Ten Secrets of Successful Sample Sessions

http://www.prosperouscoach.com

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.

face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">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:

face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">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
href="http://www.prosperouscoach.com/members/96.cfm">Start With Your Ideal
Business.

face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">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?

face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">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.

face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">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.

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.

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.

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.

face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">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.

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.

face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">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.

If you want to reprint or share this article, please send your request to: support@prosperouscoach.com