My good friend, colleague and bi-monthly peer coach Julie Poland wrote a wonderful article about one of the obstacles that keep people from engaging in a coaching relationship, The Summit Blog: Alternative venues for you and your coach. Another obstacle that produces as much unwarranted fear as it does justified concern is the “cost” of coaching.
I believe there are Three Elements to the Cost (or value) of anything, including coaching.
- Financial Cost: the currency of this cost is, obviously, money – dollars and cents. If you are like me, and most people I know, no matter how much money it costs it is more than you want to pay.
- Cost of Time: the currency of this cost is hours, days, weeks, months and sometimes years. If you are like me, and most people I know, no matter how much time it takes it is more than you want to spend.
- Cost of Change: the currency of this cost is commitment. Would you agree, that until you get clear on your commitment to change it is difficult to make a decision about money or time? In fact, your likely investment of money and time will be directly related to your commitment to change.
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| Changes – a photo by Ablow Rasheed on Flickr |
What does it cost?
This one question must always be considered in a buying/selling decision, yet makes most buyers AND sellers extremely uncomfortable. Too many people think that price IS the decision, when it is only one relative aspect of a wise buying/selling relationship. Very few consumers and a surprisingly few sales professionals understand that all three Elements of Cost are always involved in buying decisions, and a shared understanding about the third element, Commitment to Change, should drive decision-making about the first two elements.
What do you want to be different as a result of coaching?
Chances are, the greater your desired change, the greater your commitment needed, the more time and money you should plan to invest. (There is nearly always a correlation between time and price.) Based on your Commitment to Change you should be able to discern if the time you propose to invest and the price you are then asked to pay is too high for you. A good coach, and a good sales professional, will help you through this decision-making process.
A good coach or sales professional does not want to sell you anything after all. The good coach or sales professional has a clear role and Purpose: to help You buy what You need, based on Your unique Commitment to Change, from someone who understands what You want.
Click here for another take on the Three Elements of Cost.
http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=msturgell&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1600134009&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr
http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=msturgell&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1600134009&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr
Intersection of Purpose and Now 