When Coaches Get To Choose Their Clients!

We Coaches need to be fairly discerning folks by times.

We get called or emailed by folks we have never met and have no knowledge of, asking if they can hire us to be their Coach.

 While a first reaction for most of us might be “ well yes, of course, I’m in business aren’t I?”, I know from experience, having been a coach for over 10 years now, that a few questions posed to the prospective client can go a long way towards confirming if we are indeed a good match for each other.

 Here are the kinds of questions I tend to ask in a preliminary call or face -to -face conversation;

• What’s bringing you to coaching at this time?
• What do you hope to achieve by working with a Coach?
• What are your expectations of the Coach?
• How ready are you to commit to this new coaching relationship?

 Over the years I’ve referred about 15% of the folks who contact me to other Coaches.  Either I had a feeling that they would be a better match with a different Coach, or once I explained my terms (fee, length of coaching agreement, etc.) they indicated it was too much of a commitment for them, or they simply asked for some other names, which I happily provided.

Being a professional Coach means I get to choose who I coach.  Who I invite into my home for an hour every couple of weeks, or spend time with on the phone or on-line. 

I truly believe it’s important as Coaches for us to choose which clients we take on.  Both for our own sake and especially for the sake of each and every individual who is seeking their “right Coach”.