Some Clients Aren’t Using Your Coaching Tool…

Confused about why some of your clients don’t use the coaching tool given to them?

Especially when you have other clients who have maximized the coaching tool and are crushing it? It could be that some of your clients don’t understand how to use the tool and are too ashamed to say so.

I once had a coach who excitedly showed us (coachees) a coaching tool that she said would blow our minds. 🤯🤯 It would help us map out content for 180 days using key attributes of our ideal avatar. As someone who struggled with content writing, at the time, this was a dream true. 💭💭

I was sure it was going to be the thing that changed things for me and made content writing easier… So I dived right in! That was until I looked at the template and my brain threw a big DO NOT COMPUTE error ⚠️⚠️

I couldn’t understand where and how to get the smaller pieces that I needed to input into the coaching tool template.

I tried to make sense of it for a few weeks. Thoughts about possible approaches raced through my mind as I got stuck at analysis paralysis.

Did I need to make the info up? And if I did, wouldn’t it defeat the point as everything will be my words? Were these questions that should have been asked during my market research? How do I even begin to write a long post vs long post vs videos vs graphics vs emails?

As someone who is very logical, it was a difficult pill to swallow. I didn’t want to go back to my coach and hurt her feelings by explaining that I didn’t understand the template she thought was a game-changer… I wasn’t quite sure what to ask her.

Plus, I didn’t want to admit that something else that everyone understood how to use, had stumped brainiac ole me. 🧠🧠

Flung into inaction by analysis paralysis, and not knowing how to use the coaching tool or get the info I needed, I eventually stopped trying to understand the tool. 🛑

The best action taker client who has a timid or non-confrontational personality can easily become a client who is drawn to a halt by analysis paralysis and the fear of asking for help.

This is why I encourage coaches to build the foundations of their coaching program in a way that proactively and reactively catches and nips situations like these in the bud.

Let’s talk about what proactively catching and nipping this behavior in the bud can look like.

Don’t assume that all your clients will be able to use the tool just because you and some of your clients can use it. Given that your tool plays a critical part in your strategy to help your clients get results, ask yourself:

1️⃣Does my clients have what they need to use the tool effectively?

2️⃣If not, is it a deal breaker for me and my program? (non-ideal client trait)

3️⃣If it’s not, what do I need to include (e.g. training) so they can use the tool effectively?

These questions require you to take a moment to look at characteristics such as:

👉🏽skill sets (e.g. if your tool is a Trello board, will your clients have enough technical knowledge to use the tool and if not, what can you do to help them get the knowledge)

👉🏽pre-requisites to use the tool (e.g. in the story about, to use the content template, I needed to know a list of my ideal avatar’s fears, etc. Without that info, I was stuck.)

👉🏽tools or access to use the use the tool (e.g. if your tool is in Excel, does your client have access to Google sheets or Microsoft Excel)

Aside from this, you can also consider how you can support your client in using the tool. For example, including a 1:1 that is specifically for reviewing the work in the tool and providing a collaborative avenue for questions.

Let’s look at what reactively catching and nipping this behavior in the bud can look like.

Having a good accountability system can help the coach to closely monitor the client’s progress (through performance indicators and key checkpoints) and know when to step in and take corrective actions or craft an updated plan of action.

Sometimes the action can be to have a conversation and see why the client hasn’t used the tool that you deem simple and an absolute no-brainer. This is a perfect opportunity to uncover the paralysis analysis that is happening so you can take help them sort through the blocker and take the next steps in using your game-changing tool.

If the client still refuses to use the tool after those roadblocks have been cleared, then the conversation can easily switch to more detrimental penalties.

The Point Is…

Tools that make things harder aren’t tools. They’re obstacles. Designing your coaching program foundations so they proactively and reactively catch and nip common coaching client situations in the bud is one of the key strategies to getting your clients to use the coaching tools that you know will help ALL of them get your promised results.

One Final Thing…

This is exactly what I do during my 8-week client experience consulting service for Christian business coaches who have delayed signing a lot more clients because you feel something in your coaching program is broken that causes only 33-70% of your clients to get your promised results.

We create a step-by-step program guide that gives your clients the support they need to get results while clarifying client vs coach responsibilities. We then refine your accountability system so you can monitor your client’s progress and step in with corrective actions.

We’ll also improve how you qualify/screen your potential clients, so you only accept God-fit clients into your coaching program. Finally, we bring everything together into a Game plan of action so you can incorporate your new plans into your existing processes and systems.

If you’re interested in this offer, just send me a message and we’ll have a quick chat via Facebook messenger to see if it’s a fit for you.

Comment below if you have any questions or thoughts about what I’ve shared above.