Have you ever noticed that the coaching industry is like the wild-wild West?!

There are no rules, and no regulations, and things can get a little out of hand to be honest. In fact, just last week I saw a coach’s sales pitch that made me sick to my stomach. The promise? To heal deep emotional wounds in 90 days or less, discouraging people from doing EMDR and other therapeutic practices that are evidence-based.

Listen, coaches, this DOES NOT need to be discouraging. We can see this as an opportunity to rise and make the coaching industry better. Educate yourself, Learn all you can. Be a safe and ethical coach. There are good reasons that Master Coach Training (and every coach training and program that I offer) is holistic. This means we are taking into account the “whole person” view of your client. When you can understand more about the nervous system, emotional processing, and safe cognitive coaching practices- you can be incredibly effective and hold your head high.

Today’s post is focused on how your unique coaching program can bring a little structure to this wild-wild west. Your program can distinguish you from the work a therapist or other mental health professional does. It can also bring clarity to your potential clients as to how you help them. Many coaches have a more “open” process and struggle to define it with a program. If this applies to you, you might be surprised at how a structured approach can be more open than you realize, while creating phenomenal results.

What is a coaching program? Why is it important? How do you get started with creating it?

In one of my signature offers, Create Your Killer Program (CYKP), I walk my clients through the process step-by-step of creating a unique program. Creating a program is much simpler than you may realize, but when so much is unknown, it can be overwhelming. Let’s talk about 5 reasons you need a clear coaching program.

Most people don’t know what coaching is. “Coaching” is a catch-all term for various types of services. Consulting, business advice, emotional processing, and mindset work; are just a few categories within the coaching umbrella. While it’s becoming more popular, you must assume that most people don’t know what you do, and (more importantly), they don’t know what it means in practical terms for them. When people feel uncertain, they won’t buy. A clear, specific program with a strong marketing offer will communicate to people what results they will get from working with you. It will take what is vague and intangible, to something much more concrete. In CYKP my clients create a clear program, but also a clear marketing statement for it - it makes all the difference!

When you sell coaching, you are selling nothing. Few people are looking for coaching, many people are looking for help in solving their problems. When you have a clear coaching program set, it helps you define and refine how you speak to your ideal clients. With no clear program outlined, many coaches find themselves stumbling over their words to explain to people what they do. This breeds insecurity, imposter syndrome, and a pile of regret and embarrassment after a conversation. A clear program gives you words to speak and a plan that your clients can understand.

People want change and it IS possible. The fields of...