Business Coaching Myths the Do’s and the Don’ts Explained

Why Some Business Coaching Strategies May Be Keeping You Stuck

So often women come to me who have been spinning their wheels in business for months, sometimes even years until they found me and one of the big frustrations many of them have is that they decided business coaching was the right answer, hired a professional business coach, took action, but the ‘strategies’ they were shown or told didn’t work in the context of sales and growth. ⠀

In this article I am going to break down some common business coaching ‘strategies’ and explain why they don’t work for everyone, and what you could be doing instead to help you move forwards in your business and how finding the right business coach for you can help.⠀ 

The online business coaching industry is changing, and great coaches develop and embody leadership skills to guide and support clients to become great leaders within their own business to fully manage and maintain successful business growth year on year. 

However, as with any industry, dated advice can get dragged along through time leading to frustration and stagnant business practices detriment to up to date, effective business activities.

Have you been advised to do any of the following business coaching myths? Have you regretted hiring someone for their business coaching services?

The path to success is to take massive, determined action – Tony Robbins

Let’s explore what does and does not work as an online entrepreneur if you are considering a business coaching programme…

Business Coaching Myth 1: Just Be Visible and the Clients Will Come

Posting and praying alone will not have your perfect paying clients banging down your door.

Being visible is great as is marketing for your business, but that will not do the selling for you.

Marketing and sales are two very different parts of the client acquisition process. You can sell without marketing, but you can’t sell without sales, so be proactive not passive in your online visibility strategy.

Business Coaching Myth 2: Give Value in Facebook Groups Where Your Ideal Client Hangs Out

Now for some people this can help in the beginning of growing your audience, but it can also be a waste of time for many.

I’ve even had a client previously taught to do this by a coach, but her business model was selling to corporates. So I had to politely explain to her that after thousands of sales conversations selling to corporates that they are certainly not hanging out in social media groups all day looking to read posts from strangers.

In this instance I told her to scrap this advice and have conversations via telephone plus utilise LinkedIn for better time and results effectiveness.

Business Coaching Myth 3: Start Your Own Facebook Group and Then Sell to the Members

This is another ‘cookie cutter’ tactic that I hear some people recommend to everyone. As much as having a social media group of ideal clients is great for many, it is not for everyone.

If you do not have the time, interest, or leadership skills required to run a online community then it quite possibly will be a waste of your time and damaging to your reputation if you cannot remain consistent, provide ongoing support and create valuable content for the members.⠀
Please consider again, if your ideal clients actually frequent social media groups.

If you are wanting to sell to HR Directors or busy corporate executives for example, they are almost definitely not floating about on social media during the day, nor are they in ‘business mode’ outside of office hours like many entrepreneurs will be.

Business Coaching Myth 4: Apply the ‘Know, Like and Trust’ Factor

This is good advice, but not the full picture.

Your audience also needs to feel that you have something that can help them and want to buy from you.

To get them to this stage of the buying cycle takes a lot more sophisticated marketing than just ‘know, like and trust’ does.

Inspirational quotes and value posts won’t be enough if you have no strategy to moving beyond potentially clients just liking you.

Business Coaching Myth 5: Have Lots of (Virtual) Coffee Dates and the Sales Will Come

I am all for building relationships and agree with the notion that your network is your net-worth, but coffee dates are NOT sales calls, discovery calls, or anything else you might call them. ⠀

They are virtual ‘get to know you’ coffee dates and if you are trying to shoe-horn your coffee dater into a sale, this is just icky and sleazy.

Coffee dates are just that. They are not a tactic to avoid having real sales conversations with people who have expressed an interest in your products.

Before any ‘virtual chat’ be transparent about your motives or run the risk of ruining your integrity.

No one likes to be pressured or taken by surprise with a sales script under the pretence of getting to know someone.

Do Business Coaches Really Work?

 Absolutely! There are many benefits to business coaching. Saving time and increasing profits are the most obvious, but there are other important perks as well.

Here are 7 reasons why you should hire a professional business coach this year.

– They will save you money

– They’ll have the connections you need to grow your business

– They’ll keep you accountable

– They’ll help you increase your profits

– They’ll teach you to think like a CEO and lead like a leader

– They’ll teach you how to track and measure your results and keep you accountable

But it’s all about finding the right business coach for success and tactics not strategies….

Tactics and Not Strategies!

These common business coaching myths may work at times, but most certainly not in isolation, hence they are tactics and not strategies to effectively grow an online business.

Sexy marketing of glamorous coaches with huge income claims can give the impression that by simply copying what they did will result in our own success.

However, the fact that someone was able to get to X-figures themselves in a certain industry or niche, does not mean they are the best person to make a strategic growth plan for someone else in a completely different niche.

For example, if a business coach or sales coach has built their business using Facebook groups alone and prior to this had no business development experience outside of this social media platform and your ideal client is not on said social media platform, then this is most probably not the best coach to help you right now.

Take myself for example, even though I have extensive sales and business growth experience both online and offline across a variety of industry sectors, it has all been service and solution sales based.

I personally have never worked within e-commerce product businesses, so I am not the best person for strategic insight in this particular niche but if it’s selling services online, or offline, B2B, or B2C, or selling business services to corporates, then I am a great fit for this role.

You need to be choosing the right business coach that fits with your business.  Read about choosing the right business coach.

How You Can Grow Your Business

Now there are many ways to grow an online business but getting the foundations in place, doing your research and having a solid sales strategy puts you in the best possible position to ensure your efforts result in not only a profitable venture but a reputable brand.

How can you prepare yourself and give yourself the best chance of maintaining business progression without relying on aged tactics that cannot guarantee a ROI (return on investment)?

Firstly, validating a market need is a good move. So do your research!

Check out existing industry relevant markets and note who is doing what and assess your proposed plan for viability. 

Next, where do you fit into your niche? What is your edge, and unique experiences both in life and business? 

Then, think about your offers and pricing.

Now something not every coach will tell you; really reflect on your personality, strengths, weaknesses and transitional skills.

For example, I personally thought after years of corporate sales success being an entrepreneur would be easy!

Yet, until I strategically worked hard, sought guidance from the right coach and applied not only what skills I already had but implemented personalised expert advice, did I see my vision supporting freedom focused entrepreneurs a reality.

Ultimately, sales are the backbone of seeing your dream business come into fruition regardless of how you feel about making sales.

On that note if you are feeling a little dubious surrounding marketing tactics you have come across that feel a little overused or one size fits all, here are a few starting points for you to move through to assess how you can navigate towards a true freedom lifestyle business…

• Magic client system: attract the right kind of clients even if you suck at sales
• Launch megaboost tool kit: used by my 6 and 7 figure income clients
• Pick your money up off the table: a proven sell out checklist

Know What Kind of Business Coach You’re Looking For

To summarise, many of the tactics mentioned did work quite well a number of years ago in the online space, but buyers are much more sophisticated and know how the marketing game works right now.

Coaching sessions vary, and before hiring a business coach this article should help you get clear on what kind of business coaching works for you, from group coaching to bespoke one to one support, every person’s requirements vary and there is no place for a one size fits all service.

Nowadays and beyond it’s crucial you have actual sales and business growth strategies specific to your industry, talents and long term freedom business goals. Don’t follow outdated and often ineffective, oversaturated tactics.

I am sure the last few years have brought many stereotypical coaching statements to your attention as the industry competes to capture the attention of potential clients and sell you the promise of success and profits. 

If you would like to discover how to increase your sales success in the next 90 days, you can take my Sales Quiz to find out the best next steps for your unique situation. 

I would love to hear what other coaching myths arise as you grow your business online this year and the coaching industry evolves. 

Here’s to effective sales success and strategies in your business,

Jade x 

PS. If you’re an entrepreneur looking to access powerful support, create real relationships & develop new skills then have a look our Facebook Group – it’s an online community like you’ve never experienced before!