Consulting vs. Coaching
Have you ever thought about where your soloist business lands on the spectrum between consulting and coaching?
To field a listener question, Jonathan and I define the spectrum and discuss how to move closer to your dream position between the two:
The differences between the opposite ends of the spectrum and how to own any position you choose to claim.
How to migrate from one point on the spectrum—selling, marketing, service delivery and authority building—to another.
Matching your business and revenue model (including how big an audience you’ll want to attract) to your unique balance between consulting and coaching.
Deciding which kinds of transformations matter most to you.
The role of advisory retainers in moving across the spectrum.
Quotables
“It (coaching) feels a lot more like a transformation that you’re selling and…it feels more like you’re transforming the buyer into thinking a new way.”—JS
“You have these opposite ends of the spectrum between consulting and coaching and then there’s so many points in between you can own.”—RM
“I took baby steps from consulting to coaching because it was like a relatively small number of people paying me a relatively high amount of money.”—JS
“I had this philosophy—even when consulting—that the answer wasn’t in me. The answer was in the client. And my job was to get that answer out.”—RM
“It’s really hard for me to imagine ever reversing direction on that spectrum (of consulting to coaching).”—JS
“Now my greatest joy is when somebody hits a new level. Watching that dawn on people—midwifing those transformations—that’s what I value.”—RM
“And they’re like, ‘I know I’ve heard you say this a thousand times, but you said it a little differently this time, and all of a sudden it clicked.’ I just love those because they’re so visceral to the reader or the listener.”—JS
“Advisory retainers are another option where you can start to straddle the difference between classic consulting (where you’re doing) and classic coaching (where you’re always there).”—RM
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