Lately, I’ve been consulting with a number of clients who want to start a coaching program. Here’s the biggest flaw I’m finding (almost consistently) in their thinking . . .
They’re not thinking big enough.
They’re thinking of coaching 8 people a month or 20 people a month. They might be planning to coach these people individually or in a group setting, and if they’re thinking of groups, they might be planning to coach 2 or 3 groups in a single month.
Sounds all well and good until you start to put the logistics to paper. Over the years of developing website marketing, and Internet strategy, I’ve also worked with my team here at Armitage, Inc., to develop leveraged business plans, curriculum creation, publishing empires and, yes, the creation and delivery of many coaching programs. And here’s the primary truism that runs through just about every coaching program I’ve worked in – even in Bob Proctor’s 13-month coaching program … we repeatedly found that we weren’t thinking big enough. We never initially considered that as many as 1,000 people would be in Bob’s coaching program on a monthly basis. So, as we added a new “chapter” of people to the mix every 2 months, we had to start looking at what we were really doing: exhausting Bob in WAY too many phone calls with individuals and groups!
When you’re starting a coaching program, it’s very important that you think with the MUCH LARGER END in MIND.
What would happen if you promised your coaching clients that you would be on the phone with EACH of them, twice a month, for an hour each time … and then discovered that you had 100 clients sign up in a single month?
You’d be so caged to the phone that you wouldn’t even be able to eat. What if you decided to do a 6-month program of sequential curriculum (meaning they can’t get to this module until they’ve completed this one first), and had 15 clients sign up just 26 days after you began your 6-month program? Would you make them wait 5 more months before they can begin? Of course not. In fact, after putting many, many coaching programs together, I’ve found you can’t make a coaching client wait more than 4 weeks or they’ll lose interest, momentum and heart.
What if you promised unlimited email access to you and guaranteed turnaround of responses in 24 hours for all your coaching clients? Not a bad plan, very proactive on your end. But, suppose that over the course of the next 5 months, you have 6,000 clients dive into your coaching program. Then. … it’s a VERY bad plan!
I know what you’re thinking …
You’re thinking, “Gosh, that would be a great problem to have, especially as I don’t even have a single coaching client right now.”
When you create the right website, have an experienced SEO team in place, and start getting the word out about the results you’re helping people create, you’re going to have a big “opportunity.”
Just remember, when you’re changing websites and membership platforms with “A New Coaching Plan,” it’s not quite as easy as simply erasing something from a chalkboard and writing something new. Every time you change your coaching program and/or your curriculum delivery, you might be creating hundreds to thousands of dollars of redesign and programming.
Think with the end in mind.
Bottom line, it really all starts with designing your curriculum for the kind of delivery you wish to have, based on how much time you personally want to be “in” the business of coaching.
If you need help with any portion of the strategy, design, curriculum completion or delivery systems for your coaching program, consider a short-term consulting package with me. I’ll take you from A to Z, with every detail in between. I’ve been there, I’ve done it for many, many coaches (from mega to just beginning), and I can help you create the right coaching program for YOU.