Getting Clients Fast by Joelle Jay, Ph.D.

Many coaches worry and wish for clients – a lot! How much more productive could you be if you could stop worrying and simply coach? By developing a surefire system for Getting Clients Fast your way, you can stop all the wheel spinning and just get to work.

1. Daydream about your practice. Get a clear future vision of what it will look like to have your ideal practice. Ideally, in two years, what will your practice look like? Who will you be coaching? Feel the excitement. See the results.
2. Make Client Generation a focus. Getting clients should be a priority, not an afterthought. Make a list of your Top 5 Priorities for your practice (e.g., what you will spend your time on), and be sure Client Generation is one of them.
3. Create a system. Decide: Will you ask your current clients for referrals? Will you write articles to generate clients? Make cold calls? Offer workshops? Experiment to see which system works best for you, then find one you can hone into a replicable system.
4. Know who you want to coach. What kind of person do you love to coach most? If you’re not sure, take your favorite client and list his or her attributes. Then develop a description of your ideal clients so you can look for them and speak to them more directly.
5. Know what results you want to get your clients. Your clients need to know what they will get from working with you. Better business results? More fulfillment in their lives? Stronger relationships? Get as clear as possible about what you help your clients achieve, then go after those results with gusto.
6. Add “Getting Clients” to your calendar. How many hours a week do you have to coach? How many of those are filled with actual clients? Devote the hours that are left over to Client Generation.
7. Be the best. There’s no substitute for quality. Make time for learning, become the best in your field, and develop a reputation for excellence. Then you will need to “get” clients far less, because your ideal clients will come to you.
   
8. Work with partners. If you specialize in executive coaching and your friends or colleagues specialize in life coaching, relationship coaching, leadership coaching, or business coaching, you have a referral network in the making. Learn what everyone does best, and you can all give each other clients.
9. Ask the universe. It may seem silly, but if you want something, you’ve got to ask for it nicely. Be sure you are setting the intention to actually get more clients, and start talking about this focus of your practice to others.
10. Situate your practice in the context of your whole life. To have a full practice, you only need more clients. To be truly successful, you need the right number of the right clients at the right price to fit the rest of your life.