You probably know the story… Dr. Phil was a regular guest on Oprah… next thing you know he has his own TV show.

Speak to almost any psychiatrist and the mere mention of “Dr. Phil” will make them shake their head. They’ll tell you he’s an average psychiatrist at best, and his popularity and notoriety pisses them off. 

The bottom line… Dr. Phil marketed himself better than the others and his bank balance and influence are reflective of that.

Does this sound familiar in our profession as business coaches?

We both know many of the best coaches struggle to make ends meet and the ones that ‘pump their chest’ make all kinds of money and their clients are sometimes left a little disappointed after the payment clears.

The job of a coach…

My experience with working with thousands of business coaches: The work is often very different than what they assume going in. It’s the same in almost every profession. 

A chiropractor might think his job is to heal a bad back.

The dentist might think her job is to heal a toothache.

But in fact, that’s not what attracts nor keeps their clients. The cure is the desired result, and it’s significant, but it’s not enough.

The fundamental application of the service is important, but the job entails much more than that.

Chiropractors that contribute to their community are caring and genuinely compassionate, allocate time to bring “emotional labor” and sensitivity to their clients, invest in products, programs, and employees that improve their offering constantly…. and always perform better than the competition that do not.

The same scenario plays out for the graphic designer who performs the job thinking it’s about creating a nice design or the local restaurant/bar who is merely focused on the food and drinks. That stuff is absolutely important, but there’s so much more to the business than what’s in the typical description.

Doing the job is not always the same as doing the work.

The “soft stuff” always matters more than they think.

I’ve got a hockey background, played inline hockey for Team Canada (ice hockey on rollerblades) multiple times and I was usually far from the best player… like to think not the worst but probably pretty close LOL. I always knew a major part of my role was to be “the calming influence” on the team when things got heated or critical situations to arise. They put an “A” on my shirt so when the referee had to be spoken to… it was me that stated our case and tried to influence the situation.

We were there to score goals and win games… but the reality is if we didn’t keep our cool in the crucial moments, have the right attitude in the dressing room and off the ice, as in the ‘soft stuff,’ we’d get our butts kicked.

Business is exactly the same.

As a business coach… your job is to make your clients money. And money isn’t always about more sales… it can be SO SO SO  MUCH easier than that. Especially in those first 90 days when you’re solidifying the relationship and convincing the client “this will work.”

Bottom line… if you don’t make your clients more money they cancel – and weirdly, they seldom tell you the truth as to why. Instead, they use an excuse (overwhelm, time, they just need a three-month break, etc.).  But make no mistake… they cancel and stop paying you, sending you back to “lead generation” which I know you love so much :o)

But you must manage the “soft stuff” to make all this work.

My job which is helping business coaches like you earn a great multiple six figures living on the phone coaching is the same, only a tad harder :o)

I work with business coaches in 24 countries and my job is three-fold:

1. Generate small business leads for the business coach (easy)
2. Help close high-end coaching clients for the business coach (easy)
3. To help get fast results for the small business owners so they stay with my business coaches FOR YEARS on a recurring basis (easy)

But my real job is as a practical psychologist (very hard).

And… to make business coaches MONEY.

Thanks for tuning in,

Karl “Soft Stuff” Bryan

PS. If you’re struggling to get coaching clients or the attention of small business folk… try out our free business coach training…sign up here.

PPS. If you’re struggling to get in front of clients that can afford you or struggling to get immediate financial results for your small business clients (if they make money quickly… they can afford to pay you) leave a comment and I’ll show you “How I find any small business owner $100,000 in 45 minutes without spending a dollar on marketing or advertising.” 

Note: I meet broke coaches all the time… I just MAKE THEM MONEY so they can afford to pay me. You should do the same with your coaching clients and then you’ll never be short of one. It’s like magic, only better cause it’s so darn profitable :o)

PPPS. I can’t stand the Dr. Phil show ha ha ha