The 3 C’s of Wellness Coaching
When it comes to wellness coaching, the 3 C’s will play a significant role in your short and long term success. The 3 C’s are comprised of Competence, Credibility and Clientele. Whether you are running your own independent wellness coaching business, are a clinician (e.g., Physical Therapist, Counselor, Physician, etc) integrating coaching into your practice or work for an employer or wellness provider as a wellness coach, these are the three key areas in which both current and future coaches will want (need) to place their ongoing focus.
Competence
In any profession, competence must play the leading role. Credibility and Clientele will both be short-lived if Competence does not become a consistent, ongoing pursuit (in any area of life, but certainly as a professional wellness coach). The first step toward competence is your education as a certified wellness coach. Since 2017, one of the most important aspects to selecting a wellness coach certification is insuring it allows you to sit for the National Board Exam through the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC.org). The NBHWC is not a wellness coach certification program. Rather, it’s the organization that insures those providing wellness coach certifications (like Catalyst), are meeting the critical standards for the profession.
Once you’ve earned your certification from an accredited organization, then you’re ready to get started. However, like any professional, continuing education is central to your ongoing development. This includes actual CEU coursework but it doesn’t stop there. Regularly reading and integrating the latest in applied scientific research and potentially attending professional conferences and events also help supplement your ongoing education and thus competence.
Application: Consider your current level of competence and the best next step you can take toward enhancing that level. Pull out your calendar and identify a start date for this next step.
Credibility
Competence is a combination of your skill, knowledge and abilities. Credibility is the awareness others have of that competence. Increasing your credibility in the eyes of your clients and potential clients is a big part of how you’ll grow your business as a wellness coach. Common steps include testimonials, blog posts, articles written, speaking engagements and other settings that allow others to get a closer look at your existing competence.
Application: Don’t rush into establishing your credibility until your initial competence is in place. At the same time, once you’ve earned your certification, don’t stall either. If you’re already a certified wellness coach, what would be two things you could do (or begin doing) over the next week that would allow others to tune into your credibility?
Clientele
Once you have established your competence and credibility, then it’s time to actually build your “business” (clientele). This will involve a variety of marketing strategies, pricing formats, and organizational elements. Keep in mind this doesn’t just apply to independent wellness coaches. If you’re working for an employer or other setting as a wellness coach, engagement is an indicator of the success of your (internally run) business. We’ll take a deeper dive into these in the future posts and podcasts. For now, here’s an initial application step:
Application: How many clients do you currently serve? How could you build on your competence and credibility to measurably increase that figure over the next 30 days? Is there a special offer you could provide that would encourage those on the fence (again – regardless of whether you’re an independent coach or an employed coach) that would increase the engagement?
More to come on each of these so please stay tuned. In the mean time, consider asking yourself as you start out each day “What is one thing I can do today to increase the 3 C’s of my business?”
