The easiest way to know what to expect when hiring a coach is to pay attention to the kinds of sales activities, they are trying to make with you in their efforts to convince you how they can help.  There are predominantly six selling steps a business coach will take you through.  If well employed each area will help you both know whether working together is WIN/WIN or not:

The first three are about getting you to work with them:

1. Persuade you into talking with them in the first place.
2. Persuade you into meeting with them, face to face, or agreeing to a more in-depth discovery session.
3. Persuade you into buying business coaching services from them.

The next three are about helping you do what isn’t or hasn’t come naturally to you.

4. Persuade you to begin changing, so you and your business improve. Here they are trying to help you do things that presently aren’t being done or done consistently.
5. Persuade you to continue paying their coaching fee based on how they are helping you achieve your desired results over the coaching term.
6. The sixth one requires no persuasion skills. If you believe they are helping them accomplish more, you will gladly introduce them to friends and associates who could also benefit from working with a coach.

As you are taken through each of the above selling activities, the underlying question you should be asking yourself is this business coach capable of helping me or not?   Part of your answer to this question depends on how willing you are to act as a client. If you believe that coaching will help you get your desired results for you and your business, then a better question is this:  How much time, money, and energy are you willing to waste trying to build your business alone?

Most of your coaching sessions will be held on the phone with very few if any ever being in person.  During your time with your coach here’s what they will be providing you:

1. Improved Personal Awareness. Your coach’s initial goal is to help you become aware of the roadblocks and obstacles adversely affecting you and your business.  They do this by digging into your business to “diagnose” the issues.  The hard part for you is they will be communicating back to you where you are falling short.   This is key because nothing positive will happen until you recognize and understand the problem.  This is the first step to correcting it.
2. Knowledge and Understanding. Next, your coach will provide you with educational resources you need to overcome your challenges.  Many business owners lack any real business training – so one of the value adds of your coach is their teach them these essential skills using tools, knowledge, strategies, and assignments.
3. Personal Accountability. To make sure you implement the improvement plans you identified as being needed, you need an action accountability plan.  Your coach will provide the necessary feedback to make sure you are doing the work you know you need to do and that you are doing it as well as it can be done.  A great coach will help you stay positive by affirming to ensure you follow through on their objectives.  Without personal accountability to make the changes, you identify with your coach there is no lasting value to be created from any coaching agreement.

This ongoing process of awareness, education, and accountability is at the heart and soul of business coaching.  You do not need a cheerleader or pep talks reminding you of what you already know. You want to be equipped with the information and confidence you need to make real improvements in yourself and your business, so you live the lifestyle you aspire to live.

While trust, chemistry, and fit with your coach are key, you need to ensure that you agree upon set outcomes for your coaching arrangement.  If you fail to get on the same page regarding the actual and specific measurement of success for your work together, you are setting yourself up for frustration and maybe failure.

Before you make your first coaching payment, get concrete expectations regarding the length of your coaching agreement, the payment terms, and the promised deliverables. Be clear on how much time/energy you will need to allocate each week to achieve your goals.  The level of service, frequency, length, and pricing of a coaching engagement depends on the insights and results you want to generate. A good coaching agreement will be grounded around the needs of each client per the following levels of service:

1. The typical agreement calls for 2 to 3 coaching sessions per month. The frequency all depends on your needs as the client based on the coaching plan you mutually agree to.  Typically, the frequency is higher in the beginning as you develop your awareness of where you want to improve.  As time goes, the frequency is proportionate to the accountability support you need to develop the new skills and habits you want to master.
2. Most coaches usually offer 3, 6 to 12-month packages with the most valued coaches going on a retainer basis, instead of by the hour.  You need at minimum three months of work to begin to see results and at least six months for them to be recognizable.
3. Depending on the type of coaching engagement you choose, business coaching can cost between $500 to $5,000 per month or more with the industry average being $1,000 per month.

You expect your business coach to constantly provide value, inspiration, and accountability support so that you IMPLEMENT the improvement strategies and tactics they helped you to identify.  If this happens, you will continue to pay their fees.  If it doesn’t, you will part ways.  Is this any different than any other aspect of your life?

In your early coaching sessions, use the following five coaching effectiveness checks to make sure you are getting the coaching help you need:

1. Prompting insights. Is your coach asking questions that give you “a-ha” moments of insight and growth? Part of a coach’s job is to help you understand yourself, what you want from your business, and where you may be sabotaging your own
2. Is your coach challenging you to step up to your greatness, to be accountable for getting things done?  Or does the coach let you get away with being less than you want to be?
3. Is the coach available to work with you, when you want and as often as you want?  Some coaches only have daytime hours, while others only work evenings and weekends.  Is the coach responsive via email or text between scheduled sessions to help you?
4. Fees and programs. Are you still clear on what you are getting for the fees that you signed up to pay?  Does the value you feel you are getting from your coaching sessions exceed the cost you are incurring in time and money?
5. Continuous learning. Are you learning from your coach or do you find them rehashing what you have already talked about?  If you are rehashing than you have learned what you need to have learned from this coach In addition to learning new coaching skills, does the coach continue to learn new business skills as well?

If you are experiencing the above five components of effective coaching, then you are on the path to getting to where you want to go.  Don’t give up.  Coaching that produces lasting results begins with the change that has or could be difficult to make.

Take comfort in knowing that your path to success isn’t brain surgery or rocket science.  Just correct principles and practices applied over time.  The single most important secret to your success is this… It’s not what you do…it’s HOW you think.

SPECIFIC RESULTS require SPECIFIC THOUGHTS.  So if you’re not getting the results you want, it’s because you’re not thinking the right kinds of thoughts.

The more specific and focused you are in your head and on paper, the more specific and focused your outcome will be.  You can try to do this by yourself, yet know that a great coach will bring to you techniques, insights, and wisdom to help you achieve the level of clarity and commitment you will need to realize your goals.

Go to What does an effective business coach look like?  or go to peakprofitstrategies.com/coach to make your introductory coaching request.