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What The Experts Say

HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW

Sales Teams Need More (And Better Coaching) by Scott Edinger

“We hear constantly about the importance and value of coaching, especially in sales. But, the reality I have observed while working with hundreds of organizations is that a true culture of coaching rarely exists. "In a survey conducted a few years ago with a sales team in a Fortune 500 telecom company I found an interesting contrast.” Read the Full Article→

FORBES

Eight Signs Its Time To Hire A Business Coach by Forbes Coaches Council

“As a leader, you might think you should have everything figured out already, but this simply isn’t true. While all of us have our own talents, leadership skills are often something we have to learn along the way. Enter the business coach.” Read the Full Article →

ENTREPRENEUR

Coaching Makes All The difference By John Brubaker

“What separates the winners from the losers? At the most elite levels it’s not talent, because everyone is supremely talented. Coaching is what makes the difference.Coaching isn’t just important in sports, it’s the X-factor that makes a big difference in your business results as well.’” Read the Full Article →

4 Reasons You Should Seek Out A Business Coach by Jeff Boss

“There comes a point where stagnation sets in. You can take yourself only so far without the help of others. Hey, it happens. Consider it part of the startup lifecycle. Enter the business coach. There isn't anything else that you receive 100 percent dedicated attention to you.” Read the Full Article →

What To Look For In A Business Coach

Key things to look for in a coach

Hiring a business coach is a big decision. It is also one of the best decisions you can make for your business. There are a lot of coaches out there these days, so how do you find the right coach for you? Here are 9 things to look for when hiring a coach.

Experience: Your business coach should have extensive and applicable experience in the business world. In order for a coach to be effective, they need to have "lived it". They must have experienced many of the challenges their clients are facing.

Outside Perspective: Your business coach should provide a clear outside perspective of your business. Some prefer to hire a coach that works specifically in their industry. While this can be valuable in certain situations, it is very often the "fresh look" from someone outside of that industry that provides the most value.

Proven Systems: Your business coach must have a proven, consistent system by which they guide you and your business. If your coach "flies by the seat of their pants" and moves around from topic to topic with no organized process, this may be a warning sign. More importantly, your coach and their system must be demonstrated to have produced quantifiable results for their clients.

Aligned with Your Goals: Your coach should be able to be flexible and focus on your goals, needs, and concerns. If you express a desire to focus on a certain area of your business, your coach should respond to and satisfy that request.

No Fear of Numbers: Good coaches measure the results that are achieved with their clients. They want to make sure that their clients are getting a substantial return on their investment in coaching. You should know what kind of return you are getting.

The Accountability Factor: One of the many reasons why coaching is so effective is because of the accountability factor. Your coach should hold you accountable to your commitments. If he/she doesn’t, this is also a warning sign. If you want to move your business forward, you need to be held accountable.

Empathy: As business owners, we all have periods of frustration and need to vent. Your coach should listen and let you vent, but not jump into the "pity party" with you. Once the venting is over, your coach should be guiding you through possible solutions to address the problem.

Enthusiasm: Second only to you (and perhaps your spouse), your coach should show that they care completely about the success of your business. Their outlook should always be positive and solution oriented.

Confidentiality: You must have the utmost trust in your coach, having 100% confidence that everything you discuss in your sessions remains confidential unless you have given permission for it to be released.

4 Signs Its Time To Consider Hiring A Business Coach

Are you asking yourself, "Why would I need a business coach?"

As a business leader, often the majority of your day is spent dealing with day-to-day tasks, leaving little to no time to spend on considering and planning for the long-term success of your company. In other cases, you may be the owner of a business and an expert in your field, but finding that leadership ability does not come naturally to you.

These are but two examples where you could benefit through a partnership with a business coach. A business coach is your guide to starting, growing, and developing your business. They work with you to understand your unique needs and concerns and help you develop the skills necessary for success.

Here are 3 other signs that it may be time to consider hiring a business coach:

You'd like someone to turn to for support

If the feeling of having too much to do and not enough time to do it overwhelms you, you are not alone. Owning a business can be a lonely endeavor and having someone to bounce ideas off of can mean the difference between success and failure. A business coach offers an outside perspective on your business and can help identify the root of what is overwhelming you. Your coach will hold you accountable and provide feedback that will help keep you focused on business growth.

Your direction and priorities continuously change

The single most important factor in running a small business is a unified vision. Without clear vision or priorities, it's impossible to get where you want to be. This is especially important if there are multiple owners, but even if you are a solopreneur, the importance of a consistent vision can't be understated. Whether your business is struggling or thriving, a business coach can help you create a map for the future and stick to it.

A 60-hour workweek is your new normal

If you can't remember the last time you took a vacation - or even a day off - there's a good chance you are overextending yourself, which could adversely affect your business. Often times business owners feel doing it themselves is the best option when it comes to completing specific tasks. As a business owner, you need to delegate some of the tasks to employees. A business coach can help you get out of this vicious cycle and decide what to hand off.

Being a business owner can be lonely, and the challenges are significant. Having a business coach by your side to help keep focused on the important elements in your business can prove invaluable.

Do you know what success looks like for your business? Hear from our coaches as they talk about how they help their clients in setting, measuring & redefining goals for their business.

FocalPoint Coaching has been educating and motivating business owners, corporate executives and other passionate professionals to move past obstacles and accelerate their personal and business growth for more than 30 years.

Over 1,000+ companies have successfully employed “The Focal Point Way”. If you are facing time, team, money or exit-strategy challenges, FocalPoint coaches can utilize our proven methods and systems, tailored for you, to reveal new ways of approaching business issues and find new opportunities that may been previously obscured by the day-to-day “grind”.

Focus on Vision: The FocalPoint Way starts with a focus on your vision. What is the vision for your business, for you personally, and for your family? Where do you want to be in a year from now, five years, ten years?

Focus on Strategy: Your FocalPoint coach will help you identify your vision and will guide you through a process to systematically identify the most important factors and the optimal business strategies to achieve your goals. We work with you one-on-one, helping you concentrate your efforts in the most meaningful and productive areas of your company.

Focus on Understanding: An important part of the FocalPoint coaching process is education – helping you gain a crystal-clear understanding of where you are today, what resources you have available, and what obstacles you anticipate encountering on the path to reaching your vision of the future. We focus on quantifiable results, tracking and measuring key metrics so you can clearly see the gains you are making towards your goals.

Focus on Success: With a clear vision, strategy and an understanding of what you will need to achieve your goals, you can begin the process of driving forward to create that vision. Your FocalPoint coach is your confidant, mentor and guide along that journey, helping you leverage your strengths, improve upon areas for development and realize previously unimagined gains across multiple areas of your company.

Here at FocalPoint we clearly understand that our value as professional coaches can only be measured by the success that is achieved by our clients.

Become our next success story - reach out to me and LET'S GET STARTED!

Speak With Coach Kelly

Hear from our coaches about how they employ the FocalPoint Way to help their clients to “Find Their Why” - understanding who they are and what drives them in their business.

Client Stories & Successes

As a FocalPoint Coach, I work directly with business owners, executives, corporate teams and other professionals to change their business lives for the better. Below are a sampling of client testimonials to begin discovering what is possible for you or your business through coaching and training with me.

"I felt compelled to write this testimonial for Kelly as he has been instrumental in assisting me to grow my business. Before I started working with Kelly, I was struggling to take my business to the next level and achieve the results that I knew I was capable of. I felt “stuck” and that I had so many balls in the air, I didn’t know where to start. Kelly helped me to gain clarity, focus and commitment to my purpose. - Laurie Hawkins - Hawk Inspired Training & Coaching "

"Kelly is insightful, supportive and yet keeps you accountable for setting and achieving your goals. He is a master at breaking down tasks and concepts into actionable items that are achievable and gets you results. - Sherri Romick - SNC Lavalin "

"Kelly’s professional background in strategic planning, business planning and development and his overall excellent business acumen were precisely what I and my business required. He has effectively shown me ways and means to be a more effective leader and what it takes to be successful in my field. - David Fafard - Sign-A-Rama Franchisee "

"Kelly truly cares about my business and how the business will achieve its goals and how I will achieve my personal objectives. He listens effectively, challenges me to search for the right solutions, and provides me with the right doses of motivation and encouragement to address the challenges and opportunities I face. He demonstrates the virtues of a true and effective coach. - Andrew Mosker - President and CEO, The National Music Center "

"Through coaching I began to think differently about my role and understood that trying to do everything myself was holding me back....By changing my role, prioritizing my tasks, delegating and focusing on my business, I was able to take it to the next level and experience the growth I was now prepared to manage. - Megan Armstrong - Owner of Dogma Training and Pet Services "

"Kelly has introduced me to a lot of better ways to manage my staff and to achieve the goals that I have wanted to achieve for many years. It's been easy to get the results and it is something of a surprise that I could manage the store without the skills that I now have through Kelly and FocalPoint. I recommend Kelly if you are looking to increase your business in the way of profits and/or efficiency in what you do. I can tell you that in working with my staff (I employee 54 people) I'm now getting everything I can out of them. They're motivated, they're happy and they're coming into work feeling good about the job and themselves. We definitely have a good team spirit here and I very much owe a lot of that to what Kelly has shown me and worked with me on. - Andrew Robinson - Principal and General Manager, Precision Hyundai "

"Six years ago I started a little business, a small seniors moving services business. Just like any small business you do everything yourself. As the business grew and evolved I realized that we needed a coach to take the business to a higher level. In order to do that, I needed someone to coach me along and give me advice on how to grow the business. At first you don't believe anyone can do what you do with the same passion and expertise. After hiring Kelly he guided my through all the steps I needed to make that happen. Kelly has helped me understand that working on the business is more important than working in the business in order to build the business. He has given me the tools, the support and the connections to guide me through the steps I've needed to take to give me the exciting results I'm having right now.. He takes the time to really understand the business and he comes prepared to every meeting to guide me through those steps, to be more resourceful, to be more focused and organized for me to see the great results of better revenues and higher profits. We now have 3 companies dedicated to providing the specific services we offer to our clients. We are still able to provide that passionate expertise to all of our clients. The biggest thing that I've learned from coaching is that I can be cloned. I can have the same quality of service and the same values that I believe in that I had at the very beginning when I started my business, If you're looking to improve your business I HIGHLY recommend Kelly at FocalPoint to give that business the extra step to get it to the next level. - Terry Brown, President of Relocate Stress Free "

Case Studies

Business Owner Working in the Business and Not On the Business

An already successful business owner, this owner/general manager of a Car Dealership was looking to achieve more growth in an increasingly competitive marketplace. The organization has been operating for more than 25 years yet it needed a new perspective for continued long-term success.

Learn more about how Coach Kelly and FocalPoint Business Coaching lead to a more strategic approach to managing a busy Car Dealership business.

Pet Training and Day Care Owner Challenged with Time Management

A young business owner had experienced a couple of very good years in this business. Growth was occurring at a good pace. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time for the owner to enjoy her business and have time to herself and her family.

Read more about how key time management techniques were implemented and gave this owner time to work on and expand her business.

Executive Director of a Not-for-Profit with a Vision

A passion to establish a Centre to celebrate and tell the story of music in Canada was what drove this leader to succeed. But passion alone wasn't going to be enough to build the leader's dream.

Learn about the focus on organization structure, process, motivating stakeholders were addressed with FocalPoint Coaching.

You could be our next success story - Contact Coach Kelly today!

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