It is not always easy to know how to choose a Business Coach. A lot of people claim to be effective Business Coaches – but how can you find out which ones really are?

Here at FocalPoint, all our Business Coaches are intensively trained in bestselling author Brian Tracy’s method of coaching, which has been proven effective for more than 30 years for business owners around the world. Not all Business Coaches can make claims like those.

The following 5 tips will help you make a better decision on choosing a coach who will help you achieve measurable improvements in your business.

1. Make sure your coach has real-world experience.

Do not hire any coach who has not personally sat in the boardroom. Your coach should have extensive experience at a senior-level position, as well as working knowledge of how business leaders reach decisions, how they target problems, and how they ensure that their solutions get put into practice from the executive level down.

2. Test the coach’s knowledge of the latest ideas in business theory.

If your Business Coach does not have a graduate-level degree in a business field, they should at least have some formal training in business theory. They should also be well-read in the latest popular business books, and should have opinions, backed up by logic and data, on current theories and techniques advocated by the world’s top business experts.

3. Ask for references – and insist on seeing the hard numbers.

Your Business Coach should be thrilled to provide you with positive references from other business owners they have helped. Call those people and ask:

• How they felt about working with this Business Coach – did the coach help?
• Was the Business Coach enjoyable to work with?
• How, exactly, did they improve the business?

Make sure you ask for hard data – even the most glowing reference is meaningless if the results were not measurable.

4. Investigate the method of Business Coaching they use.

An effective Business Coach isn’t just making up the method as they go along – their style of coaching should be based on a time-tested method that’s been used all over the world; and that method should have a proven track record of consistent success. Spend a little time looking into the method your Business Coach uses, and get to the truth about its value. See for yourself whether other business owners have found it helpful or not.

5. Get a feel for the coach’s values and personality.

Even the best-trained, most knowledgeable Business Coach won’t be much help to you if you don’t share the same fundamental principles. Spend some time talking with the Business Coach, and see if they are the type of person you like spending time with. Trust your instincts, and don’t hire any coach you wouldn’t take to the golf course, or to lunch. Beyond that, make sure your Business Coach understands your vision, your basic values, and respects those things – or better yet, shares them personally.

Plenty of great Business Coaches are out there – you just have to know how to find them. Stick with these 5 tips, you will find a coach who will align with your goals and values, and guide your business to its full potential. Be selective, and keep your standards high. Your business deserves it.