Need some smart advice here.

Anonymous

April 8,2022 at 1:06PM UTC

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Need some smart advice here. I started my own consulting biz, mostly leadership coaching, last year as the third stage of my career. I am near retirement, but still have a lot of energy left plus tons of experience in the corporate and leadership worlds. Here’s the thing, I cannot get a pipeline of clients. Granted, I worked with already qualified clients in my past, so I don’t know how to do this. But I thought I’d be smart enough to figure it out. And I don’t mind hard work. But where do clients come from? I’ve put my name and biz offering out there to prior colleagues, posted on social media, and all say ‘yes, I’ll keep you in mind’ but the phone does not ring. My biz model is very good, and I am good at it. But it doesn’t work if clients simply won’t pay for the services. It’s a service needed by many, but not prioritized. I know I could tirelessly knock on doors, but not sure that’s the trick. Can anyone help? Honestly, I am considering shifting and becoming a travel agent instead, so I can get good perks on travel in this stage of career/life - not a bad idea at all, but I did put a year into building my model and process for this coaching thing so I do hate to just give up.

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Kimberley Ferretti HammettApril 8,2022 at 1:46PM UTC
Congrats! There are several different avenues you could go, I'll drop a handful below but focus on the ones you feel most strong/comfortable with. Some options that have worked for me and colleagues of mine:
Continue to network! The world is opening back up. If you're comfortable, go to networking events and just connect with people. Before telling them about your business (unless they ask) just talk, demonstrate your knowledge, ask them about their work, passions, challenges etc. Build credibility before you sell yourself.
Similarly, if you're letting people know what you do online like LinkedIn, are you building credibility there? Posting helpful articles or videos will help build your brand and help people understand what you do. If people just know that you coach, they will only think of your business when they consciously think "I need a coach". But if they connect with challenges that you talk about they'll think, "oh.. maybe this coach could help with this."
A more structured networking option would be to join a group like a BNI. These are networking groups that meet regularly and typically only allow one member per business-type. Everyone gets to know each others business and referrals are not just encouraged but tracked. You're expected to refer other members businesses to people in your network and you get the same in return. It's great that you also get to see over time your ROI from the group. They can be pricey though. It's a good way to start and get your name out there.
Another option is to get a certification with or pay for a network platform/coach directory. There are several out there that have a platform of coach profiles for hire. For example, I am a certified Gallup Strengths Coach. The certification is well-known in the corporate world and my profile and contact is listed in their coach directory so anyone looking up the program for their company has the potential to find my profile.
One other option is to have free offerings that introduce people to what you do. These could be things like one-time group sessions over coffee or working with a volunteer group. I did a free training session for a non-profit organization to help their volunteer group. It helped a charitable organization but it also got me doing my thing in a room full of volunteers who all had full-time corporate jobs!
Hope some of these spark some ideas and help you out! Growing does take time and patience.. I hope whatever path you find yourself on you have a happy and fun road to retirement!
Barb HansenApril 8,2022 at 5:02PM UTC
It sounds like you need some help to set up a repeatable process to grow a sales funnel - a process that you can duplicate and adjust as your needs change.
Leadership coaching is a vast topic (and perhaps an over-saturated field), and since you can't be everything to everyone, finding your niche will help you find your perfect client.
Knowing who your perfect client is can help you build out a thought-leadership campaign (which sounds scary, but it's not) to show those clients that you have the skills to help them get to where they want to be.
There are free and inexpensive tools to help you build the funnel of new clients - you don't need to spend thousands of dollars to do what you need to do.
DM me; I'd be happy to share what I know. I have years of experience working at under-funded startups (read: no money for anything), figuring out precisely what you're asking - how do we get clients without spending a lot of money.
TeenieApril 9,2022 at 12:17AM UTC
Hi, unlike firms there is no metric of who is and who is not a successful coach -on a pure individual level. I wonder if it will be a good approach for your brand to take up limited coaching assignments for corporates. I personally saw this work very well and resulted in an individual client base for a leadership coach who took on the role for a leadership retreat as part ofthe annual planning "getaway" at a firm I worked at.