In this week’s guest post Billy Moyer shares his thoughts and experience about what he thinks is the most important thing that we do as coaches …

I “Sell” Coaching!

By Billy Moyer

One of the biggest misconceptions in the coaching industry is that we are coaches first. We are sales people first and that is the most important thing we do. That is not to take away from the power of our coaching, but it is impossible to coach someone if you do not first sell them on working with you.

I work with a lot of coaches as part of my company, the SOS Coaching Network. I ask coaches what their biggest challenges are and I always get the same answers: Business development and sales.

Why are business development and sales the biggest challenge? Most coaches focus too much on everything else. They want to create their own content, when they could easily use someone else’s.

The SOS Coaching Network offers great content that is customized for the coach to make it look like it is theirs. We do this to get the coach to focus not on creating content, but on selling that content! Coaches are the masters at “I will make those calls later”, “I have to finish writing this article” or “I have to go speak to a group of non-prospects.”

The key to success in coaching is the same as every other industry, SELLING!

We just hired a new associate and eventually he will do coaching himself. But he has no background in it. He was simply a client who really took a liking to the business and decided he wanted to be a part of it. His background is in sales. He is the perfect person to bring on. His focus for his first six months will be to sell our services. He will not do any coaching. After six months of selling this business he will be more ready to build a successful coaching business than 90 percent of people who come into the business.

Here are some reasons people fail at sales:

• Inadequate Preparation
• Working with the wrong decision makers
• Talking products and services too early
• Failure to make needs urgent
• Failure to uncover and influence decision criteria
• Key concerns not addressed
• Lack of belief

Lack of belief is really an important one to focus on. I can always tell when a “coach” does not believe in coaching. How do I know? They do no invest in coaching themselves. How can you sell someone else on coaching when you do not believe enough in it to have a coach?

The keys to success in selling coaching are simply belief and accountability. You can get both of those by investing in your own coach. If you want to grow your coaching business then commit to it. Get out there and find prospects. Get on the phone. Make sales! Hire a coach to hold you to these things. If you do all of this, you will be successful in this business.

Remember you are not a coach. You “sell” coaching!

About the Author/Further Resources

Billy Moyer is the co-founder and president of the SOS Coaching Network, which unites an elite group of coaches, trainers, and consultants from around the world, providing them with personalized programs, one-on-one and group coaching, and tools to help them succeed in the rapidly growing coaching industry. He is a Coach to Coaches. Learn more at www.soscoachingnetwork.com.