If you’re an aspiring coach or a coach who’s looking to advance yourself, training for coaching skills is essential. To become a great coach, it takes more than just certifications. You need practical experience, continual learning, and hands-on practice.
But what if you can’t afford on-site training, or those programs are out of your budget? What do you do then. Lucky for us there are some amazing ways to learn all about these topics at home! Training can be done wherever and whenever we want as long as you make time. Here is a 3- step guide to help you get started
Step 1: Develop an Initial Plan
Training to advance your coaching skills is a continual pursuit. You can’t just take an online course, or attend a weekend seminar, and then consider yourself a master coach (or even good).
Successful coaches work at it every day. More importantly, you should have some kind of initial plan to ensure that you set aside time for training and learning on a regular basis. For example, how many hours per week will you devote to self-study? How will you track your progress toward each of your goals? Remember: if you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.
Without proper planning, it is easy to be distracted by other priorities, resulting in minimal growth over time. Finally, make sure you keep a journal of what you learn so that you can review your progress over time. It won’t be long before these reflections inspire new insights which lead to further growth.
Step 2: Get Specific Coaching Skills
Training for coaching skills can be as simple as taking a class on sales or customer service, or as thorough as enrolling in a degree program that specializes in training people to become coaches.
To get started, research certifications (many of which require hands-on training) through industry associations like the International Coach Federation and Association for Coaching. You may also consider earning a graduate degree from an accredited institution.
Online coaching programs are available if you prefer working from home. The ICF has several international affiliates offering degrees with coaching specializations. If you’re trying to advance your coaching skills without going back to school, take advantage of mentorship opportunities and find someone who is successful in what you want to achieve and learn from them directly.
Also, explore professional development workshops offered by larger organizations—many employers provide these at no cost to their employees so they can stay up to date on new trends and gain valuable skills not taught in classroom settings. Consider also hosting your own retreat or workshop—this helps attract clients while increasing revenue.
Step 3: Train to Improve Coaching Programs
If you want to advance your current coaching programs, it is important that you continue to develop and get more training. To make sure that your team members are following best practices, there should be a requirement for ongoing training for anyone who is currently coaching in any program. This could be in-person training or webinars held by experts.
Whatever way you decide to hold these training, they need to happen on a regular basis if they are expected of employees. It’s good practice to give them at least once a year so everyone stays up to date with what is going on in their industry.
You can also use training as an excuse to bring everyone together at once, so they have time off from work and see each other outside of their normal working day. It may seem like a lot but having regular training will help increase morale as well as employee retention rates. They know that they have something coming up that has been promised. Giving them goals and letting them know how much support they will receive helps build camaraderie among those in different departments within your company. When people feel connected to one another, everybody wins!
Your current offerings (coaching training programs) are great, but if you want to keep growing you need to look at additional ways that you can bring in revenue. One way is to add new packages for clients or expand on what is already available. For example, if you have a weight loss coaching program, why not expand it into a lifestyle coaching program with different packages that match whatever people’s needs are. This will allow them more customization in terms of what they would like specifically out of their package.
You may also want to consider creating an entirely new product from one of your existing products and offering it separately as well. If you offer nutrition classes as part of your overall health services, why not create a separate stand-alone class so that people don’t feel they have to take a full nutrition course just because they don’t qualify for the larger one? You could charge less or make it free based on someone’s previous purchase or participation in other classes.
Allowing customers to pick and choose what they want gives them more value for their money. In order to be profitable, you should develop products that are high quality so people are willing to pay premium prices over low-quality ones even though they cost less to produce and sell. Because businesses run on profit margins, charging higher prices allows you to buy better equipment, hire better employees and give your clients better customer service all around.
Final Remarks on Training for Coaching Skills
If you want to train for coaching skills, keep an open mind as to how you can expand and provide additional value to your customers. It doesn’t have to be a whole new course or program; sometimes it is just one more session, training, or class that will mean all the difference in getting someone over that final hump.
For example, instead of doing weight loss with only a 12-week program, offer them a jump start where they get even more support for three months. Or, if they are struggling with their workouts, give them some extra help via webinars or by setting up a series of small group workout sessions. By giving people what they need on top of their normal program, you’ll set yourself apart from others while keeping clients happy because they feel like they are getting much more than what was initially offered. They won’t feel like it was too good to be true!
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