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How To Become A Success Coach: Your Ultimate “How-To” Guide

This is going to be an in-depth guide what success coaching is about. To be

more specific, this going to tell you how to become a success coach.

Over the years I have trained around 35-40 success coaches and have helped them establish their business. In fact, you can even call me a success coach for coaches.

I have personally worked with the founder of Rock House Global, Christopher Howard who has shared the stage with the likes of Jay Abraham and the legendary Brazilian Jiu Jitsu master Rorion Gracie of the famed Gracie Family.

He is the very definition of a “celebrity coach” and has made over $100 million in coaching.

In fact, why don’t you hear from him?

 

So why am I showing you that?

Was it to just show off?

No.

It was to put you at ease and let you enter the mind frame of someone who is here to learn what I have to offer.

I have trained and worked with the best of the best when it comes to success coaches. And here I am going to layout every single thing that I have learnt about the bulletproof success coaching model.

And more than anything, you are HERE to learn aren’t you?

Of course, you are…otherwise who reads an article titled “How To Become A Successful Success Coach”? Who does that?

People who want to learn about being a success coach…that’s who.

So, let’s get started.

What is a success coach?

Looking Up
Image taken from unsplash.com

A few days back during dinner my wife’s friend asked me:

“So Sai, I get that you are a coach, but what is it that you do?”

And I told her that I am basically a trampoline.

I make the coaches jump higher than they would have had if they tried just by themselves.

Ok..that may be a pretty weird metaphor but it does the trick.

As a success coach you are going to be your client’s hack. You are going to speed up their entire process and make them achieve their dreams faster.

You are going to take them to levels that they thought they were going to be incapable of achieving.

You are going to be their guide as they walk forth into the great unknown towards achieving their dreams.

Why people hire a success coach?

How To Become A Success Coach: Your Ultimate “How-To” Guide success coach
Image taken from unsplash.com

To put it in very straightforward terms, a success coach gives their clients a list of tasks and a planned out strategy model which helps them achieve their goals faster.

So why will people hire a success coach?

Or rather… when will people hire a success coach?

In my observations, there are 4 moments when someone will look for success coach’s guidance.

  • When they are starting something new and need guidance.
  • When they have been stuck somewhere for a long time.
  • They have an idea but don’t know how to execute.
  • Don’t have any systems in place.

Each and every need will roughly fall under each of these categories.

Let’s start exploring them:


When they are starting something new and need guidance

A lot of times we are overwhelmed when we start something new.

We feel completely lost by everything that we see in front of us and it gets it to us. And that’s quite ok.

It is very human to be completely intimidated by something new, and more often than not, during moments like this, the smartest way to go about it is via guidance.

This is where you as success coaches can thrive.

By providing the necessary guidance/mentorship you can take your clients to the promised land.


When they have been stuck somewhere for a long time

Imagine this.

You have identified something that you really want to do for the rest of your life.

You think “This is it! This is what I want to do for the rest of my life!”

And then… that sensation hits you.

The sensation that tells you that no matter what happens, you are not going to get through this and you will never be able to act on your dreams.

That slowing creeping sensation, that tells you that you are not good enough catches up to you.

The thing that was supposed to set you free suddenly chokes you down.

You are stuck in a rut.

The sad part is that most people will quit sooner than later the moment they are stuck and you can’t blame them…there is only so much heartbreak that one can take.

This is precisely the reason why you as a success coach can do wonders for anyone who is stuck.

There are two reasons why someone gets stuck in the rut:

  1. They have lost their motivation.
  2. The things they are doing are not working anymore.

You can help them in both the places.

You can inspire them and reignite the fire in their belly

OR

You can give them a set of strategies and force them to rethink their whole approach.

They have an idea but don’t know how to execute

We have all had that moment.

That moment when you know you have stuck gold.

You start having all those fantasies about you standing on top of the world because of this idea that has come to your head.

But then…something happens.

You realize you don’t even know where to begin.

That’s something that vexed Tolu Fagbola.

He was a career counselor for a university in the UK but he was dying to branch out and try out things on his own.

He knew what we wanted to do and had a very clear image in his head.

But for whatever reason… he just didn’t know where to begin, and that was stifling him.

So, he joined my program and within 3 months he quit his job and started his own coaching business called: “Career Transitioners”.

Hear from him here:

 

When he was with us, Tolu used to keep saying: “Sai, thank God I joined your program, if I didn’t have you to guide me I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

This just highlights the importance of a success coach for people like these.

This is what you can do for anyone who is in the same place as Tolu was. You can give form and shape to your dreams and make them steer their ship towards the promised land.

Don’t have any systems in place

Imagine this.

You know what you want to do, you have a very clear picture in your head.

You know what you want but there is a problem.

Your work system is extremely inefficient. In fact, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that your work system is completely inefficient.

What should take you a week takes you a month, this leads to loss of clients, money, and more importantly, time.

So how do you go about this?

What do you do to make sure that you are achieving your business goals and targets in an efficient manner?

Does that ring a bell? In fact, chances are that you have had clients who fit this bill.

What can you, as a success coach, do here?

Well, you can show them the optimal path that they can take to achieve their goals. You can have a look into their system and point out where all they are lacking and what else they can do to take care of it.

In fact, this is a huge part of what you are going to learn in my webinar (Scroll down to the bottom of the article)

The idea is to give our webinar participants various systems which can build their coaching business for them.

The Difference Between Life Coaching and Success Coaching

 Hmm, so what are the main differences between life and success coaching…or are there any differences at all?

Their skill sets tend to overlap quite a bit, in fact, you can’t be faulted to think that they are one and the same.

There is an article by Jeffrey Sooey which helps define the differences or, should I say, DIFFERENCE quite well (You can check it out in the resource page below).

The main difference is that as a life coach it is your job to make your client see their end goal and result and make them work towards it.

Whereas as a success coach your client at least has an idea of what they want.

If you are an academic success coach, then to make sure that your students score above a certain score if the goal.

If you are a success coach for coaches, then making them sign in 3-5 clients before the end of 2 months is the goal.

On top of that, a bond with life is a lot more emotional whilst the success coach-client bond is more of a mentor-mentee relationship.

Essential Skills that You Need to Be a Successful Success Coach

Now, remember, before I list down the skills keep in mind that these are going to be generic and for obvious reasons.

Whatever your specialty is, you are going to be a master of that.

The field that you are going to specialize in you will probably know more about it than I do.

But. Generic or not, it’s shocking how so many coaches don’t have these skills and even if they do, they tend to overlook these and as a result, they end up shooting themselves in the foot.

So here we go:

a) Listening: Yes, LISTENING. It’s such a critical skill and it’s so sad that most people don’t use this.

People are so busy talking about themselves and caring about themselves that they don’t even bother listening to anyone else.

And trust me…I was a Dating Coach before this and I know how critical “listening” can be built, sustain and salvage any relationship.

You can’t just simply listen.

You have to absorb yourself in what that person is saying, you have to be genuinely interested in what they have to say.

Most of your clients simply want their voice to be heard, they want to be comfortable opening themselves up to someone.

Allow them to do that around you.

The best way to do it is to repeat whatever they are saying back to them. Like paraphrasing whatever they said or asking for clarifications.

Trust me, people love it when you talk to them about themselves.

silhouette of man and woman sitting on ottoman
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b) Questioning: You need to learn the art of asking open-ended questions which will make your clients think and open up more about themselves.

Usually, there are two types of questions that you must know how to ask:

1. Questions that builds rapport.
2. Questions that penetrates their defenses.

Building rapport is absolutely crucial and can make or break your conversations.

Photography of people connecting their fingers
Image taken from pexels.com

Rapport basically means finding things in common to talk about and build upon it. The more commonalities you find the more your recipient will pay attention to what you have to say and more they will relate to you.

It is critical in getting your clients open up to you.

Now coming to the penetrating questions.

You have to remember that these are people who are paying you their hard-earned money because they want you to strip them down and expose their insecurities and self-imposed limiting beliefs.

Trust me, you are going to do no one favours by being nice. You cannot pull your punches.

You have to tell them things the way it is.

c) No BS feedback: This is sort of follows on from the last point.

When you are going to give them feedback do not hold back.

Gaining a deep understanding the problems that customers face is how you build products that provide value and grow. It all starts with a conversation. You have to let go of your assumptions so you can listen with an open mind and understand what’s actually important to them. That way you can build something that makes their life better. Something they actually want to buy.
Image taken from unsplash.com

If they have followed your instructions and are showing positive results then do not hold back. Reward them with praises and compliments, that is going to do wonders for their self-esteem.

However, on the other hand, if they have fallen short of their goals and have not really followed your instructions then you mustn’t hold back.

I am not saying that you have to completely decimate and destroy them but you need to know that anything less than 100% is not entertained.

Your time is precious and you shouldn’t stand for someone who is willing to waste your time.

You absolutely must hold your clients accountable.

d) Giving a Different Perspective: As a success coach it is your job to give your clients a different perspective than what they are seeing.

Blue Ridge Parkway
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Most people tend to develop tunnel vision whilst pursuing a goal. They don’t see the other paths that may appear in order for them to reach a goal.

It is your job to test both yourself and your client to see other paths to reach their goals.

e) Not Judging: Keep your judgment to yourself.

Whatever you do…do NOT judge your clients for any of the actions of their past.

It may seem like the most obvious thing in the world, but it is just soooo hard to execute.

When I was a dating coach I used to sometimes cringe with what my clients used to tell me.

There was a client who ruined his marriage because he was a sex addict and spent all his money on escorts.

Then there was another client who got a restraining order from the person she loved because she used to stalk him all the time.

Trust me, it was hard not to judge and I will admit that in these two cases I did. I do regret that a lot.

The thing is, even if you do not directly state it, they can always detect that you are judging from your vibe.

stamp, accepted, symbol
Image taken from pixabay.com

Come from a place of unconditional acceptance.

“I don’t care who you are, where are you are from, what you did…as long as you love me.”

Wise words from The Backstreet Boys.

Did I just quote the backstreet boys?

HA you are judging me right now, aren’t you?

See? You need to work on that.

f) Trusting Your Gut: There will be many times when you will be stumped with a client.

The thing that is logically supposed to work just doesn’t

Sometimes you follow the “Coach’s Rulebook” and then suddenly, something comes that is out of the syllabus.

What do you do in moments like these?

Well…when something happens, you throw the book out and go with your instincts.

Listen to your gut.

mindfulness, brain, heart
Image taken from pixabay.com

What is intuition?

It is the sense that your body and mind builds after years of indulging in a particular craft.

Do not underestimate your body and mind when it comes to improvising and coming up with a solution during extreme duress.

Trust your gut and trust yourself.

When the going gets tough and you are faced with a problem, try backing yourself.

More often than not the solution will appear.

g) It’s About Them Not You: When you are with a client ALWAYS keep the focus on them a 100%.

Do not go on and on and on about yourself and your journey.

I am sure your life is a lot more interesting than theirs but that is not why they are paying you their money for.

Keep the bragging to a minimum.

Remember though, bragging and self-confidence are not the same things.

fish, fishing, comic
Image taken from pixabay.com

As I have already told you, keep the focus on them and talk to them ABOUT them.

What Type of Success Coach Can You Be?

Now let’s zero in on the type of success coach you can be.

And by “Type” I mean your niche.

Now, what does a typical client look like?

What is their gender and age?

Well, the International Coaching Federation did a survey, and here are the results.

NOTE: ALL THE GRAPHS YOU ARE GOING TO SEE RIGHT NOW BELONG TO THE INTERNATIONAL COACHING FEDERATION (ICF)

How To Become A Success Coach: Your Ultimate “How-To” Guide success coach

So let’s check the graph and see what are the proportions of female: male are when it comes to certain types of coaching.

As you can see, apart from “business” the majority of the clients are usually women.

So what does your success coaching fall under?

Is it personal development? Then women will be your majority audience.

Is it is career? Then women again will be your majority audience.

Is it business? Then you will have more men.

On an average, we can clearly see that a coaching client will more often than not be a woman.

Ok now let’s check out the age range.

How old will your typical client be?

This survey studies typical client age from 2011 as compared to 2015.

Let’s see what we got:

How To Become A Success Coach: Your Ultimate “How-To” Guide success coach

Ahh, what do we have here?

As you can see… most of the clients fall in the 35-44 age bracket.

Interesting.

So the most common coaching client is a woman who is between 35-44 years old based on the statistics.

Remember, this not a hard and fast rule, after all, you will know which kind of client works best for you.

During my time as a dating coach, my usual clientele were men in their 20’s or recently divorced men in their 40’s and 50’s.

But this graph gives you a useful indicator of what most women are coming from.

Now when it comes to defining a niche.

I have made an extremely well-detailed youtube video some time back.

NOTE: Check out all the graphs and surveys that the International Coaching Federation took.

Success Coach Salary: How Much Money Can You Make?

So how much salary can you command as a success coach?

The coaching business generates an annual revenue of 2 BILLION DOLLARS!

Coaching is hot…there is not doubt about it, and the best part?

This is only the beginning, just wait and watch how the industry keeps on growing and growing.

So, what does that mean for you?

Can you keep up with the growth? Can you command a success coach salary which keeps up with this level of growth?

Let’s go back to the study by the ICF.

This what each region generated annually in coaching in 2015:

How To Become A Success Coach: Your Ultimate “How-To” Guide success coach

As you can see, North America and Europe remains the hotbed of finding high-ticket clients (No surprises there).

Julia Stewart from School Of Coaching Mastery also gives some very helpful details.

According to the article she wrote (which you can check in the resource section below), this is what certain coaches make per hour:

Executive Coaches make $325 per hour.

Business Coaches make $235 per hour.

Life Coaches make $160 per hour.

Why do executive and business coaches make more than life coaches?

Simple. Look at their clientele.

Executive and business coaches usually cater to big corporations, so it goes without saying that they are going to earn more.

As a success coach, your salary will look somewhat similar to a life coach’s

Julia Stewart also states something else which is pretty intriguing.

Annual life coach… and in turn, success coach salary can vary all the way from $55k to $116k!

Why is there such a huge discrepancy and why does the salary of a success coach fall so much below that of a business coach?

I think apart from the clientele itself, there is a problem with the mentality that most coaches have when it comes to money.

A lot of coaches think that by asking for money for their services, they are somehow prostituting themselves out? :O

I cannot understand this mentality I really don’t.

Why is asking for money for your life-changing coaching services a bad thing?

People, in general, have a very very naive relationship with money because of all the garbage we have been fed since we were kids.

“Money is the root of all evil.”

NO, IT IS NOT.

You not doing your utmost to spread your message around and changing lives is the root of all evil.

You NOT making ENOUGH money is the root of all evil, because that simply means that either:

  1. You are not spreading your message enough.
  2. You are spreading your message but you are not giving it the respect it deserves by not pricing it properly.

I have seen so many coaches doing a complete disservice to themselves and their brand by giving away their services for free.

FOR FREE!

no symbol, prohibition, sign
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They are just “doing a favour for a friend.”

“Helping someone out of a tough spot.”

ENOUGH with those excuses.

All these things stem from one problem….their mindset.

Remember this, and yes, it is sorta my mantra:

Treat your coaching as A Business And Not AS A Hobby.

 The moment your realize this one thing, you are going to notice exponential changes in your coaching returns.

You will no longer devalue your coaching by giving it away for free as a favour because it will be a business and not a hobby.

You will no longer take the foundations of your coaching business for granted because in your mind no business ever runs smoothly without strong foundations.

Each and every aspect of your coaching will become exponentially better and smoother because you no longer treat your coaching as a hobby, you treat it as a business.

And guess what will happen because of that?

Your coaching will bloom and because of that, your clients will come in on autopilot.

Trust me, I know all this because I have been through all of this.

A decade back I had my dating business SaiFai Dating.

The idea was to help men and women find their life partners by making them confident enough to approach anyone and everyone.

And you know what, it was soooo rewarding.

How can it not be rewarding? I was helping my clients find the love of their lives.

Eg. Here is my client Dom marrying the girl he approached and spoke to during the program.

How To Become A Success Coach: Your Ultimate “How-To” Guide success coach


How can you not love that?

But it was not always so rewarding.

In the beginning, I was struggling to make ends meet.

I took on too many clients who either haggled with me to not even pay the full price of my coaching fees ( which btw was a mind-blowing $50 -.- … and they wanted me to charge them $25 :/ .)

I clearly remember I had 10 clients… of which 6 didn’t pay me anything while the other 4 were paying me a grand total of $140…

WELL, NOW THAT’S NEARLY 96 KITKATS…THE SMALL ONES!

I was starving every single night.

I couldn’t afford to pay for my house and was kicked out, I had to break a bar of ramen into 2 so that I could have dinner for two days.

Those were very very dark times.

And here is the thing … I brought it on myself because I refused to respect my coaching.

Every single day I was starving, not knowing whether I was going to be kicked out of my house or not.

What do you think that was doing to my coaching?

When you attract negativity, you let it flow over all the areas of your life (that is the reason why people who have a hard time at work usually have terrible family lives as well.)

My coaching degraded to the extent that I was finding it hard to get newer clients (the original 10 stayed because they were getting so much value for nothing.)

So one of those many sleepless nights where I was venting to my mother, she told me the very thing that has since then, become my mantra.

How To Become A Success Coach: Your Ultimate “How-To” Guide success coach
That’s me and ma outside Taj Mahal last year

She looked deep into my eyes and said:

“Sai, you treat your coaching as a hobby, take it on full time as a business. Are you ready to take this step?”

I gave it a thought.

And it was a no-brainer.

I LOVE coaching. This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

So why shouldn’t I make it my full-time profession and treat it as a business? Why shouldn’t I do that?

Why should I live on half a ramen a day and starve myself doing something that I know that I want to do for the rest of my life?

Of course, I was going to make sure that I never ever disrespect my coaching ever again.

So from that day onwards, I went on a rampage.

I studied everything that goes behind making a successful coaching business.

I studied and implemented everything that I could, when I was stuck somewhere, I got a mentor to guide me.

Those 3 months were extremely hectic when finally, I got the entire process down to an exact science.

Before I went through this transformation I was making $140 from 10 clients.

After, within a period of 2 months, I jumped to 15 clients giving me $1500.

The original 10 left of course… but I made a 1000% jump in my revenue INSPITE losing my initial 10 clients in one go.

The entire process that I have used to turn SaiFai dating around was reused while creating Double Your Database which has since become .Coach LLC.

And then it hit me.

The same troubles and problems that I went through when I was living on half a ramen per night… I am sure most coaches go through that as well.

So….why not give away the process of business creation itself?

Why not use the processes that I have used, turn that into a template and give it to all the coaches who are struggling with their coaching?

It was so simple and obvious.

But I had to field test it beforehand.

So, I already knew that my process works with business coaching, success coaching, and relationship coaching.

Why not other areas?

I tried it out in holistic healing or personal development.

Karen tried out our program and this is what she had to say:

 

That was a real relief because this meant that my processes and templates were independent of any niche.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is a success coach

Success coaches are professionals that help people achieve goals. They work to unlock the potential of their clients and teach them the skills they need to be successful.

Success coaches typically have a background in psychology, coaching, or another related field and usually specialize in a certain area such as weight loss, business success, or personal development.

How to become a success coach

The process of becoming a success coach is not an easy one. There are many steps that need to be followed before you can start your business or offer your services to the masses.

The first step in this process is to identify what you are most passionate about in life. Once you have identified this, you need to determine what type of success coaching would be most beneficial for others.

After that, the next step is to create your plan for becoming a success coach. You will need to figure out how much money you want to make each month and how much money it will cost for the initial startup costs associated with starting this business.

Do you need a degree to be a success coach?

Coaches are not just required to have a degree to be successful. What matters the most is the person’s experience and capability.

The degree of success has more to do with who you are and what you bring than what you learned in school. For instance, some people enter coaching without any formal education and yet grow to become hugely successful coaches.

How much does a success coach make?

On average, in the United States, the average success coach salary ranges from $40-70k per year.

What is the difference between a life coach and a success coach?

Both life coaches and success coaches work to help their clients achieve personal goals.

The main difference between the two is that life coaches work with people who are often not as externally driven as success coaches. This can include those who want to change jobs, those with relationship issues, those just starting with personal development, and those looking for guidance on any other issue. A life coach will use a more introspective approach and help the client identify their internal needs and work on them. A success coach typically focuses on external factors such as how they can use their environment to change themselves rather than internal factors like self-esteem or self-worth

Resources used for the article:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/russalanprince/2014/06/04/what-is-success-coaching/

http://lifecoach2women.com/main/10-reasons-people-hire-a-success-coach/

http://work.chron.com/there-difference-between-success-coach-life-coach-19064.html

https://www.inc.com/yael-bacharach/five-essential-skills-for-successful-coaching.html

http://goalsandachievements.com/the-8-key-skills-for-effective-coaching/

http://www.schoolofcoachingmastery.com/coaching-blog/bid/82347/Life-Coach-Salary-How-Much-Money-Do-Professional-Coaches-Make

http://ezinearticles.com/?Is-There-a-Difference-Between-Life-Coaching-and-Success-Coaching?&id=9565489

http://www.schoolofcoachingmastery.com/coaching-blog/bid/82347/Life-Coach-Salary-How-Much-Money-Do-Professional-Coaches-Make