I remember my early days in coaching when I would get so nervous about those “first sessions” – the trial sessions when people who elect whether or not to hire me as their coach.
I put my all, my everything into those sessions and would find myself so nervous when it came to “the close”. In my coaches training program, I had been taught what is a very standard “closing the call” practice.
I was supposed to say, “Right now you are in one of three places. One is “this has been a great experience, thank you, but I am just not into the idea of coaching with you right now.
“The second place is ‘I enjoyed this immensely and I need to work something out like budget or calendar before committing
“The third place is ‘I am ready to begin coaching with you immediately. What do I need to do now to get started with you right away.”
Now this may work for some people but it didn’t work for me.
I found the whole idea of “closing” my possible coaching clients was actually preventing me from scheduling complimentary coaching sessions.
What worked much better was simply showing up, providing coaching and then saying “Thank you so much!” at the end of the call.
What I found was people began requesting the continuance of the coaching relationship rather than me “selling them” on the coaching relationship.
Talk about having an increased sense of power!
Here’s what you can do:
Next time you have a complimentary coaching session, let go of your expectations.
Don’t think about how many clients you need to have a full practice. Let go of your intentions for specific numbers of new clients per month.
Expect only to have a breakthrough session.
Maintain your power and give power to the person experiencing your coaching.
