Staffing & Culture | 06.07.23

Vital Client Coaching Skills | How To Transform the Client Relationship

by: BISA Staff

In BISA’s most recent webinar, “Vital Client Coaching Skills | How to Transform the Client Relationship,” Barbara Kay, licensed business coach, shared her expertise on how coaching skills can strengthen and deepen a client relationship. With more than 20 years of experience, Barbara has her license in clinical psychology, three certifications in coaching and decades of experience in guiding individuals to become the best leader and coach they can be. 

In just 60 minutes, Barbara gave us a high-level view (60,000 feet, to be exact!), of how to utilize coaching skills to transform client relationships. Learning the skills of a coach can be applied to multiple situations, whether you're mentoring a colleague or advising a client. But what is coaching, exactly? 

What Is Coaching?

Barbara explained that coaching is much different from consulting and selling, although those are also important elements of a client relationship. Consulting can be defined as directing and advising as a subject matter expert. If you think about being in the car, a consultant is the individual in the driver's seat. You are driving the goals and initiatives forward, knowing where to take the “car." Selling is when you aim to attract, compel and persuade a client into a purchase decision or behavior. Barbara defined coaching, however, as listening, understanding, inspiring and activating. In the car, a coach is in the passenger seat, and the client takes control of the vehicle. The client is in charge and runs the show, while the coach has to shift their perspective and let them take the reins. 

There are three essential coaching skills that financial professionals can use to strengthen their client relationships.

• Listen
  • Barbara explained listening (true, active listening) helps engage and build trust. In addition, active listening invites the client to reveal their needs and desires in greater depth.
• Ask
  • Asking questions is the best possible way to gather any and all information you need to help guide your client to success. Take thorough notes and don’t be afraid to ask more open-ended questions in order to fully understand their interests.
• Observe
  • Observing combines listening with thoughful insight. A skillful observation will reflect back on a meaningful summary of concerns, hopes and opportunities based on what the client has shared. Posed as a question, this helps the client think through how to move forward and clearly articulate their conclusions.

Why Are These Skills Important? 

In a client conversation, excellent coaching skills:

• Engage and build trust with the client
• Build a deeper understanding of client needs
• Expand discovery of client concerns and hopes
• Inspire and motivate the client to move forward
• Energize the client to act and inspire client accountability

In the webinar, Barbara expanded on how everyone can utilize each of these three skills (listening, asking and observing) to transform client relationships.

Listening as a Coach

Barbara defined five listening styles that all individuals utilize, two of which are absolutely essential for coaching. The first being to evaluate/judge the overall situation at hand. This would require listening with the idea of “what would I recommend in this situation?” This style is used when relating to the client as a consultantn. The second is connecting and understanding. This listening style is lused to develop trust with the client. It focuses entirely on deeply understanding what the client is saying without evaluating or directing. The third is getting the details of the situation. This investigative style is focused on uncovering with probing questions that reveal the specifics. Next is fixing/advising. This style is also used when consulting with client. It focuses on problem sovling and delivering a quality solution. Lastly, expand your discovery. This style focuses on gaining perspective, uncovering meaning, and revealing the big picture.

In any general setting, all five listening skills are standard, but when you listen as a coach, the two primary styles of listening are to listen and understand and to expand your overall discovery. It is imperative to connect with your client in order to understand their basic needs and build a solid foundation of trust so that your guidance can help them. Additionally, expanding your discovery allows you to thoughtfully offer meaningful insight that helps the client draw conclusions and move forward.

Asking as a Coach

Skillful questions are incredibly powerful when they are open-ended, brief and non-leading, covering “what,” “how,” “where,” “who,” and “when.” The following graphic suggests examples of questions to ask someone to take full advantage of this. Try out these simple questions and see if they make a difference.

Observing as a Coach

Barbara’s suggestion for how to properly observe as a coach is to “turn a mirror to the client”. Reflecting with insight that helps the client better understand their concerns, needs and desires.  This skillful observation helps the client draw conclusions and decide next steps.  The three essential coaching skills deepen client trust, expand discovery of client needs, and inspire the client to move toward a solution.  

How To Pivot

When the client has revealed their desires and is ready to move forward, it is time to pivot to advising and consulting. When you’re coaching and advising, When pivoting to actively guiding the client, keep the following strategies in mind:

• Use questions to test whether the client is ready to hear advice and solutions.
• Engage in collaboration with your client to ensure you are on the right track and delivering the client's desires.
• Meta-communicate with your clients by using verbal and non-verbal communication to confirm your understanding and their readiness to move ahead.
• Keep listening and reflecting. This actively engages the client in the process, inspires them to act, and assures that the client continues to be fully on board with your guidance.

Although it’s important to pivot so that you can offer the client excellent solutions, beware of abruptly switching to advising or even selling. The client may feel that they've been manipulated by a “bait and switch” sales tactic, that could reduce trust and generate a negative response from a client, leading them to think you’re not there for their best interest. 

Keep in mind the reason you’re serving as their guide, and rather than trying to sell them on a concept or service, prioritize their needs and keep those at the top of your list from start to finish.

The Bottom Line

At the end of the day, as a coach, you want success for your clients. Developing excellent coaching skills will enhance both your advising and selling. You will deeply understand your client's goals, be able to offer solutions that are perfectly tailored to their desires, and develop an ideal action plan. To transform your client relationships, focus on three essential coaching skills:

• Listen and connect
• Ask open-ended questions
• Observe and reflect

 

About Barbara Kay

Business psychology and productivity coach, author of many articles and two books, Barbara serves clients through coaching, consulting and speaking on: growth, productivity, teams, client relationships, communication, change and leadership. She has been serving clients since 1998, with dual degrees and credentials in clinical psychology and coaching. Professionally licensed, she completes ongoing development education and is a member of the American Psychological Association. Barbara Kay Coaching supports client diversity goals as a Woman Business Enterprise and Certified Diversified Supplier.