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Business coaching is becoming more popular and the number of people hanging up their tiles to provide the services associated with this activity has increased tremendously in recent years.
This article explores some of the reasons why coaches are adding value, especially for smaller companies.
In a previous post, I noticed that coaching addresses the loneliness of business owners, who simply have no one to turn to to discuss their challenges.
If we examine the word “coach” and think of sports, we ask, how do coaches work to improve the performance of their athletes?
One way is to impart new skills, tricks of the trade that they learned or discovered on their own, that are not intuitively obvious to their players.
For example, this week, one of my clients is involved in building a telesales unit and is trying to recruit college students for his part-time positions. It’s a good idea, but the plan is to advertise in newspapers within student-intensive zip codes.
At best, this is a roundabout way of recruiting, when without out-of-pocket cash, you can post help-seeking ads at college placement offices. YOU KNOW students will see ads that way! And it turns out there are major universities within blocks of his office, and there is a proprietary school in his building!
I have been recruiting of this type for years, as a telemarketing job provider and on behalf of my coaching and consulting clients.
This example demonstrates just one small way that a coach improves performance. Sometimes you have a cheaper, more direct and effective method of doing something you just don’t know about.
But assuming you know all the basics, what else can a coach do for you?
Going back to athletics, for a second, coaches make their players play harder.
They do this through all kinds of means, including goal setting and encouragement, to name a few. Left to our own devices, we are tempted to relax, especially after achieving only moderate success. This can lead to setback and a downward cycle of achievement.
With a coach, you’ll get the prodding, shoving, and the occasional kick in the pants you need to beat your previous peak performance.
In our expanding age of coaching services, no small business owner needs to be an island.
That’s good news, right?
In future articles, we’ll explore even more trainer features.
