Competence, credibility, clientele and calling–the cornerstones of your coaching success.
Whether you’ve never coached a single person in your life, or you’ve been at this for some time, there’s always room to grow and improve your health and wellness coaching skills. None of us are perfect. You should always be striving to become a better coach, growing your business, increasing the engagement. The best path to success is by paying attention to the four C’s:
1. Competence
Regardless of your profession, competence should be your number one focus when it comes to health and wellness coaching. It should be an ongoing pursuit. Step one? Get certified. There are a lot of options out there when it comes to training, and for those who haven’t already begun a program, the International Consortium for Health and Wellness Coaching (ICHWC) is a great place to start.
While the ICHWC doesn’t provide the certification themselves, they are the oversight organization for all approved training programs. When you’re looking at different certification options, you’ll want to make sure that the program you choose is ICHWC-approved. Once you’ve earned your certification from an accredited program, continuing education should be an ongoing part of your long-term plan.
Already certified? Continuing education is your ongoing focus. Find a conference to attend. Set aside one hour each week for research on topics your clients are interested in. Always be seeking out ways to enrich what you’ve already learned, so that you can provide even more for your clients.
2.Credibility.
Building on competence is credibility. This is the awareness that other people have of your competence, your knowledge, your abilities and gifts. Credibility raises you in the eyes of your clients. For potential clients, your credibility is a big part of how you’re going to grow your business, and we’ll use this phrase over and over. Even if you don’t have your own coaching business, the idea of “growing your business” still applies to you in terms of growing your engagement. If you’re working in a company, at a hospital or for another wellness company, it means enhancing the engagement with your clients. Increasing the involvement with the people you interact with.
It’s very important that you don’t rush into establishing your credibility until your competency is fully in place, meaning your certification. But, if you’re already certified, don’t get comfortable, keep that continuing education going. Actively look for ways to draw clients back toward your credibility. Learn something new? Finish a new course or seminar? Find ways to pass that along and continue to strengthen your credibility.
3.Clientele
Once you’ve established your competence and credibility, it’s time to build your business clientele. This involves a wide array of marketing strategies, pricing formats, organizational elements and again, the idea of growing your business. This applies to all of us, not just independent wellness coaches running their own show. If you work for someone else, you’re still growing your business, getting your name out there.
Think about how many clients you typically serve. How could you build on the first two C’s to increase that number in 30 days? Are there special offers you could provide? If you’ve got some potential clients on the fence, how can you engage their interest all the way? Is there a way you can promote yourself within your organization?
4.Calling
The fourth C is your calling. This is so important. It’s why you decided to become a health and wellness coach in the first place. We have the opportunity to do something that changes people’s lives. We encourage people to be their best. How exciting is that? Remember your calling. You’re doing this for a reason. You want to be the catalyst that helps people become their best selves. Don’t get so caught up in establishing your competence, credibility and clientele that you become numb to your calling, because that’s the reason behind it all.
