Client Relationships
High Growth Enterprise Coaches build strong relationships with clients
The client coach relationship must be built on mutual trust and respect. Clients need to share and discuss highly sensitive information about their feelings, values and emotions as well as confidential information about their business. Although each of the High Growth Enterprise Coaching Professional Behaviours is important, Client Relationships is perhaps the most critical.
High Growth Enterprise Coaches must:
- Understand client values, needs and requirements
- Establish mutual trust and respect
- Create an open and honest, two-way flow of ideas, opinions and information with clients
- Manage client expectations
- Agree with clients the processes and protocols to be used
- Agree the contractual nature of the relationship with clients
- Communicate with clients using a diverse range of communication methods
- Maintain accurate records of interactions with clients
- Reflect on the quality of the relationship periodically with clients
- Manage the closure of the client: coach relationship
The High Growth Enterprise Coaching Process
High Growth Enterprise Coaches need to recognise that client needs change throughout the coaching relationship and therefore the coaching style used at the start of the High Growth Enterprise Coaching Process, Stage 1 Engaging, is likely to be different to Stage 4, Implementing, and Stage 5, Reviewing and Sustaining.
Each phase of the client-coach relationship is associated with a different set of issues and potential problems which may impact on the nature of the relationship.
Relationship Phase | Primary Issues | Relationship Focus |
Phase 1:
Engaging |
· Building trust and rapport
· Understanding each other’s values · Defining and agreeing the nature of the relationship · Agreeing the coaching process and client aspirations |
Client-centred focus
|
Phase 2:
Exploring |
· Defining and clarifying problems and issues
· Using a range of diagnostic tools and techniques to understand past and present performance · Discovering the root cause of problems and reflecting on the client’s conclusions |
Problem-centred focus
|
Phase 3:
Visioning |
· Exploring client values and understanding of what they want to achieve and why
· Identifying potential solutions, resource issues and risks · Confirming understanding of options and solutions |
Solution-centred focus
|
Phase 4:
Implementing |
· Helping clients to select one or more options to achieve success
· Drafting action plans to achieve success and secure the resources required for the plan · Validating client commitment and plans |
Strategy-centred focus
|
Understanding the different phases of the client-coach relationship and the client’s needs enables the High Growth Enterprise Coach to move between the different roles undertaken by High Growth Enterprise Coaches.
The most commonly used High Growth Enterprise Coaching roles are shown to the left. High Growth Enterprise Coaches move from role to role as the needs of the client demand. It is important that the client understands which role the High Growth Enterprise Coach is fulfilling at any time.
It is unlikely that a High Growth Enterprise Coach will be equally proficient in each of these roles and therefore it is often necessary to broker in other specialists and experts as required.
High Growth Enterprise Coaches need to be able to apply a broad range of skills appropriate to the stage of the client relationship and the High Growth Enterprise Coaching Process. Such skills include the ability to build rapport, the use of effective questioning strategies, active listening, challenging, goal setting and action planning which are some of the Fundamental Skills of High Growth Enterprise Coaching.
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