For Members Only: In anticipation of the next webcast on Evidence Based Coaching, we are conducting a survey regarding coaching strategies and methodologies used by practicing coaches.
We have set the poll options to the following:
behavior-based approach
adult developmental approach
cognitive approach
psychoanalytical approach
goal-focused approach
adult learning approach
another approach not listed
Please participate in the survey, which is available in the Strategy Skills & Concepts, Coaching Strategy section of the forum under the post entitled "Coaching Strategies And Methodologies – II."
Friday, July 1, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
3rd Quarter 2011 Newsletter
For Members Only: The 3rd Quarter 2011 Newsletter has been added to your membership center.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Effective Group Coaching
Many personal coaches charge as much as therapists and many business coaches charge as much as consultants. While the role of coaches differ significantly from therapists and consultants, the prices charged often don’t. Moreover, many clients may not be able to distinguish how coaches differ from other professions that offer, what initially appear to be, similar services. If a coach can ethically serve a client instead of a different type of professional, a better value proposition could be the prime factor that influences a client’s selection.
In our previous posts on pricing for services, we discussed how most professional service firms, which include coaching firms, handle billable hours. The methods discussed all place a cap on the revenue earned. Traditionally, the only way to increase the revenue earned is by increasing the hourly rate or increasing the number of billable hours, both of which have fairly firm upper limits. Successful professional service firms get around this by hiring junior associates who generate excess productivity over and above what they are paid. The excess productivity in the form of revenue accrues to the senior partners.
Is there any other way to increase the revenue earned without increasing the hourly rate or the number of billable hours? Yes – group coaching. Group coaching is gaining in acceptance and can offer some distinct advantages over one-on-one coaching. Group coaching can tap into the collective wisdom of the group and provide a wider range of experience and support than what can be delivered by a coach alone. Group coaching often leaves more space for clients to reflect and think about what is being discussed because any particular member of the group is not constantly the focus of attention as would occur in one-on-one coaching. Finally, group coaching can facilitate the formation of a small tight knit community that can live on long after the coaching concludes. When priced strategically and packaged appropriately, group coaching can generate higher revenue for the coach while providing clients with lower costs and at the same time delivering enhanced value.
Unfortunately, there have not been many resources available on the pitfalls of group coaching until recently. Jennifer Britton wrote an excellent book entitled Effective Group Coaching that was published a little over a year ago. Details on the book:
Effective Group Coaching:
Tried and Tested Tools and Resources for Optimum Coaching Results
Author: Jennifer Britton
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 978-0470738542
From the publisher:
Here is a short video from Jennifer Britton giving an introduction to what the book covers:
Jennifer Britton - Effective Group Coaching
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvwaXX1mJwY
Jennifer also has an extremely good blog that is focused on what you need to know to deliver effective group coaching:
http://groupcoaching.blogspot.com/
Both the book and blog are highly recommended.
In our previous posts on pricing for services, we discussed how most professional service firms, which include coaching firms, handle billable hours. The methods discussed all place a cap on the revenue earned. Traditionally, the only way to increase the revenue earned is by increasing the hourly rate or increasing the number of billable hours, both of which have fairly firm upper limits. Successful professional service firms get around this by hiring junior associates who generate excess productivity over and above what they are paid. The excess productivity in the form of revenue accrues to the senior partners.
Is there any other way to increase the revenue earned without increasing the hourly rate or the number of billable hours? Yes – group coaching. Group coaching is gaining in acceptance and can offer some distinct advantages over one-on-one coaching. Group coaching can tap into the collective wisdom of the group and provide a wider range of experience and support than what can be delivered by a coach alone. Group coaching often leaves more space for clients to reflect and think about what is being discussed because any particular member of the group is not constantly the focus of attention as would occur in one-on-one coaching. Finally, group coaching can facilitate the formation of a small tight knit community that can live on long after the coaching concludes. When priced strategically and packaged appropriately, group coaching can generate higher revenue for the coach while providing clients with lower costs and at the same time delivering enhanced value.
Unfortunately, there have not been many resources available on the pitfalls of group coaching until recently. Jennifer Britton wrote an excellent book entitled Effective Group Coaching that was published a little over a year ago. Details on the book:
Effective Group Coaching:
Tried and Tested Tools and Resources for Optimum Coaching Results
Author: Jennifer Britton
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 978-0470738542
From the publisher:
Group coaching is rapidly becoming the preferred coaching option for businesses and individuals. Effective Group Coaching is a practical, resource rich, hands-on guide for the group coaching facilitator in one of the fastest growing new disciplines. Organizations, community groups and individuals are discovering that group coaching is an exciting and sustainable model and process for learning and growth. Written for internal and external coaches, HR professionals, trainers and facilitators wanting to expand their work into this area, this book provides tested methodologies and tools and tips. Both new and seasoned coaches will find the book a practical roadmap and go-to guide when designing, implementing and marketing their own group coaching programs. Case studies highlight how group coaching programs are being delivered globally through corporate and public programs, virtually and in person. Also, the author's dedicated web site offers resources and articles available for downloading.
Here is a short video from Jennifer Britton giving an introduction to what the book covers:
Jennifer Britton - Effective Group Coaching
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvwaXX1mJwY
Jennifer also has an extremely good blog that is focused on what you need to know to deliver effective group coaching:
http://groupcoaching.blogspot.com/
Both the book and blog are highly recommended.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Strategy For Coaches Blue Ocean Strategy Webcast
The 2nd Quarter 2011 webcast will be on the Blue Ocean Strategy Applied To Coaching.
The Blue Ocean Strategy shows that the best way to beat your competition is, in fact, to stop competing against them. Most businesses try to outperform their rivals through incremental changes in price or quality - assessing what their competitors do and striving to do the same things better. As the market space becomes more crowded, supply overtakes demand causing products and services to become commoditized, encouraging price wars and rapid feature duplication among rivals. Markets that are well explored and already crowded with competitors are called "red oceans". They are called red because the only way to increase profits is by taking away market share from the competition. This usually results in bloody battles where few companies emerge unscathed.
"Blue oceans" on the other hand represent uncontested market space - pools of potential demand and customers that have not been reached by any competitor. Technological advances represent one path blue oceans are developed, but another one is creative thinking that discards conventional wisdom and current product/service design. The end goal of this creative thinking process is value innovation. Value innovation is the raison d'etre of the Blue Ocean Strategy.
Why should this matter to coaches? Through intuition, trial and error or just plain luck, people stumble on strategies that have a proven track record of success. Although not likely intentional, the Blue Ocean Strategy was the strategy that started the coaching profession, so this topic should be of particular interest to professional coaches. This webcast will provide a thorough introduction to the Blue Ocean Strategy and then discuss how a more complete implementation of the strategy could make the coaching profession far more lucrative for coaches while providing clients with an even better value proposition.
The webcast will be recorded and broadcast on Wednesday, June 15th at 12:00 AM, 1:00 PM and 6:00 PM GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). A live online discussion group will follow the webcast. A short preview of the presentation can be found on the Strategy For Coaches YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyNDjPGzFXo
Strategy For Coaches webcasts are open to professional coaches or coaches in training regardless of coaching specialty and are offered fee-free. Interested coaches who are not current members can request access by clicking the Join Us button on the main page of our website.
The Blue Ocean Strategy shows that the best way to beat your competition is, in fact, to stop competing against them. Most businesses try to outperform their rivals through incremental changes in price or quality - assessing what their competitors do and striving to do the same things better. As the market space becomes more crowded, supply overtakes demand causing products and services to become commoditized, encouraging price wars and rapid feature duplication among rivals. Markets that are well explored and already crowded with competitors are called "red oceans". They are called red because the only way to increase profits is by taking away market share from the competition. This usually results in bloody battles where few companies emerge unscathed.
"Blue oceans" on the other hand represent uncontested market space - pools of potential demand and customers that have not been reached by any competitor. Technological advances represent one path blue oceans are developed, but another one is creative thinking that discards conventional wisdom and current product/service design. The end goal of this creative thinking process is value innovation. Value innovation is the raison d'etre of the Blue Ocean Strategy.
Why should this matter to coaches? Through intuition, trial and error or just plain luck, people stumble on strategies that have a proven track record of success. Although not likely intentional, the Blue Ocean Strategy was the strategy that started the coaching profession, so this topic should be of particular interest to professional coaches. This webcast will provide a thorough introduction to the Blue Ocean Strategy and then discuss how a more complete implementation of the strategy could make the coaching profession far more lucrative for coaches while providing clients with an even better value proposition.
The webcast will be recorded and broadcast on Wednesday, June 15th at 12:00 AM, 1:00 PM and 6:00 PM GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). A live online discussion group will follow the webcast. A short preview of the presentation can be found on the Strategy For Coaches YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyNDjPGzFXo
Strategy For Coaches webcasts are open to professional coaches or coaches in training regardless of coaching specialty and are offered fee-free. Interested coaches who are not current members can request access by clicking the Join Us button on the main page of our website.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
RIP The Coaching Commons
It is indeed sad to see the end of The Coaching Commons – an outstanding resource for keeping coaches informed about the latest developments in the coaching profession. Luckily, Ruth Ann Harnisch has archived almost all of the content and intends to keep the site online indefinitely. The archive has numerous podcasts, videos , research reports and other articles worth examining. A sincere Thank You and Good Bye to The Coaching Commons.
http://coachingcommons.org/featured/rip-coaching-commons/
Quote From Article:
http://coachingcommons.org/featured/rip-coaching-commons/
Quote From Article:
The natural life of the Coaching Commons is ending…
The independent space the Coaching Commons hoped to create back in the dinosaur days is a click away on Facebook now. Coaches can meet there, exchange news there. If a controversial topic in coaching arises, someone will create a Facebook page about it, and that’s where people will meet to discuss it.
The Coaching Commons is simply not needed – the void it was born to fill no longer exists.
So the natural life of the Coaching Commons is ending, but not without boundless gratitude to the readers, the writers, and those who provided the breath, the heart, and the soul of connection for all these years.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Pricing For Services – II
In the July 1, 2010 blog entry, we discussed one model for pricing services. Most professional service firms handle service prices based on billable hours. There are three popular methods for setting hourly rates. The first is applying a cost model where the coach sets a profit objective, figures in their fixed costs and divides the remaining amount by number of hours to reach a price point. Another method for arriving at a dollar amount is market value. Market value is the price paid for coaches with similar experience in the same market for comparable services. Most professionals research the current "going rate" and then adjust their fees based on how they believe they fit into the market. Finally, one can base the hourly fee on what a coach would earn as an employee of a major corporation that has staff coaches. To make a fair comparison, the coach needs to consider salary, benefits, expenses and profit.
The above model for pricing services places a cap on the revenue earned. Traditionally, the only way to increase the revenue earned is by increasing the hourly rate or increasing the number of billable hours, both of which have fairly firm upper limits. Successful professional service firms get around this by hiring junior associates who generate excess productivity over and above what they are paid. The excess productivity in the form of revenue accrues to the senior partners.
The authors of the Blue Ocean Strategy book discuss what they refer to as strategic pricing and target costing. The right strategic price ensures that buyers not only will want to buy a particular service, but will also have the ability to pay for it. The strategic price is generally aggressive and designed to appeal to most mainstream buyers. After a firm has arrived at its strategic price, it deducts its desired profit margin to arrive at its target cost. To hit the cost target that supports that profit, a firm has three options. The first is cost innovation. Cost innovation finds ways to trim costs by eliminating superfluous service features, which are not highly valued by buyers even though they might be industry favorites. A second option is partnering, which allows one to leverage another firm’s expertise and economies of scale in order to deliver a service at a lower cost to buyers. Finally, when the target cost cannot be met through the above efforts, a third option is pricing innovation.
How can these ideas be applied to coaching? Many personal coaches charge as much as therapists and many business coaches charge as much as consultants. While the role of coaches differ significantly from therapists and consultants, the prices charged often don’t. Moreover, many clients may not be able to distinguish how coaches differ from other professions that offer, what initially appear to be, similar services. If a coach can ethically serve a client instead of a different type of professional, a better value proposition could be the prime factor that influences a clients selection. Group coaching is gaining in acceptance and can offer some distinct advantages over one-on-one coaching. When priced strategically and packaged appropriately, group coaching can generate higher revenue for the coach while providing clients with lower costs and at the same time maintaining what clients value most.
The above model for pricing services places a cap on the revenue earned. Traditionally, the only way to increase the revenue earned is by increasing the hourly rate or increasing the number of billable hours, both of which have fairly firm upper limits. Successful professional service firms get around this by hiring junior associates who generate excess productivity over and above what they are paid. The excess productivity in the form of revenue accrues to the senior partners.
The authors of the Blue Ocean Strategy book discuss what they refer to as strategic pricing and target costing. The right strategic price ensures that buyers not only will want to buy a particular service, but will also have the ability to pay for it. The strategic price is generally aggressive and designed to appeal to most mainstream buyers. After a firm has arrived at its strategic price, it deducts its desired profit margin to arrive at its target cost. To hit the cost target that supports that profit, a firm has three options. The first is cost innovation. Cost innovation finds ways to trim costs by eliminating superfluous service features, which are not highly valued by buyers even though they might be industry favorites. A second option is partnering, which allows one to leverage another firm’s expertise and economies of scale in order to deliver a service at a lower cost to buyers. Finally, when the target cost cannot be met through the above efforts, a third option is pricing innovation.
How can these ideas be applied to coaching? Many personal coaches charge as much as therapists and many business coaches charge as much as consultants. While the role of coaches differ significantly from therapists and consultants, the prices charged often don’t. Moreover, many clients may not be able to distinguish how coaches differ from other professions that offer, what initially appear to be, similar services. If a coach can ethically serve a client instead of a different type of professional, a better value proposition could be the prime factor that influences a clients selection. Group coaching is gaining in acceptance and can offer some distinct advantages over one-on-one coaching. When priced strategically and packaged appropriately, group coaching can generate higher revenue for the coach while providing clients with lower costs and at the same time maintaining what clients value most.
Friday, April 1, 2011
2nd Quarter 2011 Newsletter
For Members Only: The 2nd Quarter 2011 Newsletter has been added to your membership center.
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