Selling or Serving Mindset in Coaching? - Ruska Djerki PhD

Selling or Serving Mindset in Coaching?

Last week’s Connect & Learn presentation by Melissa Ford was about changing your mindset. Contrary to common belief that selling and serving are opposites and not connected ends of a process, Melissa walked us through her 4-step process in how to get clients by serving them first. It allows potential clients to experience coaching in its fullness before committing to a coaching relationship!

Here are her steps to get clients:
- Connect
- Invite
- Coach
- Propose

It is important to recognize that people are not buying coaching but paying for help! To understand this, it is essential to distinguish opposite mindsets like:

• getting vs. giving
• all about me vs. all about client
• concept of coaching vs. feeling and experience
• talking vs. listening
• transactional vs. relational
• doing vs. being

The most powerful thing is to realize what are natural and powerful outcomes of these different mindsets.

Melissa started with her story and how she struggled to find clients. She was a very experienced and a good coach but unsuccessful in selling her services. She ended up herself with a coach- confirming that everybody needs a coach! Her coach was Steve Chandler, a very recognized “MindShift” master coach and the author of 30+ books. His main question that stayed at the core of their coaching was “How can you help this person?”

This question was crucial mindset change question as it moved Melissa from selling to serving. On her path to a deep and lasting mindset change, she went through an analysis of her system used which was unsuccessful in acquiring clients. Her coach guided her through this exercise with more powerful wisdom and advice “Every system is perfect for the result it creates and if you do not like your result - change your system!”

For more information about Melissa Ford, check out her website and read an excerpt from her book. If you are a PCA member, you can also watch the recording of Melissa’s presentation on our website.

Enjoy changing your mindset!

Warm regards,
Ruska
VP Communications