From $80,000 to $1.2 million per year as a coach

I’ve been working with a coach for 6 years now and he has finally hit the stratosphere.

While I’ve promised not to reveal any confidential information, this individual was a private high school teacher 10 years ago and gradually made a transition into coaching top executives. Each year he saw his income double and this past year he tells me he earned $1.2 million!

Here are some keys to his success:

1. He took the skills he learned teaching drama and theater to his students and found a way to apply those skills to fill a need that many top executives have.

2. He talked about his coaching NOT in terms of what he did, but in terms of the results he gets.

3. He developed some truly innovative programs for executives that nobody else was, or is, doing.

4. He gave workshops at leading insitutions, like Esalen, which increased his network of contacts and put him in touch with executives. Over time, he networked his way into the offices of some C-level executives.
5. He kept “talking his way” into meeting with top executives, showing them value, and getting more and more referrals. He is fearless at walking up to a C-level executive at a billion dollar company and starting a conversation.

6. He has no qualms about charging $30,000 or more for a weekend seminar/workshop or $10,000 minimum for a couple of months of coaching. Perhaps he came into coaching a bit naive, and so asking for amounts that many coaches consider to be unreasonable was not an issue for him.

As they say on diet commercials, “results not typical.” Still — it is so inspiring to have worked with him over these six years and see these remarkable results.

What are we working on now? Well, not marketing, that’s for sure! Now we are working on helping him scale his firm so that it can grow and still deliver top service.

The limits of “Certification”

At the Center for Executive Coaching, we are lucky that our students are almost uniformly people with an outstanding track record. Seasoned executives, entrepreneurs, psychologists, and degreed professionals complete our program.

They already have the credentials required to build credibility with a C-level executive.

But every once in a while a prospective students calls and says, “Tell me about how powerful your Certification is in the marketplace…” When they do, I roll my eyes, because this person does not quite understand how CEOs go about hiring a coach.

First, CEOs don’t wake up one morning and say, “Gee, I need a coach.” And, if they do, they don’t say, “Gee I better find one who has a Certificate.”

We show you the effective way to communicate what you do and position your coaching services.

In brief, it comes down to a few keys:

1. Choose a target market.

2. Show the executives in that market how you can solve their most pressing problems and bring immediate, compelling value.

3. Get visible in your target market.

4. Be credible, trustworthy, and somebody that an executive can relate to.

A piece of paper doesn’t achieve any of those goals. It doesn’t hurt, but it isn’t anything near the determining factor(s).

Furthermore, many certifications focus on the hours you have spent coaching clients. That’s wrong, because the focus should be on results, not how long you spend getting the results. Suppose you spend 2,000 hours with clients getting no results? Should you be “Certified”? I know a financial coach who can increase the enterprise value of a company by a factor of 10 or 100 with his advice to CEOs — and it takes him about 3 phone calls to give that advice and start getting results. He would have to coach 700 CEOs to be Certified by some organizations, and yet his results on a dollar basis (and the fees he earn) exceed 99.9% of Certified coaches.

Now, if your goal is to coach middle managers via the HR department of a large company, certification can be useful. However, I believe that it is much better if you start at the top (and C-level executives usually don’t turn to their HR administrator for recommendations for coaches), and then have the top send you around the organization. That way, you command much higher fees and have access to people who can make required organizational changes when needed.

Be careful of hiding behind Certification. Being “certified” as a coach might help your own confidence and self-esteem, but it won’t get you many clients or top fees.

Which is better: stated commitment or honesty?

Have you noticed that many senior executives aren’t really committed to their companies or employees? They say they are. They talk about passion, vision, mission, and commitment. They talk about how important their employees are.
But once you get to know them (or read about their actions in the business press), you see that their goals are mostly about their own success and fulfillment.

I was a bit naive when I first started out in coaching and consulting, and thought that top executives got that way through self-sacrifice and a focus on the team. Then I had lunch with renowned executive coach Marshall Goldsmith and he set me straight: “Most executives could care less,” he shared. “They are thinking about themselves first, always.”

I chewed on his assertion for a while, thought about my clients, and it hit me that he is right. In general, executives are out to get rich, get famous, or stay secure/safe.

For this reason, I put more stock now in honesty than in commitment. I’m much more interested in having honest conversations with executives about what really matters to them, and that match their actions. Then we can get some results.

Here is an example: I worked with the executive team of a national consulting team that claimed that they valued their people and wanted to create a collegial and fun place to work.

But when I interviewed the “people” in question, the findings told a different story. The consultants in the firm painted a picture of a consulting “sweat shop,” paying good but not top wages in exchange for 5 days of travel per week, long days and nights, and little loyalty in return. People felt used up and rapidly burned out. Women saw no path to having a family and rising to the top of the firm. To rise up in the firm, you had to develop business and “eat what you kill.” And partners tolerated other partners who used abusive language or didn’t develop their people. No wonder turnover exceeded turnover at average consulting firms by more than 50%!

So I gave them a choice, to either stop claiming that they valued their people and wanted to create a collegial and fun working environment, or to start matching their actions with their words.

It turns out that, when they were really honest, the weren’t committed to their people. They were committed to growing their company as quickly as possible and then selling it. They wanted to have their employees stick around long enough for a company to buy them out. And what they valued most were employees who were aggressive and could quickly develop business.

Once they were honest, we could craft a strategy to find and groom people who didn’t mind working in tough conditions, and who liked the “eat what you kill” environment. The firm targeted a different type of new hire, and focused on training people to develop business. They also adjusted their compensation system to pay people for growing the firm, and — once they found a buyer — a retention bonus just for staying around.

Honesty is much more important than one’s stated commitment. Honesty discloses one’s real commitment, even if it is politically incorrect, and let’s a person craft a strategy to achieve what really matters to them.

The above details are not necessarily romantic or noble, but they get results! Don’t force people to adopt your own views about mission, vision, passion, etc.  Listen to where people are really at, and craft a strategy that supports what is true for them.

Two models for offering traditional coaching services online

Please see two sites for models of selling traditional coaching services online. Both are similar, and work.

The first is http://www.centerforexecutivecoaching.com . See “The Coach’s Coach” link. Coaching clients can easily come online and click the link for automated billing.

The second is http://www.market-based-on-trust.com. See the “Get New Clients Now” link. Same thing.

Of course, clients only order if they like the content on each site, maybe receive a few well-written enewsletters, and call me to see if there is a good fit. But the model works.

Which gets better results: Behavioral or transformational approaches?

Some executive coaches bill themselves as behavioral coaches. They focus on making observable behavioral changes in their clients, generally through 360-degree assessments and ongoing training and reinforcement. They argue that their approach is superior because they focus on measurable behaviors.

A second category of coaches are more inclined towards transformational approaches. Change the being of a person, and effective behaviors naturally follow. This class of coach often have either psychological backgrounds or come from some newer-age training programs like Landmark Education.

Here at the Center for Executive Coaching, we believe in a balanced place for both types of coaching.

First, let’s consider behavioral coaching. Most people know effective and ineffective behaviors. For instance, we all know we should eat healthy foods. It is easy to lay out a healthy eating plan for different body types and goals. But the majority of us don’t practice those behaviors. Why not? Probably because of internal values, ideas, beliefs, and patterns that hold us back. Those need to be addressed in order to get results. So behavioral coaching has limits.

Transformational coaching also has limits. Let’s say we somehow “transform” someone with anger issues into a content, peaceful person on the inside. He or she still may not have the language skills required to interact with others without seeming coercive of overly aggressive. Behavioral training is a valuable intervention to demonstrate and reinforce new ways of speaking to express one’s changed internal state.

So it is not a question or one or the other. Both are important. To get results, you have to get below the surface to beliefs, attitudes, and habitual patterns. AND you also have to provide new models for effective behaviors.

A complete executive coach brings both perspectives to his or her clients.

New Ideas or Old, Tried-and-True Ideas?

I had an interesting dialogue with a client who kept telling me, “That’s an okay idea, but it’s not new.”

She craved new ideas to position and grow her consulting business. “I want a single idea that changes everything, that takes my business in a new direction, that is new and that no one else is doing. You aren’t giving me any new ideas.”

(Let’s put the discussion aside of whether a coach’s job is to provide 100% new ideas.)

In this case, I asked her to take a moment and list all of the ideas she “already knew” that would grow her business.

We listed them one by one.

Then I asked her to honestly assess her commitment to and execution of those ideas.

She gave herself low scores on almost every one.

“But that’s because I want a new idea, something never done,” she insisted.

I didn’t say this at the time, but I definitely thought that many executives, especially those from academic or consulting backgrounds, often focus on getting new ideas. But they aren’t even executing tried and true ideas (ideas like making business development a top priority, or nurturing business relationships for the long term).

They prefer to be smart than be successful.

In some cases, and I suspect in this client’s case, they automatically say, “That’s not new” as a defensive mechanism to set them apart and above others. But really this pseudo-intellectual snobbery does nothing to move their business forward.

Ideas are easy. Action and effective execution are hard.

Don’t get me wrong: many executives can benefit from fresh new ideas. But not when they pursue ideas in and of themselves, so that nothing gets done.

This same client has a tendency to flit from one new idea or fad to the next. Yet her business remains flat.

If this sounds like you, then maybe you should look back at some tried and true ideas, and focus on the hard, disciplined work of taking action and getting things done effectively.

What a wonderful profession

This week The Wall Street Journal had yet another article about how people are losing any sense of boundaries between home and work. Tools meant to help us, like the Blackberry, instead end up making us addicts always connected to our job. We bring our work on vacation, home at night, home on weekends, and work is always on the mind.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

There are professions that let you work a few hours per week, from home or an office, and make a fantastic living while helping others.

Executive coaching is one such profession. It is truly a wonderful way to earn a living — and you can earn much more than that.

Many of my colleagues work a few hours per week coaching executives, and they earn in the low to mid six figures. Once you know how to market your services, and how to get great results for clients, it is easy to build up a thriving practice.

If you happen to struggle with balancing work and life, or if you want a change in career, consider becoming an executive coach. You won’t regret it.

Eight fatal marketing mistakes that executive coaches make

Recently we sent a note to our mailing list — students, alumni, and general subscribers — asking for any interested executive coaches to reply to an opportunity presented to us by a large coaching firm. Priority for these types of opportunities usually goes to our students and alumni, but this time we needed more coaches than we had on hand.

The responses from general subscribers demonstrated, once again, that executive coaches have lots of room to improve the way they present and market themselves.

Because the Center for Executive Coaching focuses on helping students learn best practices in business development (along with how to be a fine executive coach, of course!), this blog entry presents the eight most common marketing mistakes the executive coaches make.

Mistake One: Me, me, me. Many coaches turn prospects off by talking about what they do and their credentials before considering the potential client’s situation and needs: “I am an executive coach…I am certified with XYZ.” Prospects are more interested in your understanding of their problems and proof that you can help them get results. Check your marketing collateral and the way you present yourself to clients and prospects. Do you use the word “you” at least 3X more than you use the word “I”? You should. A good marketing message is essential and needs to describe the problem you solve, the results you get (and how you get them), the benefits of your results, why you are unique and better, and proof that your claims are true.

Mistake Two: Lack of focus. Too many coaches think they can help any executive in any company. This may be true, but your potential clients perceive things differently. In most cases, they prefer an executive coach who knows their language and can help solve their industry-specific problems. If you focus on a targeted market (like an industry, demographic group, specific geography, specific job function, specific situation), you are more likely to set yourself apart.

Mistake Three: Marketing is not a top priority. It’s not fair, but the best executive coach does not always get the job. You can’t wait for the phone to ring or assume that, because of your credentials, prospects will automatically see your value and hire you. To succeed in this competitive business, you must make business development your top priority. Most executive coaches are not willing to dedicate a set amount of time each week, or every day, to marketing — and their pipeline suffers.

Mistake Four: Relying on word of mouth. If you get referrals through word of mouth, good for you; you are doing something right. But you are also losing out on many potential clients and opportunities. Word of mouth is a passive strategy relying on luck and the good will of busy strangers/colleagues. It is not sufficient. You should instead develop proactive systems to have a stream of referrals come your way. To do this, you need to know the right time, conversations, and tactics for systematically generating referrals, and put them into place.

Mistake Five: Using the wrong strategies to get visible (or not using the right strategies enough). You don’t have to spend lots of money on advertising as an executive coach. The way to get visible in your market is through educational marketing. This means writing, speaking, issuing press releases, and conducting simple research/surveys that educate people about their most pressing problems while also establishing your credibility and value. Too many coaches don’t do enough educational marketing.

Mistake Six: A lousy web presence. Most savvy prospects will check out your website before they hire you. Your web presence should be the hub of your business development efforts. It should provide plenty of articles (or a blog), free reports, offers to join a free tele-conference, offers to subscribe to a newsletter or receive a mini-course via email autoresponders. That way, you can collect email addresses from prospects and follow up with them — both personally and automatically via autoresponders. You should also drive traffic to your website by publicizing it and through search engine optimization, which can result in a stream of inquiries from qualified prospects.

Mistake Seven: Poor follow up. Coaching is a relationship-driven business. Just as almost no one gets married after a first meeting at a bar, clients generally don’t hire coaches on the spot. You have to nurture relationships and follow up — both with people who find your website and give you their email address and with more personal relationships. At the same time, many coaches do a poor job following up with existing clients and colleagues to geenrate referrals and additional projects.

Mistake Eight: Fuzzy results. Ultimately executives hire us in order to get results that they consider to be significant (e.g., increase revenues, decrease costs, increase entity value, increase retention of key employees). You need to be able to articulate the kinds of results you get, how you get them, how you track them over time, and then prove that you really do get results via testimonials, glowing references, and case studies. Many coaches can’t articulate the results they get, and so they don’t get as many clients as they otherwise could.

Are you making any of these mistakes?

Why every executive coach needs a coach

To quote the famous ad (about hair loss): “I’m not just the President of the Center for Executive Coaching…,” I’m also someone who benefits from having a coach myself.

Recently I was venting to my coach about a business relationship that was under some strain. I wanted the coach to understand precisely how flawed the other person was, and provided plenty of evidence to make my case.

The coach did what a great coach does: She gradually had me point the finger back at myself. By focusing on my own issues — both through her great questions and her keen observations — she helped me see exactly how I was a big part of the problem in the relationship.

More importantly, she made me see that I have a particular blind spot that leads to trouble in many aspects of my business and personal life.

The moment I recognized that was like being a central character in a movie during one of those 180 degree plot and perspective twists (like Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense, or Nicole Kidman in The Others). My entire point of view shifted, in a big way.

We then worked on some solutions so that I can correct my own behavior and become more effective.

What a wonderful experience! Not only did I find a way to improve, but I also got to experience the “aha” moment of a highly productive coaching session.

Should the Executive Coach be directive?

One of the tensions an executive coach faces is whether to be directive or not.

On the one hand, there are a number of coaching programs that emphasize the need for coaches to conduct what is called “inquiry” — the asking of many open-ended questions to understand the client’s view of the world and, done well, to have the client have their own insights about how to improve.

On the other hand, many coaches are seasoned executives, and clients hire them for their knowledge and even mentoring. Clients pay good money for advice and insights. Coaches at this end of the spectrum have trouble with the discipline of inquiry, and even find it to be lazy.

Our program suggests two ways to handle this tension:

First, executive coaching is situational in nature. Sometimes the most effective approach is to listen and ask questions to understand. Other times, the client would benefit from some hard-won advise and guidance. Just as we train our clients to be more adaptive and flexible in their styles, so must we determine the right time to be directive and the right time to inquire.

Second, in my experience the coaching relationships that have achieved the most impressive and sustainable results have done so through a dialogue between the coach (myself) and the client. Sometimes I propose ideas, or even give some hard-to-swallow advice. Sometimes I ask questions. The client does the same. Eventually we arrive at a solution that is better than either of us could have developed alone.

As with any kind of high-performance coaching, there is no formula and every client and situation differs. There are signals about when you may be being too directive (the client drifts off, or passively agrees with everything you say), and when you may be being to indirect (the client gets frustrated and asks for your point of view). It is up to you to guide the conversation towards commitment, action, and results that your client will achieve.