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The coaching market is actually growing – in a recession. It used to be a competitive marketplace – and now it’s even tougher. So what does that mean for the coaches? It means several things – the most important being that we need to excel in our work. We need to do our absolute best – we need to inspired, motivated and full of creative energy. And that is ONLY possible when each of us is working only with the clients that are right for us.

Let me tell you my story. In the past, I used to work with anyone with a pulse and a checkbook. I had 12 full-hour session a day – in addition to giving workshops in the weekends, I had around 70 full-day workshops in addition to the 1:1 clients. The result? I burned out. My colds went on forever, I gained too much weight, my energy levels was way down – and I was moody and cranky. I did my job – but with no spark, no enthusiasm. Luckily, I managed to slam on my brakes, and  save what was left of my will to keep on working on my business. The brakes came on in November 2007.

Remi Marents

The main change was that I raised my fees 50%, expecting to lose some customers, but that didn’t happen – so I just accepted fewer clients, and limited my working hours to 45, not counting the workshops in the weekends. That worked. I felt better – but still not great. Then I came across Michael Port’s second book, Beyond Booked Solid, and was amazed. He must have written it for me. I started to implement some of his ideas, and my spark came back. In 2008 he invited me to join hos team of coaches using the Book Yourself Solid coaching protocol, and I accepted. One of the gutsiest things in this 15-step process transforming leads to clients is: Dump Your Duds.

I was skeptical – and a bit afraid. Letting clients go seemed like risky business – I’m known to have no limits to what I do for my clients, and suddenly I was going to tell clients I did not want to work with them. How would they react? Would they give me bad publicity – and would fireing clients mean to leave them hanging?

In the end, I had a talk with 4 of my regular clients, and I explained that I felt that I did not do a great job with them, and I suggested another coach to take them to their goals. To my great relief, they took this as a way to up their game, and get more, fresh energy into their path towards success.

When I write this, there has been 8 months since I started to work only with the clients who inspire me – the ones filling me with enthusiasm and energy. Now I feel great, use more time with my family, and the feedback I recieve from my clients makes me really proud. I do better work, and feel relaxed and confident in that my decision was right: Just as the clients should choose a coach based on their selection criteria – so can, will and must I.

This is WHY you should choose your clients.

It’s easy, really. Just tak a look at your two, three or four most favourite clients. The ones you look forward to seing. The ones that you sometimes feel that you are so lucky to work with, that you COULD have done it for free. The ones that leave you feeling more energized and alert than before you met them. Get the picture?

Ok, then ask yourself the following questions;

1. What type of people are they -what personal qualities do they posess?
2. What do they like to do?
3. With whom do they associate?
4. Are they smiling, outgoing, creative?
5. How do they learn?
6. How do they contribute to society?

Based on this you should be able to create your own Red Velvet Rope Policy. You decide who will be allowed through this Red Velvet Rope Policy that actually protects you.

So, how do you do this exactly? My view is that taking on a client is like buying a new car – it is a good idea to take it for a test drive. This means that I offer free coaching sessions to the clients I want to look closer at. My goal is to get to know them enough to established whether they fit my profile, or not. If they do, I offer them my support in getting them booked solid – and if not, I refer them to collegues.

For the client, or more precisely the coachee, this means that they as well has the opportunity to feel my teeth – am I full of it, or do I really deliver? Do they feel comfortable with me – do the techincal stuff like my Coaches Console software work – is Skype HQ video working for me? And so forth. Bottom line, they get to go for a testdrive as well – and they should.

Choosing the right coach for Business Coaching, and especially in my special area of expertise – marketing of services, is one of the most critical parts of their business decisions. The difference between rags or riches depends on factors that their coach can help them see and control. And there is no coach that suits all kinds of clients. Going for a no-cure-no-pay deal with a indiscrimate coach means a high risk of  that the clients business will fail – and get a refund of the coaches fee for their trouble. Not a good deal for the client.

So in conclusion, I recommend that you protect yourself by screening your clients – and that you do his by doing a free session with them. And by all means, add your Goals and Objectives forms, your Wheel of Life, your DISC personality tests, your Discovery Sheets – the whole package that let’s you get to know the clients as fast and as much as possible in the beginning – but do not rely solely on these technical aids- there’s no substitute for actually working with the client. As the Brits say: “The proof is in the Pudding!

If you are a coach benefitting from my advice on this page – bless you. And should you want to talk to me regarding referring clients to me, my skype name is marents – and if the green Skype symbol to the right is on – press it now and let’s have a chat. And if you want to send a friend, a collegue, or even yourself to me for tryiing me on for size – the link to sign up for a free Book Youself Solid coaching session is: http://www.byscoachremi.com

I am always available to answer your questions on how I can stand in service of you.  You are welcome to use my email: remi@remimarents.com to get in touch. Have a GREAT day!