A coaching friend of mine was recently bemoaning the imminent loss of her best client, the CEO of a global marketing company.
'He's moving to Dubai, so no more coaching.'
I was astonished!
'What about telephone coaching? He's also bound to be back and forth. Why not meet up when he's in the UK? And don't assume the company won't pay your air fare to Dubai. A global company! Huge budgets! You add great value! Why not check it out? And surely there are opportunities to coach others in his organisation. He is CEO after all, so you have a good relationship with the decision maker.'
All of this was true but it struck me that my friend didn't know how to make any of it happen. This situation seems to play out over and over again. Many coaches have direct access to very senior leaders in global organisations. Leaders who manage multi-million pound budgets and vast numbers of people based in numerous countries. Surely an endless supply of further business opportunities? In theory, yes. In practice, NO! Coaches are good at building coaching relationships but many seem to struggle with the business-to-business (B2B) side of things.
The silly thing is that coaches have exactly the right skill-set for building long-term and highly productive B2B relationships. All coaches, through their training and by their nature, are good at:
- Asking questions and listening
- Helping people plan and make decisions
- Helping people review progress against plans
No need to reinvent yourself as a salesperson. Just do what you do best, to win more clients within your existing client companies.
This obviously makes sense. An individual coach can only deliver, say, 10 to 15 substantial coaching programmes in a year. But very few coaches are able to sell that many coaching programmes through the generally recommended routes, such as networking, presentations and social media. Much better to focus on building the B2B relationship. That way you can win 10 to 15 coaching engagements with the same client company. Imagine that! Winning more business by playing to your strengths as a coach.
Your problem then becomes the risk of having all your eggs in one basket - lose the client company and you lose your business. The simple way around this is to work with 2 or 3 companies: your main client-company where you make most of your money; a second company where you are developing the B2B relationship; and perhaps a third company where you are just starting out.
It really is that simple.
Kevin Oubridge is a partner with Blue Chip Coaching and author of The Leadership Coaching Alligator Handbook. Kevin works with leadership coaches, enabling them to earn a good living doing something they enjoy.
Take a look at the Blue Chip Coaching website for more on building long-term and productive B2B relationships with your corporate clients http://www.bluechipcoaching.co.uk/
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