How to get your first coaching clients

It is very common for coaches to go through all their training to become a coach, and then have a hard time putting themselves out there to get paid clients. I'd like to share a few thoughts with you on how you can get your first paid clients from a place of confidence and that honors your integrity. There are several shifts that, when you make them, you'll be able to get your first clients in a way that feels natural and real. 

Shift #1: Kick "I'm not good enough" to the curb

OK, here's the thing. One of the most pervasive things that keeps coaches from actually putting themselves out there, is this pesky and annoyingly persistent thought of "I'm not good enough." Contrary to popular belief, this is NOT a worthiness issue. It masks as one, but something else is hiding behind it that blocks you from freely shining your light and showing up.

It has to do with a fear of trust more than a fear of not being good enough! Here are some versions of how I see this show up in my clients: "I don't get to have what I want, it's in my DNA" - "The Universe is against me" - "God doesn't favor me" - "There's the haves and have nots, and I'm a have not" 

When you focus on the good enough, it can takes years to "solve" it, and you end up staying in healing mode. I talk to coaches all the time who experience this, even when they do find their way to paid clients. You want to kick the "I'm not good enough" to the curb by transcending this "truth" that somehow success isn't for you and that you weren't chosen or special.

When you transcend that and align with your essence of who you truly are, you'll find yourself saying "Wow, I really love myself," and opens you up for making heart-to-heart connections, which is what serving others (ie sales) is all about.

This leads to: Showing up authentically, freely, AND connecting to your purpose. 

If you've been going back and forth on your niche, trust me, I know what that's like. So many coaches spend years trying to figure out their niche. My experience is that when they drop into the essence of who they are at their core (behind the "I"m not good enough" and "I don't get to have what I want"), the problem they want to solve and for whom drops in, too. Usually in a moment when you're not thinking about it. Locking in on who you are and how you are meant to make an impact has a huge effect on getting to your first clients faster, AND it helps you accelerate your mastery of coaching, too. 

Shift #2: Use the 5% rule for accelerating coaching mastery 

In the beginning coaching conversations can be really overwhelmed and it is easy to get lost. There is so much to pay attention to! What question do you ask, what model do you use, what change process to apply, what to listen for. Plus, clients don't exactly follow a script, so it is easy to get off track. 

Getting to your first paid clients faster means building confidence, which means breaking down the overwhelm and accelerating the pathway to coaching mastery. The most common complaints I heard from coaches was that note-taking felt so overwhelming (ie what do you write down?), and a lack of a clear blueprint or pathway for transformation.

This is where it comes in incredibly handy to focus on the 5% rule.

Focus on the 5% of all the skills and change processes out there that will get you 95% of the results for your clients. Did you know, for example, that there are only 5 types of questions you need to ask that gets you the information that leads to transformation?
AND that there are only 6 solutions you need to know that will get you amazing results for your clients? 

Even better. You can gather all the information on a 1 page template, so you'll always know where you are in the transformation process, what information to focus on, and what information is irrelevant. This makes the process for getting results a REPEATABLE pathway, which makes it sooooooo much easier to charge money for your services. 

Shift #3: Organic way to get your first clients 

When I first started out in my business, doing supervision for coaches, all I had was a deep passion for helping coaches. I didn't have any background in marketing. All I knew was that a lot of coaches were struggling and I wanted to help. And that's how I approached people. I made a brochure, nothing fancy, and then I reached out to people. I easily filled my program. 

OK, I'm skipping to the good part a bit here. I shouldn't fail to mention that I had gone through several iterations of my business before. From relationship coaching to executive coaching to team building. Not because I had a passion for it, but because I needed to pick a niche and these seemed obvious money makers. Then, after I did a year long stint as an internal coach, one day I woke up from a deep sleep and had this lightbulb moment: "I love benchmarking coaching sessions and helping coaches get better." I was traveling the world, doing that for free! It seemed so obvious but up until then I hadn't been able to see it. 

Two things came together in that moment: I had absolute confidence that I could help coaches + I had a deep passion for it.  

That's why having a repeatable pathway and choosing from essence is so valuable! 

Here's what I have my clients do to get their first paid clients: They use my 1 page template to do market research and practice their coaching skills. And because it is such a deep dive, what happens is that people usually feel so deeply understood, that they want to continue working with them. 

Getting your first clients isn't about getting a fancy website, having a marketing funnel, etc. These often serve as a way to avoid getting clients. No, marketing is about making connections and genuinely letting people know you can help. 

Shift #4: Plug and play coaching program

Once you have your niche, and you feel confident in your coaching, the next question that comes up is how you set up a coaching program. How many sessions should you do? How long should a call be? What do you cover? 

This is where it helps to have a plug and play coaching program that you can guide your clients through.

My coaches have the option to utilize my online course (at a nominal fee per client) and playbook as a guide for their clients. This means that a lot of the preparation and explanation for the first session is already done, and you can hit the ground running. The client then has access to all the guided processes, so they can solidify the work they do with you between sessions. Of course, this is an option, not a must, but I've found that it is incredibly helpful. Even my advanced coaches are using it for their clients, as it saves them so much time. 

Shift #5: Supervision and ongoing support

When you get your first clients, stuff will come up that you may not know how to handle yet. That's the funny thing about people, they generally don't follow a script. That's where supervision and mentoring comes in. That's how I started my business! So many coaches were telling me they lacked ongoing support. It's one thing to be in a coach training and get all hyped up and excited, but all you've done up until now is coach people that know what questions you're going to ask and what answers are expected. Taking it to the real world, where you work with people who haven't gone through the same training, is a different ballgame. 

You need a place to go where you can get your questions answered and trouble shoot conversations you're having, so you can take your skills to the next level. Knowing someone has your back makes this journey more relaxing, more fun, and faster than when you have to go it on your own. 

Here's how you can work with me to get rock-solid confidence and get your first coaching clients...

If what you just read resonated with you and you'd like to feel fully free to put yourself out there from a place of confidence and integrity, then here's how you can work with me. I have a small group program that guides you through all of the steps mentioned above over a 24 week period. We kick "I'm not good enough" to the curb, work on repeatable pathway to getting results, lock in on your soul's purpose and coaching program, and get support with your first clients. This also includes to 1:1 coaching sessions with me. 

The investment for this $7K. 

If you'd like to be considered for a spot on the program, please email me at femke@quantumleapcoachacademy.com and let me know a bit about your background. I'm also happy to jump on a call, so if you'd prefer that just let me know in the email and I can send you a link to schedule that. 

I look forward to hearing from you. 

Love, Femke