If you are a small business owner, you may have considered hiring a coach. But uncertainty about what a coach actually does may have caused you to think twice. After all, entrepreneurs are supposed to be able to do everything themselves, right?

What you may not have realized is that a coach can help you find a smarter way to do business. Think of a coach as a helping hand and an objective person to provide insights and to bounce ideas off of.

Coaches can help guide you through your toughest business challenges, but there are a few things to keep in mind as you decide if coaching is right for you.

What to Consider Before Hiring a Coach

1.  Know what a coach can and cannot do.

A coach can:

• Help you focus on achieving specific, practical goals, over a short amount of time – from a few weeks to a few months
• Challenge your basic thinking and behavior, while providing useful insights and business techniques

A coach cannot:

• Help you delve into deeper issues that require the more intensive assistance of a therapist
• Be a cheerleader and simply boost your morale

2.  Commit to working hard.

Just like other worthwhile pursuits, working with a coach is no cakewalk. Usually, coaches don’t tell you what to do – they help you figure out solutions for yourself, providing insight along the way.

Since you’ll be learning a lot throughout the coaching process, you can expect to be given homework assignments in between sessions. That’s right – homework! These assignments might include working on a business plan or trying out different management techniques.

The Coaching Relationship:  What to Expect

Sometimes people confuse coaches with traditional consultants and mentors, so it is important to understand the coaching relationship. Rather than simply leading you and giving you advice, coaches help you discover for yourself where you are right now and where you’d like to go. Here are a few more things to consider so you will know what to expect from the coaching relationship.

1.  Effective coaching is focused on you and your goals.

Coaching focuses on your goals and the future of your business. Unlike therapy, your coaching sessions will not emphasize past decisions or experiences. Instead, the coaching relationship helps you get to where you want to go.

2.  Coaching is meant to reveal and release your potential.

The coaching relationship is not about creating potential, but releasing it. It is intended to reveal your strengths and guide you towards applying them to your business. An effective coach will help you uncover your deepest desires and unmask constraints that are preventing you from moving forward – all within the safety and confidentiality of the coaching relationship.

3.  Coaching doesn’t stop with your professional life.

Coaching will impact your entire life because you will achieve the greatest satisfaction only when your professional and personal life are in balance. The coaching relationship is not about fixing; it is about listening and responding so you can transform into the successful person you want to be.

Maybe you’ve heard success stories from colleagues whose careers have taken off after working with coaches.  Maybe you are intrigued by the idea of working with a coach to unlock your potential and develop your business. While all this may sound good in theory, what is the proof that coaching pays off? In other words, what is the return on investment (ROI) of hiring a coach?

Here are four ways to determine how much a coach will benefit you:

1.  Look for the gap or opportunity

Determine the outcome you want to achieve from coaching. Is it increased profit or stock price? Are you hoping for a promotion or more work-life balance?

2. Determine your current behaviors and how they are affecting you

Take an honest look at what you’re doing, and why it may be hurting your chances for success. It is ok if you are unsure of your problem areas right now. If you suspect you have some, would a coach be able to help you uncover and correct them?

3.  Find ways to close the gap

Consider the knowledge, insights, skills and techniques that can help you capture more opportunities. Again, being unsure at this stage is ok. You can also consider how becoming more open to these insights and techniques could impact your business.

4.  Connect the dots

How can hiring a coach help you to close the gap and achieve your desired outcome? Would he or she be able to provide the objective insight you need to break through?

Coaching can help generate ROI in a number of ways. Here are just a few:

• Offering new value-added products and services you had not considered before
• Redesigning processes to deliver current products and services more efficiently
• Eliminating counterproductive behavior
• Making different and better decisions for your company
• Making the same decisions faster and more accurately
• Using time saved in new and productive ways

Understanding what you would like to gain from hiring a coach can help you determine the impact it will have on your bottom line – whether that bottom line is represented in dollars or in something less tangible, such as achieving a healthier work-life balance.

If you haven’t tried to measure customer loyalty, don’t worry – it can be tricky to quantify. One of the best ways we have found to measure something that seems so abstract comes courtesy of the book The Ultimate Question by Fred Reichfield.

His theory is that there are 3 types or levels of customers, with each level corresponding to their experience with your company.  To determine the category your customers fall into can be measured by simply asking, “How likely is it that you would recommend us to a friend?”

Responses are measured on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being “not at all likely” and 10 being “extremely likely.”  The 3 levels are based on their answer:

9 or 10: Loyal Customers

They love your products or services and had a great experience during the entire sales process. They will provide word of mouth marketing and repeat purchases.

7 or 8: Neutralizers

Their experience was just OK.  They are not loyal and will buy from either you or your competitor next time, depending on the promotion or situation.

0 to 6: Diminishers

They had such a disappointing experience that it is highly unlikely they will buy from you again – and they may badmouth you.

By identifying the percentage of your customers who fall into each category, you have your Customer Loyalty Score or CLS. This critical information will help you understand your customers’ future purchasing behavior, which is directly connected to your future success.

Developing a strategy of creating loyal customers must become ingrained in your company’s culture.  Avoid focusing on profits, because the drive to increase revenues can come at the expense of the customer.  Instead, focus on aligning the promises you make to your customers with what you actually deliver.  You can do this by exceeding expectations, creating strong relationships through frequent points of connection, and providing a unique service experience.

If you can consistently deliver an exceptional experience based on what you promise in your marketing and advertising, your customers won’t even consider the competition.

For years, companies of all shapes and sizes have focused on customer satisfaction as a measure of their success.  In today’s highly competitive marketplace, customer satisfaction is no longer good enough; instead, it is a measure of mediocrity.  To be successful, a company must develop customer loyalty.

Here are 5 reasons you should be focusing on customer loyalty over customer satisfaction:

1. Unless you make an emotional connection with your customers, you most likely will not develop a long-term relationship.  By definition, loyal customers make repeat purchases, which in turn produces a stronger long-term revenue stream.

2. Customer satisfaction scores fail to predict how customers will actually behave relative to future purchases of your product or service.  Customer loyalty programs, however, will stimulate repeat purchases.

3. The larger the loyal customer base, the greater your organization’s long- term success.  Loyal customers will sing your praises to everyone they know, thus providing you with the best (and least expensive!) form of advertising.

4. By providing value to your customers at every point of connection, you will be perceived as better than the competition – and you will create emotional connections.

5. Loyal customers willingly pay more for your product or service and are more forgiving when your organization makes a mistake, because they trust you and believe you have their best interests at heart.

You can start increasing customer loyalty by doing 2 things:

• Ask your employees and team members how you can exceed customer expectations.
• Quantify the financial benefit of customer loyalty.

It has been proven that organizations with high levels of loyal customers typically grow revenues at twice the rate of their competition, so obviously those 2 simple exercises can have a major impact on the growth and future success of your company.  Get your entire company involved, and you’ll be on the road to a brighter future.

Delegating tasks to others on your team doesn’t just lighten your workload – it can lead to improved employee satisfaction, help you be more productive, and even speed up career growth for you and the employee who completes the project.

If you could go away on vacation for 3 months and work would still be accomplished in a timely manner, you are doing a great job delegating.  For the rest of us, there is always room for improvement.  Here are 6 steps you can take when delegating to ensure success:

Decide what can be delegated

The easiest tasks to delegate are handling phone inquiries and drafting letters, memos and reports.  If your employee used to do a task or project at a previous job, assign him or her those tasks, especially if you are overspecialized or it is not in your area of expertise.  Time-intensive projects – such as those that require research – are good to delegate as well.  A good rule to follow is to delegate items that you do over and over.

Understand what cannot be delegated

Delegating some activities can end up causing you more time in the end if you have to fix them or fill in gaps.  Those include projects with poorly defined objectives, budget reviews, performance evaluations, highly specialized projects, and major decision-making that involve department strategy or interdepartmental objectives.

Choose the employee carefully

Pick employees carefully when delegating tasks, especially those that affect the entire department or team.  Choose an employee whose skills and personality style match the task or project. Look for employees with untapped abilities, skills and knowledge, rather than always delegating to the first person who comes to mind.  If there is no one within the company who can take on the project, look for outside expertise.

Prep the employee

To set up the employee for success, provide them with a written description that breaks down the task or project into steps with separate deadlines, directs them to resources they may need, and explains the objectives thoroughly so the employee understands the importance of the assignment.  Be prepared to field questions that may seem basic to you.

When communicating with the employee, be sure to demonstrate your enthusiasm for the project and confidence in their ability to do a great job.  Make your directions as specific as possible without overwhelming them with details or complicated instructions.

Support the employee

If the going gets tough, don’t desert your employee or reduce their authority unless all efforts at directing and guiding them fall flat.  Be sure you provide all the information they need to do a good job, and communicate regularly to be sure the project is being completed correctly.   The more support you can provide, the better the employee will perform.  By properly supporting employees, your team will enjoy increased morale and sense of ownership, and they will become more proactive and creative.

Review employee performance

Whether you delegated an ongoing task or short-term project, review the employee’s performance to learn if they found it easy or difficult, if they needed more time or different resources, and if they received the support of other employees.  Be sure to reward the employee for a successful outcome – positive feedback will reinforce their value and make them want to do an even better job moving forward.

How often has this happened to you……there is a presentation that you are due to give at 8 A.M. tomorrow.  You have it on your list but there are many easier and non-critical items that you can cross off much faster so you put off working on the presentation.  Now it is getting later in the day and you cannot put it off any longer.  Has this presentation being wearing on you all day?  In this now state of urgency are you putting you and your company’s best foot forward?

Now imagine I have just placed a very large and ugly 10 pound frog in your lap.  You must eat this frog by the end of the day or the world as you know it will end (sound familiar?).  When will you eat the frog?

The frog represents the one or two things that you must accomplish before the end of the day.  By procrastinating you will essentially be carrying around a 10 pound frog all day.  Imagine how heavy he is and how much you have to accommodate him while knowing all day that you must eat him.  You must bring him to all your meetings, share a lunch with him and have him staring at you all day.  Time is an expiring resource – how much have you wasted putting off eating the frog?

Imagine now that you have a project that is due at the end of the day and you work on it first thing in the morning.  You accomplish your project and no longer have to think about it for the rest of the day.  Does it feel different eating your frog first thing in the morning?

I challenge you to stop procrastinating and immediately tackle the project, conversation, etc. that is holding you back.  If you still can’t do it, we can give you the techniques and skills to get it done with time to properly review your work.

Eat the Frog!  (Adapted from Brian Tracy, “Eat that Frog:  21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time”.)

One of the biggest time hogs in our professional lives is email – it just never seems to slow down in volume, does it? – but that is not the only time waster at work.  Attending meetings, chatting with colleagues, checking social media, and doing tasks we can delegate to others all take time away from our primary responsibilities.

The good news is that learning how to manage  your time so you can be more productive is easy.  Here are 6 steps you can take to start improving your time management skills today:

Schedule time to check email and messages

To be truly productive, shut off email and switch your phone’s ringer to silent.  Schedule two or three times each day to check email, voicemails, and text messages. Choose times that work for you, but first thing in the morning, mid-day, and late afternoon/early evening would be a good start.  You can even set up an auto-responder email to let people know what time they can expect to hear back from you – same with your voicemail greeting.

Organize your email

If you want to save a lot of time, keep your email organized.  If you can delete an email, don’t save it.  If an email requires only a quick response, go ahead and respond during your scheduled email time.  If someone else can answer the email quicker or better than you, delegate it.  If an email contains information you may need later, file it in a folder labeled by client or project.  If an email requires action that will take longer than a few minutes, add those to your to-do list, calendar, or project management system but optimally touch it only once and take care of it the first time you open it.

Keep meetings on schedule

For meetings you run, put together a schedule and stick to it. If discussions around a topic go on too long or veer into other areas, interrupt to keep people on track and /or offer to take the discussion “offline” – meaning, it can continue after this meeting ends.

Limit colleague drop-bys

To stop people from randomly dropping by your office to chat, work with earbuds in your ear or earphones on, even if you aren’t listening to music.  You can also put up a sign that says “Your Name is Out” even though you are sitting there.  They will get the hint that you are not available.  There are other good-humored ways of limiting colleague drop-bys too.  If this is a problem for you contact us.

Delegate when possible

If a colleague or someone else on your team can handle a project or task better than you – or if they have more time – ask them to take it on.  To get buy-in, explain why you think they are the right person for this task.  We will cover this topic in more depth in our next blog post, so keep your eye out for it.

Schedule social media time

Unlike email, social media is an unnecessary evil during the workday – unless you are in marketing and managing it is a primary task!  If you cannot resist the temptation to check Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, or other networks while you are at work, schedule 10 minutes once or twice a day for a “social media break.”  It might be worthwhile to track how much of your time is spent doing this type of “work” now.  Keep track of your “social media time” this week.

Unless you know if your training and development programs are having an impact on your employees’ productivity and effectiveness, you are wasting your time and money.

One of the best known and influential models for training and development evaluation was developed by Donald Kirkpatrick, Professor Emeritus of the University of Wisconsin and a past president of the American Society for Training and Development.

His model is based on four interconnected levels. The first two levels of learning are how companies measure the success of their training and development investment, while levels three and four require detailed goals and actions.  Don’t fall into the trap of many companies that never move to levels three and four due to the time commitment required to adequately measure and manage the programs.

First Level: Reaction

Reaction measures whether your employees enjoyed and found value in the program, which can be discovered with a simple survey following the program.

Second Level: Learning

Conduct pre- and post-program testing to determine whether or not your employees acquired new knowledge, skills, and/or attitudes.

Third Level: Behavior

After 3-6 months, you can measure learning retention and job transferability to determine your employees applied their new knowledge, skills, and/or attitudes to their job, role, and goals of their department and the company.

Fourth Level: Measuring Business Results

Measuring business results depends on completing level three before looking at improved results through an entire team or department.

A great example of how this works in the real world is a development/training program that focuses on improving your team.  A successful program should be set up with specific measurable results before the program is implemented.  There are many ways leadership of a team and/or team growth can be measured.  A team that is constantly complaining about their leader and then not having complaints for a month or more is a sure sign of leadership improvement.  A leader changing the way he/she approaches discipline with their staff and/or praise leads to many positive results in a company’s bottom line.  ROI for the company through developing the people!

Whether your company is small, 5-person business with a local client base or large, multinational company with offices all around the world, your employees are your most precious asset.  Without them, you would not be able to deliver high-quality products and services, innovate and change in response to the market, or gain new and retain current customers.

Developing your employees through various leadership and team coaching training programs can be one of the best investments you can make in your business – and many leaders recognize this.  It is estimated that companies in the United States spend more than $134 Billion each year on such programs.

Despite that large number, The Journal of Economic Education reports that the annual rate of retention loss for employee training and development averages between 13 to 23%.  That translates to between $17 – 30 Billion a year in unused or lost training and development.

Avoid that waste and focus on the goal of your training program, which is to retain your best and brightest, engage and motivate all employees, develop future leaders and strategic growth initiatives, and maximize every dollar invested.

To achieve those goals, your training programs need to incorporate 3 elements:

• New knowledge, skills, and attitudes and habits
• Clear ways and action plans to incorporate the new knowledge, skills, and/or attitudes in routine tasks, overall job roles, and inter and intra-department projects
• Quantifiable results

The most common training programs that deliver the best results for our clients include:

• Leadership Coaching
• Team Coaching
• Group/Team Dynamics through communication training and understanding
• Leadership development training

To learn more about how these programs can positively affect your company, give us a ring at 703-255-3355.