Coaching Biz Tips

10 Tips for Creating Trust and Connection

Note: This article is based on an excerpt from my e-book, From Fizzle to Sizzle: 7 Inspired Marketing Strategies for Getting the Best of Yourself in Business. I wrote these tips after noticing that I preferred to buy from and stay in touch with marketers who maintained a certain level of politeness and transparency about their business. I strive to follow these guidelines in my own business and have had excellent results:

1. ONLY send promotional email to people who have personally subscribed to your mailing list; don't just add people (friends and colleagues) or harvest email addresses from websites or professional association directories. For more information about how to avoid spamming, go here or check with your email provider.

2. Prominently display your privacy policy on your website and in your printed materials, and make it safe and easy to opt in and out of your mailing list. Don’t try to contact customers who have opted-out. Lastly, don't share customer information, including names and email addresses, with anyone, not even your joint venture partners. Don't have a privacy policy yet? Check out the free Online Privacy Policy Generator.

3. Be a great listener. Ask questions, check for understanding and don’t make assumptions. Answer customer questions honestly and succinctly. And then stop talking and listen some more.

4. Fetch, filter and inform. Chances are, your customers are very busy, so go out and get information for them, filter out the extraneous stuff, and make sure the pertinent information gets to them while its hot. One way to do this is through a blog. For more information about blogs and how to set one up, visit BuildaBetterBlogSystem.com.

5. Be ready to help, but stay out of your customer's way. Give him/her several options instead of just asking them to decide between yes and no. Don’t make customers hunt for information or have to figure out how to navigate your website.

6. Respond to inquiries promptly and personally. Get back to a customer within 24 hours, even if it’s just to let them know you received the message and you’re researching the question. A hand-written note is a nice touch when a thank you or an apology is in order. For affordable note cards with your company logo and information printed right on them, visit VistaPrint.com.

7. Eliminate risk. Make a strong guarantee of satisfaction and take pains to remove any barriers that may hinder your customers in deciding to make a purchase. Anticipate and answer their concerns, and make your business policies easy to find and understand.

8. Be transparent, genuine and accessible. Put your contact information on every page of your website. Don’t hide behind your business or make your marketing materials too formal; let your customer know she’s talking to a real person. Above all, be honest.

9. Accept feedback graciously, without defending yourself or justifying your reasons. Let your customer know you appreciate that they've taken the time to tell you what they want, and tell them what you plan to do as a result. Strive to find a win-win solution.

10. Don’t take customer loyalty for granted.  Create a referral system that makes it easy and rewarding for your happy customers to tell others about you. Say thank you in ways that delight and surprise them.

If you take these steps to create trust and connection, you'll be rewarded 10 times over with happy, loyal customers.

For Coaches: Vision Boards Go Virtual

Do you encourage your clients to visualize their goals to help them get clear and stay focused? I've always thought it would be cool to be able to put my vision board right on my computer desktop, instead of just hanging it on the wall.

Well, vision boards have gone virtual! Check this out:

MyMasterboard.com - This online tool walks you through the process of creating a vision board right on their website. You can use the photos provided or upload your own. After creating your virtual vision board, you can save it to your account, email it to yourself, print it or use it as your desktop wallpaper or screensaver. (14-day free trial; $29/year subscription).

 

ManifestingVisionBoard.com - The Dream Manifestation Wizard is a software program that you download and run on your own computer. You can customize the images and affirmations provided in the included library or use your own. Like the online version above, you can email your vision board, print it or use it as wallpaper or a screensaver; you can also create an unlimited number of boards -- for example, you could create custom vision boards for your clients. ($29.95)

Executive Coaching Competencies Report

While researching coach brokers for an article I'm working on, I came across a report called "Core Competencies of the Executive Coach" at TheExecutiveCoachingForum.com. Although it's a bit dry, those of you who are executive coaches might be interested in it from a marketing perspective.

Core competencies can be woven into your marketing copy to build credibility and create connection between what your clients are looking for and what they can expect from you.

While you're on the site, be sure to download their free Executive Coaching Handbook, too.

Weekly Roundup

Need a professional-looking privacy policy for your website? Try the free Privacy Policy Generator over at the Direct Marketing Association's website.

MailChimp.com's Email Marketing Guide (50-page pdf) is an excellent resource if you're publishing (or thinking about publishing) an online newsletter or even just sending email to your database. Check out their Monkey Brains blog for more great tips and resources on email marketing, too.

There's no use denying it, everybody Googles himself or herself once in a while, right? Well, have you tried Zooming  yourself? This is a great tool to add to your market research toolbox. You can search for individuals, companies or keywords, or a combination of those. You can also zoom in on a particular geographic location or filter a list of companies by min/max revenue.

If you're on the fence about long sales copy vs. short sales copy, read the results from a recent study done by Marketing Experiments Journal. They've identified six essential elements that affect landing page performance.

From the report:

The more risk you perceive in making a wrong decision, and the longer you will have to live with the consequences of that wrong decision, the more compelled you feel to gather information and make a considered choice. Possible examples include selecting a health insurance plan, attorney, or heart surgeon. Such buying situations lend themselves to long copy offer pages.

On the other hand, low-risk, low-cost decisions—especially ones that address impulse or emotional desires—are well-suited to short copy offer pages.  Examples include “learn about me” surveys.

Baby, baby, bring back that lovin' feeling!

Free yourself from the busy-ness and isolation of being a self-employed coach and fall in love with your livelihood again.

Join a Success Circle and get back that lovin' feeling!

3 Hot Markets for Coaching

If you're looking for a lucrative niche, consider these three hot coaching markets:

1. Baby boomers
Who they are: Baby boomers are people born between the mid-1940's and the mid-1960's; the first wave is just now coming up on retirement age. There are 76 million baby boomers in America; in the UK, baby boomers hold
approximately 80% of the wealth.

What they're interested in: Health and fitness; simplifying their lifestyle; elder-care issues; social and environmental issues; managing time and money; traveling; working from home; starting a second career; volunteering.

For example: Coach Gesine Schaffer

More links:
http://boomertowne.com/
http://www.boomernet.com/pn/index.php
http://www.boomerwomenspeak.com/index.php

2. Private practice professionals

Who they are: Doctors, dentists, chiropractors, therapists, financial planners, massage therapists, holistic healers, Real Estate agents, lawyers, nutritionists.

What they're interested in: Growing a successful practice; managing & leading people; improving customer service; time management; getting organized; marketing; getting referrals; selling their practice; quality of life/life balance; communication/interpersonal skills; business systems; team-building.

For example: Coach Lucy MacDonald

More links:
http://www.ppamember.com/index.asp
http://www.privatepracticesuccess.com/thenewpp.html
http://ahha.org/

3. Parents

Who they are: Mothers; fathers; single parents; divorced parents; step parents; foster parents; expectant parents; first-time parents; teen-aged parents; parents of teens; parents of gifted children; parents of children with special needs; custodial grandparents; parents of blended families; parents with an empty nest; working parents; stay-at-home parents.

What they're interested in: Healthy, happy families; parenting skills; time/money management; child behavior issues; communication/interpersonal skills; ADD/ADHD; quality of life/life balance; co-parenting; parenting when you're divorced; parenting styles; family values.

For example: Coach Terry Levine

More links:
http://www.parentcoachplan.com/index.php
http://www.familycoachtraining.com/
http://parenthood.com/

As I was putting this article together, it suddenly occurred to me that it might be interesting to combine some of these groups -- for example, you could target baby boomers who waited until they were in their 40's to start a family.

For more info about finding a lucrative coaching niche, read Q&A: Top 3 questions about coaching niches.

Kite Flying

My dad loves to send me links to stuff he finds while he's surfing the Internet. Since retiring 20 years ago, he's become quite the surfer, and I never know WHAT he's going to send me next.

One time, he sent a link to a video about butter. That's exactly what it was, too. A video about butter.

So the other day when I got an email called, "Kite flying", I figured it would probably be a home movie about some guy flying a kite.

It was.

Only, it wasn't. Part way through, I forgot that it was kites, and I forgot that there was a guy pulling the strings. I was totally mesmerized.

What it actually is, is angels dancing in the heavens, captured on video and set to the most beautiful sound track. It's awesome.

Take a moment and watch it. And be sure to watch it all the way to the very amazing end.

Thanks, Dad!

Get back that lovin' feeling!

A N N O U N C E M E N T
Registration is now open for the next Success Circle
A 6-month mastermind & coaching club for self-employed coaches who have lost that lovin' feeling!

12 Wednesdays starting June 6, 2007, 12:00 noon - 1:30pm Pacific
Led by Kathy Mallary

Join me for the upcoming Inspired Market-her's Success Circle, a 6-month group coaching program to learn how to free yourself from the busy-ness and isolation of being self-employed and fall in love with your livelihood again.

The program includes six months of heart-centered support, nifty resources and kick-butt coaching to help you improve your bottomline and get back to loving what you do.

Here's what a recent group member shared about her experience:

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The best parts of the program were the women in the group, who were so supportive, open and honest about their journey; the great resources; and coaching with Kathy -- she kicked my butt when I needed it!

My subscriptions increased in the very first month by 50%, and I created a 2-day live workshop and a signature talk, as well.

I recommend the Success Circle program to any woman who wants to take her business to the next level.

Jacquie Moses
www.inspirewomen.co.uk

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The Details

It's a group coaching program that meets via bridge line 12 times over 6 months, Wednesdays from noon - 1:30pm Pacific, starting June 6, 2007.

The early-bird deadline to save $100 is May 23.

Take a look and see if your heart feels drawn.

Questions? Give me a jingle or an email.

Q&A: Top 3 questions about coaching niches

Judging from the number of people who showed up for the last two monthly roundtables to discuss coaching niches, it's certainly a hot topic!

I asked each person to share their #1 question about niches; three questions came up more than any others:

1. What is a niche?

A niche is a position, activity or area of the market that particularly suits your talents and personality or that you can make your own. Ideally, your niche is where your passion and expertise intersect with the needs and wants of a viable target market.

To help my clients define their niche, I show them how to use a three-part niche formula: the Who, the What and the How.

    1. The Who describes the target market:

I help/coach/work with <insert 1 or 2 significant characteristics that distinguish your target market>...

    2. The What describes what the target market's most urgent agenda is:

...who are/or want to <insert the primary interest, problem or agenda shared by your target market>...

    3. The How describes the coach's special expertise* - the thing that differentiates them from other coaches:

...by/through/with <insert your particular area of passion/expertise>.

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Examples:

• I coach doctors who are seeking balance between work and life through effective communication strategies.
  
  
• I work with single women who want to find a life partner with the universal Law of Attraction.
  
  
• I help highly sensitive people who want to live a less stressful life by leveraging their sensitivity instead of fighting it.

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*Tip: DON'T use 'coaching' as your How. You'll need to be more specific than that if you want to differentiate yourself from other coaches.

2. Why is it so hard to choose a niche?

Many coaches don't yet have a niche because:

• They're afraid that focusing on a niche will be too limiting.
  Reality check: Focusing on anything generally concentrates your energy and attention so you can be more effective. This is definitely true of specializing in a niche (see below for 10 reasons why).
  
• They have doubts about whether they have enough knowledge or expertise to succeed in a specific niche area.
  Reality check: A quick inventory of your passions, interests, knowledge, skills and experience typically reveals more than one potential niche area. Once you choose a potential area, you can begin to gather more information and expand your expertise.
• They don't understand what a niche is or how it can benefit them.
  Reality check: The concept of specializing or working in a niche is a well-documented, effective marketing strategy. More information on what a niche is and how it can add value to your business. 

3. Do I HAVE to choose a niche?

In over 10 years of training, mentoring and working with coaches, I have yet to see a truly successful coach who doesn't have a niche. Consider the benefits:

• It helps you position your business so that your ideal clients can find you more easily.
• Your marketing is more targeted, which saves time and money.
• It's easier to develop solution-based products and services for a target market that share a common agenda.
• Positioning yourself as an expert gives you pricing leverage.
• A niche differentiates you from other service providers.
• Your business is more profitable when you focus on the products and services that your niche most wants and needs.
  
• Quality referrals are easier to get when you tap into the natural professional and social networks in your niche.
• Clients in a niche market are more likely to invest money to resolve their issue.
• It significantly reduces the competition when you focus on a niche, because you're not trying to compete in the larger market.
• Niching attracts pre-qualified clients so that you don't have to spend time cold prospecting or pitching your services to people who aren't interested or motivated.

Got a question about choosing a coaching niche? Leave a comment below and I'll answer it on the blog.