Does anyone buy coaching?

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Permalink Reply by E. Jake Gamble on September 4, 2009 at 10:32am

I've found that individuals and organizations "buy" two things: 1. Value 2. An experience.

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Permalink Reply by Kathy Carandang on September 4, 2009 at 10:44am

Well Dan, I believe the coaching is a service. People buy services, but if you have a tangible product, the product is actually what they are buying not the coaching. A good product should always come with customer service and support and that to me is the coaching part.
What do you think? Or anyone else out there, what do you think?

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Permalink Reply by Johnnie Firari on September 6, 2009 at 12:31am

Coaching is a huge market and yes people will and do buy it. Every professional athlete has a coach and more and more of your everyday individuals are realizing that yes, they may need some coaching. Coaching is just one of the tools to get results, the other main part is action from the person being coached. The action creates the results and outcomes but it is the coaches job to "coach" the individual to achieve the desired results/outcomes.

As a side note: A coaches job is not easy in a business environment, the person could fire you and hire someone else because maybe you were doing your job and giving them that push. I would recommend coaches to tell their clients "There is going to be a time in our relationship you are not going to like me and at this time we need to sit down and evaluate why". What do you think about this recommendation or have you seen this in the past?

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Permalink Reply by Dan Surface on September 6, 2009 at 8:37am

All of the comments are true. Tiger Woods pays over a million dollars a year to a coach who probably could never beat him in a game of golf. Yet he is able to bring out the best in Tiger. I agree, we do not buy coaching and I believe the person trying to sell coaching is struggling most of the time. It would be like a professional coach selling wind sprints. It is just partn of the entire results-getting process. People will say YES to benefits and outcomes. Even an athletic coach won't last long (in the professional leagues) unless he or she produces wins. The coach can have the best methods in the world but no wins, no job, because the outcome isn't there.

Johnnie, I always make a straight-straight contract with my clients. I agree to be straight with them if they'll be straight with me. I do set the tone, like you, that from the beginning, some of the things we'll discuss will be tough to take and that's what they expect from me. I am very direct and my clients know and want that. The understand that they are not hiring me as a friend, but to get results and outcomes!

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Permalink Reply by Francine Carter on November 3, 2009 at 7:44am

Delayed response to your post but....yes I agree with your post completely. They also buy the chemistry between the coach and the themselves.

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