How to Talk to Clients About Coaching

“If I just put myself out there, I’ll start getting clients.”

– me, a decade ago, excited to share coaching with the world.

But clients weren’t excited about my coaching.

Quickly, I learned the reality:

Coaches are excited about coaching.

Clients are excited about RESULTS.

Clients are excited about RESULTS.“

I was interested in deep coaching conversations, accountability, limiting beliefs, etc.

But nobody responded to me, (and nobody bought coaching).

I felt burnt out, frustrated, and misunderstood.

THE PROBLEM? I thought clients are interested in COACHING.

“Aren’t clients interested in coaching?”

Yes and no…

Client’s only care about whether (or not) coaching is going to help them.

Client’s only care about whether (or not) coaching is going to help them.”

Your client doesn’t want coaching.

NOBODY wants coaching.

Coaching helps a client to do what they don’t want to do…

…to become who they want to become.

Who wants to do things they don’t want to do?

Nobody.

So coaching will appear as an obstacle between your potential client and what they want to achieve.

Your client will think “So I have to go through all this troublesome coaching in order to achieve my goal?”

Coaches also love to coach using their favorite method:

EFT
Reiki
Hypnotherapy
NLP
Personality tests

There are literally thousands of coaching methods. Some are better than others.

But none of them are very interesting to clients.

Coaches, on the other hand, LOVE their coaching method…

…so they tend to think that clients will love their method too.

Nope.

Client’s only care if your method will get the results they want.

Client’s only care if your method will get the results they want.“

Many clients don’t even want to know about your methods.

Imagine your car breaks down, and you take it to the mechanic.

You want the mechanic to fix your car.

You really don’t care about their methods.

All you want to know?

When your car will be fixed.

If your mechanic tried to show you EVERY little thing they do to your car…

…you’d lose interest…

…because YOU don’t want to be a mechanic.

And coaching clients don’t want to be coaches.

They don’t want to know that much about your coaching.

They only want to know if you can help them get results.

“But Kris, my METHOD is the SOLUTION to my client getting results!”

True, but don’t START the conversation with the solution.

That puts the cart before the horse.

Why?

Your client doesn’t know they need that solution yet.

All your client knows is that they have a problem (or goal)…

…and you’re already jumping to a solution they don’t know they need.

Don’t talk about solutions before you…

Talk about your client’s problem.

…and the results that your client wants.

For instance, a health coach would talk about…

THE PROBLEM: “It’s depressing and scary to feel sick and low energy.”

THE GOAL: “Feeling healthy and full of energy makes life a joyful adventure.”

That’s where to START.

FIRST, capture your client’s full ATTENTION and INTEREST through your discussions about their problems and goals…

…then SECOND, discuss SOLUTIONS.

FIRST, capture your client’s full ATTENTION and INTEREST through your discussions about their problems and goals…then SECOND, discuss SOLUTIONS.”

Talk about your client’s problem in THEIR WORDS (not yours).

Most coaches use vague words.

I call it “coach speak.”

Have you ever had a doctor’s appointment where they used medical terms (a disease, condition, or medication)…

…and you had NO CLUE what they meant?

THAT’S what a client experiences when you use “coach speak”.

Examples of vague words coaches sometimes use are:

“Purpose”
“Get to the next level”
“Leader”
“Communicate”
“Limiting beliefs”
“Vision”
“Alignment”

Since potential clients don’t know exactly what these words mean…

…they don’t understand the value of those ideas, concepts, etc.

(And then we wonder why our clients don’t understand the value of coaching.)

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You’re speaking to your potential client in a language that they don’t understand.

Go to a foreign country where you don’t know the language.

The locals talk to you, and you hear meaningless noises.

You might resort to hand signals, electronic translation, or begging others for help.

This is what your potential client goes through with too much “coach speak”.

But imagine you spent years learning the native tongue before your travels!

You’d be able to reach the natives with real meaning in your conversations.

You’d make an impact.

Think of your potential clients as residents of a foreign land.

They’ll need a similar ‘translation’ when you first approach them.

Here are a few examples of “coach speak”, followed by a potential ‘client translation’:

Health Coach:

COACH SPEAK: “You must have your Macros and BCAA’S in balance with your histologic biomarkers to feel total wellness.”
CLIENT TRANSLATION: “My program will help you eat the right foods in the right combination so you feel fit and energetic again.”

Relationship Coach:

COACH SPEAK: “My program will coach you through the 10 levels of enlightened manifestation that attracts success to you through the law of attraction. We’ll start by aligning your chakras and then learn the visualization of your higher self to break through your unconscious limiting beliefs.”
CLIENT TRANSLATION: “My program will help you find your ideal relationship in 8-12 weeks… without rejection or awkward dates.”

Business Coach:

COACH SPEAK: “You need to solidify your business model and then integrate your product, human resources, marketing, sales, and profitability factors. Then you’ll achieve your goals.”
CLIENT TRANSLATION: “In my program you’ll learn how to turn your business into a money machine that grows while you sleep.”