Overcoming Your Sales Fears
I love the work I do supporting coaches to sell their professional services. From finding their first client to running six-figure businesses, I love watching their business growth.
Some people find this scary. And some of the most intimidating marketing work coaches do is when they pitch to organizational decision-makers.
Executive, Corporate or Leadership Coaching isn’t for everyone. It is demanding, and corporations have high expectations. Rightly so: They are investing significant sums in their executives. These organizations are typically quite specific in their requirements. They need to filter out the best coaches from the “also-rans.”
Your business goal is to show how your strengths, talents and experience are a great match for your prospects. It’s up to you to demonstrate how you meet their criteria. However, achieving this goal requires you to overcome your anxieties about stepping into the sales role. These five steps will help you get past your sales fears and stand out in the eyes of prospective client organizations.
1. Do your research.
Find out what makes your prospect organization tick. Explore its website, follow the latest news from its industry sector, and get to know its challenges. Check out the organization’s presence on LinkedIn and other social media platforms.
2. Tailor your CV or résumé.
No-one likes to receive an all-purpose CV. Use this document to demonstrate that you understand your prospect’s needs. Organizational clients want to know that you’re up to date and committed to professional standards, so don’t forget to include the following information:
Coach-specific training High-performing professional coaches show evidence of their training. In addition to documenting all coach-specific training on your CV, take the time to scan all of your certificates of completion. Have PDFs of these at the ready to show your prospects.
Professional memberships and credentials Showing your affiliation with a standards-setting global organization, such as ICF, demonstrates your commitment to ethical practice and continuous education and professional development. You may also find it helpful to share with
prospective clients that consumers report greater satisfaction with the coaching experience when they partner with a coach who holds a recognized credential and/or professional membership.*
Continuing Coach Education (CCE) units Coaching skills need to be refreshed, and prospects need to know that you’re up to date in your professional practice.
3. Demonstrate your professional credibility.
It’s true that the client will be the real expert in the coaching relationship. But before an organization will entrust you to work with its top teams, you need to demonstrate your credibility and track record.
This is your chance to shine by showcasing your unique combination of skills and experience. No one else shares your professional biography. Your achievements, and the way you’ve applied your talents and wisdom over the years, are unique.
Maybe you have linguistic skills. Perhaps you’ve worked with a particular technical field, such as engineering, IT or health care. Show your prospects how that’s linked to your coaching niche. Paradoxically, by shrinking your target market to a defined group you’ll actually help your prospects focus on you. Reminding yourself of the areas where you have authority and standing will give you a much-needed confidence boost, too.
4. Test out your CV.
Find a supportive friend or coaching colleague to talk through your CV. A Career Coach can also help you here. Or set up a co-coaching session, where you coach one of your peers and then reverse the process, with him or her coaching you and asking powerful questions that help illuminate your strengths. This helps you see when you’re hiding your light under a bushel.
Talking through what sets you apart is also an opportunity to rehearse for any meetings you set up with your prospects. Practicing your pitch will reconnect you with your passion for coaching, and the additional rehearsal will also help you work toward a clear, concise “elevator speech”(a 30-second summary of who you are and what you do, that you can dust off when a chance presents itself).
5. Get into action.
Use your coaching session to commit to action: to follow through, to make some calls, to set up first meetings with prospects. Sales don’t always happen instantly. They result from taking one step at a time. As the saying goes, “Motion is emotion.” By getting into action, you’ll create more confidence for yourself—a key step to winning corporate business.
As the market for corporate coaching continues to grow, credible professional coaches will always be in demand. And you deserve to be one of them.
Helen Caton Hughes
A Professional Leadership Coach and Chartered Marketer, Helen is global managing director of The Forton Group, which delivers an ICF Accredited Coach Training Program (ACTP) specializing in Leadership Coaching. She also runs monthly businessbuilding teleclasses for coaches. Email Helen at Helen.Caton@ thefortongroup.com.
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