If you want to
facilitate the successful achievement of your client’s Desired Outcome, every one
of your coaching sessions must be purposeful, results-driven and
goal-oriented! If you want to charge top
coaching fees, you better be prepared to go the extra mile and turn your
coaching session into a coaching experience.
There are many
elements that make up a properly executed coaching session. Here are the 10
session criteria that I consider essential for creating a coaching experience!
1. Preparation
Before
I connect with a client, I always allow myself 15 minutes to properly prepare
for the session. This is the time when I do all of the following:
a)
I review
all my notes.
Every time I conduct a coaching
session, I take detailed notes on everything that happens during the session. I
am always amazed at how many coaches rely on memory from one session to the
next. If you don’t take notes, you are not a credible and professional coach!
Winging it is for the birds!
b)
I check my
Coaching Timeline.
Every Coaching Program that I
prepare for a client is based on a 3 – 6 month timeline. I use this timeline to
hold both the client and myself accountable for achieving measurable progress toward
a Desired Outcome.
c)
I read the
“Prep Sheet”.
Prior to every session, my clients
submit a Coaching Prep Sheet where they write a brief summary of the progress
they made since the last session and where they want to spend some extra time
during the next session.
d)
I prepare
a Session Agenda.
Based on the notes, timeline and
prep sheet, I create a simple agenda that I will use to keep the coaching
session on track and on time. Now I’m ready to make the call!
2. Maintaining
Control
When you engage in a
coaching session with your client, it is imperative that you are in control of
the conversation at all times! You are the conductor of your “coaching bus”
and your client is the passenger! While
your client may have an itinerary of places he or she wants to go, you’re the
one who is driving the bus that will take them there!
This
is especially true if you’re giving away a free initial coaching session! You’re
passenger hasn’t even paid for the bus ticket yet, so don’t let them grab the
steering wheel! If they can drive the
bus themselves, why do they need you? Yet
so many coaches allow their clients to “hijack” the coaching bus and take control
of the session.
If
you want to deliver a quality coaching session, you’ve got to be in control! How do you maintain control? By asking questions!
3. Asking Questions
Lead
the conversation by asking questions! These
questions must be targeted and focused on the Desired Outcome. Listen
intently to your client’s answers!
Ask more
questions! Maintain control! And
then wait for the “Coaching Climax”!
4. Creating Coaching Climaxes
A Coaching Climax is the ‘mental
trigger’ that validates and authenticates a pivotal point in a coaching
session. I deliberately chose the word ‘climax’
as a metaphor for the powerful impact it has on a coaching client. A skillful Coach can achieve multiple
Coaching Climaxes for a client during a coaching session.
If your client does not
experience at least one coaching climax for every 15 minutes of coaching, your
coaching session did not measure up to the rigorous standards of a Coaching
EXPERT!
5. Achieving Milestones
A sure-fire way to keep
your clients motivated and on track is to provide measurable accomplishments
during and following each coaching session.
Recognize the progress the client has made since the last session and
point out any recent ‘milestones’ that he/she has reached. A ‘Success Formula’ is created when a string
of ‘milestones’ are recorded along the path to achieving a Desired Outcome.
6. Keeping your focus on the Desired
Outcome
If you don’t keep focus on
the Desired Outcome, the client may start to wander in different directions.
While you certainly do not want to stifle any opportunity for your clients to achieve
a Coaching Climax, you must guard against any random deviations from the
session agenda. If you don’t, the session will miss its objective and will be difficult
to record in your notes in the context of the overall Desired Outcome.
7. Inserting the Accountability
Factor
The “accountability factor” must be ever present throughout the session! As a Coach, you must hold your clients
accountable for their actions.
• Without accountability, there can be no discipline.
• Without discipline, there can be no commitment.
• Without commitment, there can be no achievement.
8. Reviewing the session
Before you wrap up your
coaching session, you must do a quick verbal recap of the things your client achieved
during the call. This will re-enforce the client’s perception of value and the
investment the client is making in you as a coach!
9. The Assignment
Always
assign some homework that the client must complete by the next session. This
could be writing a new resume, drinking less alcohol, starting a new project
for their home or business, celebrating a special occasion, etc.
1 The
follow-up email
For
me, this is the ‘icing on the cake’! As
a true professional, you must send a brief email to your clients that
recognizes the Coaching Climaxes that were created, the Milestones that were
achieved and the Assignment that is to be completed by the next session!
Incorporate these 10 elements in your coaching
sessions and discover how you can create a unique and valuable coaching
experience for your clients!
© 2014 Allan N. Mulholland, CPC
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