How can coaching help your business?

When did you last sit down and think about where your business was going? When was the last time someone listened to you for 45 minutes?  Didn’t interrupt you, just listened?  When was the last time someone focussed with you, on your problems and how to manage them, and then empowered you to get exactly where you want to be?

Have you ever heard the saying ‘If you don’t know where you’re headed you’re likely to end up somewhere else’? The first step is to work out what it is you want - to be, to have and to achieve…

People who use business coaches are successful people who want to be great. So what is coaching? What’s the difference between coaching and mentoring? What can it actually do for your business or is it just a load of hot air?

Most of us never think we can overcome stumbling blocks easily and panic when we have to face our fears. When problems first appear, we begin to talk about how difficult things are and feel lost or lacking in support in our businesses when things get tough. That’s when we need a coach.

Simply put, coaching is a structured tool where the coach asks the coachee questions to tap their subconscious and come up with, often deeply buried, solutions to problems and ways of getting to where they want to be.

It’s a powerful and empowering process that encourages and supports the client to take decisive action, step by step. This enables them to reach previously unrealised goals and gradually afford them the confidence to step out of their comfort zone and into their stretch zone.

So why would I/we want to invest in that? Accountability, support, encouragement, sounding off – yes. New ideas, thinking outside the box, better communication, a plan to move the business forward?  Better leadership and management skills, more time to do what you want, more confidence in business, higher profits, more clients?…NOW you’re talking.

Coaching is not about the process, it’s about achieving superb results by causing you to take action.
In a survey (www.insideout.biz) 100 executives from fortune 100 companies were asked what issues coaching had helped with and results they had achieved. The largest group talked of improvement in relationships with staff (77%), peers (69%) and managers (71%), improved teamwork (67%) productivity (53%) and of improved job satisfaction (61%)


Other benefits included higher staff retention (32%), cost reductions (23%) and improved bottom lines (22%), as well as improved customer service (39%) and conflict reduction (52%).

This same study showed that coachees believed return on investment in coaching was an average six times the cost of it.  Over half those surveyed were vice president or higher, and a third earned over $200,000 a year.
A Business West coaching and mentoring project was recommended to Helen Eyre as a means of finding support with her business

“Twelve months ago I was at a cross-roads, I did not know what direction to take the business in. I joined with the aim that the programme would provide me with support in making these tough decisions” 

 “Coral has been a fantastic help to my business. It has been great to have someone to bounce ideas off and share my insecurities and fears for the business with. These have often been unfounded, but Coral has helped me see this”.

Despite operating in a tough economic climate Helen’s business has seen an increase in turnover and profit. Helen set the target for improvement of 25% which reached 33% by the end of the year.

“I believe Coral has directly helped the financial side of the business...” she says. 

 Mentoring is more directive, offering guidance and advice.  A mentor has been there, done it and got the t-shirt, and usually passes on the benefit of their knowledge and experience to the mentee. Many coaches offer both coaching and mentoring services. And the truth is, both can really help your business. Help you get to where you want to be, much, much faster than on your own. Exponentially. It’s a bit like compounding, two heads are better than one – rocket propelled, fire powered business development.

Imagine a vision being shared, someone listening to you, supporting you, and using their experience to help you, and we’ve all heard the saying ‘success breeds success’.

Using business management tools and a personal agenda this is exactly what your business coaching relationship will do. After just a few sessions you’ll see that setting goals for your business is essential and that breaking them down, step by step, will mean that you’re always moving toward achieving them, however small the movements.  This gives you confidence, self belief and trust in yourself.

The best way to see how much you can achieve and the power of the process, is to set a goal so big that you’ll be totally stunned when you reach it!

Another way of determining the value of coaching for your business is by asking, what will happen if I don’t make a change? What will my clients be saying in a year’s time? What results do I want to see in the business? Turnover costs? The cost of procrastination due to lack of confidence? And what’s the cost of spending time and resources inefficiently?

The credit crunch and recession have made people question expenditure on so-called ‘luxuries’ like coaching.

The question is, with fast paced change and financial pressures mounting, can you really afford not to get coaching on your business? Your competitor most likely has a coach so what’s the cost of not having one?

Coral Jones is founder of Coaching For Results and is a High Growth Coach on the Solutions for Business programme at Business West.For further information and advice on business coaching contact her on 01275 843923 or www.coaching4rslts.co.uk.

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Coral Jones is a High Growth Coach on the Solutions for Business programme with Business West, for further information please see www.growthsouthwest.co.uk. Coral produces the bi-monthly Getting Results newsletter to help business owners and professionals grow their businesses and develop their leadership skills. If you want to grow your business and develop your skillset, get your free business tips, news and advice by registering now at www.coaching4rslts.co.uk

Are you based in the South West?  Do you have between 5 and 250 employees? Plans to grow? For information on High Growth Coaching at no cost to your business www.growthsouthwest.co.uk