Ep #102: My Coaching Advice to You

Hi, this is Lindsay Dotzlaf and you are listening to Mastering Coaching Skills episode 102.

To really compete in the coaching industry, you have to be great at coaching. That’s why every week, I will be answering your questions, sharing my stories, and offering tips and advice so you can be the best at what you do. Let’s get to work.

Hey coach, I am so happy you’re here today. Today is part three of the Q&A series that I’ve been doing, today is the last episode. So in episode 100, or for episode 100, I had you the listeners submit all of your questions, everything that you wanted to know. And I have been answering all of the things.

You submitted so many of them that I decided to break them up into three different episodes. So episode 100 was where I answered just a lot of personal questions just about me, my family, my life, et cetera. The last episode, episode 101, I really dug into all the questions about my specific business, my coaching, my business, how I run my business, how I grew my business, how I coach, all of that.

And today’s episode is the last episode and this is more just general coaching questions. So just about coaching and coaching philosophy. Not so much having to do with me specifically or my business, just my thoughts on some of the things.

So the first thing I want to do, there were actually two questions that I got from quite a few people that I put to the side because I meant to talk about these in the last two episodes and just kind of forgot. So I’m going to answer them now.

And they are, when are the Coach Lab and Coaching Masters launching again? Some of you sent in just those questions separately. So first I’ll answer on the Coach Lab. If you’re listening to this in real time, unfortunately, you just missed a Coach Lab launch. But fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities because the Coach Lab is open all the time.

So you can always join. You can find the link in the show notes. You can find the link on my Instagram or on my website and lots of different places. And that at least now while I’m recording this, is just always available for you.

Now I did just have a big launch where I did Coach Week and a whole free training, which was really fun. And that did create lots of excitement and energy around it. I will tell you that I offered, as a bonus I offered a workbook where I really go into detail about the foundational skills that I teach when it comes to coaching. And I offered two bonus calls.

So if you’re listening now, that has already passed. But what I will tell you is that the workbook lives inside the Coach Lab. So although I may not send it to you, if you join right now you can still go get it. There is a note that allows you to print it if you want to. But it’s also in PDF form and fillable. So you can use it, interact with it on your computer if that’s what you want to do.

The bonus calls that I did, I did one for new coaches and one for established coaches, and they were workshops. The replays of those are also housed within the Coach Lab vault. So those are there just ready for you to watch today. So you can join today and go partake in all of that immediately. That’s what I suggest you do.

One person that sent this question in they said, “And will there ever be another discount?” And the answer is no. So when I first launched the Coach Lab, I had a founding member price for just, I think two days, two or three days. And I did that for a lot of reasons. It wasn’t just because like oh, it’s new, here’s a promotional price. I did it because the whole Coach Lab was new.

It was new to me, it was a new format, and I thought that we’d probably be working out some stuff for a while. And it didn’t quite have all the content in it that I wanted it. And so I just knew that those founding members were going to be putting up with maybe, you know, some links that didn’t work or just some nonsense here and there.

Luckily, we did not have too much of it. But that is why I decided to create the founding member price and that will never happen again. So if you’re wondering now, should you join the coach lab or should you wait to get a better price? The price will never ever change. I’ll say that again, the price will never ever change. There will never be a discount on the Coach Lab.

I just don’t think that’s fair to people that have joined now and who have paid regular price. So for me it made a lot of sense to do it in the very beginning, and I’m going into more detail on this so that you can know the reason behind it and think about it like for your business if you’re considering doing something like it.

It made sense for me in the beginning for the reasons that I already said. But to me it doesn’t make sense, especially since I have the cart open all the time, it doesn’t make sense that I would give a discount to some people who are joining now, when I know that people have joined between when it first launched and now and didn’t get a discount, right?

So, because of that there will never be another discount. I’m positive there will be more bonuses moving forward. But when I can I love to offer, any bonus that I offer, I love to offer it for everyone that’s already in the Coach Lab. So just something to keep in mind, the best time is probably just to go ahead and join right now. Of course, I think that right?

Okay, so the next question is, when does Coaching Masters launch again? Coaching Masters is my six month mastermind. It focuses a little more on coaching mastery, on creating your specific coaching processes, on leaning into your values and creating your very unique style of coaching. And that launches in November.

So from the time I’m recording this, about a month away. So if you know that that’s for you, make sure to get on the wait list, there will be a link for that in the show notes also. And a link for that is on my Instagram and again on my website. So I think that covers all of that. And that begins, it launches in November, as in that’s when you can sign up and apply to be in the mastermind. And we begin in January.

Let’s move on to the rest of the questions. Are you ready? Okay. And again, just like the ones before, I haven’t prepped answers for these, so I’m just going to read them just like they were written, and then answer them in real time to the best of my ability. Here we go.

The first one is, “Do you think people really want to change their circumstances? And should that be the goal? I’ve spoken with a number of women lately who say they want to move to a new city, but when they have the opportunity they don’t do it. I think fear and present day comfort holds them back. Is it my job as a coach to help them get to their goal and actually move, or to explore what’s holding them back from moving? Or to find what they really want that they think moving will satisfy?”

Great question. So I think part of our job as coaches is to show our clients that changing your circumstances isn’t always going to create the thing that you want. Usually what people want, what most of our clients want is to feel different, right? They want to change their circumstances so that they can have different thoughts so that they can feel better in some form.

And this is true for almost anything. Of course they want the thing, right? So, for example, if you’re a marriage coach and they’re buying marriage coaching, they want a better marriage or they want whatever the result is that they think they’re going to get from working with a marriage coach. But why do they want that? So they can feel different. So they can feel better.

When someone hires, when you as a coach, when you hire a business coach, why do you do that? Usually, it’s so you can make money or so that you can create different results in your business or you can think differently about your business. But why would you want any of those things? Because you think that you will have a different feeling when you accomplish them.

So I do think our job as coaches is to just kind of show that to our clients, right? So, for example, if I have a client who says, who comes to me and says one of her goals is to move. I’ve actually had these clients before, a couple of them when I was a general life coach. And her goal was I want to move.

And, of course, it’s easier to not move. As humans we love to do the easier thing, we love to do the thing that brings immediate comfort. We don’t think of it as holding us back, but sometimes it can. But I think one really important thing to explore is when you do this, when you change your circumstances, how do you think you’re going to feel? And how can you create more of that now?

So for example, with a client who thinks, “Oh, I just need to move and here’s why. Here’s how I’m going to feel when I do it.” There’s a difference between exploring how do you think you’ll feel and then how can you create more of that now? And also, what are all the other circumstances that might change when you move, when you actually do this thing?

So I think you can approach it from both sides, right? Yes, I absolutely think people want to change their circumstances a lot of times. And sometimes I think through coaching we might even, our clients might find that once they work through the thing and once they feel better, they might not necessarily want to change all their circumstances.

But I think it’s our job as the coach to keep bringing them back to, okay, now what do you want to do, right? Like continuing to explore that, continuing to ask them, continuing to bring it up. Hope that answers that question.

Okay, next question, “What should I do when a client isn’t getting results? I am a weight loss, life, and health coach that has a client that isn’t doing what’s required of her to get the results. I’ve been coaching her for nine months. It could be that I want the results more than she does. Do I let the client go or let the coaching sessions run out and not renew? Or do I cut the sessions now with only two months left?”

So of course, in this situation, I’ve definitely talked about this before and a little bit how to handle this. And I’ve definitely said this before, which is, I can’t tell you exactly what to do. Especially I have no idea who asked this question, and just with this little bit of information I can’t just say like, oh, here’s exactly how you handle it.

But here’s one thing I would do if you haven’t, and this goes for anyone listening that has a client who maybe isn’t creating results or isn’t moving forward. I would have a conversation with that client around it and address it instead of, and I don’t know if this is what you’re doing or not. But you just want to be sure that you really are confronting this head on, right? And saying like, “Okay, what results are you creating? What results are you not creating? Why do we think that is?”

I think that’s part of coaching, like finding all those things that are getting in the way of your client not creating the results. And sometimes this is where, you know, I’ve heard people talk before about like tough coaching. And I think that this sometimes is where coaching can feel a little tough, is from with so much love and so much compassion, when you as a coach really ask your client, like why do we think this is? Let’s explore it and let’s keep exploring it until we figure it out.

Then if it’s true that you want the results more than she does, maybe that is true. But I think that that’s something that you could explore together. I don’t think it’s great for the coach to just decide, “Oh, obviously, I want results more than she does.” That might not be true, there could be other things getting in the way.

So first, do that, right? Like really make sure that you’re exploring it and not just like giving up on the client. I don’t think that that is fair to the client or to just coaching in general. Then once you’ve done that, then you could have the conversation together about what is the best path forward.

One of the suggestions that you gave, whoever asked this question, is do I just let the coaching keep going and run out and not renew? No, that’s a terrible plan. Not unless you address it and decide together how you want to move forward, what you want to work on for the next two months. Maybe there’s something else she wants to work on for the next two months, great. But don’t just like ignore it and let it run out.

Do I let the client go? Maybe, but I wouldn’t do that either without having that conversation with her first, right? I would think of this more as the client gets to be in on this decision. I have had clients in the past where they have kind of moved on or given up on a goal that they were working on, or maybe even life circumstances changed and it just didn’t even make sense for them to be working on that thing anymore.

Or in that time it didn’t work for them to be working on that thing anymore. And that’s just a conversation. If you’re close with your clients, you can just have those conversations with your clients, right? Like, let’s explore this, what do you want to do? Here are your options. You could finish coaching now, we could coach on something else for the next two months. We could use these next two months to really figure out why you aren’t creating the results that you want or whatever. Whatever the other options are.

But I just think being really open to exploring that with the client, not just you as the coach deciding in your mind, “Oh, here’s obviously what has to be done.” And then just doing it. I don’t think that makes as much sense unless, the only exception to that would be, although I don’t even know if that’s an exception. But my only like caveat to that would be if it’s not a one on one situation, it might be a little different.

So if it’s a group program, or if it’s something where you don’t have as much one on one contact with a client, I would still have that conversation with a client and say, “Hey, I noticed this or I noticed this, I noticed you’re not showing up.” And I would still let them be in on the decision.

All right, next question, “Can you talk more about coaching, but not doing it the exact LCS way?” Sure, this is very broad. I think that this is all I talk about on my podcast. So if you go back to the beginning of the podcast and just listen from the beginning, you will just hear how I talk about coaching.

I don’t talk about coaching in reference to someone else’s way and I also think that most coaching methods are very similar. Now, there’s different styles that aren’t as similar, maybe ones that are more spiritual, or ones that are more somatic, or ones that are, right? Like there are just different styles that are very different from each other.

But when it comes to mindset coaching, any coaching place like LCS or any of the other coaching schools that you can go to, they all have their methods and they’re all very similar. So just the way I describe coaching, just because I learned to coach before I was certified or trained anywhere specific that had a very specific method, my methods, I think, are just a little more broad, a little more general and kind of encompass any of the other methods.

So I don’t really know exactly what you’re asking me, since it’s not a specific question. But I think when it comes to thinking about the basics of coaching, that’s what I do a lot in the Coach Lab and just here on the podcast.

One thing I see a lot of coaches do that are certified in certain schools and they’re very involved in those communities and in those schools, is they think like, oh, this is the one best way or this is the one way to coach our clients. And that’s not true, there are so many different ways. So many different styles of coaching.

And I think even for you, whoever asked this, I think just looking outside of that community and even just being in community with coaches who do things differently than you and who aren’t trained and certified in the exact same way that you are, I just think it’s so beneficial. It’s one of my very favorite things. I know I’ve said this before, but it’s one of my very favorite things about the Coach Lab and about my mastermind, Coaching Masters, because all the coaches have such different coaching backgrounds.

“What tips do you have for beginner coaches? PS, love the podcast and your voice.” Thanks. Thank you so much. What tips do I have? Oh, I mean, the first thing is just go to episode 1 of this podcast and listen to all 100 episodes, and those are all my tips. I think that that’s pretty much what I would say. Also, join the Coach Lab where we focus all the time on foundational coaching skills, I think that will be very helpful.

And a couple others, let’s see, keep it simple. Do not think that you need more methods, more training, more, more, more, more, more. I see a lot of beginner coaches doing this where, of course, like adding more is fine. But adding more before you really are solid and feel great about the coaching foundations can, I think, create a little bit of confusion.

So keep it simple. And just keep going, right? It’s really easy to hear coaches like myself, or listen to other podcasts of other coaches or see them on social media or whatever, and compare yourself as a beginner to where other coaches are now. And that’s just no good. Nothing good is going to come from that, right?

Definitely learn from other coaches and take away, oh, I like this, I like this thing that she’s doing. I like this thing that he’s doing. But don’t compare yourself and your beginner status to someone else’s more expert status. It just doesn’t make any sense and it will only slow you down. So just keep going, don’t compare yourself. Just know it is a work in progress to get where you want to go, and that’s perfect. That’s literally how you learn and there’s no escaping that.

Next question, “Do you recommend offering a free consultation with a potential coaching client? Or do you go right into the paid session or package? If you offer free consultation, what does that look like and cover?” So this depends, I think it depends on what it is that you’re selling. Because you’re asking this, I’m assuming you must be a newer coach, probably selling one-on-one coaching. So if that’s the case, yes, 100% I do recommend doing a free consultation or some sort of sales or exploratory call, whatever you would call it.

And the basics of what that entails is just allowing the person who’s coming to the call to tell you, your potential client, to tell you what it is that they’re wanting. What they want to work on, why they’re contacting you, all of that. And then you kind of explaining, okay, this is what I do. This is what coaching is. This is how we solve these problems that you’re bringing to the call or this is how we work towards the goal.

And it’s really just explaining, like giving them a really good idea of what coaching is, how they will work with you, and how you help them create the results that they’re wanting to create.

I know that when some coaches move into group or especially like programs and lower priced offers like that, like a program, you might cut out consultations and have something else maybe in its place. Maybe even sales calls or a team that does sales calls for you. But when you’re selling one-on-one, it’s so beneficial for the client, but also for you as the coach, to do consultation calls.

And even when you’re moving into group, if you just aren’t 100% sure how to sell it yet and you aren’t selling out and whatever every single time, it can be very useful to do consultation calls because it gives you direct access to someone who’s thinking about buying your thing and they’re telling you exactly what the problems are, right? Exactly what they’re wanting help with in their words. First of all, it helps you figure out if you’re a great fit.

And that is one way that I always think about consultations is are we a great fit? Not can I sell this person coaching? So are they a great fit to be my client? And am I a great fit to be their coach? But that can happen when you do consults for a group as well. Are they a great fit for the group? Just really, let’s get a better understanding of what’s about to happen. And does this fit for them?

It also gives them the opportunity to ask any questions they might have, to tell you any objections or any thoughts that they have about coaching with you. And it really is a great way to connect with potential clients.

Next question, “Have you ever discussed the topic of how to close or wrap up a coaching relationship? What are the simple things to cover outside of the formal follow up questions and such? I’m looking at ways to say goodbye and how to keep the door open for clients for possible coaching opportunities. Possible sample emails, any help would be greatly appreciated as I currently navigate this situation.”

So my first thought when I read this is that you may be, whoever asked this, you may be overthinking this just a little bit. I don’t think it has to be complicated, but I’m going to give you some tips. And no, I don’t think that I have covered this actually on the podcast. I do talk about this inside the Coach Lab sometimes, but I don’t think I’ve covered it here.

So here we go, just a few quick tips. So what I used to love to do when I was a one-on-one coach, about three to five calls depending on how long your coaching relationship is, about three to five calls before the end before their last session. I would just open up the conversation of hey, we have three calls left. One thing I would love to talk about for just a few minutes today is kind of how, like what you can expect for the next three calls, for the last three calls. And, you know, kind of think about how do you want to wrap this up.

And I might give them options. You could say, “So there are a couple of options. One is if you are loving this, if you’re loving the results you’re creating, you can keep coaching with me. I can give you all the details about that. But if that isn’t for you right now, I still want to really close this in a way that feels like you know exactly how to move forward outside of this container, outside of your work with me.”

I think as coaches some of you get very wrapped up in just the renewals and like how do I get them to renew? And how do I get them to coach more? Instead of how can we beautifully wrap up this container? Even if you already know they still want to work with you, I still love to wrap up this container and create a new one. So having that conversation about three to five maybe calls, just kind of a prep for like this is what’s coming, here’s what the last calls are going to look like. And maybe even giving them an overview of here are some things, like you can still bring whatever you want for coaching.

And then on the last call I loved to spend it really going through, tell me all the things that you’ve accomplished in the last six months. Or tell me all the growth that you’ve had. Tell me all the results you’ve created. Tell me all the celebrations. Let’s celebrate all the things.

And I do this still in my mastermind. For the whole last call I have every person share one thing that they want to take away with them. And I don’t do it for myself so that I can hear the celebrations, although it is very fun. And I don’t do it just as a like, yay, let’s celebrate.

I’m very intentional about we are doing this because I want this to be at least one thing, like you’re going to say this out loud so that it is solidified in your mind that you are taking away with you, right? That you, a new thought you believe about yourself as a coach, or a new thought you believe about your program, or how you work with your clients, or whatever it is. They share all kinds of different wins.

But with a one-on-one client you can do that for the whole call. You can go through all of it. So I keep it to one thing in my mastermind because of time. But when it’s just you and a client, you can really explore. Like let’s explore all the things so that when you leave here, when you’re no longer working with me, you can think back and remember all these things that we’re going to talk about.

I never did this, but I know some coaches use some of those things, some of those celebrations and turn them into some kind of gift or, you know, like a plaque or, I don’t know, a notebook or something that’s personalized. I think that’s a really great idea. I do not think that you have to do that, but some coaches love gift giving. And if that’s you, then that could be a fun idea.

But I don’t think that there’s a right or wrong and like this is exactly how you wrap it up. But I think just having, like being willing to have that open conversation, just like I say about everything else, right? Instead of avoiding it because maybe it feels uncomfortable, like really just putting it out there and saying, okay, one thing we’re going to do in these last couple of calls is decide, do you want to keep coaching? Do you feel like you’re complete?

And if you aren’t weird about it, it’s not going to be a weird or an awkward conversation with your client. Now, it may take some practice because it might feel a little wobbly or you might feel a little nervous. But the more you can go into it just feeling certain about this is just what I do, this is just how I wrap it up, the less weird it’s going to feel for your clients, right?

And some of them will be so grateful that you have given them options, that you have shown them, oh, I didn’t even know. One time I had a client say, “I didn’t even know continuing to work with you was a thing. Of course I want to do that.”

So whatever assumptions you’re making about your clients, and ending that relationship with them, and having those last calls, just like set those to the side and get curious about what would it look like if you didn’t have any of those assumptions? So that’s the first thing.

And then, no, I do not have any sample emails. That’s not something I really do at all because I think everyone’s voice is so distinct and that’s just something that you can learn on your own. But what I would say about that, whenever anyone asks me like, oh, do you have a template for that or a sample email for that? I always say just be a normal human. Just write the email like you would to your friend, or your sister, someone that you wouldn’t feel weird about writing an email to, right?

Just use the same voice the same, like thank you so much, I’ve loved this. Maybe you send them an email with the typed up all the celebrations that someone had, that’s a possibility. Maybe you, I don’t know. And when it comes to emails, like closing a formal email or a closing email, I don’t think that that’s necessary unless the only time, I actually do this but I do it in my mastermind because I can’t have an individual conversation with every person.

We go through all the celebrations, we clearly have wrapped up the space, and then I just send them a thank you email. Like thank you for being here, thank you for being in this space, I’m so grateful for you, with a little note about coaching. And then I also give them a link that takes them to a type form if they want to fill out, you know, give me any feedback or fill out like a testimonial type form.

And that’s it, that’s all I do. If you wanted to implement that last thing for your one-on-one coaching, you could do the same thing I wouldn’t leave any open-ended anything at your last call. But if you wanted you could tell them and you’ll be getting an email, it has a link you can click if you want to leave me any feedback or provide a testimonial, I would love that. Kind of however you want to end it that just feels great to you.

If it feels weird and awkward to you, it’s going to feel weird and awkward to them. So just ask yourself, how can I just be a normal human and have this conversation and close out this relationship?

And then I will add, even if your clients want to continue, I think it’s really fun to close it out and still do all the same things, still do the celebrations, right, like do the wins, all of that to solidify it. Because then when you go in for your next call or your next session with a client, you can really start with kind of a fresh, clean plate of like, okay, what are we working on now?

Maybe it’s the same thing, but maybe we’re redefining the goals, right? Or maybe they want to work on something totally different and you’re redefining those goals. I just think it’s fun to give it that like closure and then a new opening. It’s kind of like opening a fresh notebook, right? It’s like a new start.

And I think that that is, you can make it really fun for clients. And it keeps you, as the coach it keeps you out of getting to that place where you’re like, I don’t know, we’ve just been coaching for so long and now it’s just kind of whatever they want. And I’m kind of unclear about what the goals are and I think they’re maybe unclear about what the goals are. I think it can just breathe fresh life into the coaching container.

All right, next question, “What is a good profit margin for a coaching business?” So this varies greatly and I think I’m just going to give you my opinion because I don’t know that there’s a right answer for this. I’m sure some of you, especially if you’re business coaches, may agree or disagree with me.

But I’m going to say anywhere, for profit anywhere between 40 to 60% of what you’re bringing in. That’s where I try to keep mine. I try to keep it right around 50%, that is a very healthy business. That means you’re bringing in all this money and then you are reinvesting, you’re paying for all your things, you know, spending all of the money that you need to spend. All of the money that’s going out is 50% or less of what you’re bringing in.

For me, I think I dug into this a little bit recently on one of the other episodes. But for me sometimes it’ll fall closer to 40% if I have a big year of investing. My number one investment is always coaching and learning. So I’m always spending a lot on my own coaching.

And if I’m doing any learning, there was one year where I hired a business coach and I also signed up for two coach certifications, which wasn’t the best idea I ever had. But I did it, and so obviously that year my profit was lower. I think it was closer to 40%. And then I’ve had years where I’m just not investing as much, or for whatever reason my expenses are less, or I have a big bump in revenue coming in, and then I’ll be up closer to 60%.

So I don’t think that there’s a right or wrong. And I also think it depends on the stage you are in your business. In the beginning of my business, my profit margin was very, very, very low. And I think you get to decide what you allow, what feels good to you then.

I could do that because I’m married and my husband was bringing in enough income that we were fine. I didn’t necessarily need to be paying myself. He didn’t love that, but of course he’s glad now. That is a privilege that I had, to be able to lean on him during that time. But not everybody has that.

So if you don’t have that and you are the one bringing in money for your house, then you just have to decide what do you need your profit margin to be, right? And set it in a way that’s like, here Is the non-negotiable. Now, how do I increase my profit margin by creating more money, by bringing in more money, so that I have that money to invest in my business and in myself and my coaching, all of that.

I also think as you grow your business it’s kind of fun. So I work with a bookkeeper so we have all the charts and graphs and all of that. And it is really fun, as my business recently has been growing, has been bringing in more revenue, it’s really fun to see what happens. For example, I just hired my business manager full time, so then my profit took a bit of a hit, right?

But because I did that, I am able to use my brain to do other things and to kind of bring in, create more revenue. So it’s like you spend money, and this is true for investing as well, like investing in your own coaching or in your own learning. There’s more money going out, but then that money opens up the potential to bring more new money in. Which is why it varies. I would say it’s like I can watch my profit margin go down to 40% and then back up to 60, and then down and then back up.

So I don’t know if that is helpful. And you probably, I know for the first few years of my business I did not have the handle on that that I do now. So if you’re like, “Wait, what? Like how do you know that? How do you know exactly what your profit margin is?” If you are a new coach in the first couple years of your business, you probably don’t and I wouldn’t worry about it unless it’s for some reason an issue.

All right, I think that that was the last question. I got through them all. Thank you so much for submitting all of these amazing questions. The link is actually still open, so if you have more questions feel free to send them in, to send them to me. I cannot wait. I love reading your questions. I love talking about all the things and this has been really, really fun to create these three episodes for you.

Moving forward, we will be back to regularly scheduled programming, including a very fun interview for you next week. And I’m just so grateful you’re here. So as always, I hope to see you back here next week. All right, bye.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Mastering Coaching Skills. If you want to learn more about my work, come visit me at lindsaydotzlafcoaching.com. That’s Lindsay with an A, D-O-T-Z-L-A-F.com. see you next week.