If you want to get in shape, you hire a fitness coach.
If you want to get your personal finances in order, you hire a financial advisor.
But if you want to grow your consulting business, who can you hire?
Do you have to figure it all out by yourself? Or is there a way to speed up your progress?
If you want to grow your business faster and with less stress, the best way to do it is by hiring a B2B coach.
I’m not just saying this because we run a B2B coaching business.
I’m saying this because I’ve personally spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on my own B2B coaching to build Consulting Success.
If you want to level up your business and reach your goals — but don’t know the most efficient, stress-free way to get there — B2B coaching is almost certainly going to be your best investment.
In this article, I’ll explain everything you should know about B2B coaching specifically for consulting business owners:
- What it is
- How it works
- How investing in B2B coaching helped build Consulting Success
- And how to get our help with B2B coaching.
Ready? Let’s dive in…
What Is B2B Coaching?
B2B coaching is “business-to-business” coaching: working with a coach to help you improve your entrepreneurial skills so you can get better and faster results.
If you’ve ever played sports, practiced martial arts or got serious about music, you’ve likely worked with a coach. The coach taught you, guided you, helped you improve your skills, and helped you avoid mistakes.
The meaning of the word “coach” is relevant. It was first used in the early 19th century as slang for a tutor who carried a student through an exam. In this context, “coaching” describes a process by which the coach takes the student from where they are to where they want to be.
Now, think about where you are in your business, and where you want to be.
- You might feel like you could be a better marketer, and want to be more comfortable sharing what you know and getting in front of people.
- You might feel like you’re great at doing the consulting work, but you’re terrible at selling yourself, so you struggle to win new business.
- You might feel like you can get your clients results, but you don’t know how to brand, package, and price your services in an attractive and profitable way.
With enough time and practice, you could solve all of these challenges on your own.
However, if you were to work with a coach, your coach can help you get those results and to your destination faster.
In the sports context, think about a high-performance coach like Tim Grover. He’s coached hall-of-famers like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Dwyane Wade. These athletes were great on their own — but they were able to take their skills to far greater heights with the help of their coach.
What many people don’t realize is that coaching is not limited to sports.
Consider the famous “Trillion-dollar” business coach Bill Campbell.
He was the business coach of Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Google), Steve Jobs (Apple), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook), and many more.
These elite entrepreneurs were able to achieve greater and faster success by working with their coach.
Next, I’ll share about how B2B coaching typically works.
How Does B2B Coaching Work?
B2B coaching is a mix of personalized guidance and strategic planning.
Whether you’re a brand new consultant or a seasoned veteran (just like if you’re brand new to basketball or the greatest of all time), there are always things you can improve on. Thus you can always leverage the expertise of a coach.
Just like Michael Jordan hired coaches to reach peak performance on the court, entrepreneurial consultants hire coaches to sharpen their thinking, develop a strategic growth plan and support them in making better decisions (while avoiding costly mistakes).
Unlike books or courses, B2B coaching is highly individualized, focusing on your unique needs and goals.
- If you’re struggling with marketing, it would help you develop a marketing strategy you can be consistent with — and keep you accountable for doing the work.
- If you’re excellent at your craft but weak at selling it, a coach would help you role-play sales conversations and help build up your sales skills and confidence.
- And for consultants who are great at delivering results but who know nothing about branding, pricing, and packaging their offers, your coach would help you turn the results you create into an attractive consulting offer.
(This is exactly what the coaches in our Clarity Coaching Program do)
You hire a coach to help take you from your current state to where you aspire to be. Unlike trying to do it yourself, it’s a fast-tracked process.
With their experience in helping others just like you, your coach identifies the shortest and most effective route to your goals.
This process involves…
- Regular assessments
- Strategy refinements
- Accountability checks
…all of which ensure consistent and steady progress.
My B2B Coaching Case Story
When Sam and I first considered business coaching, the investment seemed substantial: a four-figure sum of around $3000. At the time, this decision wasn’t easy.
I remember grappling with questions: “What is the true value of this coaching?” and “Why invest in a coach when I can figure things out on my own?”
My initial thought process was similar to other bright-eyed, new entrepreneurial consultants.
I told myself, “Let’s build the business a bit more, land another client, hit the next revenue milestone, and then consider coaching.” It’s a common excuse among entrepreneurs: always pushing coaching to the next milestone.
But deep down, I knew about the undeniable value of coaching. In high school, I worked closely with a coach on the track team. I recognized the potential of business coaching to create results — but hesitated in the early days.
That first investment in B2B coaching felt monumental at the time. However, once Sam and I committed, the results were undeniable.
From that small investment, we saw a five-figure return in the first few months. And the actions we took based on our coach’s advice turned out to yield six figures over the course of a year.
We were hooked.
Emboldened with our first win, we ventured further, investing tens of thousands of dollars with another coaching company. This was another significant investment for us at the time. But the results came as quickly as we took action.
Within a month, our coach guided us to shift our offering in a way that generated an additional forty or fifty thousand dollars: paying off the entire year’s coaching investment in 4 weeks. That advice has gone on to help us generate millions of dollars.
What I’ve learned is that coaching accelerates success. It’s not that you can’t achieve your goals without a coach. But with the right guidance, you get there faster and more efficiently.
In B2B coaching, the key is finding a coach who genuinely understands your business, your industry, and your specific challenges.
If you’re hesitant about investing in coaching, I know how you’re feeling.
The hesitation, the fear, the self-promise of “I’ll do it later” – I’ve been there.
But the proof lies in the transformation. Every successful person has leveraged help at some point, and coaching is a crucial part of that equation.
To this day, we continue to invest over 6-figures a year in B2B coaching. We wouldn’t sell coaching unless we invested in it ourselves.
And if you’d like to see examples of the results that our clients have had in our Coaching Program, check out our Clarity Coaching case studies page.
How To Hire & Find A B2B Coach
Selecting the right B2B coach is crucial for getting the results you seek in the quick timeframe you expect.
Start by identifying coaches who specialize in your industry: if you’re a consulting business owner, that means a B2B coach who works with consulting business owners.
Choose a coach who not only has expertise but also aligns with your business values and goals. Examine the About page on their website to learn about their vision, purpose, and values.
Examine the coach’s credentials, experience, and client testimonials. A reputable B2B coach should have substantial experience, a history of successful client engagements, and positive feedback from past clients. The results that they’ve created for their clients should excite and motivate you.
And your coach should be someone you can trust and communicate openly with. This relationship is a partnership. Mutual respect and understanding are key.
Before finalizing your hiring decision, write your expectations and goals. Discuss your business challenges, what you hope to achieve, and how you see your coach helping you. Establish transparency about fees, duration, and coaching methods so you’re both on the same page.
If you’re an independent consultant or consulting business owner — and you want to build a strategic, profitable, and scaleable consulting business — consider our B2B coaching program.
In our Clarity Coaching program, our B2B coaches have helped over 1000 consultants to build a more strategic, profitable, and scalable, consulting business.
Learn More About Clarity Coaching
We’ll work hands-on with you to develop a strategic plan and then dive deep and work through your ideal client clarity, strategic messaging, consulting offers, fees and pricing, business model optimization, and help you to set up your marketing engine and lead generation system to consistently attract ideal clients.
You’ll learn how to generate more profit with every project you take on — and how to land more clients than ever before. Learn more about Clarity Coaching and get in touch to talk about your situation and goals.