What clients want:

results from the global ICF study on clients’ experiences of coaching

by Maren Donata Urschel

How much do you know what clients really care about when selecting a coach? What would you do differently, if you knew that the majority of clients will have tried different means of help before coming to coaching? How would you talk about coaching if you had data on what clients got out of it?

Until recently, there has been a void of reliable data on individuals who have received professional coaching and the results they achieved from it. To address this void, the ICF commissioned the Association Resources Centre Inc. and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP to jointly conduct a global study of coaching clients. For the purpose of the study, a coaching client is defined as the individual being coached.

A total of 2,165 coaching clients from 64 countries participated in a 20-min online survey from September to November 2008. Coaching clients consisted of 60% “consumer clients” (individual clients who are not coaches themselves) and 40% “coach clients” (individual clients who are also coaches themselves). 57% of respondents received coaching in the areas of Business, Executive & Leadership, 38% received coaching in the areas of Life, Vision & Enhancement while 5 % received other types of coaching. To ensure that the results are current, only those who had experienced coaching in the past 5 years were permitted to complete the survey.

This article presents a selection of findings from the ICF study and tips for coaches and corporate buyers of coaching on how to use of the findings.

Clients’ paths to coaching:

An overwhelming majority of clients (87%) try alternative methods to address their needs before coming to coaching: coaching is not the first solution for many clients. A significant number seek free advice from people they know (42% confide in colleagues, 36% in family) or from a mentor (29%) before deciding to find a coach. On the commercial side, the top alternatives to coaching are training (38%), counselling (21%) and consulting (16%).

Top tip for coaches and corporate buyers of coaching

• Educate the market about the areas which coaching can address and how coaching differs from other forms of support, in order to help clients think of coaching as a possible solution straight away.

Coach selection:

A significant 58% of clients engage the first and only coach they contact. In other words, the majority of clients rely on their background research to select their coach; once decided, the contact and interview are merely a formality to ensure they made a good choice. Less than one third (29%) of clients reported that they contacted/interviewed more than one coach before entering a coaching engagement, while 13% of clients did not participate in the coach selection process.

The most frequently consulted information source in the coach selection process is personal referrals/word of mouth (46%), which is also the most influential one. Other information sources include a coach’s personal website (20%), coaching seminars or workshops (14%), colleagues at work (13%), professional coach organisation directories (11%) and speaking engagements by the coach (10%). Less frequently consulted information sources include newsletters (4%) or books (3%) authored by the coach and coach company matching services (2%).

The overriding consideration in selecting a specific coach is the extent to which the client feels comfortable with the coach as a person. Nearly all (96%) clients regard a coach’s confidence, personal rapport and personal compatibility as critical (rated as very important or somewhat important). The effectiveness of the coaching process is also a critical selection consideration (96%). Attributes such as the number of clients served (49%), the coach’s curriculum vitae (60%) or the coach’s experience with the client’s industry (58%) might be overlooked when only one coach is interviewed, yet they might become decisive factors when several coaches are considered.

Top tip for coaches

• Building a good reputation as a coach through the quality of your work is the most effective way of attracting clients. Given that the majority of clients rely on background research to identify the first (and only) coach they contact, creating as many possibilities to be “found” is also important. This could be through a web presence, speaking engagements or coaching seminars/workshops.

Top tip for corporate buyers of coaching

• Review the extent to which your coach selection process addresses areas such as the coach’s confidence, his/her ability to build rapport with different people and the effectiveness of their coaching process. This is what clients care most about when choosing a coach.

• Given the importance of personal chemistry for a productive client -coach relationship, ensure that the client participates in the coach selection process. Offer at least two coaches for the client to select from.

Coaching results:

Regardless of the type of coaching or coaching goals, clients are likely to experience a positive change in areas such as self-esteem/self-confidence, communication skills and work performance. Clients were given a list of 15 areas that are often addressed by different types of professional coaching and were asked to indicate the degree of improvement they had experienced in each. 80% of clients reported a positive change in self-esteem/self-confidence, regardless of their coaching objectives. A significant majority of respondents also experienced benefits in the following areas: relationships (73%), communication skills (72%), interpersonal skills (71%), work performance (70%) and work/life balance (67%).

Only 9% of clients were able to quantify both how much was gained (or lost) and how much they spent on coaching. While 40% of clients were aware that financial gains had been achieved through coaching for them or their company, only 9% were able to provide data on personal or company ROI. Due to the small sample size, the results on the ROI of coaching should be interpreted with caution. Individual clients who achieve a financial benefit from coaching (personal ROI) can typically expect an ROI of 3.4 times the amount spent (e.g. increased earnings from personal salary or increased savings through debt reduction). Companies can typically expect an ROI of 7 times their initial investment (company financial gains may come directly from processes and skills developed through coaching or through an improved corporate culture, e.g. improved leadership may result in improved focus which can lead to improved performance).

Top tip for coaches

• Communicate the positive changes clients are likely to experience through coaching, regardless of their coaching goals (e.g. improved relationships, communication skills, self-esteem, etc.). This enables you to give a more holistic picture of the value coaching can add to the individual and the system (e.g. organisation, family) they operate in.

Top tip for buyers of coaching

• Clarify from the outset how you will measure the ROI of the coaching engagement. While not all coaching engagements lead to financial outcomes by design, establishing clear goals and a way of assessing the extent to which they have been achieved is vital to assess the value coaching has added.

Motivations for seeking coaching:

The single most important reason for seeking business coaching services is business management (23%), followed by career opportunities (17%) and work performance (9%). For life coaching it is self-esteem/self-confidence (18%), followed by work/life balance (17%) and career opportunities (12%). Respondents were asked to identify their most important reason for engaging a coach out of 15 areas that are often addressed by different types of professional coaching.

Top tip for coaches

• The study reveals that clients can take even more challenge, that they want clear goals established and that they expect their coach to be able to manage his/her own emotions and beliefs. To distinguish yourself as a coach, address these areas with your clients and work with your supervisor on how you can excel in them further.

Evaluation of the coaching experience:

96% of clients would choose to be coached again given the same circumstances, with 95% rating their coach as good or excellent. Respondents were asked to rate their coaching experience based on 13 criteria which were deemed extremely important to ensure an effective coaching process, such as ‘performed work in an ethical manner’, ‘asked questions which evoked insight, commitment or action’, ‘refrained from judging me’ and ‘challenged me when necessary’. When analysing only the ‘excellent’ category, it emerged that coaches ranked very highly in areas such as ‘demonstrating integrity, honesty and sincerity’ (89%), ‘performing work in an ethical manner’ (88%) and ‘using appropriate and respectful language’ (87%). The areas that received less glowing ratings are ‘establishing goals with the client’ (69%), ‘managing their own emotions and beliefs’ (71%) and ‘challenging the client when necessary’ (74%).

Top tip for buyers of coaching

• Review with your internal/external coach team to what extent they are perceived as excellent in challenging their clients, managing their own emotions/beliefs and establishing clear goals with their clients. These are the areas in which coaches are less likely to receive ‘excellent’ ratings.