Coaching Business Development

Being coachable isn’t just a skill. It’s the switch that activates your career momentum. But most leaders don’t lose their edge from a lack of confidence. They lose it by becoming uncoachable. What does that look like in the real world? A CEO I coached once told me: “Let’s keep the feedback light. This offsite’s more for my team.” Then on day two, a brave direct report said: “We don’t speak up because it doesn’t feel safe to disagree with you.” The room went still. The CEO paused and said: “That’s not how I want to lead.” That moment changed everything. Six months later: ✅ Retention improved for the first time in 5 years ✅ They hit their goals 3 months early ✅ Engagement and performance spiked Why? Not because he knew more. But because he became coachable. Start with these micro-steps: 1. Ask before assuming. → “Can you help me understand what you saw?” Curiosity creates clarity. 2. Track your defensiveness. → “What truth might I be resisting right now?” Awareness is the first unlock. 3. Say: ‘I didn’t see that.’ → “Thanks for the feedback. I hadn’t noticed it.” That’s leadership, not weakness. 4. Invite micro-feedback. → “What’s one thing I could try differently next time?” Tiny shifts create trust. 5. Reflect before reacting. → “What part of this feels uncomfortable, but true?” Growth lives in that tension. 📊 Research shows coachable leaders build teams with: → 31% faster team development → 39% higher engagement and performance (Source: Zenger Folkman) Because people don’t follow perfect leaders. They follow learning ones. ❓What was your most coachable moment? ♻️ Tag a leader who listens, adapts, and rises. ➕ Follow Loren Rosario - Maldonado, PCC for human-centered leadership insights.

I'm surprised more people don't start their own coaching or consulting business using LinkedIn. So many of my corporate friends have incredible expertise. They solve complex problems daily, lead teams, drive results. But when I suggest they could turn that into a coaching or consulting business, the response is always the same: "Who would pay me for what I already know?" And then there are the coaches I know who already started their business but are stuck in feast-or-famine mode. Great at what they do, but struggling to get clients consistently. Here's what I've learned after working with both groups: Your expertise isn't the problem. The challenge is that most of us were never taught how to package our knowledge or consistently find the people who need it. That's where LinkedIn comes in. I used to think LinkedIn was just for job hunting. Turns out, it's the best place to connect with people who have the exact problems you've been solving for years. It is THE best place to build a coaching business organically (no ads required). A few months ago, I teamed up with other successful 6/7-figure coaches Adam Broda, Daniel Botero and launched something called the LinkedIn Coaches Accelerator - a 12-week program to help people turn their expertise into a thriving coaching business using LinkedIn. Some highlights from our first cohort blew us away: -Someone landed 25 clients -Another client made $30K while in the program -Several people landed their first $5K-$25K clients within weeks One person 2x’d their followers and increased their LinkedIn reach by 18,279% (yes, this number is correct) On average, people in our first cohort got an average of 4 high-ticket clients while working with us. The common thread? They all started where you might be right now…either thinking about coaching or struggling to get consistent clients. We're now accepting applications for our second cohort. It's designed for two types of people: → Corporate professionals ready to monetize their expertise → Existing coaches who want consistent client flow (no more feast or famine) What we cover: → How to package your experience into something people will pay for  → LinkedIn strategies that feel authentic (no sales-y tactics)  → How to have sales conversations that don't make you cringe  → Building a business that works around your life, not the other way around Our promise: Help you land 3 clients in 12 weeks, or we keep working with you until you do. If you've been thinking about this transition or you're tired of the client rollercoaster, now might be the time. Application here → https://lnkd.in/gzY6-yYj P.S. I'm dropping my LinkedIn strategy guide below.  Use what helps, ignore what doesn't. Just wanted to share what's been working! ⬇️

A while back, I had a Head of Talent Development tell me something that changed everything for me. She said, “If I am going to carve out 45 minutes to meet with you, then you better teach me something I didn’t know prior to our time together.” I then took her statement to another level. I told myself, “If I’m going to create content here on this platform, I better teach these individuals something the didn’t know before reading my content.” This is for my Talent, Learning & OD Connections. Or anyone that has employee development under their wing. Here is what I am seeing in our space today, some heard while speaking with hundreds of talent leaders this week at #atd24 in New Orleans but most of it is from my recent meetings and current customers stories. Skye focuses on the coaching side of our industry so that is where most of these statements will come from. 1 - Unlimited session license based pricing isn’t the model of the future. Too many CLO’s and CFO’s are backing into the utilization data and the math just isn’t mathing. Will share an example in the thread below. 2 - The Director / GM level has a deep need and desire for growth. These leaders have typically climbed the ranks from IC to Manager and now Director with little to know direction because “they know the business.” It’s not the truth and we are seeing a lot of investment into this group. 3 - C (-) 1-3 leaders are desiring coaches with context, coaches that understand where they are and can pour into them in different ways. Price points of 30-50K with no platform and data to report on are crushing some of the legacy businesses in our space. 4 - Buyers are looking for flexible coaching engagements, 6 months + workshop + capstone or rolling launches of engagements or team coaching or small pilots as a proof of concept. They are tired of being told what to do by vendors and are seeking a partner that will build and grow with them. "We can't partner with you if you have less than 30 people going through coaching with us." That was a statement from a vendor in our space... 5 - Buyers are backing into coach quality and coach pay, more than ever. How are these companies taking care of their most precious asset, their coaches? Things like prorated coach pay and coaches getting compensated the same amount while coaching an IC as a VP. The majority of our prospects and customers are coaches, they are expecting better from their partners. I could go on and on but these are the things I am hearing on a daily basis and working to solve here at Skye. Have a beautiful day, thanks for reading! Whoever guesses what coffee shop this is will get a free 1:1 coaching call with me.. Just a fun little game to spice things up.

9 counterintuitive insights that earned me $518K in the last 13 months. 1) Don't chase buyers; create them. Do this with pre-buy experiences that include counterintuitive teachings, reflection exercises, and an offer sequence. 2) Your insights are free; your application isn't. Teach buyers how to think about solving their problem. This is their starting point and it shapes their perspective. Get it right and they'll pay you for the application. 3) You are the lead magnet. My first client paid me $2K. Then I “failed” my way to 150+ clients and $518K in revenue. My failures-to-wins became the core of my offer because the insights turned into lessons I could teach and they attracted people who wanted the same problem solved. This is why building in public is so valuable. 4) Charge what you want. Don’t charge what other people think you "should” charge. 5) Quantity isn't your boss. Post only when you can uniquely teach. If you frantically try to emulate other creators so you can post daily then your peace vanishes. 6) “No” is more powerful than “yes.” You’ll find 100 things you think you need and most might help you. But say no to 99 and yes to 1 until you’ve hit your first goal. Then decide the next step. 7) Launch fast. Real-world feedback refines your offer better than endless planning. You don’t need to record a bunch of videos to launch your coaching offer. Launch it as a live coaching experience and provide the recordings to your clients as a benefit. This lets you share a live training agenda in advance vs you thinking you have to create a ton of training modules before you start selling. 8) Measure yourself backwards. If you keep thinking, “I should be further ahead like [insert name] is…” then you’ll never realize how far you’ve come. Your progress will feel like failure. If this describes you, then get this book: “The Gap and The Gain” by Dan Sullivan. Your life will never be the same. 9) Not knowing your next step means you’re in a learning season. Uncertainty requires you to find answers. Finding answers requires testing and learning. 100% of this process contributes to growth. Don't fear it. 10) 1 offer, 1 person. At the end of the day, you’re playing the game of putting your offer in front of the right person. The more you do this, the more you’ll close. It's that simple. It’s always been that simple. If that’s only happening once per week, set a goal to make it 5 times per week. Then 5 times per day. Then 50 times. Then 500. I help coaches earn tens of thousands in revenue by: 1) Getting crystal clear on your $10K coaching offer 2) Launching persuasive pre-buy experiences 3) Building your pathway to $50K months What’s your current offer price? Pretend it’s $1K. What’s your monthly goal? Pretend it’s $20K. Your gap is currently $19K. I know you're ready to close it. I was. Message me if you want to see what it's like to close the gap together.

In this episode of #TheScienceOfScaling podcast, I am joined by Jonathan Vassil, #CRO at Toast. Under his leadership, Toast experienced unprecedented growth, skyrocketing from $20M to $3B in revenue! The sales culture he cultivated was a significant factor in their success. Let's delve into the key ingredients of this culture that we discuss in this episode. (1) Sales team quota attainment is not the best indicator of the health of the team and its potential to scale because a small number of sellers could drive that attainment. The percentage of sellers making their quota each quarter is a better indicator. You want that number to be between 60% and 80%. Your quotas are likely too low if it is greater than 80%. If it is less than 60%, you will probably have a bad sales culture where reps expect to lose. Jonathan embedded this principle into the organization by aligning some of his front-line sales managers' compensation with the percentage of reps achieving quota (2) According to a study by the Corporate Executive Board, if a sales rep receives more than three hours of coaching a month, they beat their quota by 7% on average. If they receive less than two hours of coaching a month, they miss by 10%. And yet, when the researchers went back and analyzed how managers were spending their time, coaching was last. Jonathan implemented a continual coaching culture by meeting with his managers at the beginning of every month to inspect the coaching plan for each salesperson and assess the quantitative impact of past coaching plans on each rep's performance. (3) One common coaching pitfall is focusing too much on the bottom performers (C Group). Research shows that the best return on investment in coaching time is on the middle performance tier (B Group). However, this doesn't mean you should neglect the As or the Cs. The key is balance. The ideal allocation is 20% of coaching time for the As, 60% for the Bs, and 20% for the Cs. This balanced approach ensures that all team members receive the support they need to excel. (4) Most great sellers do not make great managers. However, sometimes great sellers think the only way to grow and get promoted is to move into management. Mitigate this pothole by setting up a way for salespeople who want to stay as individual contributors to grow. Implement a promotion path that allows sellers to achieve higher OTEs as they achieve various performance milestones, such as exceeding a certain number of sales or consistently meeting or exceeding their quotas or maintaining a certain level of NDR. Create a win-win by designing the OTE increase to increase the pay per revenue sold for the rep and increase unit economic efficiency for the company.  Check out the full episode here: https://lnk.to/TSOS!mr

Research consistently shows that sustainable personal transformation happens through internal motivation. Don't believe it? Take a look: ✅ 52% higher goal achievement rates for intrinsically motivated individuals (Journal of Personality Research, 2023) ✅ 3.4x greater persistence when change is self-initiated (American Psychological Association, 2022) ✅ 76% greater likelihood of maintaining changes after 6 months with autonomous motivation (Behavioral Science Group, 2024) These are the five essential components I use with my clients that you can use right now to kickstart your motivation : 1.) Design your accountability structure: Establish personalized check-in systems matching your motivation style. People with accountability partners are 65% more likely to complete goals (American Society of Training and Development). 2.) Craft your discomfort protocol: Develop systematic exposure to productive challenge zones. Stanford research on "deliberate practice" shows this approach significantly accelerates resilience. 3.) Develop your motivation maintenance: Determine which reinforcement techniques sustain your drive. University of Pennsylvania research shows "implementation intentions" increase follow-through by 91%. 4.) Create your environment optimization: Design spaces to eliminate friction for desired behaviors. Duke University studies demonstrate environment design can be twice as effective as willpower alone. 5.) Formulate your identity reinforcement: Select practices that strengthen your self-concept as someone who follows through. Identity-based habits form more permanently than outcome-based habits (European Journal of Social Psychology). Follow this framework to systematically build the version of yourself that refuses to tolerate what's holding you back. You got this. Coaching can help; let's chat. #executivecoaching #mindset #motivation

"It seems like coaching is just an expensive friend." --HR Leader, Fortune 500 Ouch. But she was right, *if* you can't show the ROI. Here's the reality check: __75% of coaching programs can't show clear business impact __ Budget scrutiny is intensifying for 2025 __ "Trust the process" isn't just weak—it's dangerous For coaching to be seen as strategic (not just "expensive friendship"), it must deliver: → Measurable behavior change → Documented performance gains → Clear business outcomes Let me show you how: Map coaching outcomes to existing KPIs → Retention rates (+22% in our programs) → Time-to-promotion (cut by 35%) → Project delivery speed (improved 28%) Build measurement into your process → Pre/post assessments → 30/60/90 day check-ins → Quarterly business impact reviews Speak the love language of Executives → Revenue impact → Cost savings → Productivity gains Insights from our 1.1M+ data points prove it: When measured right, coaching delivers ROI. Want our proven framework for measuring coaching ROI? Comment "ROI" below. #CoachingROI #LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveCoaching

A year ago I was billing $20k/mo as a coach. I'm now at $40k/mo and I should hit $60k/mo by the end of the year. What changed? I developed a very specific sales process in the last two months. For the first eight years of my coaching career, my sales process was "coach people until they want to pay me." That's not a summary, that was the entire strategy. Heck, I would tell prospective clients this was my plan. "I'm going to give you value until your mind is blown and you want to pay me." It was obviously good enough that I built a viable coaching business with between 12 and 18 clients at any given time. But is also sucked a lot of energy out of me and there were times that my business felt completely out of my control. Remember last year when I chopped off all my hair because I was so stressed out? In the past seven weeks I have been completely heads down defining and testing what someone needs to know and experience at each step of the decision-making process: * What does someone need to know before they talk to me the first time? * What do they need to learn and experience in that first call? * What do I need to know in order to move them forward? Rinse and repeat all the way through "Closed -- Won". Too many founders (including myself) exit the early sales period thinking in terms of deal-making. We can close business, sometimes lots of business in aggregate, but it's an instinctual thing. And there's two big issues with this: 1) The only way to scale is through more leads, which can be expensive, and more sales effort, which is time consuming. 2) There is absolutely no way to effectively communicate that instinct to another sales person. So no one can do that work for you. You can't scale. By defining a clear sales process, you find the weak points of the process (where prospects fall out of the funnel) and figure out how to fix them. This results in a far higher close rate, meaning more sales for less work. AND, you can eventually hire people to execute that sales process. Don't rely on instinct. 1) Document your process, even if it's a hypothetical one. 2) Evaluate experience compared to your plan. 3) Update that plan when something doesn't work. 4) Find a highly predictable and repeatable process and stick to it. In the last seven weeks, I've cut a third of my leads before even talking to them. I've cut another third after the first conversation. I've closed more than half of the rest. Let me know if you have any questions at all. I'm so freaking happy 😆🚀🤘🏻

In 4 years, I built a coaching business that crossed 10M in revenue, made the Inc 5000, and is growing 30% annually. Here’s how: 1. I built an audience before I had anything to sell. I did this by posting high value content for my ICP and distributing it via my newsletter, LinkedIn, and YouTube channel. 2. Start with why. My intention has always been to help the person that I used to be succeed. In my case, I help sellers who are feeling the pain of performing below their full potential. I want them to access the knowledge and tools I wish I had when I was an Enterprise seller. 3. Be vulnerable and authentic. People buy from people they like and trust, and vulnerability builds trust and connection. I openly share my past struggles with addiction, my faith, and mistakes that I’ve made and continue to make. We are all trying to figure it out, and by being real and honest it helps others know they are not alone. 4. Save the best for first. I give away my best frameworks, assets, and content for free. People don’t pay for information: they pay for application. Show peope what they need to do, and offer services to help people apply and implement what they learn. 5. Build an inbound sales motion. This is done by consistently building and distributing high quality content and lead magnets that direct people to book a call. For me I have a free 90 minute masterclass, free online course, and 10+ assets that all require people to provide their email address to access them, which leads to a series of invites offering them a 45 minute complimentary coaching call. 6. Don’t try to sell on sales calls. Instead, focus on understanding if you can help them first. If it’s a good fit, show them exactly how you can help them and outline a game plan. If it’s not, direct them elsewhere. I only want clients who want and need our help where it’s a good fit. Otherwise they will churn. 7. Follow the 80|20 rule and only spend time on activities that move the needle. For me, my 20% are creating content, delivering coaching, and improving our product. Everything else I outsource to my team, including development, accounting, sales, marketing, and customer support. 8. Buld a great team and pay them well. Hire slow and fire fast. Fortunately we’ve had every person stay with us because they align with our mission, values, and see a growth opportunity for themselves here. 9. Focus on making your customers successful. I literally obsess about delivering the outcomes they sign up for. 10. Hire great mentors and coaches. I did not make up this gameplan - I’ve had people who have successfully walked this path before me who I pay to learn from. One of my top mentors is Rory Vaden, MBA CSP CPAE who along with his wife AJ Vaden just wrote a book “Wealthy and Well Known.” I follow their playbook to build my brand and business, and it works! If you want to download the audio book for free, get it below, my treat to you! https://lnkd.in/ge4svS9Y

I used to think coaching was an unnecessary expense. It’s not. Coaching is an investment in your future. 7 reasons why every founder needs a coach: ~~ 1) They help you find opportunity in chaos. When I faced a co-founder breakup, I was stuck in a victim mindset. (Why me?) Great coaches reframe issues: “What can I learn from this?” The obstacle becomes the way. == 2) They expose your blind spots. I wanted my team to take more ownership. My coach showed me the problem wasn’t them, it was me. Micromanaging, overworking, and not trusting others were habits I couldn’t see. Coaching helped me lead with confidence instead of control. == 3) They help you calm the storm. In 2018, I woke up in a panic everyday driven by whatever the sales results were that day down to the hour. My coach taught me to break the short-term “panic cycle”, shifting from reactive decisions to intentional clarity. The result? We created a long-term vision that improved our ability to deal with short-term missed goals. == 4) They change how you measure success. I shifted from a Do/Have/Be mentality to a Be/Do/Have framework and it changed how I approached my entire life. My coach helped me see that real fulfillment comes from being the leader I know I already am, not from “having more”. == 5) They teach you how to scale yourself. I was the bottleneck in my business. Trying to control everything kept my team—and me—stuck. Coaching taught me to delegate smarter, empower my team, and focus on high-leverage work. == 6) They help you lead for the long game. My endurance coach taught me to pace myself in Zone 2, building strength without burning out. My executive coach taught me the same about steady leadership: slow is smooth and smooth is fast. == 7) They hold you accountable to grow. I spent years thinking effort alone would make me a better leader. Coaching gave me something I couldn’t create myself: someone to call me out when I avoided the hard work of real change. == Coaching isn’t for “struggling” leaders. It’s for founders who want to grow faster, lead better, and build a life they’re proud of. Shoutout my coach Jon Roberts (Novus Global)!