As a Life Coach, you have a wealth of vital information to share. Your wisdom, advice and experience can change peoples’ lives.
But did you know that the method by which you share that information can be the difference between moving your clients towards creating their ideal lives, or giving them yet another piece of “shelf-help” that gets them absolutely no results?
Have you ever had the problem, where no matter how much you tried to help your client, nothing ever made a difference, because they weren’t putting your advice and expertise to use?
The unfortunate fact is, your clients’ lives get busy. Schedules, to-do lists, habits and paradigms suck them into a vortex of the old and familiar, to the point where all the great changes you were helping them to make get pushed off to the side, abandoned to a nonexistent future date ‘when they have time for it’.
This carries the additional risk that they’ll actually quit working with you, because they aren’t getting any results – even though their lack of results is purely because they weren’t putting your teachings into practice!
So, how can you avoid this, and make sure that your clients get the best possible value out of your time together?
Incorporate three important structures into everything you do with your clients. These structures are:
#1: A structure for learning
It isn’t enough to just tell your clients what they need to know. Repeat the information that’s critical to their growth so it really sinks in and is permanently retained. The key is to know what to repeat and how often to repeat it.
Learn how to convey your knowledge in a way that’s easy to grasp and absorb, and how to give your information in the order that best suits your client.
A method I use for this is the “Spiral Method”. I give the clients the first piece of information they need to take their first step, and then I move on to the next lesson, and then I ‘spiral back’ to reiterate what they learned in previous lessons. I also show them how what I told them previously ties in to what they are currently learning. In this way, my teachings are made more cohesive and easy to follow, and the earlier lessons and sessions don’t get lost and forgotten in the shuffle of new information.
Of course, it doesn’t matter how well your client knows your material if they don’t actually use it. Which brings us to…
#2: A structure for implementation
Have you ever come home from a seminar full of new knowledge and possibilities, stepped back into the routine of your everyday life, and realized you had no idea how to actually make what you’d learned a part of your day-to-day routine?
This is a common problem for people who attend events, take courses or read self-improvement books; they don’t know how to fit what they’ve learned into their schedules, apply it to their lives, and use it to make real and lasting changes.
That’s why you adapt a structure for implementation and have it in place. Guide your clients, step by step, through the process of putting your knowledge to use. Give them action steps, and assist them in setting goals and deadlines.
Once you’ve done that, make sure that they actually follow through and use those action steps. Here’s your next step…
#3: A structure for support
This is where you, and/or a group of your clients, come together to maintain accountability, answer questions, and help each other stay in action. You can do this through consistent 1-on-1 coaching, group calls, Facebook groups, or events; there are myriad possibilities for connections, but be consistent to make it simple for yourself and your clients.
Whatever you do, make sure that your clients have some way of getting answers. There’s no discounting the importance of accountability and support throughout the process of implementing your coaching, your courses and the things you teach them during your workshops or events.
If you’d like to get more detail on how any of these structures work, I’d love for you to get on the phone with one of my Life Mastery Institute Mentors. I’ve developed a proven, comprehensive system for creating and implementing all of these structures into your coaching business – and yes, I use them all myself in the process of teaching other coaches how to help their clients in the most effective ways possible.
To set up a time to talk, just fill out the form on the right, and one of my team members will be in touch with you soon.
Here’s to Your Success,
Mary