In today’s highly competitive economy we all need all the help we can get to thrive. Running a company is no easy feat. As a business owner, you need as much help as you can get. Hiring a reputable business coach is the best place to start. In this article, I will explain the right qualities to look for in a business coach.
Let’s face it, getting coached and get a mentor can seriously get you faster results in your business. The right business coach can help you navigate complex business issues. Look for someone with a wide breadth of experience so you know they can handle your unique situation.
What A Business Coach Can Do To Your Business:
A business coach will assist and guide the business owner in running a business by helping them clarify the vision of their business and how it fits in with their personal goals. I’ve had coaches in my businesses for years now. They really helped me get from where I am straight to where I want to be.
1. Confidence
One of the things that a coach will always do is help you with confidence in your business ideas and strategies. You might think that you’re a confident person but it’s great to have someone else to back you up someone else that you can talk through ideas and strategies that you’ve got in your business. See whether they’re on the same wavelength as you.
We get beaten up, our confidence isn’t always just going to be on a high, you’re going to have highs or lows. A good business coach can help you build that confidence up that’s gonna inspire you, and help you get good results in your business.
2. Give you shortcuts
One of the most important things a coach or a mentor can do is give you shortcuts. I mentor hundreds of UK business owners, and I am particularly strong marketing, that’s really where my background has been. The process of getting and keeping customers.
Over the years, I’ve learned how to rank on Google, Google AdWords, YouTube, YouTube advertising, Facebook advertising, social media marketing, email marketing. Over that time, not everything’s worked out, I bought tons of different courses and programs. Some were incredible, some not so good. That’s actually how I got my business accelerator, and how I put that methodology together. So what I give my mentees is shortcuts. If they want to try something on Facebook ads, I can give them shortcut and say “don’t try this, try that”.
You need to look to work with a mentor that can plug the gaps that you’re looking to grow and you need expertise in and to give you shortcuts.
3. Accountability
Now another thing is accountability. With my mentees, we meet twice a week, and we have something called an SAS call. It stands for Strategy, Accountability and Solutions. What we’re looking to do is just figure out where they’re stuck.
Get them to hold them accountable and say look, this is what you need to do this week. Then I show up the next week, some of them will just do the stuff prior the call. When they don’t have a mentor, it just gets delayed and delayed and delayed and the day late, and just never gets done.
When you work for someone, you’re accountable to your boss, Your boss tells you “this is what I want you to do, and you go away and you do it”. But when you’re a business owner, you don’t have that person giving you the kick up the butt. That’s why a mentor and a coach is very is vital. You need that accountability in your business.
4. Network of connections
I introduce my mentees to other people that run events that need speakers. They are the network of connections I grew upon in my business. In fact, some of my students have generated millions in revenue from my introductions to other people. I’m in a group called “Syndicate” with people like Andy Harrington and Rob Moore, and other industry experts. We exchange ideas, strategies and everything about what can help the business. I make sure that anyone that I work with, I give them an opportunity.
5. Active Listener
A coach is a person that you can talk about ideas. They are active listeners that you can talk about problems that you’ve got in your business. Maybe you’ve got staff that you’re frustrated with, letting somebody go in your team, acquiring a new property, merge with another business. It’s really important that you have somebody you can sound off to that you can talk about the problems. The highs, the lows, and all of this stuff in between.
What do you need to look for in a business coach?
I have coaches in my business but I also look at what else is brought to the table. One thing that I always look for in a mentor is, a mastermind element. I want to get involved with all of their customers as well.
I’m in a mastermind with most of the biggest coaches and consultants in the United Kingdom. A lot of them are doing many, many, seven figures in their businesses. My main mentor gives me ideas, but everyone else in the group collectively can also get you faster results. They really help inspire me.
1. They have a proven track record
Now, the next important thing is do they have a proven track record. What you need help with, you need to get a specific coach not a broad coach. I googled last week, “looking for business coaches and mentors” just to see what comes up. Unfortunately, most of the results on page one of Google, they’re not qualified people.
In fact, there were people selling coaching services for £50. Now, if they really got some success in their business, they’re not going to be coaching you for £50. These are people that have got coaching courses that they’ve done, and they’ve got good intentions, but you need someone that’s actually got the experience.
Example:
In my business, I focus on teaching people marketing, and you can get coaches for all sorts of things. My specialty is getting and keeping customers. I’ve done that I’ve spent millions of pounds on Facebook ads and YouTube ads, and Google ads and all these other platforms. So I figured out what works.
2. They ask questions that you don’t expect
A good coach should also ask you questions that you weren’t expecting. When you’re speaking with a prospect that you think could be your coach or mentor, listen to the questions they ask you. If they’re out of the box, and they’re not what you’re expecting, that’s a good sign. You want to work with someone that isn’t giving you all the same questions that everybody else can you want someone that’s a little different.
3. They inspire you
Now, also you want a coach that gives you a buzz, they inspire you. When you hang around them, you’re having good fun, because that’s going to lift your energy and really help you grow your business.
4. They figure out what’s wrong with your business
You also want them to be able to pinpoint your weaknesses and figure out what’s wrong with your business. They should be able to very quickly be able to say, you know what, that’s where you’re stuck in business.
Example:
When I work with my students, I asked them how many leads they got, how many sales they’ve got, and then we can figure out do they have a problem with leads? Or do they have a problem with sales? Because all lots of people, their belief is that they have a problem with leads. They want to fix the problem by just getting more leads into the business and they think it’ll fix the problem but actually, maybe they don’t need any more leads. Maybe they’ve actually got plenty of leads. They just need to sell more and convert more to their existing clients, maybe they just need to put their price up to be profitable in their business.
5. They practice what they preach
That might seem obvious, but in my game in marketing, so many of the marketing coaches are just liars. All they’re good at doing is renting a Lamborghini and some girls wear bikinis, and just making themselves look good. They sell a lifestyle but they’re not particularly good marketers. They don’t know the technicalities of it and they frustrate me. I make sure that I actually am a practitioner of marketing. I make sure I’m world class at getting and keeping customers. I’m constantly in a Facebook ad account. I’m constantly in YouTube ads.
What not to look for in a business coach:
There’s loads of coaches out there that got six packs but they’ve never gone through the problem that you’re currently facing. These types of coaches do not understand where you’re stuck because they’ve never gone through what you have.
MORE of blog posts like this:
How To Grow Your Business With Digital Products
Do I Need A Business Coach Or Mentor?
Why You Must Be Persistent In Business To Succeed
How To Grow Your Retail Business FAST
I hope you found that useful because I have tons of content in my YouTube channel and blog page for you to read. I talk about business growth tips, marketing strategies, and business funding advice.