5 of the Most Costly Mistakes Coaches Make and What to Do Instead

Every 6 months, my sister and I go away and do what we call a ‘summit’.

We book a house or resort and spend the time dreaming, visioning, planning, coaching each other on our challenges and creating.

It’s an amazing experience! (highly recommend)

I’ve just finished one up with Vicki in NZ. We booked a house at Tauranga that looked over a beautiful garden and water.

Vicki is also a Coach so we talk a lot about our businesses and how we can best help our clients.

We talked a lot about the mistakes we’ve made as Coaches, and the mistakes a lot of our clients make.

If you have been in the coaching industry for a while, you’ve probably seen a massive rise in the number of coaches.

Many Coaches are incredible at what they do, but sadly, meeting a profitable Coach is rare.

There’s a big demand for great coaches, but a lot of coaches are getting disillusioned because they’re not making the money that they want.

In today’s video and article, I share with you 5 of the biggest mistakes coaches make and what to do instead to put money into your account and be profitable as a Coach.

If you have been in the coaching industry for a while, you’ve probably seen a massive rise in the number of coaches.

Many coaches are incredible at what they do, but sadly, meeting a profitable Coach is rare.

There are so many people who need help. There’s a big demand for great coaches, but a lot of Coaches are getting disillusioned because they’re not making the money that they want.

Sometimes they wonder if it is even possible for them to become a profitable Coach. 

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Here are five of the most costly mistakes Coaches make:

1. Too Broad a Niche

When you start out as a coach, there is a temptation to call yourself a life coach or to call yourself a coach who “helps people discover what they want” or “helps people get unstuck/move forward in their life or fulfill their potential”.

It’s really important that you have that one thing so that people know that you’re masterful at that one thing.

I see this on their Facebook a lot on Facebook pages or websites, they’re too broad and when you’re too broad, you’re not going to attract the right clients because you miss them – and they miss you.

This is a problem that keeps coming up time and time again with the clients that I work with.

They can’t find you because you’re talking like everyone else. You’ll never be an expert, you’ll never be masterful as an authority if you are too broad.

A broad niche might be, for example “I help people get fit” or “I help people get on purpose” or “I help people reclaim their joy”. These types of niches don’t separate you from everyone. They don’t show your uniqueness.

A micro-niche however, is where you can say, for example, “I help busy Mums in the eastern suburbs to get fit at home and have more energy, even without a gym membership”.

It’s not trying to help men, bodybuilders or people who want to put on weight, it’s very specific. It’s Mums, they’re busy and they live in a specific location.

Another micro-niche might be instead of saying, “I help people grow their business”, you might say…

“I help real estate agents go from six figures to seven figures.”

or “I help busy women declutter their homes in 6 weeks or less”

It’s got numbers and it’s very clear that you have mastered a problem a client has. 

2. Not Focusing Enough on Dollar Producing Activities (DPA)

A lot of us get caught up in the fluff, looking at what other people are doing. reading articles, looking at  YouTube clips, going to free courses but there’s no overarching strategy, no step by step clear plan.

Without a focus on DPA wake up in the morning, open your laptop and start feeling busy, but you’re fooling yourself by thinking you’re being productive when there are things you could be doing that directly puts money in your bank account.

How often are you directly speaking to your ideal client and making them an offer?

Ideally, you want to focus on sales conversations and building automated funnels.

My client Gaynor, for example, has set up an automated funnel that leads to a course online. People watch her webinar, click on the link that directs them to the sign-up page for her course. 

That’s a dollar producing activity. It takes time and effect but has incredible rewards. She recently ran a course, where 30+ people had signed up to her course from her webinar and made $10,000 from the funnel.

3. Not Investing in resources and support

As a business owner, you need to pay serious attention to what you’re investing into.

Some people will say to me things like I tried funnels, but it was too hard.

Things that matter require investing the time, energy and commitment. 

If you don’t invest in quality, you’re not going to get a quality result. 

If you’re a Coach and you’re not investing in a Coach, for example, then you’ll feel that incongruency. It’s not aligned, because what you’re selling is something that you’re not buying. 

We all need a Coach. 

So are you investing enough time, resources and technology to get things done? Whether it’s setting up a funnel, webinar or workshop – it all takes energy and resources.

The Coaches that aren’t making it? They are not investing the time, money and resources to make it happen. 

4. Not having enough sales conversations

When you get on the phone and talk to someone that is the most direct line to having money go into your bank account.

A lot of people say … I hate sales. I don’t want to sell, I’m not a salesperson and I get that because I’ve been and I’ve said that many times before, I’ve avoided sales, I’ve avoided sales training, I haven’t even wanted to think of myself as a salesperson.

But sales is the only thing that allows you freedom. If you can’t sell, you’re really stuck building someone else’s dream. And when it really clicked for me, because freedom is my highest value. I had to learn it. There’s no way around it. I had to just learn this skill and learn how to do it.

Sales conversations can happen anywhere. You don’t need to have a product to dive in and start selling something but you can start asking questions.

How many people are you asking questions? How many people do you ask questions to? Finding out their problems, finding out their concerns?

You can do this at networking events or online through Facebook groups – anywhere there are people.

Sales conversations aren’t necessarily the view to sell, it can open up the conversation and see whether you’re a match. 

If you’re not doing that on a regular basis, you’re going to struggle as a coach. 

5. Not using proven systems

Not using proven systems is like reinventing the wheel, trying to figure it all out yourself…

…you might get there but it takes so long when you have people who have proven systems tested and measured and allow us to model after them.

I’ve got millionaire mentors who I’m always looking at what they what they’re doing.

I’ve invested in their programs, I’ve invested over $100,000 doing programs and learning from people who have proven systems.

If you’re struggling, ask yourself am I using proven systems?

You don’t want to be struggling on your own. Being in business as a Coach on your own is so hard to do.

It gets discouraging if you’re not getting clients that hit your income goals and allow you to have the lifestyle that you want. 

If you’re not hitting your goals, then you need to invest in yourself and you need to make sure that you follow proven systems. People have gone before you, figured it all out and you can walk in their footsteps.

 Here’s a recap of the five costly mistakes coaches make and what to do instead:

1. Having too broad a niche
2. Not enough focus on dollar producing activities
3. Not investing in resources and support
4. Not having enough sales conversations
5. Not using proven systems