Mentor Coach Tips

Lock in Coaches Console Rates

If you’ve been thinking about Coaches Console or interested in a quality client management system, this might be the time to make your move.

Coaches Console – the client management system that I’ve been using for the last 6 months – recently announced a fee increase.  On August 28^th, Coaches Console monthly fees for new subscribers will increase to $49 per month.

 

However, subscribers prior to August 28^th can lock in current rates ($39 per month) forever. 

 

Coaches Console keeps me organized and saves time.  And clients appreciate session reminders and their private client area.  Since my review a few months ago, I’ve gotten to like it even more.

 

Visit Coaches Console to learn more and lock in lower rates before they increase.

Coaches Console: The Results

And now for the results of my experiment ... Coaches Console is a keeper!

Yes, it does have some downsides -- I imagine that's true of any system that is so robust.  When taking session notes, remember to click "save" ... otherwise, those nifty notes are gone for good.  After one "disappearing act," I quickly got into the habit of periodically hitting "save" during calls.

And it does take time to set up ... again because there are so many features.  If you want to use your own client questionnaires, expect to spend about 15-20 hours to get "client ready".  It's not difficult (and there are plenty of how-to videos for reference) ... it just takes time to remove the Coaches Console samples and add your own content.

However, if you don't want to do much customization and are relatively familiar with the ins and outs of WYSIWYG formatting, you can probably get started in just a few hours.  A mentor coach client told me she was up and running -- and proudly professional -- in a day.

I expect to stick with my current QuickBooks routine for invoicing, payment recording and financial reporting.  Although Coaches Console has a QuickBooks export function, it doesn't match the QuickBooks level of detail that I desire.  And I didn't have much luck with importing Outlook contacts -- even though I took great care to match data fields.  In general, the jury is still out on Coaches Console's ability to easly interface with other programs.

But who cares what I think?  My clients LOVE it!  They easily found their way around.  The e-mail session reminders are a hit.  They love the private client log (and I do too).  Overall, it provides valuable structure for the coaching relationship, helps clients recognize and anchor their progress, and maintains a professional coaching image. 

One more thing: Customer Service. The staff is responsive to questions and fix requests via an on-line "ticket" system.  There's a growing library of help videos and weekly business building calls, with much available even before you sign on to the service.

I still have to integrate Coaches Console into my company website.  In the meantime, if you'd like to take a look, you can find it here:  https://transformingwork.coachesconsole.com

And if you give it a try, let me know how it works for you.

Coaches Console: Trial Run

Each month I block out a few days for a "project" ... researching a new idea, reading the next book, catching up with contacts, or maybe some important R&R working in the garden.

This month's project is trying out The Coaches Console, a web-based business management system for coaches and consultants.

Over the years I've developed a pretty slick, paperless system of calendaring, invoicing, and client management using MS Outlook, QuickBooks, and a password-protected area of my website.  But lately I've been intrigued with the idea of moving everything to the "cloud" ... for easy access by both me and my clients.

Mentoring clients have asked about The Coaches Console ... but I hadn't heard much about it.  A recently advertised upgrade promising ability to extensively customize and brand client forms and questionnaires caught my attention -- after all, I want to continue or upgrade my client process, not use someone else's.

Yet their website mentions "a week or more" to get started -- yikes!  And a user told me she's been working on her setup for a couple months -- including purchased support from a virtual assistant -- and it's still not client-ready.

But I'm a sucker for a challenge ... and a fast run-through of their videos and free trial account look promising ... so I'm giving it a go.

So far I've invested 8 hours of time and have my client forms re-created ... and I'm picking up speed as I get more familiar with the format.

Stay tuned.  Will let you know how it goes.

Successful Starts: A Perspective

Although an older article (2001), "The Sky's the Limit" by Ben Dean, MCC is worth a read for both newer coaches and coaches in growth mode.

Written for therapists who might be considering expanding their practice to include coaching services, it offers a contrast on coaching vs. therapy.

And I heartily agree with his new coach success secrets: grow even faster with a mentor coach, determine and develop your target/specialty, consider alternatives to 1-1 in-person coaching, know that building a business (particularly a people-service one) is all about building relationships and trust.

And I'll add one more: be sure to get quality training in coaching skills! No matter how well-suited we are to being a coach ("it's something I've been doing all my life ... I just never had a name for it"), specialized learning about coaching skills and the coaching process can polish our natural abilities so we can be even greater blessings to our clients. Why be mediocre?

Show Me the Money

Many of us have a complex emotional relationship with money and all things financial.  We wonder about our value, we worry about never having "enough", we feel like we're walking on eggshells whenever we talk with prospects and clients about fees.

We can deal with these things during our mentor coaching conversations. But first things first.

As a professional, you owe it to your clients to provide them with a convenient, simple and straightforward process for purchasing your services.  And this means the capacity to accept major credit/debit cards ... a "merchant account".

You are probably familiar with PayPal as the secure and versatile web-based money transfer service for internet purchases. But it can also be your get-started merchant account solution.

Transaction fees are slightly higher than traditional merchant accounts, but there is no upfront set up fee.  And in these early days when watching cash flow is important, this is an important feature.

Approval for a PayPal Business Account is often immediate. Just be sure to sign-up for the "virtual terminal" option -- this will allow you to process your client's payment information, rather than asking your client to visit the PayPal site.

When is it time to move to a traditional merchant account? Call Practice Pay Solutions (familiar with coaches and competitive rates) when your receipts are consistently over $1000 each month. Fee differences begin to fade away at that level ... and so does pressure on cash flow.