Hi coach,
One of the biggest lessons I learned in my coaching career was how to stop clients from quitting too early. It was frustrating for me when a client decided to leave before we’d reached a place where I felt we were making real, lasting change (transformation). In an ideal world, it’s not the client that should be telling me when we’re done, but the other way around!
Why your clients quit too early
Some of the common reasons people leave coaching programs include:
They aren’t getting results
They aren’t seeing progress
There’s no clear plan
They don’t know who should be doing what
Their initial problem is solved don’t need you any more
They decide they’re done and don’t need you anymore
They got distracted and started something new
They hired a new leader who puts a stop to the coaching
Over this past week or so, I’ve had several conversations with coaches where they are excited about the new clients they will be working with in 2024, but aren't thinking about what they can do to solve these problems and build a more robust coaching business.
Two examples of how to solve these problems…
Example One: Coaching your client through these problems
If you have Become an Authoritative Coach handy, turn to Chapter 31 for a list of questions you can use with your clients to make sure they don’t quit too early:
“Looking ahead over the next three months, what do you feel are your top three digital sales and marketing challenges?”
For each of the priorities, we then ask these questions:
On a scale of 1 to 10, how well would you say we’re performing in this area right now?
Are we OK with this?
Where do we need to be?
What does success look like?
Let’s assume we do everything right, how long will it take to get there?
What’s important for us to achieve over the next three months?
Who will be responsible for this work?
This is a simple but highly impactful coaching discussion that you can facilitate every 90 days. Of course, you can change the question to suit your specific coaching context.
Example two: Create a scorecard or framework that your client measures their progress against
The first example worked for me, and in time, this developed into a formal ‘scorecard’ that became one of the foundational building blocks for a more robust coaching program. As mentioned in the podcast, you can download a sample of the They Ask, You Answer (PDF) scorecard here.
As a result of building this benchmark for transformational success, a client will rarely quit too early. And even if they do, they aren’t doing it blindly.
Resource: How to set a goal
It’s that time of year when most of us are ready to reflect on what’s been and plan for what’s to come. If you are looking for a resource that will help prompt you to prepare for 2024, then go ahead and download my How To Set A Goal document.
Resource: The ‘Be, Do, Have’ model for transformational change
The Authoritative Coach Book Club: Turning words into works
My book club for 2024 is about to kick off, and if you want in what you have to do is head to this note in Substack, leave a comment where others have done the same, and let me know you want in.
Related content:
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, I’ll see you back here in January!
Chris.
🎙️TAC #012: Keep your coaching clients, create the environment for transformation, read more books, and set better goals