The Problem of Poor Positioning
Wanna know one of the biggest mistakes I see business coaches make all the time? Poor positioning.
Setting yourself up as a company lackey as opposed to a valued expert, subject to the whims and requirements of the business owner.
There are two kinds of independent professionals who work with businesses:
Coaches and consultants.
In the gig economy, consultants are a dime a dozen. You can find them on Upwork, Fiverr, Guru. They’re freelancers. Side hustlers. Glorified employees — except without the benefits and paid time off. They base their work on hourly rates and deliverables, NOT value, NOT results.
A coach is an equal–even more than an equal–a valued teacher, mentor, motivator, educator.
And there’s a crucial distinction here, to borrow an analogy from the world of sports:
A coach would NEVER jump into the game and start playing alongside the players.
You do that, and suddenly you’re not a coach anymore.
You’ve just undercut your value.
You’ve placed yourself in the same category as gig artists, who might be great at what they do, but who have to fill their time to fill their bank accounts.
How to Position Yourself Properly
So how do avoid this trap?
First, flip your mindset.
In a tech-driven, productivity-hacking kind of world like the one we live in today, what matters is results.
Never talk time with clients and prospects.
Always talk value.
In a tech-driven, productivity-hacking kind of world like the one we live in today, what matters is results. Never talk time with clients and prospects. Always talk value.
Position yourself as the expert you are. Provide feedback, accountability, and insight. Teach them, encourage them, mentor them. Keep your appointments. Don’t let them wiggle out of theirs. Have them report to you–not the other way around. Hold their feet to the fire.
Resist the temptation to hold their hands. Don’t write their copy or run their reports.
Expect more from them than they expect from themselves.
Then you’ll be a true asset they can’t live without. Then you’ll be able to close clients paying $2,000-$3,000 per month for an hour or two of your time per week.
Then you’ll know your own worth–and will be able to push that momentum into bigger and better deals down the line.
But it all starts in one place: proper positioning.
Don’t get caught in the consultant trap.
For more foundational guidance on becoming a business coach, check out our FREE ebook, How to Become a Business Coach.
