Tree of Coaching

Apply the Tree principle to your Christian life-coaching practice.

Part One — Establish Roots

It is important to put down roots to keep your focus secure during the tough stretches that every coach faces and to and keep you grounded when things are going great. Clearly defining your mission, vision, and target client are the roots that feed information to the other parts of a flourishing practice.

As a successful coach, you should firmly establish:

What your gifts or strengths are
What your values are
What your mission statement is
What your vision of coaching is
What clients you have been called to serve
What main problem your clients are facing
How best to serve your clients

Understanding in detail who you are as a coach allows you to serve with a renewed focus the clients God places before you. Every successful coach has a mentor coach to clarify these items and keep him or her on track. Never stop growing in your walk with God and in your desire to be the best coach you can be. Carefully consider the information being fed to you by the roots of your practice in all your coaching decisions.

Part Two — Build a Strong Trunk

Your website is the key piece to pull together everything you are and hope to be as a coach. As the trunk for your coaching practice, it needs to support everything you do as a coach. It must effectively allow potential clients to enter into a coaching relationship with you at a level that is comfortable for them.

Your site must entice people into making the decision to contact you during one of their first Internet visits. Create a site that is visually pleasing and encourages them to make that contact. Develop content that not only informs your readers but also begins to build a relationship of trust. Explain how you can help change readers’ lives. They have come to your website open to making changes. You must give them a compelling reason why you are the coach that should assist them in making that transformation. Make sure your website supports the values and mission statement of the root system of your tree.

Part Three — Branch Out

It is unreasonable to expect potential clients to purchase high-dollar coaching services without first getting to know you as a coach. Branch out by developing coaching products that allow you to interact with people on a personal level. This will give your clients the chance to build a coaching relationship with less risk. These services should provide clients with a sample of what you have to offer as a coach.

These products can take many forms. Evaluate which are the best options for you, and create products that leverage your strengths.

These offerings can include:

Teleclasses
Group coaching sessions
Speaking engagements
Auto-responders

This is the place to put your best foot forward, and truly WOW your clients. When you enroll someone in a group program, that person is only one step away from becoming a one-to-one coaching client. Strong branches allow your clients to climb higher onto your coaching tree and get a better view of your coaching skills.

Part Four — Grow Leaves

Often the first introduction to your coaching will be a digital product. Just as leaves absorb light to provide food for a tree, digital products provide clients the opportunity to absorb knowledge from you. Feeding clients small bits of information builds faith in your coaching ability.

These products are usually free or have a much lower fee. They are the services that most clients will turn to first because of the greatly reduced risk involved. Because of the reduced cost, however, these products usually do not include personal contact from you. This does not diminish their importance. As with mass coaching products, you should determine the options that best match your strengths.

Examples of digital products are:

Blogs
Audio messages
CD's
Articles
Newsletters
eBooks
eCourses

Ideally, you should offer many different digital products. Many leaves are needed to provide nutrition for a branch, and many products will be needed to support your group coaching programs. Not every client will be drawn to the same product. Some may prefer the freedom to read your blog while others will want to listen to your voice in an audio message. Still others may want the knowledge that can be gained through an eCourse.

Whichever products and services you chose to offer, be sure to leverage the contact that has been made by offering follow-up products. Such products should be designed to draw clients deeper into the coaching relationship. And always be sure that your offerings portray an authentic representation of you as a Christian life coach!