Taking on a new coaching client can be a little daunting. Will you get on? Are you the right coach for them? Will they like you? A coaching discovery call, or chemistry call, is a good way to see if you as a coach and your potential client are suitable for each other. It is not a sales call – although that would be a good outcome – it is a time to gauge your level of compatibility.
Here, Lynn Hanford-Day a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, describes how she prepares to hold a call with a new client.
Preparing for a Client Discovery Call
There is little guidance on coaching training courses about hosting a discovery call with a potential coachee. It’s a conversation with a purpose, best summed up as finding out whether you are right for each other. Before the discovery call, think about what you need to know as a coach and what your prospective coachee needs to know about you.
Your prospective clients may come from a variety of sources, such as:
- Self-referral through your website or social media channels.
- A referral by someone who knows you – remember to thank the person who made the referral.
- Through an organisation that wants to provide coaching for employees. It is common for the employee to receive details for 2 or 3 coaches so they can decide who to choose.
With any of these options, you may have some information about the coachee, though this is likely to be limited. Some coaches require a potential client to complete a form via their website, or email when requesting a meeting. Capturing information about what the prospective client is looking for from coaching may help them to think about what they want to achieve. This will give you an early insight into what to talk about when you speak. It’s also fine to hold your discovery call without any information other than that provided on the initial contact. Think about the pros and cons for you. If you are going to use a form be aware of the data protection requirements, how and where you will store the form and for how long.
Allow enough time. This is not a 15-minute hurried chat, it is more likely 45 to 60 minutes. It’s an investment of time by two people and you will likely price the cost of this ‘free’ session into your coaching fees.
What do you Include in a Coaching Discovery Call?
Coaches often ask what to include in a discovery call. There are no hard and fast rules, though it’s helpful to remember why you are having the conversation and what is the purpose of the call. Some people may assume the call is to ‘get the client’ and to ‘get them signed up’. That may be an outcome of the call, and entering into the meeting with that aim sets the meeting up as a Sales meeting. Depending on your comfort with Selling this may not be a helpful lens to approach the conversation with someone you have never met before as it sets up an underlying pressure to ‘win’ or ‘fail.’
Have you ever looked for a coach? Or a therapist? Any professional with whom you will have more than a transactional relationship? If you have, think about what you wanted to know and what influenced your choice to work with one person and not another. Put yourself in their shoes. Think about what your coachee might want to know as well as what you want to know about your future client in service of the overall aim of the call, which is to find out if you are right for each other. If you are, then the sale will follow.
Most people want to feel heard and understood so create a safe space for an open conversation.
Three Key Questions to Ask a Potential Client
- What brings you to coaching at this time?
- What do you hope will be different at the end of the coaching?
- Have you had a coach before? What happened? What worked well?
Topics to Include on a Client Discovery Call
- Share your coaching style and see if it matches their preferred style.
- Your ideal client and coaching niche and whether there is a match with what this person is seeking.
- What coaching services do you offer?
For example, do you offer a bundle of 6 sessions over a given period with each session dedicated to a particular topic? Or are you offering something more client-led? - Will you meet online or in person?
- What you charge and your payment terms.
- Your availability. If you have no availability, do you have a waitlist and how does this work? How flexible is your diary?
The prospective client may have limited knowledge of CliftonStrengths® and want to know more about how a Strengths approach will help. This is best answered from the perspective of what they want to gain from coaching. They may want to know a little more about you.
Ask these questions even if you include them in a pre-meeting form.
Concerns and Questions a Potential Client may Ask
A new client may not be familiar with coaching conversations so they may share some concerns. Be ready to provide reassurance on the topics they raise, directly or indirectly. Some may be concerned about the level of confidentiality or the scope of the conversation. Others may want to know more about the practicalities, the structure and the timings of the sessions. Allow your prospective client time to ask questions as they will be ‘interviewing’ you too.
You may need to help the potential client understand the differences between Coaching, Counselling, and Consulting. They may be looking more for a Mentor. See Are you Coaching Counselling or Consulting for more information.
Remember to be curious and relaxed, you are not a Doctor taking a medical history, you are having a conversation. Ask questions, invite the other person to talk, listen, and summarise what you are hearing.
Closing the Discovery Call
If the chemistry between you is right, say you would love to work with them and ask if they want to proceed. If not already covered, this is the moment to share your fees and payment terms.
Do not be afraid to say you are not the right person for them, or say you want time to consider their needs and will get back to them – make sure you do.
Hopefully, it’s a Yes from them too, so explain the next steps and agree on a date and time for your first session. Follow up on this in writing or send a Coaching Agreement/Contract that sets out your terms and covers confidentiality and data protection.
Header Image by Magnet.me from Pixabay
