Value is one of those words that’s elusive. People throw it around but not enough of us stop and define what it means. What might be valuable to one person, might not be valuable to the next.
That’s why it’s so important to define so you can deliver value to individuals who want your version of it.
I’ve coached tens of thousands of sessions and I’ve had countless conversations with clients about the service we provide. And with almost two decades of experience, I can share with you the pattern that I spotted.
When I asked clients what value they got from their Coach, one of three words kept coming up.
I packaged them into something I call the 3 C’s of Coaching.
Correct
This is the first C because it’s the most popular. Most clients hire a Trainer or Coach because they want someone to show them how to fix their form. They want corrections so they can stay safe and see the best results from their training. Coaches refer to them as “coaching cues” which are short, easy-to-understand phrases that help a client to fix their form.
For example, when a client is doing a row exercise, you can tell them to imagine an orange between their shoulder blades. And when they do a rep, they should squeeze their back so they can squeeze the orange and create orange juice.
Challenge
The second C is Challenge which means pushing your clients out of their comfort zone. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut of doing the same exercises for the same reps with the same weight. Sometimes you need outside eyes to challenge you to lift more or change your tempo or increase your reps.
The challenge can be in their workouts, in the kitchen, habits, mindset or another area.
One of my favorite ways to challenge clients is with something I call “manual resistance.” That means I apply pressure to the exercise to make it tougher.
Maybe I pull on their shoulders when they do a TRX row. Or I press down on the bar when they are curling. Or I get in front of the sled and push back as they push forward.
You can also challenge clients to take on something they perceive to be scary or impossible. It could be doing their first chin up or a full set of pushups.
Maybe the client always dreamed of completing a Spartan Run. Or they want to get fit by 40 and do a professional photoshoot to capture their hard work.
These are all real world examples that I’ve helped my clients to achieve. And they might have never achieved them without a Coach pushing them out of their comfort zone.
Cheer
Superheroes are known for their superpowers. Wolverine has rapid healing and Superman has superhuman strength. I firmly believe that the superpower of a Coach is encouragement. When you have someone cheering you on, you can do anything.
There’s a famous test where they had participants stand barefoot in a bucket of ice water. They recorded their best time before it got too cold and they had to get out of the bucket. They did a second round of the same test but they did something different.
The researchers had the test group step back into the ice water but they added an extra variable. They brought in “encouragers” which were complete strangers and not professional Coaches. Just regular people who cheered them on and told them to fight through the pain.
All participants doubled or tripled their time in the ice bucket.
The only thing that changed in the room was encouragement. That’s why this is another way to add value to a coach-client relationship. The client might have picture perfect form but you never know if they’re going through a tough time at home.
They don’t need your coaching cues, they just need your words of encouragement.
Moving Target
The 3 C’s of Coaching are the most valuable aspects of our service. It’s the actual intangibles behind why someone pays for our service. You can’t touch it but you know it’s there when someone corrects, challenges and cheers you.
If you ever have a retention problem, I guarantee that the client wasn’t getting one of these 3 C’s. They may have said “my schedule changed” but in reality they are saying “I haven’t felt challenged.”
The goal of a Coach who cares and wants to see their clients succeed is to identify which of the C’s the client needs now.
It’s a moving target. People are dynamic so their needs will change throughout the year.
Rate yourself below on 1-10. How well are you and your Coaches completing the 3 C’s in your sessions?
Rate yourself 1-10 on correction
Rate yourself 1-10 on challenge
Rate yourself 1-10 on cheer