TeleClass
September 26, 2001

This is the transcript of the New Member Orientation Class led by Thomas J. Leonard.

  (from which transcript was crafted)

Orientation for New Members
September 26, 2001 - 3:00 p.m.
Thomas Leonard, Session Leader


TJL: Welcome to the call; who's here with us? (participants check in) this is orientation for new members of Coachville. I'll be talking about how to get started with Coachville or make the most of your membership. This call is being done only 4 months after it's begun, and will be re-done over the next year or so as we continue to add more information.

Our intention is to have coaching skills, coaching critiques, etc. available. As you know, we're coming out with a coaching forms book - it's at the editors right now. We have a lot of stuff in process. We will have a formal curriculum so if you're a coach who's been around for a while, start here, or if you're a coach who's barely heard the word, start here, or if you're a corporate executive who wants to convert what you know into a coaching practice, start here. We're trying to situationalize it. This fall and next spring, we'll be working to get this done - as well as the coach referral service, beta listings, and others. Also, the coaching mall is coming up - basically, we'll be trying to be the one-stop shop for whatever coaches need, either by providing it directly or in conjunction with partners.

Some things will be offered for free, while others will have a fee. We're only 2 percent there in terms of content, so bear with us. Over the next year, you'll see it expand exponentially. That's the introduction. I'd like to ask if you have any particular questions - either about policies, procedures, or where to start. Who's got a question?

Mac: I'm brand new to coaching and am itching to get started, and barely have a clue as to where to go. Can you give me a 1-2-3 start here?

TJL: Welcome to limbo! We just taped last week an introduction to coaching session and will be putting it up on the site in the next week. What I also recommend you do is head to successforms.com and look for the clean sweep form; begin working on this yourself, and it'll give you an insight into your progress as a coach. As we release more forms over the next 30 days, just keep checking back and begin handing them out to people you know.

I would also go through the resources you see at the website and pick something you think is interesting. I think the evolutionary progressions are a really interesting tool set. You may have an interest in subjects that clients would be interested in. You also might want to brush up on what makes someone a good leader, etc. so you can then be familiar with those and have them as resources with your next client.

Mac: May I just take a moment and summarize?

TJL: Sure, go ahead.

Mac: So, I should check out www.successforms.com, then www.clean-sweep.com, and then look at evolutionary progressions and then the 500 coaching models.

TJL: Yes, it's kind of like thumbing through the textbook on your first day of class.

Carrie: Regarding the coaching models. There are 500 of them and that's a little overwhelming - there's no additional explanation on some of them, and I'm a little unclear about what they mean. Is there any additional information on these?

TJL: Not yet. We put stuff out as soon as we have it.

Carrie: Then, about the personal foundation materials that talk about the program steps that are involved. If I want to access the full program, how do I do that?

TJL: Good question. The program is about getting 10 things in your life really, really strong. We're working to develop additional materials to go with this.

Carrie: Will you then have a licensing process?

TJL: We do - and we have 3 ways to license it. If you just want to use the forms, those are free if you use them on a one-by-one basis. Whenever it comes into group needs, though, a license is needed. You can purchase a lifetime teaching license for approximately $100. The 3rd version - we haven't released it yet - is a course by email. People can sign up for a course that they'll receive something every day and they'll start in exact sequential order, no matter when they sign up. You'll be able to offer that to friends, clients, or use that to offer promotional items for your coaching practice.

Carrie: Great; thank you.

TJL: Imagine you're at a meeting and you meet someone who's interested, you can simply have them sign up for an email course, that you can add information on yourself at the bottom of each email. You get the credit and the referrals, and use our system for a nominal fee.

Sally: Did you also indicate that if we had something that was our content we could also use that system?

TJL: Yes, you could contribute to our system and would get the attribution for it. that's a great example. We're kind of set up like Disney Land. We've got systems to help you contribute. We want to become a professional home for people, and think it's a great way to provide fresh, new content.

Sally: So, if Carrie and I were to design a program for people getting axed from our government, we could send it to you and have you upload it on your system?

TJL: Yes!

XXX: Given the state of where things are with Coachville, if we wanted to get involved with Coachville and wanted to refer our clients to Coachville - how do we provide added value to those resources?

TJL: And why would you refer clients to Coachville?

XXX: My thought being the autoresponder, emails, etc.

TJL: It's a valid concern. Let me respond in 2 ways. We don't really push members to send everyone we know to Coachville. There are things you're going to be working with, like the course by email; that will be at www.coursebyemail.com, rather than at Coachville. I think your real question is how much should I be giving away to these clients of mine? They're going to hire you because of the kind of person you are. Information is generally free most anywhere, and people can do stuff on their own. People want to spend money on a coach, and they want to hire someone who can connect with them, not just be a library.

XXX: As a follow-up, when we talk about accreditation - eventually, over time, is there going to be some sort of accreditation Coachville is going to provide?

TJL: Yes, by next April, we'll be offering examinations for coaching skill sets. We're calling our program the "Certified Coach" designation. Ours will primarily be based on competencies, and because we're growing rather quickly, our brand of certified coach will be the most recognized brand.

Alex: is it your intent to shift the paradigm - or, what it takes to become a certified coach?

TJL: Yes. My view is that if you can demonstrate competency, I don't care whether you've have 1 day or 10 years of training, or 1 day or 10 years of coaching experience, but how competent you are in these 100 areas of competency. That's exciting, because when you've passed these, you'll know you're really, really good.

Mary: Thank you for that clarification. I would really appreciate if you would say more about your overall vision for Coachville.

TJL: Sure, we have a pretty big list of this at the website. We just sent this out... I do see us at 100,000 to 1 million members within the next few years. At some point there will be high school counselors suggesting coaching is a viable career, and I also feel that the coaching industry is only at 3 percent of the way to where we're going to be - in terms of technology, etc. We've got such a long way to go! I think the most important thing is that Coachville is mostly an R&D facility to help us move from 3 percent to 10-20 percent in the next few years. People that join have been really helpful in donating their forms, materials, and so on.

Sandy: How do you find your niche? I'm a counselor and know about making people feel better. I'm not a business person or corporate person.

TJL: I have a couple responses to that - you will, at some point, people just do. I think after you coach 100 clients, it becomes obvious who you really enjoy working with. You might think it would be obvious based on your previous background, but I think it would be a mistake to just assume that. Again, if you look at those first clients, while they may appear to be very differently, there's often some sort of common thread or theme, and by having that level of experience, you'll start seeing what that thread is, and that'll be your next niche. There are many different skill sets and demographics you can go after.

There are also many new niches that are being developed using this 'common thread' issue. You can go really deep. Most coaches have 3-4 specialties for the first couple of years, and narrow it down from there for the next few years.

Jeff: I'm a new user to Coachville, and I have some questions about logging in. is my username and password - is that my email name and password?

TJL: There is a generic username and password that you can use to log in. Within the next couple of weeks, we're going to be changing it to a specific process that is part of your welcome letter.

XXX: At Coach U, they hold a designation called a "Certified Strategist" - is that something of yours?

TJL: We sold that to Coach U back in 1998, and just bought back teleclass.com and some of the special designations. We haven't yet re-launched certified strategist, but will probably in the spring. We've got "Certified Communicator", "Certified Teleclass Leader", and others. It's a tremendously intriguing skill set and we're looking for other things like that that are fun to do.

The super sensitive person is a particular niche - there are certain skills and assessments and tools to help coaches teach them. this is just an example of the specialty training we will be offering. For example, we'll be having a whole set of modules like this that'll be unfolding over the next year or two.

Alex: Does it matter where you begin?

TJL: It's up to you. As you may or may not know, if you signed up for Coachville by July 24th, you got the Full Practice course for free as an incentive. I can't answer your question directly. About 10 people per week decide they want to do the upgrade. If they sign up for the course for the $39 fee, they automatically get access to all the lessons to date, and then you get on the list to get your lesson every day, as well as past lessons. If you got the last 10 lessons for $39, you're getting a good deal.

Alex: What was the name of that again?

TJL: The Full Practice program. Right now, we're on lesson #36 as of today. You can go to the member only area and sign up for that.

XXX: What's the difference between counseling and coaching?

TJL: Counseling deals with traumas, resolving issues, etc., and the general difference is that in coaching people have fairly high goals. They're taking lots of action, and it's not resolving issues, but creating something they didn't have before. It's all about making the most of something in the future, not about something that's holding them back. Anyone else?

Alex: Is there a plan to put in a database search feature at some point?

TJL: Yes, there's definitely a plan for it. Right now we have an alphabetized list on the left-hand column. We'll have an interface where people can type in questions.

Carlos: In the section where I look at affiliate logos, is there going to be a logo for being a coachville.com member that we can put on our site?

TJL: We already have a founding member and charter member designation, but we've pulled those already. We haven't yet made a generic one, but we'll do that soon and get it up.

Candace:
I have a question re; the Teleclass Leader program - is that something that you can do at your own pace?

TJL: We have the real audio and we also have the transcripts so you can read them. You can also, when you want to, email Dave buck and have him slip you into the next one for no extra charge.

Candace:
Thank you, and then how do you verify that course has been completed?

TJL: Actually, we note that you're now in the database as soon as you sign up for it. Anybody else?

Alex: What about those LP competencies? Are you going to offer that?

TJL: We haven't thought of it; we haven't been approached yet, and haven't decided yet how many things we'll have from outside vendors. Maybe you could offer a free version or a paid version that's more in depth? We just haven't gotten around to all the different flavors of personal development yet.