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Copyright: 2007 Coaching Club

Welcome to IQ, the official CoachIQ Coaching Club member eZine. Each week you receive the latest CoachIQ news, resources, professional development tips and industry information. IQ is your ally in developing your flourishing coaching business.

This edition's highlights

Highlights in this edition include our special eZine series; why not closing deals is a major mistake for coaches; how to get free links on high-traffic websites; this week's IQ book selection; and tips to create your New Year resolutions.

We welcome IQ readers to forward this publication to friends, colleagues, family and anyone you think will benefit from the eZine’s content. Make YOUR community part of OUR community.

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Latest Additions

IQ eZine Series

IQ Biz and IQ Tech categories of this eZine are running series of articles to help you structure your approach and improve your business operations. With a total of 18 great articles tackling topics such as management, marketing, sales techniques, online strategies, and much more, these series provide top-notch content for your learning.

Check out the last few editions of IQ from the eZine Archive Page and keep an eye out for upcoming editions - we've designed this series based on your feedback and for your benefit, so take advantage of it! 

Coming Soon

Resources + Articles

CoachIQ's Resources is packed with practical templates and articles for your business. There are already well over 100 templates and articles designed by our team of coaches and entrepreneurs - and more templates are being produced, reviewed and uploaded weekly.

Mistake 3: Don't Close Deals

Learn the "10 Crucial Mistakes Coaches Make" and how you can avoid them to create the lifestyle you desire in the 3rd fastest growth industry in the world!

There are numerous coaches in the market earning over $100,000.00 per annum. And yet, there are also coaches struggling to etch out a living. Why is that? That's the purpose of this Special Series. In this edition, we tackle not closing deals as one of the crucial mistakes coaches make. 

Note: Steps 1-2 of this series are available in the eZine Archive page.

Coaches that don't make money don't close deals! Have you ever met a successful car or insurance salesman that didn't give you a chance to purchase? Or several chances to purchase? We very much doubt it.

Coaches are too often afraid to ask prospects to make a purchasing decision. But as we mentioned earlier, if you're truly in love with your client and genuinely want to assist them, why would you be afraid to ask them to use your services?

As a coach you need a structured sales process including a close! Here are some guidelines to improve your ability to close:

• Ask excellent questions. You must uncover your prospects problems and hot buttons. Only then can you solve them!

• Be an excellent listener. You must first understand (really understand) what your prospect is saying. Only when you understand can you properly communicate the benefits of your services to your prospect.

• Dedicate at least 70%-80% of your time listening to your prospect as they will tell you how they are to be sold.

• Be an excellent story teller. Use testimony of past client successes to assist your prospect visualise how you can assist them. By visualising how your service will assist them, prospects will get excited about the potential results that can be achieved.

• Quantify your prospects problems in dollar terms. Deep dive into your prospects problems and put a dollar amount on the problem. This helps the prospect understand how much money they are losing by not engaging your services and having their problem solved.

• Communicate in terms of benefits, not services. Communicating in benefits will assist you prospect visualise the outcome of the service. It's not your service your prospect is interested in – it's the end objective or benefit associated with your service!

• Communicate in your prospects language! Too many coaches want to sound superior or aloof, as though they're an oracle with advanced knowledge. They think this will convince their prospects to use their service. It won't. To communicate effectively with prospects you need to communicate with them at their level, in their language.

• Communicate your business image: Everything you say (or don't say), in your written messages (advertisements, brochures, articles, sales letters, follow-up letters, etc), and verbally (on the phone, public speaking, delivering your service, etc) dramatically affects the perception prospects and clients have of your business.

• Ensure that all communication delivers the message you want to convey about you, your business, products and services; and ensure that the message you convey is CONSISTENT with your niche markets expectations and desires.

Become a master of the walk-away sale. Be willing to walk away from a sale. This indicates to the prospect that you're not desperate for their business and puts the onus on them to close the sale to solve their problem.

Biz Tip: Develop your sales process with a close. Write out the actual script/words you will use when you invite a prospect to become a client. Practice and role play it with friends, colleagues and your Mentor.

Get FREE Links on Other High-Traffic Websites

This is step 5 of the IQ series "8 Steps to Generate Prospects". In the previous edition we discussed how to give away irresistible content to get promoted. What about link exchanges and cross-over marketing? Let's roll to the step #5.

Note: Steps 1-4 of this article are available in the eZine Archive page.

Link requests require minimal effort from you, but they can explode your traffic numbers overnight.

How? If your site is a featured link on a major site in your industry, one that receives a ton of attention, your site immediately benefits from all the exposure their site receives.

Getting started with this strategy is simple, but you should follow a structured process every time you request a link. Let's break it down into a few easy steps:

1. Do a Google search for your standard keywords - the ones that people generally use to find your site.

2. Make detailed notes about the sites that appear regularly in the top ten listings for your major keywords.

3. Use the Alexa Toolbar (www.alexa.com), LinkPopularity (www.linkpopularity.com), or Technorati (www.technorati.com) to find out who these sites are linking to, who is linking to them, and how much traffic they are receiving, then look up their contact information.

Make sure you know the correct URL for the site, the URL of the sub-page on which you want your link to appear, the name of the site owner or webmaster, the date you last visited their site, and a brief description of the contents of the site.

When you're ready to contact these web site owners and request a link, write a personal e-mail - don't use form letters. Be sure to include some positive comments about their site, information about you and your site (along with your URL), an explanation of why a link to you would benefit them, and instructions for contacting you to get started.

You want your request to be thorough and professional. If you can present a persuasive argument for why the link request benefits both of you, you stand a better chance of forging a connection.

If you are really eager to get your link on their site, be prepared to up the ante by offering them a commission or a link on your site in return. The investment could be well worth the extra exposure your marketing message receives.

But be stingy when other businesses request links on your site - just as links on others' sites serve as a personal recommendation of your site, links on your site are recommendations for their businesses. Only recommend the best.

In Search of Excellence

The "Greatest Business Book of All Time" (Bloomsbury UK), In Search of Excellence has long been a must-have for the boardroom, business school, and bedside table.

Based on a study of forty-three of America's best-run companies from a diverse array of business sectors, In Search of Excellence describes eight basic principles of management -- action-stimulating, people-oriented, profit-maximizing practices -- that made these organizations successful.

Joining the HarperBusiness Essentials series, this phenomenal bestseller features a new Authors' Note, and reintroduces these vital principles in an accessible and practical way for today's management reader.

Title: In Search of Excellence

Author: Thomas J. Peters, Robert H. Waterman

Cardservice

Cardservice International (CSI) is an established leader in the transaction processing industry. Founded in 1988, they have maintained an outstanding track record of bringing groundbreaking products, services and technology to market.

Cardservice gives businesses the opportunity to be more profitable by accepting non-cash transactions.

Resolute Planning

As the end of another year approaches, it is time to set out plans for the near future. In other words, it is time to start thinking about 2008's New Year resolutions. Have you got any ideas in mind? To help you get your plan of action right, here are some simple yet effective tips.

Tip 1: Focus on the Plan

Planning is a primary process to achieve any goal. New Year resolutions commonly present short-term to medium-term goals. A good approach in planning is to divide your goals into sub-goals, and achieve them progressively.

Because of its regular nature, you must also consider that your resolutions are likely to change your daily activities to some extent - so you'll need to adapt to that and ensure there is enough room in your life for the required changes. In the planning process, you'll also need to define what tools or resources you will need to achieve your sub-goals (e.g. finance, time).

Tip 2: Assess Yourself and the Opportunities Around You

Assessing your current situation and aligning that with your pre-planned scenario will ensure your plans are kept under control. In order for your goals to be achievable, you will need a varied set of resources. You will need to identify these and make sure you have them at hand to assist in the achievement of your resolution.

Tip 3: Motivate Yourself and Reinforce Your Goals

Ensuring your motivation is always at a high level will help in the achievement of your New Year resolution. Always keep in mind that you have short and medium-term goals as resolutions, and that your main objective is to achieve these goals in the planned timeframe. Invoking change is not simply planning, but also involves controlling and reinforcing.

Consciously work to your plan and every time you achieve a sub-goal, give yourself a small reward. This is a great way to keep motivated. It also helps to remember and reflect on the positive feeling you had from achieving the sub-goal - this will give you the incentive to achieve future sub-goals.

Be Found With Find A Coach

Marketing is the thorn in the side of most coaches. Particularly coaches just starting off. Getting clients is a skill in its own right. It's time consuming, difficult, and expensive! But does it have to be? Not with Find A Coach - the leading search engine specifically for life coaches.

Find A Coach offers a range of tools for coaches wanting to market their services, or simply who would like to see more return for their marketing investment. If you haven't checked it out yet, don't miss the opportunity to be a step ahead of the rest of the pack.

Your clients are searching for you right now. Make it easy for them to find you.

URL: www.findacoach.net.au

Broadcast Your Brand to the World

Coach Radio is an online broadcaster of Life Coaching specific content. Delivered online via the Coach Radio website (www.coachradio.com.au) and Podcast, Coach Radio content is extremely convenient.

Coach Radio is currently accepting applications from CoachIQ members who would like to become broadcasters of this growing community. If you are interested in finding out more information, email info@coachradio.com.au to request a Coach Radio Prospectus.