How to Get Your First Coaching Clients

The best way to get your first coaching clients is through your existing network.

At Coach.me, we call this client prospecting.

Most new coaches think they should start by marketing on Facebook or other social media platforms.

But if you don’t have any track record, any followers, or any feedback on your services, it is going to be long and hard.

There’s an alternative solution we are here to offer you today.

Choose Your Coaching Niche

First things first. To start getting clients quickly, you must choose your coaching niche. A coaching niche: who you help and what problem you help them solve/ what goal you help them reach.

As a result, you’ll have what we call an “I help” statement: “I help [who] to overcome [problem] or achieve [goal] so that [how they want to feel].

Believe it or not, many coaches stay broad. To help coaches choose their niche, we’ve developed a comprehensive guide—Niche Navigator. If you don’t have a clear and concise “I help” statement, download this guide now, do the work, and return to this blog.

USE YOUR NETWORK

Talk to your friends first.

This has two benefits:

1. You’ll build a track record. Initially, your friends will most likely become your clients or refer people to you.
2. You’ll get a lot of information. Talking to people will help you learn more about your potential clients and determine whether your offer needs improvement.

Here are a couple of things to note before you start prospecting:

• You’re not a coach if you don’t have clients. As a coach, finding clients is a daily responsibility.
• Sales are a numbers game. So, if you want results, you must prepare to do a lot of calls.
• If you can’t sell to friends or friends of friends, it will be really hard to sell to strangers.

Let’s get started.

Prospecting in 3 Steps

Here’s a quick overview of the prospecting process:

1. Choose the right people — Contact people who will open your message because they know you.
2. Send an email or text — The recipient doesn’t have to be a potential client because you’ll ask for introductions.
3. Book the call and follow the script — It might feel awkward in the beginning, but you’ll find the voice and the flow that works for you as you practice those calls.

In the following sections, we’ll explain how to go through these steps in detail.

1. Choose the Right People

Go through your WhatsApp chats, Facebook friends, and LinkedIn network one by one.  You can go through those by letter.

For instance, reach out to your contacts on Facebook whose first name starts with A and who you think will respond to you.

It could be 5 people, or it could be 20 people. That’s fine.

Reach out to them.

2. Send an Email or Message

This is the text you could use:

Hi [name],
How are you? Hope all is well [or any other small talk relevant to that person – look through their social media to gather data]
Hey, quick thing. I’ve recently received a coaching certification. As I’m starting to coach online, I’d like to gather more information. My coaching focus is [your “I help” statement]. Do you know anyone who is in this situation right now and I could talk? Appreciate your help, my friend!

If you want to increase your chances of success, you can go even further and invite your friend to a call and ask this question on the call. The second option requires more time and effort, e.g., time coordination. But, it proved to give better results.

If you choose the second option, just shoot them an email or text asking how they are and inviting them for a quick catch-up call.  That’s all the email or text needs to say. Ask for their news first, and only then share yours. If your “I help statement” is relevant to your friend, follow the script below. If not, ask them for 2-3 people they think could benefit from your coaching.

Don’t expect everyone to answer. So, it’s okay if they don’t or if they don’t know anyone to whom they can refer you immediately. You are planting seeds for your future clients.

3. Follow the Script

Here’s the script to use either with your friend or someone who they refer to you.

Please, don’t be too hung up on a sale. You will learn a lot by talking to your potential clients. You’ll get tons of ideas for your content. And you’ll get better with every call.

Whatever the result, ensure both sides feel like it was a worthwhile call.

The script works like a mad-lib. There are parts where you fill in your own details in [square brakets]. Our comments are in (brackets).

Client Prospecting Script

Part 1: Opening

(Get them talking about themselves. You’ll pitch at the end.)

Thank you so much for taking the time. I’ve been doing a couple of these calls, and it’s been super-helpful just to hear how people are thinking about [name the problem or the goal you help with]. Is it ok if we start with me asking a few questions, and then, I’ll tell you more about what I’m up to at the end? 

Great. Could you tell me a bit about yourself: what you do, where you live, your interests and hobbies?

(It’s important to establish rapport before getting into the conversation’s meat. By learning about your clients, you’ll better understand how to approach them in the future).

Great! Now, it would be great if you could tell me more about [problem/goal you help clients with]?  

(Listen carefully and write down key points using your client’s words.)

Thank you for sharing. Let me ask a few more questions. 

Part 2: Analyzing

(Now you can dig even deeper and research the problem/goal in detail, building a bridge to your coaching offer)

• How does this [problem /goal] impact your life? How does it make you feel now?
• On a scale from 1 to 10, how much it impacts your everyday life?
• What would your life be like if you solved [your problem/reached your goal]? How would you feel then? What would you be able to do that you can’t do now? 
• Have you already tried [to solve your problem/reach your goal]? Why do you think it hasn’t worked out yet? What are the main obstacles?
• What was helpful/ or what could be helpful in the process?
• Have you ever tried coaching for this [problem/goal] or any other?
• If you considered working with a coach [again], what would be most important about the coach?

(Now, get their permission to offer your services)

Again, thank you so much for this insightful conversation. Now, can I tell you a bit about me and how I am helping my clients with your [problem/goal]?

(Now it’s time to present yourself and your offer)

• Tell them about your coaching experience. Be open if you are just starting out! Present it as a benefit rather than a weakness: that you’re ready to go above and beyond to help your clients get results
• Briefly share your why – why you’re a coach, why you decided to focus on this problem/goal
• If you’ve had a similar problem/goal, tell them how you reached it. Otherwise, share one of your client’s success stories. 

(Next, share the number one mistake or the most valuable piece of advice that will help them. This one is super important to make this a valuable conversation not just for you but for them as well. Keep it brief: don’t go into too much detail.)

(Finish with the confident promise to help them. You will need to use information they’ve shared with you earlier):

I can help you [solve the problem/reach the goal], overcome [obstacles they’ve shared], and be the coach [the important point they’ve shared about coaching]!  Would you like that? /Is this something you want?

(If the answer is yes, move on to the next part. If they are not sure, ask what doubts or questions they have. Answer them all, except for the price. Your goal is to get them to say “yes” before you name your price).

Part 3: Closing

(Now, price)

My coaching package includes X number of calls and costs $X total. When are you ready to start?

(From here, they could say: “today,” “next week,” or that they need to think about it. You have a couple of options here: offer a discount, offer a payment plan, or just ask what could help make this decision today? Or you could just give them time and ask when you could follow up regarding the decision).

What’s next?

Just do it!

You need at least ten conversations to start feeling relaxed and confident. As you continue those conversations, you will find your own words and flow.

Every conversation will give you the results:

• you become better at it
• you learn more about your potential clients
• or you’ll get a client

If you have not made any sales after 10-15 conversations, you must reevaluate your coaching offer: the price, the promise, the process, etc. We can help you with that:  check out our Online Product Incubator for Coaches, where we help coaches design, build, and launch their coaching packages.

TL;DR

• Before talking to your prospective clients, choose your coaching niche
• Ask your friends for help: use their network to get the first calls booked
• Use the script until you find your voice and flow
• Make these conversations valuable for both parties
• Revise your coaching offer, if you don’t succeed after 10-15 calls; we can help!
• Continue with those conversations until you are fully booked!

Now, go out there and get your first coaching clients!