Sample sessions are an excellent way to enroll clients. When a prospect experiences first hand the benefits of your coaching, they are more likely to hire you. And the session allows you both to assess fit, which is essential to your overall coaching success and theirs.

Potentially, the sample session not only brings you another ideal client but it also sets the tone of the ongoing work you'll do together and establishes a healthy co-creative relationship. At the very least, sample sessions provide you with more coaching experience and improve the general public's knowledge about the coaching industry. Think of it like seeding a field. Even if a prospect does not hire you right away, they may hire you months or even years later!

Make It Worth Your While

Every sample session you do takes up valuable time. Think of it this way, if you charge $450 for three hour long sessions each month, an hour of your time is worth $150. Your free sample session is a tremendous gift! Make it worthwhile for both your potential client and you by setting every sample session up for success.

Favorite Mistakes

Can you relate to any of this? These are the mistakes I used to make around sample sessions:

• I offered sample sessions to anyone without pre-qualification.

• I didn't clearly articulate the benefits of my coaching services.

• I waited until the end of the session to share my fees and terms.

• I didn't tell the prospect the purpose of the session.

• I desperately performed rather than co-creatively coaching.

• I failed to ask prospects to hire me at the end of the session.

• I'd adjust my fees and terms to accommodate the prospect.

• Sometimes, I'd take on a client who I knew was not the best fit.

• I would fret if they didn't hire me, letting it fill me with doubt.

• I didn't set up systems to funnel ideal clients to me.

The bottom line: My approach did not show that I valued my time or my services -- big detractors to getting hired and being successful.

When I corrected my mistakes, my conversion rate went from 40% to 100%. Now every sample session ends with the prospect hiring me on the spot. Plus, clients stay longer, accomplish more, refer other clients, and are a joy to work with.

Ten Success Points

Show yourself and your prospects how valuable you are by setting up sample sessions this way:

1. Pre-qualify prospects -- only offer sample sessions to your target market and prospects that fit your ideal client criteria. If you have not yet created ideal client criteria, do that now! Check out the sample list in Start With Your Ideal Business.

2. Share 3 -- 5 concrete benefits prospects will experience in ongoing coaching with you. Make it specific to their challenges and goals. It's critical to know your market and be able to express benefits that are compelling to them, or else why would they buy your services?

3. Always share your fees/terms before scheduling a session. "Let me tell you how I work and if that interests you we'll set up a sample session." Don't waste your valuable time on a prospect that will not invest in your services. Consider setting up group coaching for individuals that would like to work with you but choose not to afford your full fee for one-on-one coaching.

4. Explain the purpose of the sample session -- to test-drive your coaching as an ongoing support system so that they can achieve more, more easily. And add: "We'll leave about 15 minutes at the end of the session to explore any questions you have so that you can decide if you'd like to hire me." This sets up the understanding that a decision is ideally made immediately after the sample session.

If the prospect wants time to decide, say, "I understand. What do you need to help you decide?" This coaching question supports their decision making process. Put a tickler in your calendar to check with them by phone in two days. And, if that doesn't result in the prospect hiring you, let them go. Keep their contact info and session notes in a "potential client" folder in case they hire you later. Ask them to subscribe to your ezine, if they have not already. This way, you have future opportunities to connect with them and build trust.

5. Coach co-creatively rather than in performance mode. Set time boundaries for the session and stick to them. Resist the impulse to over deliver by sending lots of materials in advance or trying to cover all the bases. Let them see that the real magic of coaching is in the partnership by showing your confidence in the process itself.

6. Ask the prospect to hire you. When the session is done, ask the client what they are taking away. And then ask: "Would you like to continue coaching together?" Get right to the close. Coach through any obstacles. But don't try to convince them. Let them make the decision that is best for them.

7. Stand firmly in the terms of your service. If you adjust fees or the number of sessions you offer, you and your client both lose in the long run. It's amazing how low or discounted fees can actually dis-empower the client and diminish the sense that coaching is an investment in their personal success. It may mean they bring less enthusiasm and energy to make meaningful changes during the coaching.

And remember, you have a fiscal responsibility to yourself to make a good income. Value your time by getting the best clients and the highest return on your investment. You don't want to sabotage your ability to maintain a thriving business.

8. Assess fit with your integrity. Learn to read physical or emotional sensations within you that tell you what's best for you. Only take on ideal clients. If you sense they are not the right client for you for any reason, say with a warm but neutral voice, "I don't think I'm the best fit for you. Would you like a referral?" Be ready with names and contact information of other coaches that you trust. Don't belabor this conversation. Tell the client that you have learned to trust your intuition and that fit in coaching is critical for their best results. Above all do not shame the client with your concerns.

9. Trust that all is well. If a client doesn't hire you, let them go by blessing them. We can never know the path of another. Have faith that your ideal clients will find you if you make yourself visible to them. The struggle or pain in being a business owner almost always rests in attachment to outcome. Make it easy on yourself and become a master of detachment.

10. Intend to give at least one sample session every week. Set up marketing systems to funnel ideal prospects to you. If your pipeline is empty, it's time to employ better client attraction approaches.

Note: Some coaches do not offer free sample sessions. That option may work well once you've established a presence within your target market and have some excellent testimonials. The great thing about coaching is that it's an entrepreneurial business -- you can do whatever suits you!

You may find different methods work best for you. As with everything in business test and tweak to find what will give you the highest return.

Begin employing these ten secrets in your sample sessions now!

Rhonda Hess is Founder of Prosperous Coach™ and a business success coach for professional coaches. She is co-author of the Coach Training accelerator, a comprehensive coach training manual, and senior trainer for Coach Training Alliance. She also wrote Working Websites for Coaches, an ebook available in Resources for Coaches. For more information about Rhonda, see: Contributors. For more information about Prosperous Coach, see: About Us.

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