Pizza Coaching - The Problem with Coaching

Pizza Coaching - The Problem with Coaching
By: Christian E. Mickelsen

I love coaching! It is the most powerful force
for change on the planet!! Just think about
it. If you...

Want a better relationship? Want to make
more money? Want a better career? Want
to make your employees work together better?
Get more in touch with your spirit? Find balance
in your life? Etc. etc. etc.

Coaching is great for so many things. That's
why it's actually very easy to sell (if you know
what you're doing). But...
Because it can help people do all of these things,
it's can be very hard market. The reason is because
we fall in love with "coaching". We LOVE it!! I know
I do. But, people don't buy coaching. Let me repeat
that...

PEOPLE DON'T BUY COACHING!
People buy results! When someone hires a coach,
they are paying for the changes that they want
to create and they see that coaching will help
them make these changes better than anything
else they could do. So...

In order to market your coaching services, you'll
need to talk about specific results that your clients
want to achieve. Results like, increased confidence,
finding a mate, higher income, more sales etc.

And when you specialize in helping certain people
produce certain results, that's called having a niche'
or a target market.

If you pick 1 very specific situation that people
are they are finding themselves in, you'll find it
MUCH, MUCH EASIER to be successful at getting
new, great, paying coaching clients. Here are some

Examples:
* Business owner needing more business
* Business owner wanting to retire
* Woman in an unhappy relationship
* Single woman wanting a relationship
* Employee wanting to move up fast
* Employee wanting to find a career they love
* Sales professionals wanting more sales
* Sales professionals wanting more free time

Why is it important to talk about 1 specific
situation?

People don't buy coaching because they
want to be coached, they buy coaching because
they want change.

The PROBLEM with coaching is that because
coaching can help most anyone to change most
anything, most coaches, attempt to market themselves
in a very general way. "I help people bridge the gap
between where they are and where they want to be".
The problem is...

When you market coaching in a general
way (even if you have a different way of
explaining it), you're making potential
clients have to think hard to figure out
places in their lives where they want to
"bridge a gap". People won't usually do it
on their own. Think of it this way...

Have you ever been with a friend or your love,
and you were both hungry? And you're trying to
decide what to eat. The conversation goes something
like this: "What do you want for dinner? I don't know.
What do you want for dinner? I don't know. What
do you want?" Have you ever had this conversation?

What happens if someone says, "How about
Chinese?" or "How about Pizza Hut?" Now it's
easier isn't it because there are specifics on
the table. You don't have to work as hard. You
can say yes or no. Let's try looking at this another
way...

When you're hungry, and you see a commercial
for pizza, do you ever think, "I want that", and pick
up the phone to order? Even if you order pizza from
somewhere else. Now you have a taste for pizza! But,
what if...

If you watch a commercial and all they talk
about is "food", but they never mention a
specific type of food or show a picture of a
specific type of food, would you pick up the
phone to order? Not likely! Why?

Seeing the pizza gives you one specific
thing to focus on, and imagine eating and
enjoying. The general concept of "food"
doesn't have the same effect. The same is true
for "sales coaching" vs. coaching, or "relationship
coaching" vs. coaching, or... you get the idea.

If you "advertise" yourself as a relationship
coach and then someone has a relationship problem
they can come to you for your help to resolve it. And,
you can always work with them on other stuff
too! But you need a "starting point".

Think of picking a niche or target audience is not
about limiting yourself to only working with certain
kinds of clients on certain topics, it's really just
a matter of picking a starting point. A place where
it's very easy for people to say "I want that".

Just like with pizza. Same goes for coaching.

Give people a "starting point" so they can pick up the
phone and order. You'll actually be helping people who want
to hire you. You'll be making it easier for them. And as you
start getting more clients, you'll be adding a lot more
"coaching dollars" into your bank account, and make a
major contribution to people's lives and society as a whole!!