We’re more than a week into lockdown and I have found myself reflecting on what’s changed, and what I have learned about myself and others over the last couple of weeks. How can you be using ‘Lockdown’ effectively as a coach?
Social Distancing
I’m asthmatic, and my daughter and partner are too. In fact, their asthma is worse than mine, so together we decided to start to self distance/isolate a week before we were forced to by a lockdown.
I found myself being horrified – upset and angry – with friends who took no notice of the advice to distance themselves. The weekend before the lockdown, the Lake District where I live was as busy as a bank holiday weekend! I’m sure you saw the newspaper reporting on Skegness being as busy as the peak holiday season.
A friend of mine drove a couple of hours with her small children to ‘see my family as I’m not sure how long it will be until I can see them again’ and I found myself aghast at what I considered to be her stupidity.
What I’ve learned from this is that I can’t control what other people do. It’s not even my place to have an opinion on it, because I’m not them. Everyone is reacting to this – frankly previously unimaginable situation – in their own way.
We are all doing the best we can with what we have.
The Death Of The Coaching Industry
A coach asked me if I thought that coronavirus was the death of the coaching industry. I was taken aback.
Of course it isn’t!
Coaching is about helping people to navigate their inner world. It’s about supporting people through difficult times and/or helping them to get out of their own way in order to achieve something magnificent. That’s not changed. In fact, I’d argue that coaching has never been more important! In fact, using ‘Lockdown’ effectively as a coach could help you to grow.
Money!
The other panic that several coaches I’ve spoken to have had is that ‘no one has got any money to pay for coaching!’ Unless the client you work with is a small business owner, I disagree.
After the initial panic, where we all got into ‘survival mode’ and hunkered down for the end of days, things have started to settle down.
People have started to realise that (for the most part) they are still getting paid, and actually, they have far less to spend it on. No meals out, fewer takeaways (none in our case – too rural!), no family days out. In short, there is more disposable income in people’s accounts than there was previously.
The other thing that’s strikingly different, is that all of a sudden, people have more time, during this ‘lockdown’ period. No commuting or going out means that we’ve slowed down, and in that slowing down have realised that there is time in our lives that we may never get again, and now is a great time to learn something new. That learning can be admirably filled by coaching.
Profiteering
One thing I’ve seen is that lots of coaches suddenly feel that they should be giving away their services. There is a feeling that somehow, selling coaching in this difficult time is in some way profiteering from the problems of others.
I understand the sentiment – you want to help as many people as possible and have to barriers to them receiving that help.
The thing is that coaching has always been about profiting from the problems of others. Clients work with coaches because they have a problem they want to solve. Coaches charge those clients for that help. The only difference between before lockdown and now is that the number of people with problems has increased exponentially and the urgency of finding a solution has become intense.
You still need to earn a living, as do other coaches. If you can’t cover your financial bases, you start to feel anxious about your own situation and that isn’t a great place from which to coach.
This is where using ‘Lockdown’ effectively as a coach can help.
Your coaching still has value. Other options:
- Offer a payment plan
- Coach small groups at a lower price point each
- Collaborate with other coaches – what could you put together?
- Use the time to create that online course you have had in the back of your mind for ages
- Create a lead-magnet that is incredibly useful to your client, and share it widely. Use it to build your email list.
- Offer a discount – just for the duration of the lockdown. Don’t go mad, people are suspicious of a 90% discount!
What Do We Do?
We adapt. It’s what we coaches do.
If you previously only delivered coaching face-to-face, step up and learn the technology that will allow you to coach online.
If you are not sure how to market your coaching business online, you need to learn – and learn quickly.
Use ‘Lockdown’ effectively as a coach
Talk to me – we can help. This is my diary.