Business Coaching vs Consulting~Which One Do You Need?
Over the last couple days I have been doing some market research on coaching vs consulting. The overall results have been amazing and the women that helped me with this research are absolutely amazing business women. They were so honest and open to the questions on this topic. They not only answered my questions with such knowledge and detail but they also engaged with me in such a way that the conversation really had each of us thinking beyond the initial questions.
When I decided to go into this topic and create this series I was not sure how it would be perceived by others in these particular industries. To be honest I was a little scared about the backlash I may receive from some that were not seeing the educational part of my post. To my surprise these post have been very well perceived and the feedback has been amazing.
Of course you didn't come to here about my feelings on the topic you are here for some results….. Let’s get to it!
I chatted with 12 amazing women that all fell into one of these categories:
*Have hired at least 1 coach (past or present)
*Have never hired a coach
*Have hired more than 1 coach throughout the life of their business
Each category had 4 contributors in it and each group had the similar questions but tailored to their category. Of course since all women are different each conversation was as unique as they are which made this project so much fun.
Here are some of the questions and results I came up with after my chat with them.
83.3% (10 out of 12) of these women didn’t have a clear idea of what a coach really did
These same 10 women thought that a coach would be able to help them with things that required actions steps to complete. For example: Sales Funnels, List Building, and even Basic Business Systems. This is not always the case and since they didn't know that they were still struggling with these needs in their business.
8 women total had hired a coach at least once.
6 out of 8 hired a coach during a state of desperation and frustration in their business. (75% of these women were frustrated when hiring a coach)
6 out of 8 had no idea what a coach actually did until after they hired them. (Same 75% that were desperate and frustrated)
4 out of 8 hired another coach because they had a better idea of what they were needing and how a coach could help them. (The other 50% did not hire another coach because they weren't able to make the ROI from this coach so they can't financially invest in another)
As for the 4 women that had never hired a coach they had a little different insight
2 out of 4 said that didn't feel like they had enough proof of concept to risk the investment (50% just wasn't confident enough in what they had seen)
2 out of 4 said that they were more of a DIY type person so they didn't really see the need for a coach
These are just some of the things that we chatted about and of course they all had their own opinions about the entire topic. They all had positive things to say about coaching and each of these responses are just personal opinions or preference.
I do have to say that I can relate to all of these ladies as I have hired a coach and that I am a DIY kind of person myself but I have trouble with information overload when it comes to researching certain things. When I hired a coach I was one of those that were desperate and frustrated looking for “the answer” but because of the frustration I didn't have a clear understanding of where I was struggling. I was able to gain clarity while I was working with my coach and that is exactly what I needed to move forward in my business. I’m not sure if this was me subconsciously feeling like I had found that missing piece by hiring a coach so I was able to relax long enough for my thoughts to across in a sensible manner or if was know that I had someone to brainstorm with and listen to me think out loud but either way I had gained clarity. It is one of most expensive debts well it's right on up there with my student loans lol
The point of all this is that I discovered during my chats with these ladies that I am not alone and that most of them could have actually used a consultant more than a coach. Of course if you know what you are looking for when seeking a coach or a consultant you will most likely avoid this costly error the 1st time. If you are lucky you will find a coach that is both. Yep I said it both. There are amazing ladies out there that are both coaches and consultants and that is a priceless investment.
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