“Hi, my name is X and I’m an ‘expert coach’”

“Oh wow, an ‘expert coach’! So what defines an ‘expert coach’? And which of the Professional Coaching qualifications do you hold?”

“I don’t hold any qualifications…….but I’m still a coach”

In a profession which is unregulated at present, how do Professional Coaches differentiate themselves from their peers in the same industry? It’s a tricky one as the coaching market is saturated with people looking for a more flexible career that people believe to be highly rewarded. But is it really flexible? And is it always highly rewarded? And even if it is both of these things, how do you stand out from the crowd and tell the world what makes you different and unique?

Starting out as a Professional Coach in 2011 I was asked some simple questions by a mentor at the time – “Why would I buy you? Why wouldn’t I just go to one of the large coaching organisations? What makes you different?”. Great questions, although rather scary at the time. However, creating time and space to answer them has been one of the biggest enablers to our success at Matthew Radley & Associates. Here are three of our lessons learned along the way……

1. We chose to take a balanced approach of ‘looking to learn’ from others in the market – keeping one eye on what others are doing is helpful but comes with a substantial health warning! So many of the problems facing us in society in the 21st century are aligned to our over-use of social media, and comparing ourselves to others and to ideals that take us the wrong way in life. ‘Looking to learn’ is a great mindset and ensures you arecalways focused on a growth mindset approach to your future and your business offer; not on a belief that what you see others doing is the only answer! Keep ‘looking to learn’ at every opportunity, but ensure you balance it with these other pointers…..

2. Heightened self-awareness is the basis of every high quality coaching programme – it is critical in our work at Matthew Radley and Associates and is at the centre of our partnership with leaders “Executive Leadership Confidence – the most important journey a leader can take is one of self discovery; from self awareness to self acceptance…and onwards to a future built on the strongest of foundations: confidence, confidence, confidence” (Matthew Radley)

So ‘looking inside’ is the second element of differentiation for Professional Coaches. Afterall, doesn’t every orange have an orange middle? Seeking to explore what makes a coach unique, bringing to life all of their experiences and strengths, and packaging them up in a way that clients will understand and be attracted to, comes next. My background was based in L&D and HR having studied English and Theatre at University. In this field I learned so much about writing great quality training materials, design and layout, publication and production, and storytelling to engage audiences. So my first approach at differentiation was to create ‘products’ and ‘programmes’ to help me sell coaching to organisations in the commercial, charity and education sectors. Here you can see our first ever programme created to support High Potential leaders on their intense development journeys: https://www.matthewradley.co.uk/leadership-confidence

And here are some of the products we sell to support clients in developing their self awareness: https://www.matthewradley.co.uk/products

Spending time drawing on your strengths and passions, and bringing them to life for your prospective clients will be invaluable – it’s what makes people want to buy your orange over someone else’s!

3. And our third consideration is to explicitly state what you stand for – your brand proposition based on your values. Let’s call this ‘looking inside out’. In the first year of operating I worked with my associates and with clients to help define exactly what we stood for as Professional Coaches and as a business. This has been immensely helpful in defining our way of being, our focus, our offer, our preferred clients, and importantly in selecting associates to join the team. Afterall, holding a Post Graduate Certificate in Coaching alone doesn’t make you fit for purpose as a coach, or fit to work for and represent our brand at Matthew Radley & Associates. We recently refreshed our brand values to bring to life our complete offer: https://www.matthewradley.co.uk/our-approach. These brand values define us as a business in many ways, and we regularly request client feedback in line with them – do we do what we say we do? From ‘Trusted Partnership’ to Qualified and Professional’ to ‘Person centred, Team centred, Organisation centred, and System centred’ – our values are our guiding light.

So, in summary, there are three approaches that we have taken as a business in support of the differentiation challenge for Professional Coaches:

1. Looking to learn (continuous development)
2. Looking inside (strengths and passions)
3. Looking inside out (values and brand proposition)

As an Executive Coach and founder of our business, I have always thrived on developing new coaches within the industry, supporting their journey from self awareness to self acceptance, and ultimately confidence. Feel free to get in touch if would value a mentoring session in support of your ambitions. Coaching is an industry that is generous and gives to its clients, and my belief is that we should give to each other also -  the offer is always available to you. Enjoy ‘looking’ at steps 1, 2 and 3 as you embark on your journey.