

5. Marketing is the key – the universe will provide you with a couple of grand a month in fees if you are lucky – after that, remember that Confucius said “man with open mouth wait long time for roast duck to fly in.” You must go out and tell people your story, ask them if they are interested or can recommend others. If you do not get over the marketing piece, you will always struggle;

6. Allow a specialty or niche to evolve around you – either a type of client or a type of coaching. In my own case, the business coaching programme was offered to all micro-entrepreneurs but I noticed lots of recommendations from dentists early on. Now my practice is 80% UK dentists and 20% others. I know nothing about teeth but I probably know more about the business of UK dentistry that most dentists – and the clients taught me, of course;

7. Package your service offering – I call this the “number and verb” system. Stephen Covey has 7 habits, Thomas has 28 principles, CoachVille has 15 competencies – that’s because we are now trained to digest information in sound bytes, bullet points etc. It’s no good being a “personal coach” or a “business coach” anymore – you have to find some language around the who, what, where, when and how of what you do.

Networking groups have given us the “elevator speech” to facilitate this. My own business card carries the following text next to my photograph:

“You know how some people in business feel unable to cope with the cumulative demands of finance, sales, marketing, resources and personnel……

which means that they are working long hours, have no time to relax, are stressed about money and disillusioned by a lack of enthusiasm for their business?

Well, what I do is to offer a nationwide, year-long coaching programme for business owners and their teams…..

this means that we train, consult and coach them in 8 key strategies which have been proven to create More Profit in Less Time….

The benefit of which is more energy from working fewer hours, peace of mind about money, more balanced home lives and a new passion for work.”

If you read that would you like to know more?

Write the elevator speech for your own service and then have a business card that carries the message (yes – my card is BIGGER than normal).

On the front of my business card, I highlight the 8 key strategies of the programme:

8. Plan to have recurring income and longer programmes - I love the arrival of client fees every month – and love the idea of only having to recruit new clients once a year (January). This keeps my cash flow stable and means that I can focus my peak marketing for the Fall.

FAQ’s about the Gym:

How many emails do you receive a day?
At the moment, about 15/20 a day from 140 clients;

How many calls a day?
At the moment, about 6 a day from 140 clients;

Do they all use the gym?
No – just like a real gym, I have a few fanatics, about 20% very regular attendees, 20% who pay and never show up and the rest who call in periodically, when the fancy takes them;

Does anyone complain or ask for a refund?
No –it has never happened because the rules are spelled out, just as you have read them, before their programme year starts;

Do you always answer the phone?
Mostly, yes, but if I’m working on a project that requires some peace and solitude, then I will let the voice mail collect messages until I am though – I’m in a meeting with me!

Is there a common theme to the gym visits?
You bet there is – problems with staff, problems with money, problems with patient communication, self-doubt, “how do I do this?” questions. For the latter, I collect my replies into articles for magazines, post some of them on my web site and either send copies to clients if a question is repeated or point them at the download – over time you can build a pretty good library of answers;

Did clients who transitioned from 1:1 to gym grumble?
Yes they did. About 40% of or first year attendees stay for a second year, so in 1998, they grumbled about moving from weekly to monthly and in 1999, they grumbled about moving from monthly to the gym. After they had finished grumbling they just got on with it;

How long do the coaching calls last? 
Average I would say is 15 minutes. Occasionally, I will spend longer if there is a real challenge in the call but most often the calls are swift and to the point. A favorite technique of mine is to ask the client to separate the situation from the way they feel about the situation. I then ask them if they want to be coached on the situation or on their feelings. Overwhelmingly, they will respond that it’s the situation that they want help with – I will then ask permission to interrupt if we stray into feelings – it can be fun to listen to what happens next! However, this opens the door to my laser-style. When we have dealt with the situation, I will ask again if they want to be coached on their feelings – almost never. Very effective;

What do the clients think?
They love it – that’s because marketing is the process by which you eliminate the clients that you do not want to work with. Provided the Coaching Gym concept is spelled out very clearly before you begin, the clients who don’t like it, don’t hire you. In the words of that great philosopher Hannibal Lecter – “goody, goody.”

In conclusion, I’m gusting up to 185 clients this year [2003], a million dollars in gross revenues, lot’s of profit, lots of time off, a great adventure of a life – and, most important of all, a file of testimonial letters from my clients that tell me I make a real difference in their lives.

Now let’s move on to some practicalities, so that I can describe to you how the Coaching Gym evolved and operates.

General Gym Rules:

• Whilst you are a client you can visit the gym as many times as you like, to ask as many questions, get coached on any topic or make as many requests as you like;
• Preferred method of contact is email;
• Second best contact method is my telephone;
• Thirdly, if you have documents you wish me to consider, email or fax them;
• I coach Tuesday through Friday, 40 weeks a year. When I am “on the road” with the quarterly workshops, I will respond by email unless there is a genuine emergency that requires a call, which will be in the evening;
• When I am “off the road” I will be in my office set times each day to respond to emails and calls (I live in Florida 2 of every 3 months now – and so my office times of 8.00am to 4.00pm ET correspond to 1pm to 9pm UK – that works well for my dentists as they enjoy communicating in the evening, outside of “billable time”);
• You don’t need to book an appointment (unless that’s better for you) – just call and I will
  answer or the voice mail will kick in and I will get back to you;
• When I take a vacation, you will be notified in advance that the gym is “closed” – carry on
  sending emails and I will answer when I return;
• Any questions, requests for information, clarifications – anything goes. I’m even happy for your team members to email or call;

That’s how simple the system is – and it works fine. This year, I increased my fees to $450 per month (because I felt I was worth it) and I’m working with 140 clients at the moment – we are taking some extra clients on in the middle of the year (an experiment with timings) and I’m aiming at the monthly equivalent of a million dollar practice by September 2003.

If I can help you in any way, take a visit to my gym by emailing
chris @ thecoachingbusinessschool.com and I will guarantee to answer everyone.

You can also subscribe to my Coaching Gym mailing list, a new publication aimed to helping coaches build a successful practice on their terms. Click here to join the mailing list.

Best wishes,

Chris Barrow
chris@thecoachingbusinessschool.com
www.thecoachingbusinessschool.com