Cathy Liska This is 17 in a series of 24 blog posts on Business and Marketing.
As a coach, in addition to Group Coaching being a natural extension of your coaching services, it is value added for clients, and it is an opportunity to develop more individual clients. Sometimes coaches hesitate in offering group coaching services. First consider how it is a natural extension of your coaching services. Part of coaching is exploring and strategizing so doing this as a group brings more ideas to the table. Second, it is value added for clients because the additional questions and perspectives of others in the group expand awareness. Third, it is an opportunity to develop individual clients because it is a way for people to begin experiencing the benefits of coaching at a lower price point before committing to individual coaching.
To begin, consider how many participants you want, who the participants are, and the format of your group. Group sizes range from a minimum of three to a typical maximum of twelve. An ideal is six to ten. When considering who the participants will be a key point is that they have a common focus or interest. Format for group coaching varies from simply asking the group what they want to discuss to developing a general topic with questions to providing a mini-training and then moving to a facilitated discussion. In choosing format, consider what works best for your participants. Group coaching may be done in person, on a telephone conference line, in a Skype group, or using an online webinar or other meeting technology.
Offering group coaching services does involve marketing. Do consider existing clients and possible referrals from them. Offer the group coaching through your social media sites, when you speak or do presentations, and through your network of contacts.
