Exercise 3: Identifying Leads from My Target Population’s Potential Challenges and Issues
A benefit of having a niche practice is that while the definition of the target population is fixed, the descriptors of your target clients and the issues that they face are quite expansive. When fully and broadly articulated, the descriptors can encapsulate a diverse demographic. The descriptors are used to determine the places, organizations, meetings, and cyber-spaces where clients live, work, play, face their personal challenges and seek help for their challenges. You need to know where to find your clients in order to connect with them.
The next exercise is to paint a picture of the challenges/issues that your target client may face and marry it to the places, organizations, people, or resources that clients might use to seek satisfaction or resolution of these issues. These challenges may not be the precipitators for seeking coaching. For example, a person in transition from married-to-divorced may seek coaching to get back a sense of balance and confidence although s(he) has related challenges such as childcare and dating. Looking at the ancillary issues is done to associate a full menu of issues with outlets: what/where/who might the client be reading, meeting, thinking, networking and associating with for resolution or satisfaction.
For example, if your defined clients are “empty nesters or soon to be empty nesters who want to develop their passion and transition into their new status,” their other issues might include: caring for an elderly parent or grandchildren; facing new physical disabilities or health issues; recent widowhood; a desire to go back to school; a desire for travel; a feeling of isolation and wanting to re-connect; and/or a wish to relocate.
If you are a leadership coach and consultant whose clients are “business leaders who lack the skills and expertise to get the best performance from their employees” challenges might include: not knowing where to go for help outside of their professional circles; emotional issues of unmanaged anger or stress; feelings of professional isolation. For executive coaches who work with organizations, finding the sources where hiring decision-makers may turn for help will expand your networking opportunities.
Looking at the environment(s) in which your target population lives offers a rich palette of contacts—and although the contacts may not be direct links to a paying client, they nevertheless support getting your name into the marketplace. In these environments, people often know of someone who could use your services. There may be opportunities to get subscribed to newsletters, a platform you can use to reach new clients or to build your email list.
Exercise 4: Building Leads from Where a Potential Client Lives, Works and Plays
The next step is to think about the life of the client. Where does your client/coachee, the one-on-one individual or the organization’s hiring decision-maker, live, work, and play? Are sessions within driving distance for face-to-face meetings, or is the client located where phone, Skype, and email are necessary? In the following example, a coach who works with teens and young adults in face to face settings identifies where the potential client can be found. Here, the coach has defined their desired driving radius for face to face coaching.
Exercise 5: Building Leads from Organizations Associated with the Issues my Target Population Faces
A key to hunting leads is identifying the organizations that have a vested interest in your target population and their issues. Affiliation with these organizations is paramount not only to finding clients: it will give you numerous opportunities to forge strategic alliances, become closer connected to communities of people who have personal and professional interest in your client population, and provide new networks that arise from expanding your circle of contacts.
Many coaches utilize their skills and talents by working with organizations. Finding clients is also done through researching and data-mining to find the groups that are affiliated with the coach’s target population. They are interested in what concerns their constituents: enhanced communications, efficiency, greater productivity,; strong leadership, and team-effectiveness—a perfect match for the executive coach. Two examples of affiliated groups are professional associations and chambers of commerce.
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