Overall Strategy

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My first objective for 2005, however, is to drop the MDCP "brand" and replace it with The Coaching Business School (CBS). I have never liked the "responsibility" of being a million dollar coach and also the assumptions that outsiders make when they see that title. It's just not me - I'd rather be known as the "160-day a year coach" or "the 200-days a year vacation coach" because quality of time is so much more important to me than gross revenues.

Most importantly, I want the clients of that business to love working with us and to love the work we do with them and the way in which we do it.

The Core Programme

So in 2005, our North American core programme will be the Coaching Business School (CBS) with the following important changes:

• The CBS will not simply be my running through the DBS core material. I want a set of slides, workbooks and assessment forms that are specifically geared to those coaches who want to build a DBS-style practice. This will mean the creation of new and unique PowerPoint slides, workbooks and assessments;
• The 8 key strategies will be the same - but as applied to coaches who have already "crossed" the "barriers to entry" mentioned above and are ready to build their own DBS look-a-like;
• The phrase "cookie-cutter solution" seems to be used in a negative context in coach training conversations I have heard. However, I have formed the opinion that this type of solution is just what coaches are looking for. Two years ago, most coach training organizations (CTO's) were teaching them to coach. Since the MDCP started I have seen a sudden rise of CTO's offering courses in marketing and practice management issues. Few, if any, seem to be offering a solution that proposes "do as I did and you will get a similar result" - that's exactly what I want to be able to say to the 2005 CBS clients;
• I want to stop calling the CBS clients "Mentees" - we are not mentoring them and I do not want to - we are teaching them basic business-building techniques, we are consulting with them on the implementation of those techniques in their own chosen niche - and we are coaching them on that implementation. They are clients just like DBS clients;
• I no longer want to travel to multiple North American locations. I want to offer the 2005 CBS clients the following services:

A manageable number of clients. I know already that CBS clients will make more use of the bridge calls, WWOL's, call-in days and coaching gym. What I do not want is for clients to be complaining about lack of access to CB. Neither do I want to be constantly battling against the tide of emails, WWOL's and call-in days. I personally would not want to work with more than, say, 100 clients on a 1:1 basis, even using the current "pie". 

Quarterly, 3-day intensives in 2 locations, initially Toronto and Vancouver (until my USA immigration situation is resolved) and then Florida and California. I am asking clients to travel and pay a day delegate rate to be with CB, Team CB and their peers in these 2 locations. In Florida we would use the conference facilities in my serviced office in Sarasota (and could easily arrange pick-ups from Sarasota, St Pete or Tampa Airport). We will obviously research retreat locations for Toronto, Vancouver and California. Each of these intensives would be 3 days long, residential and long hours of work and some fun. We will work through the strategies relevant to the quarter and then look, narrow and deep, at each client's actual business progress and coach them "live" on their progress in a study group atmosphere. So day 1 will be largely CB live and uncut but days 2/3 will be practical application of the material covered. As Team CB will be on hand, it may well be that the client's support team would attend as well, to sit in open forum for general sessions and break-out sessions with Team CB members that will be part training, consultancy and coaching;  

In between the quarterly sessions, the usual "pie" slices will apply. Bridge calls, webinars, WWOL's, call-in days and the coaching gym will continue as currently offered;