CoachVille R&D Team

R&D Team Memo
Saturday, July 28, 2001

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Full Practice 100 Program
Creative Ideas Sought

Dear CoachVille R&D Team Member,

The Full Practice 100 eProgram begins this Monday, July 30, 2001. Every single day for the next 100 days, about 3000 (of the 4200) members of CoachVille who have signed up for this course will be receiving an email each day with their 'lesson' or step of the day. And, 2-3 times a week, they'll be invited to participate or interact in some way with Dave Buck or myself or with other participants.

Sample lesson below
I've included the final draft of the first step. (Note: the steps won't really be in sequential order, at least the first time around.)
--How helpful was it?
--What wasn't clear?
--Is it too big of a step?
--What kind of extra support would YOU need in order to 'complete' this lesson?

Extra Support
Dave and I have finally figured out how we want to run the support/interactive side of this e-program. (Given there are TEN times the number of participants than we expected, this has taken some figuring-out.)

The basic approach is to look at each lesson/step and decide which forms of support fit best for that lesson. (That may sound obvious to you, but it took us a month to figure that one out cuz we'd been operating from the original mindset of offering general/open call-in days, workdays, etc.)

Here is our current menu of support options. We'll generally pick 1-3 per lesson.

TeleDiscussion for 30 minutes
Highly interactive, Q&A, show-me-how type of format. We tape these so that those not in attendance can listen in later. Dave will lead some of these and so will I. These are scheduled 1-2 days AFTER the lesson is broadcast. Short notice, but we're crafting the lessons as we go.

Use-age Stories
We will be asking that participants send in their results that have come with any of the 100 steps. We'll pick the best of these and include it at the website. This provides validation and real-word examples of how this stuff works and how coaches are adapting to fit it for their markets/clients.

RealAudio Discussions
Dave and I will talk with each other, or a small group, and tease out some of the topics into a 10-20 RealAudio segment.

Chat Rooms
We're going to try this for several of the topics -- using our web-based chat room to see how well this works.

Discussion Board
I expect to add a link to a discussion board for some of the lessons so that coaches can add their comments directly and folks can connect around specific topics, opportunities, etc. Coaches aren't that fond of discussion boards, but maybe the marketing focus will be

Expert TeleClasses
We'll be asking about 10 experts in different areas of marketing to host 30-minute sessions for a small group so that we can get this RealAudio'd. This will provide needed variety.

Rolling 1-1 Lazer Sessions
Several times during the 100 days, Dave will be calling into the bridge and staying on the bridge for 4 hours at a time to respond to specific requests/needs. The attention given will be 1-1; these are not group discussions. However, anyone may listen in, so the calls, while 1-1 are not confidential. (This is the most practical way we can see to offer the 1-1 lazer coaching given the number of participants.)

Examples at the Website
As you will see in the lesson below, we are asking participants to send in their 20 "What I Do's" so that we can compile these and pick 100 great examples of phrasing. These will be posted to the website within a couple of days for every participant to view/use. This also helps us build up content and examples for the next time this course is offered and/or for the e-book/workbook that will likely come out of this course.

Your turn
This list above IS pretty cool, but I'm guessing that there are other supportive structures or features or resources that we can add. One quick thought I had was to invite folks to decide if they want to join a sub group where they'd pick a new-client goal to reach by the 100th day. And then everyone who elected this would receive a daily update of their 'score' much like we do with the Perfect 100 Program. (It's fully automated.) Which brings up the issue of segmenting the 3000 participants into common-interest or common-level groups in some way, but I can't quite see how to do that. Can you?

Just ask yourself...

1. What extra support would I both like and probably need in order to get 10 more clients in the next 100 days?

2. What course have I taken in the past 10 years that offered some clever ways to support everyone through the process and onto the outcome? What were those support features?

Comments to thomas@thomasleonard.com

Now, onto the Sample Lesson...

What needs to be improved? Comments to thomas@thomasleonard.com.

Thanks a lot!

Thomas

From CoachVille.com

Lesson 1
Know -- exactly -- what you, as a coach, can do for people
Full Practice 100 Program

Potential clients don't really care about you or coaching...
I don't know that the term 'coaching' has even been properly defined or easily described, so I suggest that you steer clear of trying to talk about "coaching." In my experience, while people may sound curious about what coaching is, what they are really wanting to know is exactly how you can help them with a problem or opportunity.

Potential clients just want to know if and how you can help them...
And they need your help to do this. They need to hear SPECIFICALLY what you can do.

Mistake #1: Being too general
"I can help you reach your goals."
"I can help you solve that problem."

Mistake #2: Using jargon
"I can help you get more space."
"I can help you transform your being."

The trick is to be very, very specific...
It's even okay to be too specific because even though your example of what you can do may not fit for this client, they at least will get a sense of what you can do. And, when you share with them several things you can do for clients, they may well be able to weave in your comments and buy the fabric, if not the thread.

...And to be very, very situational...
It's not enough to say what you do. Rather, you need to include references to what real people are experiencing in their personal and business lives.

Tips to think 'situationally'...

1. Stand in the shoes of your ideal client. Ask yourself:
--What problems are they having?
--What is causing their stress?
--What opportunities are they missing out on because they are ______?

2. Stand in your own shoes. Ask yourself:
--What did I use to have problems with that I no longer do?
--What comes easy for me that perhaps I can share with others?
--What's the contribution I want to make to others?

3. Stand in the shoes of humanity. Ask yourself:
--What are the biggest problems that humans in our culture are dealing with right now?
--What are the key skills, support structures and resources that people need to be their very, very best -- and successful?
--What are some of the trends that are redefining the priorities that people have?

Excellent examples of specificity...
Here are examples of what coaches can say to potential clients who ask them what they do. Please note that the word 'coach' is not used in any of these responses.
-- I help entrepreneurs to systematize their entire operation so that it can run without them, yet not take any of the fun out of being an entrepreneur.
-- I tend to work well with mid-level corporate manager whose advancement progress has slowed to the point that they are doubting their future with the company.
-- My practice is exclusively working with individuals who have too many choices/options in their lives and who feel the need to design a simple, sustainable, flexible and elegant life and lifestyle.
-- The person who I can do the best work for is the person who is totally confused about who they are and want they want.
-- Our firm grooms and polishes executives-to-be.
-- People who come to me are particularly curious about what their mission, vision and purpose are and how to reorient their live around these.
-- I work best with clients who are in overwhelming or seemingly impossible financial situations.

Assignment
Your assignment is to write down 20 specific things you KNOW you can do for people. (Don't think clients; think people in general, whether clients or not.) Just write. Don't edit your thoughts. When you're done go through a second time and tease them out to be highly specific and accurate. Replace vague and jargon words with simple English. This assignment may take 2-3 sittings to complete.

1.
2.
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If you prefer, a PDF version/chart is available at
http://www.coachville.com/fullpractice/x01pdf.pdf

Please turn in your assignment
Please email your 20 to xxx@xxxx ho will compile all responses and then I'll select 100 examples of well worded "What I Do" responses. This collection will be posted at the website within 7 days. Your contributions will be anonymous -- your name will not appear. We will be tweaking some of the responses to show "before and after" in order to illustrate weak/strong form.

Final Comment
People buy in different ways. There are many ways to talk about you, coaching, or the potential client. Sometimes you talk about yourself; other times, you ask questions of the potential client.   The lesson above is an example of the former.

Invitation
Want to learn more about how to articulate exactly what you do in a highly specific way? Join Dave Buck this Wednesday, August 1, 2001, from xx to xx for an interactive TeleDiscussion on this. Dave will be helping you to tweak your phrasing so that potential clients get very, very clear on what you provide. If you can't make this session -- or the session fills up as it is likely to do -- we are RealAudio'ing the calls and you may listen in anytime. Links are posted within 24 hours of the call at http://www.coachville.com/fullpractice/links.html.
To register for this discussion, address a blank email to xxxxx@xxxxx and in the subject line, type xxxx-x. You'll receive an email back within minutes with the bridge number or a notice saying that the discussion filled up.

Improvements?
What would you like to see added, expanded or clarified about this Full Practice Step? Please email your suggestions/requests to xxxx@xxx. Every suggestion is carefully read. Please be selfish -- we are seeking to evolve/expand the power of this course and your comments/requests make THE difference in that regard.

The Full Practice Program Program is
available exclusively to members of CoachVille.com