There is NO Secret Sauce!

There is NO Secret Sauce!

There are three kinds of coaches:

  1. Certified Coaches
  2. Mini-Me Coaches
  3. Maxi-You Coaches

1.  Certified Coaches 

I am not a certified coach, nor will I ever be. I had three coaches in my first year of branding myself a coach, with varying degrees of success. What I do have are decades of real life entrepreneurial experience, IBM sales training, an MBA in Marketing and no patience to go through another program (nor add any more initials after my name). Being in sales, you learn how to ask great questions, which is key to being a great coach. Ask the right questions and you’ll get deeply thought out answers. Then you will be able to help them.

However, just because you are a certified coach, does not automatically make you a great coach, especially for entrepreneurs or B2B coaching. If you’ve only ever worked in a corporate environment and the only business you’ve ever started is your own coaching business–what would you know about starting a retail business or helping an entrepreneur grow from 1-20 employees?

Being a certified coach certainly can give you an edge on the competition when it comes down to life coaching, which needs a different set of experiences and expertise. However, in order to be a business coach, it really does help to have run a similar business and have coached a number of businesses to successful growth.

2. Mini-Me Coaches Coaching

These are the ones who lure you into a free or very low cost workshop or seminar and then sell HARD from the stage. They will try to browbeat you into signing up that night for a “very special offer”.

Some of them can be outright bullies, threatening, badgering, telling you to cash in your savings or get a loan. One friend actually had a panic attack after her followup call from one of those sessions. That’s not selling–that’s being a bully. And I hate bullies.

The Mini-Me coaches tend to be the ones who say “follow my proven system and you too will be rich”, what I call the “secret sauce” or “get-rich-quick” formula. I don’t deny that that sauce worked for them and some others, however, I don’t see it working for others with the same success rate.

While there are some great Mini-Me coaches out there, ask the one who wants your business what their clients’ successes look like —I publish mine here. 

I do not like bullies in any shape or form. I do not think it is ever necessary to yell at clients. I do not like their hard sell tactics, which I liken to the time-share industry (buy today or I never want to hear from you again).

I am truly committed to relationship selling for long term sustainable growth. These Mini-Me coaches are the kind of people who give sales a bad rap but they are the minority when it comes to selling. I’ve never been a hard selling person, yet I’ve sold millions of dollars worth of  “stuff” around the world.

Would you want a bully as a boss? Then why do you think it’s acceptable to have one as a coach?

I’ve been in sales and marketing, the two most essential skills for any entrepreneur, for over 30 years. I know what it takes to run a successful business and grow from 0 to 7-figures and 20 employees because I’ve done it. I’ve heard that some Mini-Me coaches’ clients have a 5-10% success rate, correct me if I’m wrong. Before you sign up, be sure to ask to see their clients’ success record–here’s mine.

3. Maxi-You Best Version of Yourself!

I’m that kind of coach. The world does not need another Patti Pokorchak. My goal is to take my knowledge and experience and use it to make you the BEST version of who YOU want to be. I have no secret sauce, except what is noted below. Each coaching session is totally personalized to every individual.

Entrepreneurs tend to be independent and stubborn. That’s why we didn’t like having a boss to report to. Trying to force us into a system or process, even if it supposedly will make us more money, goes against the entrepreneurial grain. The cookie-cutter approach to running businesses only succeeds when you buy into a franchise, not as an independent.

My not so secret sauce for success:

  1. Find a gap in the market where your skills or products are needed
  2. Identify the ideal target market with the biggest need as they are the easiest to sell to
  3. Work smarter not harder (get a coach)
  4. Never ever ever give up–except when it’s time to call it quits and try something else
  5. Never stop selling! No Sales = No Business, there are NO exceptions to this rule!

In theory, great coaches should be able to coach others even when it’s beyond their level of expertise or experience. However, I find most of my clients want my knowledge and experience–it’s not pure coaching but do they really care? They only want results! The faster the better.

Let me know your viewpoints on these three kinds of coaches in the comments below.

What has your experience with coaching been like?

 

** Please note that this blog post is my opinion, based on what I’ve observed and been told by others. I’ve picked up unhappy clients of other coaches, where they have had no success but spent a lot of money (sometimes $10,000-20,000!) I’m still a bargain but get to me before my waiting list increases.

 

I credit the brilliant David Newman of Do It! Marketing with the terms “Mini-Me” and “Maxi-You” as I had been trying to explain differences in coaching styles. I took the best coaching class with him; I highly recommend him and his book. He is a no BS, straight-shooter who tells it like it is. He’s smart, so get on his site for tons of free resources and a subscription to his mailing list.

 

Contact me to book your free, no obligation 30-minute Sales Intervention call to see if we’re a match to work together.  416-951-3842  Patti@SmallBizSalesCoach.ca

I promise to never yell at you and you will get amazing results!

Remember – have fun and make money, and if you’re not having fun, then who cares about the money!

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