David Newberry Chicago - Tips to Help You Choose a Business Coach

Paying for advise is difficult because if you had the expertise to fully assess the advise you probably wouldn't need the advise, you would be an expert yourself. This leads to the fear of making a bad decision, of hiring a business coach who will take your money and not provide valuable help.

This is a valid fear but not a terminal one. With risk comes reward, there is no doubt that getting the advice and mentorship of exerts is the shortcut to success. It's impossible to find a successful business person who doesn't attribute a large degree of their success to the advise and help they've received.

 

So the best route is to seek the reward of expert business coaching advice while minimizing the risk of becoming involved in a fruitless relationship.

 

When you meet a potential business coach to talk about what they can offer you pay attention to how much they listen as compared to how much they talk. If they are genuine about providing great advice for you and your business they will be interested in learning about the details of you and your business. If they are more concerned with rattling off the benefits they can provide without first finding out how your business runs and what your problems are they are probably not the right coach.

 

Pay close attentions to the questions they ask.

 

A good business coach will have a good idea of how they can help and what areas are outside of their sphere of competence. If a coach offers to help with every area of your business and claims expertise in all aspects you should become more cynical and ask them for more detail on how they can help.

 

Look for coaches that are results focused. If a coach is interested in introducing you to a lot of new processes and technology and seems more focused on the means than the ends ask for details of previous results.

 

Of course most business coaches will offer some form of money back guarantee and will allow you to talk to previous clients. These are key indicators that the coach believes they can make a real bottom-line impact on your business.

 

Don't forget to think about how you can help your business coach. Even in initial interviews think about what statistics, history or knowledge from your business will help the coach work out how they can help.

 

Always do your research. You should know who the coach has worked with in the past and what the focus of their practice is before you meet them.

 

Finally, you should put great value in a coach having previous experience with your industry. If you have to choose between a charismatic coach without experience in your industry and a less personally impressive coach who has been in your situation before do not undervalue the importance of experience. You do not want to be an experiment or the place where the coach cuts his teeth in your industry. If possible a coach who specializes in your industry is best.