Rebecca Tracey from Uncaged Life, the guru of getting real about marketing your coaching business, challenged me with a couple of direct questions about life coach training at the iNLP Center. Rather than respond via email, I wrote this post.
Let’s note that Rebecca didn’t ask these questions as a marketing drill. She wanted to know for other (but not personal) reasons. So, I’m not creating some pie-in-the-sky scenario for “the internet.” This is an actual response to a coach marketing expert who can see through the hype promoters tend to pump out.
So, here’s how the iNLP Center life coach training puts the pie on your kitchen table, for real.
Rebecca Tracey asked: Why would someone choose your life coach training?
One of the things our life coach training students say is, “I took such-and-such life coach certification, but now I need tools to actually coach.”
Rebecca, you’ve been around the life coaching industry for a while, so you’re probably not surprised. I’m not knocking the good life coaching institutes. There are some out there. Other quality NLP training institutes exist, too. I recommend them all the time.
However, the hard truth is that too many life coach certification programs don’t prepare students to actually coach people. A lot of life coach training boils down to a few vague coaching concepts followed by a certificate that says, “Hey, you’re a coach now!”
What’s often missing from life coach training…
…is how to actually help clients get out of their own way, overcome obstacles and get what they want. The results are what coaching clients are willing to pay for. No results. No deal.
People don’t buy life coaching like they buy country club memberships. It’s not a status play. Not a social thing. It’s not even a given that people will enjoy the process. Life coaching is a results thing.
So here’s my message to anyone seriously considering life coaching training….
Once you’re hired as a life coach, if you don’t deliver, it’s over. You get one session to prove yourself. Maybe two. Remember, your clients are out of pocket. They won’t stick around just so you can pay your bills.
How to. Life coaches need specific processes to help people get results. Otherwise, coaches are not equipped to earn a living. A solid life coach training is supposed to teach the necessary skills, but many certification programs don’t deliver.
Imagine, there you are with a real client who has important goals and vaguely defined obstacles standing in the way…
Your new client has hired you to help her get unstuck. She needs the something to WORK. Coaching is not about listening well, asking questions and giving advice. Anyone can do that for free. As a coach, your job is to professionally facilitate positive changes within the client. Otherwise, you’re not doing more than your client’s friends can do and you’re about to be…fired.
So, here we go! The coaching is ON and your client has arrived.
➮ As she begins talking, how do you know where to steer the conversation and which specific questions to ask?
➮ When she feels emotionally stuck, how can you step into her mind and discover specifically what needs to be shifted so that 1) she moves out of the stuck state and 2) is less likely to get stuck in the same way again?
➮ Regarding her goals, how will you help her clarify, chunk down, define blocks, harness resources, consider personal ecology and feel confident enough to get moving?
➮ What if she isn’t motivated or making progress and has no idea what’s getting in her way? How do you go deep and identify the obstacles she’s never been aware of? When she discovers what’s really holding her back, you want her to say, “Oh my god! I’ve never thought of that but it’s so true!” How do you help people get remarkable aha-moments consistently? Remember, her friends can listen. You’ve been hired to listen and understand in a way that no one else in her life is capable of. You need expertise worth paying for.
➮ When she has a dilemma and feels impossibly conflicted, how do you help her sort it all out, come together on the inside and make a clear and congruent choice she won’t regret? Are you comfortable enough with your skills (and yourself) to play this powerful role in someone’s life?
➮ She says, “I’m lost. I have no idea what I want and have never known.” How do you handle that one? How about when she comes up with a goal that is completely unrealistic, yet she’s totally committed to the fantasy?
Life coaching is all about knowing what you’re doing and when to do it.
But wait! There’s more….
Beyond professional skill, you need the client’s trust and permission to do life-altering work. How do you earn trust quickly enough to get results fast enough and earn your keep?
Imagine, a total stranger comes to you. Within a few minutes, you’re discussing their deepest desires and worst fears. You need to know how to set the stage so clients feel comfortable just going for it.
And what about homework between sessions?
Do you have a box of tools you can hand to your clients to keep them interested and productive between sessions? You need one!
I still have a small coaching practice to keep myself sharp and make sure I never become one of those out-of-touch trainers who hasn’t worked with a real client in ages. When the right clients inquire, I know if they coach with me over a period of time, they will get real-world results. They won’t regret the decision to hire me.
How did I earn my coaching confidence?
I’m confident because I worked hard to integrate the right skills to deliver what clients are willing to pay for. Coaching with me is worth the investment. Do you feel the same way about your coaching? You need to if you want a thriving business. If you’re not confident, it will come across. Clients will not hire you.
Note: knowing you’re good at what you do is not the same as being arrogant or full of yourself. And I am NOT suggesting you tell prospective clients how good you are as part of your marketing message!
When you enroll in iNLP life coach training, you’ll learn the skills you need to become competent and confident in what you’re doing as a coach. That’s our mission.
You’ll be able to attend live webinars where we do coaching demonstrations and put our money where our mouth is. No set-ups. Real coaching with present-day, unrehearsed goals and issues.
In a webinar, I’ll say, “So, who wants to do some coaching?” Someone will volunteer and we just go for it. As I coach, I step back every few minutes to explain to the class what I’m doing.
In the trenches, coaching is NOT what you expect when you’re learning coaching techniques. You never know what’s going to happen, how you’ll need to adjust and so on. Clients don’t always respond according to expectations. The real application of coaching is where the most important learning takes place.
Rebecca Tracey asked: Is there a set of beliefs/values or a process you stand by that might make someone choose you over a different school?
Good question. Our number one objective of the iNLP Center life coach training is the integration of skills. Beyond learning all the cool coaching techniques, you need to be able to apply them in the real world. We meet this objective in several innovative ways.
When students enroll at iNLP Center, they get life coach training – for life. You read that right! Not just unlimited access to the online learning modules, but ongoing, live instruction and feedback. Forever.
iNLP Center is an online life coach training center. Our learning platform is accessible 24/7 and we have students in 63 countries.
Students go through the learning modules, watch the technique demonstrations, do exercises, etc…and get personal feedback from a trainer, all on their own schedule.
Additionally, students attend live virtual classes (small groups). We teach, demonstrate, answer questions give custom applications and review assignments. You need to complete the live virtual classes to be certified.
And…you never have to stop.
Even if you take a break for a couple of years, then want to come back and take some classes, you can! It happens all the time around here. I got an email: I thought I’d come back and do some more training. I need to learn how to work with such and such situation. Cool?
Yup, cool. Of course.
Best of all, twice weekly we introduce new training content that we’ve never taught before, so you are unlikely to get bored, even well after you’re certified.
A lot of online learning platforms charge monthly access fees for ongoing training. Not us. Once you’re enrolled, you’re in. Everything is included with no additional fees and no monthly membership mumbo jumbo. In spite of this, iNLP Center training is remarkably affordable.
How can we do all this?
Well, we’re just committed – and don’t suffer the delusion that world-class skills integrate overnight. It takes time and practice, but you can absolutely become an amazing, effective coach if you’ll put in the effort. People who love coaching and want to get really good at it should have the opportunity – life coach training and mentoring with no expiration date!
Here’s another cool thing: Some of our coaches finish the training, get certified, start their coaching business and stick around to get feedback on their specific client situations. How’s that for awesome?
We think outside the box about how to deliver as much value as possible to our tribe. We personally guide every new life coach training track enrollee to give them a brief orientation and customize the learning toward their specific needs.
So, Rebecca Tracey of the Uncaged Life, I hope this answers your questions. I could go on about accreditation, endorsements, awesome testimonials, our engaging community, access to trainers, great tech support and so on….but you get the idea. We’re for real:)