“What’s the main benefit of business coaching to my business?”
The simple answer to this question is accountability. Having a business coach holds you accountable for doing the work necessary to grow your business.
Most business owner-managers have an idea what their company needs to do in order to grow. What they’re often unsure of is how best to approach this and how to find the time to get things done properly.
Business coaching gives you a structure for tackling these challenges. As well as helping you with the overall strategy, your coach helps you plan, schedule and implement change, breaking it down into small, manageable stages.
To show you what we mean, we’ve picked the top 3 things clients are coached on and explained a bit about how coaching helps in these areas.
AREA #1: Planning
Anyone can write a plan, the difficult part is committing yourself to it. And this is where having a business coach is beneficial. They help you set realistic goals and guide you to reach them.
For instance, we help clients to define their strategic plan (the direction and long term goals of their business) and then create 90-day action plans. The 90-day plans break objectives down into a series of easy, manageable actions which are scheduled between coaching sessions.
The regular coaching sessions work like deadlines, giving clients the impetus to complete actions and not let them slip the bottom of their to-do list. This structure means clients are able to get more done than they ever thought they could.
“The strategic planning we undertook identified our weaknesses and has so far resulted: in improved sales processes, improved reporting procedures, a more manageable business and most importantly an increased order book.” Elaine Morris – Canopies UK
AREA #2: Sales
Your sales process determines how many enquiries become customers – and stay customers. But what does an effective sales process look like? And how do you know you’re following best practice?
This is where your business coach comes in. They work with you to define, refine and implement a sales process for your company, or improve the one you have.
Your sales process provides a clear structure which makes average salespeople good, and good salespeople great. It leaves no room for error. People know what they need to do and when, and they are armed with the tools and information they need to make sales.
It’s not easy to know why prospects drop off. But, working with your business coach, you can take a step back and examine this with fresh eyes. Together, you build a process where leads are qualified early and your team spend time on the most profitable prospects.
“We have a clearly defined sales process in place and whilst working with Next Level turnover has increased by over £1.6 million, with no extra salespeople” – Christian Cain, Managing Director at Inline Health & Beauty
AREA #3: Recruitment
Recruiting the wrong people, and subsequently replacing them, costs a significant amount of time and money. It’s also incredibly frustrating, which is why so many clients ask for our help with recruitment.
In our experience, the biggest factor in poor recruitment is not dedicating enough time to it. Ideally, your process needs to have several stages, including a phone interview, CV scoring, tasks and at least two interviews in person. This may seem like a lot, but it pays to be this thorough.
For your business, it provides time to understand the candidates and decide whether they are the right fit. For the candidates, they have a chance to decide whether they really want the role. In a rigorous interview process, those less committed will drop out when hurdles are presented.
Another important perspective a coach brings to this recruitment process is their impartial opinion. Having your coach in the room when you interview someone provides another pair of eyes – one that isn’t as emotionally connected to the idea of hiring someone.
Your coach is your guide
There are no one-time quick fixes in business coaching. Instead, your coach is there to improve the way you approach running your business and put in place better systems. They are a sounding board and a guide, pushing you to get things done and providing another pair of eyes when required.
Running a business is like any other proficiency – the more guidance and training you have, the better you become. Every great athlete, sportsperson or performer is coached to help them be the best they can be, so why wouldn’t you have a business coach?
Would you like to learn more about business coaching? Maybe you’d like to try it for free?
We can offer free taster sessions to any business owner. Claim yours by getting in touch on 0113 394 4559 or emailing enquiries@nextlevelbd.co.uk.