FreelanceCoach Blog

Now you have a list with lots of clients interested in your coaching niche and you are ready to place the calls. How can you make sure you will be effective?

To help you having productive calls, we’ve gathered some practical tips from other coaches based on their experience.

Tip 1: Define your objective for every call. Ask yourself before calling every client: "What do I want to achieve from this call? How can I be effective in making this client understand the benefits of my coaching services and enrol as my client?”

Tip 2: Be prepared. Prepare questions for your call using your call objective. Make a list with possible questions the clients might ask and have them handy. Read the questions and answers few times before the calls. It will give you more confidence when the questions arise.

Tip 3: Have smart, attractive opening lines. You have about 10 seconds to pick your listener’s interests regarding your services. Check our separate article for Opening statements for more details. 

Tip 4: During the call – ask effective questions. You know this client is interested in your coaching niche services but you want to make sure that you are a good fit for each other. So, don’t be shy in asking questions that will qualify him as your client.

Tip 5: Get feedback. During your discussion ask feedback questions like "How do you feel about this?", “Would this work for you?”, etc. You have to engage your customer so he can relate to your services.

Tip 6: Ask one question at a time. Give your listener time to understand and respond to your questions. We know you are very excited to share with your customer all the wonderful services you offer but it is very important to let him process the information.

Tip 7: Be confident. Prepare yourself before each call and be confident whenever you answer to questions. The client is already interested in your services and you know your services very well. You are a great coach!

Tip 8: Stay focused until the end. As the call is reaching the end point you want to make sure that your listener understood the value of your services and is committed to move forward.

You can ask questions like “When can we start working together?”Although this might seem a bold question it will make the listener realize what he wants. He might decide to sign up with you, refuse the services at this time or request more information. Whichever answer he will give, you must be prepared and stay focused.

If you both decide that you need to send him more information by email or fax make sure that the interlocutor is really interested in your information. If the listener is interested he will commit to review your material and prepare question for the next time you call.

Establish a clear date when you can follow up with him and what actions you expect from him.

Tip 9: Thank your listener for his time and finish the call.

To many successful calls!

Anda Tudor, Career Coach   February 19th, 2012                                                                                                                    

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In today’s world, coaching is becoming more and more important; people are looking to improve themselves and the life they are living. Therefore you, as a person with high dreams, willing to help people to grow bigger and be a part of the positive change in the world go and take coaching classes thinking that at the end of these the clients will come running to you. Are you one of them?

You tried to obtain clients by talking to friends, giving free sessions to anyone listens to you, etc. But you want more, you know that you have a lot to offer and you want to use your talent. But what to do? 

    Telemarketing is a successful method for selling different services like cable TV, charity, insurance, etc. Maybe you wouldn’t think that this is right for coaching as you want the client to be willing to be coached and interested in coaching already. I would like you to think again.

Telemarketing is an integral part of any business. It is not about ringing as many people as possible; it's about ringing the right people. By speaking to the decision makers from a carefully selected leads generator list of potential clients/customers etc, you can help maximise your coaching business potential.

There are many advantages for doing telemarketing for your coaching business:

• You’ll expand rapidly your clients’ network. Telesales is unrivalled in its effectiveness to make connections. How else could you speak to hundreds of potential clients in so short a time period?

• No geographic boundaries. With telemarketing you have the opportunity to reach anyone, anywhere in the world. 

• Find new opportunities that you couldn’t find elsewhere. If you listen carefully to people on the phone, you can discover opportunities that you never knew existed. A client that you called might know somebody that is going through a change and needs guidance and support.

• You’ll develop more as a coach as you will expand your knowledge about asking questions and relating to different types of customers

If you want to bring your coaching business to different dimensions, consider telemarketing as an important tool for this.

Anda Tudor                                                                                          February 17^th, 2012

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Most people have goals that they would like to achieve in their lives, but all too often life itself gets in the way by presenting unexpected challenges and demands which make it hard for them to move forwards and realize their full potential.  In other cases, it isn’t so much life’s events which hold them back, but rather the perceptions of themselves that they have built up over the years.  Their lack of self-esteem and self-confidence act as barriers, leaving them convinced that even trying to reach for their dreams is a waste of time and effort.  Many of these individuals, however, can be helped by a life coach to find the courage and the motivation required to turn their dreams into reality, and if this is a career that you have ever considered, then read on to find out which important qualities go into the making of a great life coach.

1. Life experience – Leading others through the challenges of life to achieve success requires that you too have walked in your clients’ shoes.  Good life coaches have a wealth of life experience and have actively come through difficult times themselves and found happiness and success at the other end. 

1. Positive attitude – Having a positive outlook on life and a “can do” attitude is absolutely essential for a good life coach if he or she is to be able to help and encourage others deal with difficult situations.  

1. Authenticity – Good life coaches are people who “walk the talk,” who are genuinely in control of their lives and who can demonstrate through their own reputations and levels of success that life coaching is more than just theory, but that it actually works.

1. Dedication – Those who seek the help of a life coach need to feel that they can trust the individual they are working with, and this requires the utmost in dedication from the coach him or herself.  A good life coach demonstrates through his or her interactions with a client that he or she has the commitment to be there as a constant guide and champion.  

1. Honesty – Honesty is absolutely imperative in dealing with life coaching clients, even if the truth might be difficult to hear.  Pussy-footing around issues ultimately doesn’t help individuals to make positive strides forward, so a good life coach needs to exhibit honesty while at the same time dealing sensitively with difficult truths.

1. Respect for others – An effective life coach must feel and demonstrate respect for him or herself, as well as for his or her clients, no matter the problems that the individual is experiencing or the individual’s race, color or background.

1. Empathy – Good life coaches don’t just help to steer their clients towards their chosen aims and objectives in life, but they also act as champions and supporters.  To do this, they need to be able to empathize with the problems and feelings of others.

1. The ability to listen – Life coaches and their clients work hand-in-hand to design and execute tailor-made solutions to tricky problems and situations.  First class listening skills are essential so that life coaches can quickly get to the root of clients’ issues and so that they can help them to develop solutions which are appropriate to their circumstances and their personalities.

Anda Tudor, Life Coach                                                                                                  October 3, 2011

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In the last few years, after 1990 especially, the coaching business rapidly expanded and more people are aware of the benefits of this new profession and interested in learning about it. Among the benefits of coaching, creating more effective communications, setting achievable goals, reaching solutions and empowering people are the most recognized.

Today, many organizations are offering coaching classes to people interested in becoming coaches or to people who want to grow, to learn about themselves and their inner potential.

The most recognized Institution in the coaching industry is ICF – International Coach Federation, a nonprofit organization formed by individual coaches, committed to setting high professional standards. ICF offers independent certification and allows coaches to interact with each other and exchange ideas through a professional network.

Under the ICF umbrella there are many other Institutions accredited by ICF, which offers good quality coaching classes for coaches: Coaching Training Institute (CTI), Erickson College, Institute of Excellence In Coaching (iPEC) to name just a few.

To be credible as a coach, a coaching diploma is mandatory. Until people will see you at work they want to see that you take coaching seriously so they can take you seriously too.

If you are interested in becoming a coach, you have to take into consideration the following steps:

1. Decide which area of coaching you want to work in, based on your natural abilities and knowledge

2. Research Institutions that offers classes that fit your needs

3. Attend an introductory coaching seminar that gives you the opportunity to see if that particular Institution and its classes are right for you. Observe the behavior of the coaches and their interactions with others to see if you will fit in that role.

4. Learn from other coaches’ experience how they succeed in their profession

5. Take coaching classes. It is the best to find courses that gives you at the end of the program a certification upon completion.

6. Believe in yourself!

Anda Tudor, Life Coach                                                                 May 17, 2011

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