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.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
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.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Addendum: Why Coopetition Is Vital
For Members Only: A 30 minutes addendum, entitled "Why Coopetition Is Vital" has been added to your membership center. This is an outstanding complement to the very successful "Coopetition For Coaches: The Synthesis Of Competition And Cooperation" webcast. This is a MUST see presentation.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Using The Site
Since there has been recent changes to the website for Strategy For Coaches, it would be instructive to reserve a blog post on using the site. If you want to join Strategy For Coaches or log into your Account Center, simply click the button Site Login in the upper left corner of any page of the site. You will be presented with the following screen:
If you already have an account, simply enter your UserName and Password to gain access. If you don't have an account, click "Create A New Account" and follow the prompts.
The Account Center allows you to update contact information and change your password. When you first create an account, all information entered here is propagated automatically throughout the system. After you have created an account, should you wish to change passwords, for example, you will need to change the password both in the Account Center and in the Community Forum. The databases are not linked in real time. Any password change in the Account Center automatically works for the Membership Center, however, since these modules share the same database.
The Community Forum is a very important part of the site. It allows you to interact with us and other members of the community through an online forum. All posts are private to community members only. To access the forum, click Forum Login from the upper left corner of any page of the site. Alternatively, navigate to the following URL from your browser of choice:
http://forum.strategyforcoaches.com/
You will be presented with the following screen. Simply enter your UserName and Password to gain access. If you do not have a valid account in the Account Center, you will not be able to use the Community Forum. In addition, the forum does not allow new registrations.
There are a total of ten forums. If you want to participate in the online discussion of one of the webcasts, for example, you would choose the Strategy Webcasts forum. Use of the forum is straightforward and there is ample online help should you run into difficulties.
If you want to update your contact information, you would click the button User Control Panel at the top of the screen. If you choose Profile, Edit Account Settings you would be presented with the following screen to make changes:
Finally, there is the Membership Center that has our webcasts and newsletters. To access the Membership Center, navigate to the following URL from your browser of choice:
http://members.strategyforcoaches.com/
You will be presented with the following screen. Simply enter your UserName and Password to gain access. If you do not have a valid account in the Account Center, you will not be able to use the Membership Center.
If you wanted to view the Coopetition Webcast, you would select it from the list. You can then choose whether you want to watch the movie as a Flash file or an AVI file.
You will then be presented with the list of movies to watch, which you may select as desired:
The movie will automatically start. Use the back button on your browser to return to the menu to watch another movie.
Should you experience any difficulties you can also contact a staff member for assistance or post a question in the Community Forum.
If you already have an account, simply enter your UserName and Password to gain access. If you don't have an account, click "Create A New Account" and follow the prompts.
The Account Center allows you to update contact information and change your password. When you first create an account, all information entered here is propagated automatically throughout the system. After you have created an account, should you wish to change passwords, for example, you will need to change the password both in the Account Center and in the Community Forum. The databases are not linked in real time. Any password change in the Account Center automatically works for the Membership Center, however, since these modules share the same database.
The Community Forum is a very important part of the site. It allows you to interact with us and other members of the community through an online forum. All posts are private to community members only. To access the forum, click Forum Login from the upper left corner of any page of the site. Alternatively, navigate to the following URL from your browser of choice:
http://forum.strategyforcoaches.com/
You will be presented with the following screen. Simply enter your UserName and Password to gain access. If you do not have a valid account in the Account Center, you will not be able to use the Community Forum. In addition, the forum does not allow new registrations.
There are a total of ten forums. If you want to participate in the online discussion of one of the webcasts, for example, you would choose the Strategy Webcasts forum. Use of the forum is straightforward and there is ample online help should you run into difficulties.
If you want to update your contact information, you would click the button User Control Panel at the top of the screen. If you choose Profile, Edit Account Settings you would be presented with the following screen to make changes:
Finally, there is the Membership Center that has our webcasts and newsletters. To access the Membership Center, navigate to the following URL from your browser of choice:
http://members.strategyforcoaches.com/
You will be presented with the following screen. Simply enter your UserName and Password to gain access. If you do not have a valid account in the Account Center, you will not be able to use the Membership Center.
If you wanted to view the Coopetition Webcast, you would select it from the list. You can then choose whether you want to watch the movie as a Flash file or an AVI file.
You will then be presented with the list of movies to watch, which you may select as desired:
The movie will automatically start. Use the back button on your browser to return to the menu to watch another movie.
Should you experience any difficulties you can also contact a staff member for assistance or post a question in the Community Forum.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Coopetition For Coaches Webcast
The 1st Quarter 2011 Strategy For Coaches webcast will be on Coopetition: The Synthesis Of Competition And Cooperation. The webcast is scheduled for:
· Saturday, March 5th, 2011 at 12:00 AM, 1:00 PM and 6:00 PM
· Monday, March 7th, 2011 at 12:00 AM, 1:00 PM and 6:00 PM
The webcast is 1.5 hours in length. (GMT = Greenwich Mean Time)
A very condensed preview of the webcast is available on our YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te7j2_2Bu_Q
Summary:
· Saturday, March 5th, 2011 at 12:00 AM, 1:00 PM and 6:00 PM
· Monday, March 7th, 2011 at 12:00 AM, 1:00 PM and 6:00 PM
The webcast is 1.5 hours in length. (GMT = Greenwich Mean Time)
A very condensed preview of the webcast is available on our YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te7j2_2Bu_Q
Summary:
Traditional business strategy is organized around competition––win/lose models fueled by market share frameworks. Western culture encourages and sometimes requires competition in order to succeed, so we rarely question whether there are alternatives to competing with others.
A careful examination of nature shows both competitive and cooperative behavior. It is quite common for organisms to not only compete but also cooperate with one another, often times simultaneously. Members of a species may hunt in packs (cooperation) while also fighting for alpha status within the pack (competition). Particular behaviors exist on a continuum of pure competition on one end and pure cooperation on the other.
Ray Noorda, founder of the networking software company Novell, noticed a similar phenomenon in the business world. He coined the term coopetition to represent this. Coopetition, a synthesis of the words competition and cooperation, was designed to convey the dynamic relationship between the two concepts. Business often involves cooperation to create the market (the pie) and competition to divide up the market (one’s slice).
Games-as-business metaphor is common. A game is simply a situation in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcomes. Game theory is the study of rational behavior in contested environments and offers scientific principles that can be used to predict the actions of others. Real-life situations are often extremely complicated and game theory only provides a model of that complexity. Despite its limitations, game theory has proven extraordinary useful in providing information for developing strategy. The biggest opportunities and the biggest profits have consistently come not to those who play the game best, but to those who play the right game. Changing the game can be accomplished by changing any of the key elements that comprise the game. Game theory coupled with the concept of coopetition has resulted in new possibilities for profit by changing the game being played and is worth a careful look.
Most coaching businesses today are still comprised of solo practitioners, although the trend for group practices is gaining ground. Solo practitioners are at a particular disadvantage due to the significant number of non-billable hours required to run any coaching firm. A smart business strategy that leverages coopetition could be just the prescription for success. This webcast will begin with a thorough introduction to coopetition and game theory, discuss numerous real world examples and finish with ideas for profitably applying the knowledge to the coaching business.
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