Written by: Karen Cappello, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
In order for you to become a very successful coach, you MUST track some basic things. Or else, you can get distracted by bright, shiny objects, and programs, and things that will not really move the needle forward. You’ll waste time, and then you won’t have the energy to do the things that really count.
There’s the metaphor of the jar with rocks. If you had a jar with rocks, and you filled it with the little rocks first, and then you went to add the big rocks in — which are the priorities — they wouldn’t fit. But if you put the big rocks in first — the priorities — everything else will fit around them. You want to put the big rocks in first. You want to track the things that will really make a difference. Once you get these done, your momentum is like a wave.
So what do you need to track? I’m going to show you 3 things that will help your business soar.
1 Track Enrollment Conversations
Your enrollment conversations are “closest to the money” — as they say. If you could do only one thing to promote your coaching business, it would be to have as many enrollment conversations with your ideal clients as you can, every single week. When you go weeks without these conversations, and you don’t have any passive revenue coming in, your income is inconsistent. No one I know signs up for 1:1 coaching without having a conversation with their coach.
And when you do have conversations with your potential clients, you get to hear their fears and their aspirations. You have a chance to enroll them in coaching and to ask for referrals. There are so many benefits to these conversations, even if they don’t lead to a sale right away. The statistics in our coaching industry are that 25-60% of enrollment conversations turn into paying clients. That’s amazing news!
Think about it – if you have four conversations each week, the chances of you enrolling one paying client every week are in your favor. So, we want to measure the number of enrollment conversations — what gets measured gets done — and this is the beauty of accountability.
2 Track Actions That Lead To Enrollment Conversations
You have no control over whether someone gets into a conversation with you or not — but you do have control over the actions you take. When you only measure the number of scheduled conversations alone, you might get a little discouraged — it takes two people to have a conversation. You don’t have full control. Someone might not show up for a conversation, or they may decide not to schedule with you.
When you measure your own actions, you’re in complete control. You can do them. It doesn’t take another person to say ‘yes’. With my own coach, we track four actions per week — and we get to see what’s working. For instance, we track leads. Then we track enrollment conversations. So, if I had five conversations and I get two sales, I know my numbers.
If I do this for a few weeks in a row, then I know that I need to generate 20 leads to get 4 sales. It makes it a quantifiable journey and connects the dots. It’s really empowering because I know that my actions have a good chance of leading to sales.
3 Track Actions That Work Best For You
In addition to tracking conversations and actions, you want to know which actions are going to really make the difference. This is the ultimate leveraging. In our Coaches Quick-Start Intensive, we have a list of daily actions, with points from one to three and we commit to taking eleven points worth of actions per day. Now, we can always do more. This brings a little bit of game into it — it makes it fun — and it helps us understand what we should be doing every day.
What Actions Do We track?
Reaching out to potential referral partners and asking for introductions to our ideal clients — those are a couple of things that we track. We track writing posts that acknowledge our clients. This is a beautiful marketing method. You can acknowledge your clients on social media. And what does that do? That elevates your clients, but it also shows that you have successful clients.
Message your potential ideal clients to see if you can help them. That’s outreach and it can really move your business forward. In fact, one of our members of the Quick-Start Intensive did some outreach on LinkedIn — and just sent a message and said, “I work with clients like you, and maybe I can help you. Would you be interested in having a call?”
And the person reached back and said, “I looked at your website. You’re exactly what we need. Let’s talk.”
These kinds of actions can really pay off.
What Actions Don’t We Track?
We don’t track working on your website or your marketing brochure. We don’t track simply posting inspirational quotes on social media. We don’t track getting just the right wording for your bio. Now, there’s nothing wrong with these actions but they can be distractions. If you don’t have a website right now, just forward your URL to your LinkedIn profile — and be done with that — it takes a moment. Post about your successes, and your clients’ successes, rather than inspirational quotes. And write up your quick bio.
Don’t take a lot of time with these things because those are not going to lead you to income. Those are not going to lead you to make your business profitable quickly. Focus on talking to people. Focus on enrolling them in coaching. Focus on making your business profitable. And once you have the income, hire someone else to help you with your website.
Let’s Recap!
Tracking your KPIs keeps you focused on income-generating actions. That’s the key to growing your business faster. So remember to track: Your enrollment conversations, the actions that lead to them, and the actions that work best for you. In Part 3 of The Makings of a Highly Successful Coach, I want to talk about some shifts in the way you’re supported that lead to success.
We’ll talk about virtual assistance, social media managers, etc. And, I’m always asked — when do I hire support? What do I hire out? And how much do I pay for it? We are going to cover that next.
Stay Tuned For Part 3.
And here’s something to chew on right now: Which of these 3 aspects of your business are you MOST excited to start tracking?
Karen Cappello, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Karen Cappello, MCC, BCC, is a business and executive coach, communication specialist, motivational speaker and coach trainer. She collaborates with leaders and executive coaches to promote highly beneficial business outcomes. With over 30 years of experience and expertise in business management, financial planning, and higher education, Karen has brought a broad-based background to her coaching clientele.
