Coaching Tools - Treat Your Clients Like You Would Friends

This article is a business coaching article giving advice to coaches.  The article is from an interesting point of view of treating your clients like yo uwould your friends.  It’s about putting caring for your clients at the same level as caring for your friends.  If you are willing to go the extra mile for your friends, then be willing to go the extra mile for your clients or customers as well.  However, if you wouldn’t give your friends the time of day, them you amy want to use another model for treating your clients.

When I talk about marketing, coaches tend to take off their coaching hat and put on their salesperson hat. In most cases that is not such a good idea because they also go from being authentic or real to being the salesperson they imagine they should be.

We all have an image of sales people and most of the time that image is not very attractive so why put on a salesperson hat or persona to attract clients? Does not make sense does it? It is important to stay who you are as a coach when you are inviting people to coach with you and avoid becoming the salesperson you think you should be.

I would like to share some things to think about the next time you have the opportunity to talk with someone about coaching with you or the next time you are at a networking or marketing event and interacting with clients.

Customers or Clients are Humans Too
It is funny how we take on a role in a given situation and see the other person as a role and not a human being just like us. Your customers have the same hopes, dreams, desires, challenges and fears that you do or that you have had.

With the age of internet and email we forget that there is another human on the other end of that email or sales copy. Try to interact as personally as possible to all emails and customers to create a win-win relationship.

When you are writing copy for a sales letter or an email picture one of your clients in your mind and write specifically to them. This will help you keep the tone more personal.

Get Personal and Get Real
Reveal you human side to your clients. Share your experiences, successes, failures, hopes, dreams, aspirations, and desires. Show you imperfections and share your mistakes. I think it is odd how we try to make everyone think we are perfect and we have it all together as coaches when the truth is people hate perfect people.

Think about it…is there a person that you view as perfect who you really like and are attracted to? I call it the Martha Steward syndrome. Many people enjoyed watching Martha Stewart go to jail a few years back. Have you ever wondered why that was the case? I think it was because she comes off as perfect and human beings don’t like perfect people so don’t work too hard at being perfect. Show your imperfections because clients will like you better.

Ask Your Friends What They Want From You
Don’t assume that you know what your clients want or need from you. Too often we assume that we know and we really miss the mark. So don’t try to be smart and think of your own ideas of what your customers or clients need as them.

Your clients will feel more connected, valued, and appreciated if you ask them what products and services they would like. It makes them part of the creative process and they have to purchase the product because they said they wanted it and they helped create it. Ask your clients what products and services they want rather than just pushing the products you think they need on them.

Give and Over Deliver
Give of yourself and give your information. Coaching is a long buying cycle product because it requires some sacrifice on the part of the buyer. The decision to coach requires the client to give time, money, and emotion so the buying decision is not one that is impulsive.

The buyer or client will require time and information to make the decision to coach. By providing “sample” services and information you will shorten the buying cycle and help your potential clients know, like, and trust you enough to become coaching clients.

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