Is it just me, or are there more professional business coaches on LinkedIn than there are normal members?
It got me thinking.
The best coach we’ve ever worked with – Ian Beswetherick and have recently re-engaged with, doesn’t advertise at all; he just receives referrals. No sales pitch. No upfront fee. He listens, understands, and only charges when he knows he can genuinely add value during the time you spend together.
That tells you everything, right?
It’s all about the ‘Value Exchange‘ he says:
“When you feel the value exchange is out of kilter, that’s when you start paying me.”
We like to think we deliver a huge added value service (non-chargeable time) for our clients at VST, and it’s certainly not tied to how much they spend. It’s about impact, trust, and helping them win.
If they win, we win.
However, the value exchange we receive back from our clients again is not so much about yielding bigger invoices (clients grow over time when the trust and partnership is in place and the commercials work for everyone). It’s more about their valuable time – the time they spend with us ‘chewing the fat’ as we used to call it. ‘Catching up’ or passing on their experience and knowledge of the industry, and where they believe it’s going.
Many of our clients are renowned industry speakers, trainers, and industry policy and changemakers; how they help us (often without realising) and share their knowledge is truly fantastic.
Some things cannot be financially valued easily – they are just priceless.
We want to be their business partner, not their supplier.
I love nothing more than helping people in and out of work where I can; that makes me feel good, too. We all want to help each other be more successful, which makes us all feel good, right?
That’s true value exchange, in my honest opinion.
