5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Hiring a Coach
The coaching industry is saturated, and there are tons of coaches out there promising results, from life coaches to dating coaches to career coaches, and everything in between.
If you’ve been thinking that coaching might be right for you, you may be overwhelmed with options. How do you figure out which coach is the right fit? What type of coach do you even need? How can you tell a good coach from a bad one?
If you’re feeling unsure of where to start, consider this your beginners guide to coaching. Here are the questions I would personally ask when vetting potential coaches, speaking as someone who not only works as a coach, but also has hired her fair share of coaches in the past:
What exactly are you trying to accomplish?
What’s the “problem” that you are trying to solve? What hasn’t been working that drove you to contact a coach in the first place? Begin by identifying the challenge and what type of information you need to work through it, as this can help you hone in on which type of coach to hire.What do you need? Accountability, process, or both?
Coaching typically provides a mix of process (outlining which steps you need to take in order to make a change) and accountability (externally based check-points to ensure you’re taking the steps outlined). What are you in need of? Some coaches are very accountability focused, solely offering calls and a container within which to do the work. Alternatively, other coaches are more process-focused, taking you through a specific set of steps to get from point A to point B. I’d encourage you to consider what mix you’re looking for here so that you can ensure whichever coach you move forward with is a good fit with your needs. You want to make sure that their process seems like it would help you!Does it feel like this person “gets” you? Have they been where you want to go?
I’ve often found that a great coaching match is based on shared experiences. Does this coach’s sales page or website feel like it’s reading your diary back to you? Does it feel like they understand you in a way that nobody else has? If so, they might be your perfect fit! One more question to ask yourself here is whether this coach has been through what you’re going through, and whether they’ve gotten somewhere where you want to be. If so, they’re much more likely to be able to support you through a similar transition.In that vein, do their past clients have similar experiences to you?
Go check out their client testimonials! Do those clients seem like they’ve gone through something similar? If so, that’s a great sign that you might be well suited to work together.
What’s your budget, and how do they stack up?
Do you have a set budget for hiring a coach, or does it depend on the value/what they’re offering? Take some time to consider this, as it will save time for both you and the coach in the long run. There’s no use spending either of your time on sales calls if you’re never going to work together!
Most importantly, when it comes to hiring a coach, I think it’s essential for folks to ask around and have exploratory calls with several coaches to see who feels like the right fit. Especially if this is your first time working with one! Coaching is a very important relationship, and it’s only truly successful when there’s the comfort and likeability factor there. If someone has been where you want to go and can clearly articulate a process that feels like a good fit for your needs, they might be your perfect match! And as I tell my clients, “if it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no”, so make sure you dig around until you find your “hell yes” person. ;)
Happy hunting, y’all. I hope you find your perfect fit to help you through whatever it is you’re working through right now. And of course, please let me know in the comments what other questions you have about getting started with coaching. I’m here to help!
