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Business coaching process

Can someone share with me the step by step process of how business coaching works? From - what happens when a client inquires about your services, Till - The last day of the contract.

What is discovery call all about? How coaches decide the number of sessions? Process of live sessions etc.? And anything else that you would like to add.

Thanks to all in advance.

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6 answers

Below are my answers to certain Micro Mentor Survey Questions recently. They may be useful to you.

Searching for People to Help What ways are you aware to help people like this (besides Micro Mentor- if they are users)

I have a presence on over a dozen web sites that are frequented by veterans and small enterprises. I write or post related blog articles daily. My non-profit volunteer web site, “Smalltofeds” is viewed 10,000 times weekly and is approaching a million visitors. Micro Mentor is referenced in most of these site profiles as the preferred way to contact me. I also can be contacted via Linked In and Alignable. I have 2500 Answers on Quora, which continue to drive clients my way, even though I left that site years ago.

What personal qualities of a mentee do you think would suit you?

Knowledge and experience. He or she can relate to the mentor by not only asking questions, but also commenting on the outcomes and the quality of the mentor’s work.

Relationship style. If they have a thought on performing the job in a different way than the mentor identifies they show some initiative by developing the approach and asking the mentor to comment.

Personality. Most of us who have mentored for years appreciate the fact that the mentored individual will do the job reflecting his or her own values, attributes and outlook. We are only there as guides. The ideal mentee makes the journey interesting for us as well.

Communication style. I enjoy communicating by email and in written form. I accept calls by appointment 2 hours in the evening.

How would you know you found a good person to be your mentee? What information do you think would be most helpful for you?

When someone contacts me requesting a relationship or when I make an offer, I first read the Micro Mentor Profile and then move to Linked In for additional detail on the person. I look for background and value information in addition to the professional or work experience. I consider the potential market niche and whether or not the individual is motivated and whether I feel I can assist. I then make an offer and include links to some of my work on the web so they can see where I have been and what I have done with mentees. It is then their choice to continue. Their response is key to a continuing relationship. I do not chase mentees. Some contact me once and I never hear from them again. I accept that as their choice. Others have been with me for 5 years or more and contact me only when they have major decisions to make or wish to thank me for my assistance.

Working with mentee (in reality) How do you imagine contacting a mentee? I get inquiries due to my high rating on Micro Mentor. I get others by word of mouth since I have been at this volunteer work for several years. My articles on my blogs sites bring in others. I speak at community local and state meetings arranged by people I have come to know in local government offices.

How do you imagine the process?

I use a very structured approach. Asking the mentee to work with me along the following lines: 1. Do you have a product or service niche in mind? 2. Do you believe you have a market for 1 above and the means to reach it? 3. Are you willing to develop a business plan using the tool kit I provide to validate 1 and 2 above before you launch? If the answer to the above questions is "Yes" we begin the journey. When we have completed the above definition and planning process they are then in a position to astutely select the tools they wish to use along the way and apply them successfully. Most are able to network their business, pick up riders as industry partners, and attract revenue fuel in the form of customers by marketing and social networking based on the thorough definition and content of their business plan.   I assist them in avoiding technology making a monkey out of them and their idea as well as raiding their treasury before they launch. At the bottom line I assist the mentee in defining the business vehicle and its journey first. They may then pick the right technology tools to make a successful trip.

https://www.smalltofeds.com/2015/05/are-you-driving-tools-not-car-in.html

How do you imagine your role as a mentor? Most of us who have mentored for years appreciate the fact that the mentored individual will do the job reflecting his or her own values, attributes and outlook. We are only there as guides.

How much time would you want to spend with your mentee?

I let the mentee be the judge of that. My lifestyle in retirement involves staying fit and combining a 6 mile round trip (photography and fishing along the way) to the public library for work there at no more than 3 hours. Prior to departing on that trip I am up at 3:30 AM working on-line for 2 hours with Military Personnel stationed around the world before they start their day. These individuals are coming home and wish to be entrepreneurs. I work the phone in the evening for 2 hours. My contribution for 6 days a week for the last 11 years has averaged 5-7 hours. I am in bed by 8PM.

What kind of preparation do you think is important to have as a mentor?

In my view the mentor must have an appreciation of the rainbow of human values that exist out there and the fact that good communication must relate on an open minded basis to that phenomena. Our existence and our mental universe are driven by factors that we as individuals inherit through the gene pool, as enhanced by our experiences in life. In short we are most at peace when we are in sync with the personal value system that has evolved as a result of the above factors and when we are permitted to pursue our values in our personal and professional endeavors. If we cannot achieve that harmony we will seek change.

To relate to a mentee we must find out what they value first.  It may not be what we value - or what we believe they should value; but we are stuck with those values and the value system backing them up. In many cases they are political, self-serving and disappointing but we cannot ignore them.  We must manage them.  We must threaten or further those value systems to get clients to act.  This above approach has worked for me over many years and I recommend it in a related article to my clients: https://www.smalltofeds.com/2012/11/value-based-marketing-techniques-for.html

Ending mentorship How will you know you don’t need to meet with your mentee anymore?

The mentee no longer contacts me.

What will be your role finishing mentoring?

None. I leave that up to the mentee. Some contact me once and I never hear from them again. Others have been with me for over 5 years and contact me only when they have a major decision to make or they wish to thank me for my help.

Would you like sharing your mentoring experience? If so, how?

I do so regularly at the Micro Mentor Groups and Q&A in which I participate and at the web sites in which I participate: https://www.quora.com/profile/Ken-Larson-2/answers/Mentors-and-Mentoring

What would you expect from your mentee at the end of the relationship?

A thank you is sufficient.

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I can share about a great coaching experience I had as a client. I reached out to someone I had met previously who is a coach. She offered the first discovery session for free which was very helpful. She asked me many questions including what I wanted to have happen at the end of our coaching relationship. This helped me think about being invested in several sessions and why I needed the support. We did our meeting virtually and she let me decide on the frequency and number of sessions I would need. I did not decide until a few sessions in and she was OK with that. She would also have been OK if I only did one or 2 sessions. She was obviously interested in helping me find the answers within and that made our experience successful.

Report Abby's answer

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I find coaching to be the same as marketing/selling to customers. I try to discover where the "pain point" is and focus on that first. What do you need help with first and foremost? Based on our conversation, it's likely to turn out to be something else. I try to determine if you are describing symptoms of an issue or a root cause. Based on the discussion i am likely to try to construct an Ishikawa diagram and prioritize which of the issues described is the priority problem, which one is a "low hanging fruit" and discuss steps to deal with it. Once an issue requiring coaching is adressed you may come back to work on others on the diagram or if the action you took led to a new set of issues, work on constructing a new diagram and work off of that.

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Following is the process I follow: 1. Free or small value paid Business Health Check 2. Brief prospect on current state of organization & how I can help him take it to where he wants 3. Alignment on objectives of owner and buy-in of team 4. Break down objectives into yearly goals and quarterly plan of action 5. Review & course-correction

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Always narrow down your procedure to achieve your main goal. Start with patience and accomplish tiny task while ensuring the success.

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