Business Consultant Discusses The Problem With Business Coaching

You know the old saw about the jack of all trades who is the master of none.

This is the problem with many business coaches who go into organizations with the promise that they?re going to be able to fix everything from finance to sales.

I, for one, just don?t buy it.

In business, most of us develop, if we?re focused at all, some very specific skill sets.

I know I have a few that are very deep.

One of them is in telemarketing, specifically cold calling for business and generating something out of nothing. I do it well, and I?m first-rate at training others to do it.

Also, I?m very sharp at improving customer service in measurable ways, reducing costs in the process. Moreover, I?m FAST.

That, by the way, is the signature of a true expert in nearly any walk of life.

A barber or hair stylist that labors over every snip is either putting on a show for your benefit, or he?s inept. The worst cut I ever got was by someone who took the longest time, and at the end of it all, she admitted she wasn?t licensed!

One particularly terrible heating and air conditioning guy looked at an old furnace of mine for about an hour and said he?s replace it, and he sent me a bill for his ?advice.? Needless to say, he didn?t get the ultimate removal and replacement work order.

Just as I wasn?t having him out for an opinion, but instead a repair, most small businesses can?t afford the luxury of paying someone to say something is wrong. They expect someone they retain to roll up his sleeves and fix it, and fast.

One of the reasons a reported 90% of all consulting is done within the Fortune 1000 is that these firms know how to hire people with specific skills. They demand and often get exactly what they?re seeking. And in my experience, they tend to avoid coaches, preferring consultants with credentials.

If, for instance, they want to train their sales force to open and close business by phone, they don?t settle for an advisor or trainer who knows only how to qualify prospects or set appointments.

Operations managers who want their customer service reps to start paying their freight by selling find consultants who know exactly how to get this done, with a minimum of fuss and employee turnover. (See my best-selling book: Selling Skills For The Non-Salesperson.)

A mere coach, who doesn?t know how to help people to transform themselves from being clerks to being sellers, will rely on useless motivational ploys and even less successful standard sales texts.

To be fair, all coaches are not inept.

But one symptom of quackery is when they say they?re competent at everything.

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Economic Growth Continues - More Than 5.3 Million Jobs Created Since August 2003
On June 2, 2006, The Government Released New Jobs Figures – 75,000 Jobs Created In May. The economy has created about 1.9 million jobs over the past 12 months – and more than 5.3 million since August 2003. The unemployment rate fell to 4.6 percent – lower than the average of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

The Economy Remains Strong, And The Outlook Is Favorable

Revised Report Shows Fastest Real GDP Growth In Two-And-A-Half Years. Real GDP grew at an annual rate of 5.3 percent for the first quarter of this year. This follows our economic growth of 3.5 percent in 2005 – the fastest rate of any major industrialized nation.

Productivity Increased At A Strong Annual Rate Of 3.7 Percent In The First Quarter.

Real Hourly Compensation Rose At A 3.2 Percent Annual Rate In The First Quarter.

Personal Income Increased At An Annual Rate Of 6.7 Percent In April. Since January 2001, real after-tax income has risen by 12.9 percent, or 7.3 percent per person.

Real Consumer Spending Increased At An Annual Rate Of 5.2 Percent In The First Quarter.

Employment Increased In 47 States Over The Past 12 Months Ending In April. Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 41 states in April.

Industrial Production Increased 4.7 Percent Over The Past 12 Months. Over the past 12 months, manufacturing production has increased by 5.5 percent.

President Bush Has An Aggressive Agenda To Keep The Economy Growing

This Week, President Bush Nominated Henry Paulson As Treasury Secretary. Paulson has an intimate knowledge of financial markets and an ability to explain economic issues in clear terms. For the past eight years, Paulson has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Goldman Sachs Group, one of the most respected firms on Wall Street.

The President Has Expanded Tax Relief And Is Working To Make His Tax Relief Permanent. Two weeks ago, President Bush signed into law a bill that extends the tax cuts on dividends and capital gains. This legislation also contains an Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patch enabling millions of middle-income families to avoid paying higher taxes in 2006.

The President’s Tax Relief Has Helped Spur Growth By Keeping $880 Billion In The Pockets Of American Taxpayers. The Administration reduced taxes for every American who pays income taxes, doubled the child tax credit, reduced the marriage penalty, created investment incentives for small businesses, and put the death tax on the road to extinction.

Growing The Economy And Reducing The Deficit Depend On Controlling The Spending Appetite Of The Federal Government. Every year since the President took office, the Administration has slowed the growth of discretionary spending that is not related to the military or homeland security. The President's last two budgets cut discretionary spending that was unrelated to the military or homeland security, and we are on track to cut the deficit in half by 2009.

If The Emergency Supplemental Bill – Which The President Has Requested To Help Fund The War On Terror And Hurricane Recovery – Includes Non-Emergency Or Wasteful Spending Or Exceeds The President's Set Limit Of $92.2 Billion Plus Funding To Prepare Our Nation For A Pandemic Flu Emergency, He Will Veto It.

In The Long Run, The Biggest Challenge To Our Nation's Budgetary Health Is Entitlement Spending On Programs Such As Social Security And Medicare. We call on members of both parties to join us in a bipartisan commission to address this critical issue.

The President Will Continue Working With Congress To Restrain Spending In Other Ways, Including Passing A Line-Item Veto. A line-item veto would allow us to cut needless spending, reduce the budget deficit, and ensure that every taxpayer dollar is spent wisely – or not at all.