Discover Your Coaching Niche

Archive for May, 2008

This is the continuation of an interview where Peter Johnson grills Alun about how to be perceived as an expert by your target market, and hence bring in more clients.

Peter: So, you’ve been working with coaches specifically on this for quite some while by the sounds of things.

Alun: For quite a while. It also helps if you are member of a particular niche that you are serving. And for example, I’ve been a coach now probably for about 10 or 12 years, since coaching at least in the UK was in its infancy.

So, being a coach, I know what the typical problems and challenges that coaches come across. And that makes me much more able to deliver things of value to my target market, who are coaches.

Now, I am not saying that you have to be a member of a particular niche to deliver to them. Well, not necessarily, but goodness me, it helps because you have been there.

Then you have had practical experience in the problems and you can, for members of the target market, you can quickly sift the wheat from the chaff. You can give them stuff that is really relevant and valuable to them.

Peter: Yeah, so this being an expert in a field, that is the ‘why’ issue from the sound of things.

Alun: Absolutely. That’s the critical thing. You being an expert is absolutely critical because it gives you authority, because it gives you credibility. And when you put those two things together, that is like an attractive force, attracting clients into you, because they want to benefit from your knowledge and experience.

And let’s distinguish one thing here. When you are seeking out an expert, what you want is somebody who’s got practical experience of the field that you’re looking for. There are many people out there who are in academia who write books on things and the people within that who’ve done research can have some credibility.

But what you really want is people who have actually done what you are looking for. So, you actually want to follow practitioners who made the mistakes. They have seen what the problems are. They can share those and they can help you avoid those mistakes.

Peter: Right. So, they are really being bruised and battered a little bit on this journey of life.

Alun: Absolutely. They usually are. Yes.

Peter: Yes, and in some ways it is where we find that real value of people who actually have made mistakes that we can avoid by listening to them.

Alun: Indeed.

Peter: How do you know what your niche should be as an expert?

Alun: Well, in fact – I help people do this. I think there are two parts of it. One you need to look inside yourself as to what resources you bring to the party and you also need to look at what the market out there is demanding.

So, if we look at the “within yourself” part first, have at look at what your skills, knowledge, and expertise are.  And then, you go right back to your teenage years and find out, you know, what are you good at? What are you good at in your first job? What were your responsibilities in your first job, in your second job? What skills did you gain? What skills have you gained in work? What skills have you gained outside work?

A good test is to look at what people ask you about all the time. Other people who come to you because you have developed a particular skill in a particular area or particular knowledge or you are particularly experienced. They say, “How do you do this?”  If there is a pattern of people coming to you to ask you those particular things – that’s what you should specialise in.

Peter: Even though it might not be what you’re doing as a job?

Alun: Exactly. It may be parallel to that. What you might find is that you might have some transferable skills from your job to take to another domain. Now, maybe your job as well, but it might not be. But the key things are the skills, knowledge, and experience.

And look broadly with that. Don’t just write the obvious things down and you know, when in doubt, ask your friends. Ask your friends. Ask your colleagues. Ask your partner. They will know what you’re good at and what you are not good at.

Peter: I get a feeling that because you’ve been doing this for quite some while, you may well have some hidden material on this which you may wish to share with the listeners.

Alun: Indeed, I have. I’ve got a resource on the internet. If people go to http://www.nichecourse.co.uk, n-i-c-h-e-c-o-u-r-s-e-.c-o.u-k, and that’s an auto-responder-delivered course that is completely free that will allow you to discover what niche is right for you.

And it takes you through, in a bit more detail, what I have just covered in terms of your skills, knowledge, and experience. It also looks of what you are motivated by, what your passions are about, because you’ve got to have that to drive forward and stick to a particular area.

So, you need that and then it also looks at a part we haven’t covered yet and that is looking at where the demand in the marketplace is. So, that is where there is activity in the marketplace. You know, are there magazines covering the topic you are thinking of specializing in? Are there books published on it? Is there a lot of internet activity on it? It is that kind of thing. If you are going into a bookshop, is there a lot of book space in a large bookshop dedicated to your area? If there is, there is a demand. So, it’s looking at all of those things.

Peter: And yeah! That resource is free, you say?

Alun: That resource is free. Indeed.

And here’s that link again, a free course allowing you to discover your coaching niche: http://www.nichecourse.co.uk

The full 25 minute version of this interview on CD can be obtained here:
http://Kunaki.com/Sales.asp?PID=PX00ZSDMIP

Technorati Tags: expert status, alun richards, coaching, marketing, expert

In the first part of this article we looked at what a testimonial is and why we as coaches should collect them. We examined what makes testimonials powerful – and when Cialdini’s Social Proof is highest.

Good and Bad Testimonials

Dan Kennedy distinguishes ‘Good-guy’ testimonials from ‘Outcome’ testimonials. ‘Good Guy’ testimonials say what a great guy Alun is, but are non-specific. They may be flattering to you, but they’re next to useless as a testimonial.

Outcome testimonials, on the other hand, are most effective when they:

1. Are based on the specific results your clients gained.
2. Focus on what happened differently after you coached them.
3. Are quantified in terms of money, time or both.
4. Are genuine, and appear genuine.
5. Are relevant to your target market.
6. Are made voluntarily.
7. Are made publicly.

So you want outcome testimonials in this form:

“I did X (a relevant thing for your clients to do) with Alun and the result was (saving of specific amount of money, time etc.)”
– Full name, location, contact details

Your Testimonials Must Appear Genuine

Now, of course, I’m sure you’ll be using genuine testimonials, but they must also appear genuine – so the more specific you make them the better.

For example:
“I made £17,312.53 in extra coaching income from just one of Alun’s ideas” is more believable than “I made £16,000 after attending Alun’s course.”

Also a client ‘AJ from Texas’ is not specific, and sounds made up. Anthony Jackson, Bank Teller, Fort Lauderdale, tel: 605-224-1817 does, however, sound credible.

When to Ask For Testimonials

Robert Cialdini says there are certain moments when his principles of social influence are greatest. So we can make use these moments when we ask for a testimonial.

He says that one of the best times to ask is after your client has paid you a compliment. Just ask immediately if they’d mind putting that in an email. Or if requesting an email is not appropriate, ask them to write it on a piece of paper.

Other times to ask, according to Cialdini, are after you’ve completed a specific piece of work, or after you’ve achieved a notable result. So this might be at the end of a seminar, teleseminar, coaching programme or client breakthrough.

How to Get Testimonials

So now you know what factors make a good testimonial. And you know when to ask for one. So what’s next?

Ask for them! Yes, you do have to ask. And consider obtaining an audio testimonial.

But if you’ve done a good job, most people are happy to supply you with one. Just guide them to be specific. And once you have the testimonials, in writing, or in audio form – use them, and build your coaching business!

Summary

1. Testimonials can be a powerful means to build your coaching practice.
2. You have to ask for testimonials – ask after your client has paid you a compliment.
3. Ensure you get specific outcome-based testimonials, not ‘good-guy’ ones.
4. Make sure they are, and appear to be genuine.
5. Get testimonials from clients representative of your target market.
6. Make getting and using testimonials a part of the way you do business.

Copyright Alun Richards 2008, all rights reserved. You may use this article as long as you include thi s copyright line and my resource details below.

Alun Richards helps coaches find and reach their coaching niche. Discover yours with Alun’s free mini-course, “Discover Your Coaching Niche”, available from http://www.nichecourse.co.uk

Technorati Tags: testimonials, Alun Richards, build your coaching business, get more customers

Why Use Testimonials?

Many successful coaches build their coaching practices by using testimonials. But many others either do not use them, or use them poorly. The fact is, a well-crafted, relevant testimonial can be a potent influence on your prospects.

But only if you know how to use them effectively. Read on to find out how…

What is a Testimonial?

A dictionary definition is:
“A statement, usually written, in support of another’s character or worth; a personal recommendation.”

Or more succinctly:

A testimonial is a statement from a client that details the benefit they gained from working with you.

OK, So Why are they Important?

Testimonials are important as they rely on Social Proof – one of Dr. Robert Cialdini’s potent factors of social influence. “Social Proof” is a psychological phenomenon that occurs in ambiguous social situations.

Under these circumstances, people who are unable to determine the appropriate way of behaving look to others for clues as to what is appropriate.

What is Needed for Social Proof

Social Proof is one of the most potent factors of influence and involves seeing what others around you are doing.

We’ve all seen it before – we choose restaurants that are popular over ones that are nearly empty. The logic is that if the restaurant is full then it must be good.

The power of Social Proof is greatest, Cialdini argues, when three things are true.

1. You find yourself in conditions of uncertainty.
2. Many people can be seen engaging in a particular activity.
3. You believe these people are similar to you.

Therefore, the more people there are engaging in a given activity, the stronger the social proof. Likewise if the people are like you (dress like you, appear to be part of your demographics or psychographics etc.), their actions will be more persuasive.

Social Proof & Coaching Testimonials

We can utilise social proof via client testimonials to gently persuade our prospects to buy our products and services. If we use these testimonials appropriately in our marketing, we can leverage the legitimate social influence inherent in our client’s recommendation to grow our business.

Making Testimonials More Persuasive

Knowing what we now know about social proof, we want to use testimonials that our audience can immediately relate to as coming from members of their group. In our case this would be people like our target audience.

People who have already attended one of our programmes, gained value and recommend it to others are likely to influence the others by their testimonials. So these are the people we want to ask.

But what makes a good testimonial? Read the next part of this article to find out!

Technorati Tags: testimonials, how to use testimonials, build your coaching business, Alun Richards

This is an extract from an interview with Peter Johnson, where Peter asks me about how to Achieve Expert Status.

Peter: Hi, it’s Peter Johnson here and I’m looking forward to interviewing Alun Richards. Alun is actually going to talk to us in some depth about how to grow your expert status in 90 days. Now, I find that incredible – expert status in 90 days!

Please Alun, just give an overall outline as to what this is all about?

Alun: Okay. Well, Peter, the way I see it, if you are working in professional services, if you are delivering professional services, whether you are a coach, whether you are a consultant, whether you are a therapist, whether you are a trainer, whether you are NLP practitioner – you are delivering personal professional services. And you need a way to attract customers to you if you are doing that.

Being perceived as an expert means that people are actually coming to you, rather than you having to go to the people. So, it’s in your interest to be portrayed as an expert within a particular field and then you’ll get people coming to you.

Peter: So, that is why we should be an expert.

Alun: Absolutely.

Peter: Now, you talk about 90 days. Now, we obviously got a journey to go through here. Could you outline some of the key steps in connection with that?

Alun: Absolutely. Now, one thing I will say before we start. It’s now possible to do that, I believe, within 90 days because you can leverage a number of the technologies that are available now, that weren’t simply available 10, 12 years ago.

So, you can leverage the internet, you can leverage personal data recording devices, one of which we are using now that, you know, simply did not exist a number of years ago. And these are increasingly affordable and accessible to everybody out there. So, I’m going to take people through what they can do in various different areas.

Peter: That would be very useful. Great. So what is an expert?

Alun: Well, an expert is somebody who has got skills, knowledge, and experience within a specific narrow field. And I am saying narrow field because, let’s be honest, unless you are Leonardo da Vinci, you haven’t really seriously got expertise in more than one or two or maximum three fields.

You know, Leonardo da Vinci was a Renaissance painter. He was a scientist. He was a researcher. You know, Renaissance, the archetype of Renaissance man. Typically, people aren’t like that anymore, but you can have specific in-depth knowledge in a narrow area and if you have that, you can be highly sought after by your clients.

Peter: That is great. So, you maintain it’s necessary to be an expert and have a niche particularly. First, explain what a niche is, a real niche, and why is it important to be an expert in this field?

Alun: Well, a niche is simply a small part of a much larger market. So, for example, a mass market might be a market for people who buy washing liquid or washing powder for their clothes. That will be a typical mass market product. Now, when you are talking about a niche, you are talking about a very, very narrow area.

For example, if I tell you what my niche is – I provide services to coaches to improve their marketing. So, it’s specifically for coaches although, a lot of this stuff works for other professional service providers as well; but I concentrate on coaches who want to find their own niche, funnily enough, and then leverage that by understanding what marketing can give them and allow them to bring in more business. So, that’s my niche.

And when anybody specialises in a niche like that, you can quickly get formal credibility and authority because of what you know and what you are able to deliver to your target market.

Technorati Tags: Expert, Achieve Expert Status, coaching marketing

Expert Audio