elt bad.

How does the ‘no fee information till you call me' approach sit with your value of integrity?

I guess all these preliminary chats and free sessions which lead to nothing are at least good practice, though that doesn't really make up for the sick feeling you get when all that

Here's a sure-fire way to ensure that when prospective coaching clients call you, they are already well on the way to engaging your services.

First of all, I need to ask you a few questions.

Do you publicise your fees? In your marketing materials, do you encourage people to call you for a preliminary chat; maybe you even offer a free coaching session? Maybe somewhere along the line you've been told that once you've got them to talk to you it's a simple matter to ‘convert' them into paying clients. Am I right?

And how do you feel about that? Do you enjoy the moment when, having got them all excited about the huge impact your coaching can have on their lives you have to bring up the subject of money? Is it really fine when they say ‘I'll get back to you tomorrow'?

Or maybe you've experienced someone saying they want you to be their coach and then a day or so later you get an email in which they reveal that they've looked again at their budget and they need to postpone starting for a couple of months? My favourite was the woman who rang to say she couldn't go ahead because she had to leave the country – maybe she did, but I still felt bad.

How does the ‘no fee information till you call me' approach sit with your value of integrity?

I guess all these preliminary chats and free sessions which lead to nothing are at least good practice, though that doesn't really make up for the sick feeling you get when all that

for a preliminary chat; maybe you even offer a free coaching session? Maybe somewhere along the line you've been told that once you've got them to talk to you it's a simple matter to ‘convert' them into paying clients. Am I right?

And how do you feel about that? Do you enjoy the moment when, having got them all excited about the huge impact your coaching can have on their lives you have to bring up the subject of money? Is it really fine when they say ‘I'll get back to you tomorrow'?

Or maybe you've experienced someone saying they want you to be their coach and then a day or so later you get an email in which they reveal that they've looked again at their budget and they need to postpone starting for a couple of months? My favourite was the woman who rang to say she couldn't go ahead because she had to leave the country – maybe she did, but I still felt bad.

How does the ‘no fee information till you call me' approach sit with your value of integrity?

I guess all these preliminary chats and free sessions which lead to nothing are at least good practice, though that doesn't really make up for the sick feeling you get when all that

, having got them all excited about the huge impact your coaching can have on their lives you have to bring up the subject of money? Is it really fine when they say ‘I'll get back to you tomorrow'?

Or maybe you've experienced someone saying they want you to be their coach and then a day or so later you get an email in which they reveal that they've looked again at their budget and they need to postpone starting for a couple of months? My favourite was the woman who rang to say she couldn't go ahead because she had to leave the country – maybe she did, but I still felt bad.

How does the ‘no fee information till you call me' approach sit with your value of integrity?

I guess all these preliminary chats and free sessions which lead to nothing are at least good practice, though that doesn't really make up for the sick feeling you get when all that

nd then a day or so later you get an email in which they reveal that they've looked again at their budget and they need to postpone starting for a couple of months? My favourite was the woman who rang to say she couldn't go ahead because she had to leave the country – maybe she did, but I still felt bad.

How does the ‘no fee information till you call me' approach sit with your value of integrity?

I guess all these preliminary chats and free sessions which lead to nothing are at least good practice, though that doesn't really make up for the sick feeling you get when all that

elt bad.

How does the ‘no fee information till you call me' approach sit with your value of integrity?

I guess all these preliminary chats and free sessions which lead to nothing are at least good practice, though that doesn't really make up for the sick feeling you get when all that energy and great coaching turns into what feels like rejection.

Now, let me tell you a great trick. It means you only get callers who genuinely want you to be their coach – it's simple and elegant and packed with integrity. You save time and you feel really good about yourself. You must have guessed by now – my ‘trick' is the simple device of clearly stating your fees! That's it. Easy as pie.

The prospective client is invited to find out what coaching costs before they call. When they pick up the phone they've already made the decision that they can afford you. All they want is to discover that you are the right coach for them. It's true that you may not get as many calls, but I would question that, too.

A well-known coach rang me up a couple of months ago. He told me that he'd done some research with his ezine subscribers (we're talking in the thousands here). Turns out that a huge majority wouldn't dream of calling someone who didn't make their fees explicit. He didn't used to display his; he does now!

I can say, hand on heart, that 95% of those who call me, as a result of seeing my marketing materials which clearly display my fees, become cli