Knight Market Research
Research Implications: Professional coaches operating primarily in the career, life or business/professional arenas would definitely benefit from training in the emerging career management and personal development field of personal branding. This type of training would be invaluable in helping coaches surmount one of the greatest challenges to growing their business -- 'standing out among a sea of coaches .' This training would also enable coaches to more effectively assist their clients in building and nuturing their personal brands.
Background: In May 2002, an e-mail survey of randomly selected professional coaches worldwide was sponsored by Reach Commununications Consulting. Of these, half reported that they are Business, Professional or Career coaches, 45% are Life coaches and the remaining few are Health and Fitness coaches or "other." Survey results have been analyzed and reported by Knight Market Research, Inc., an independent market research firm located in the northeastern United States.
Survey Findings
Differentiation
- Although the majority of respondents report that their coaching business is quite different in its approach from others in their field, two-thirds say they would like to find a way to stand out more from other coaches.
- In addition, only one in ten feels strongly that his/her business is highly visible to ideal potential clients.
- Furthermore, fewer than one-third have a communications plan for 2002 which lays out the activities they plan to use to make themselves visible to their target market.
- Only 3% of those with web sites (85% have them), feel strongly that their web site makes clear who they are and how they differ from other coaches in competing fields.
Business Challenges for Coaches
- Respondents report that the two greatest challenges to increasing their business are finding new clients (36%) and "standing out among a sea of coaches" (33%).
- Two in ten feel that not knowing where to focus their attention is an important challenge to their business.
Others mention finding the time to do marketing (13%) and securing investment funds (13%) as their greatest challenge.
Personal Branding
- Seven in ten of the coaches responding to the survey are aware of a new trend in personal development and career management called "personal branding." They were shown the following definition of this new area:
"Personal Branding is a new trend in personal development and career management. It involves personal assessment and identification of your unique promise of value. Understanding and communicating your unique promise of value allows you to differentiate yourself from others with similar skills and offerings. Personal branding allows you to build a plan to leverage your uniqueness and ultimately increase your visibility and success among your ideal set of clients."
- After reading this definition, nine in ten respondents agreed that they could benefit from building and nurturing their personal brand.
- In addition, seven in ten think that their clients could also benefit from their assistance in building and nuturing their personal brands.
Analytic note: the margin of error for a sample of 39 with responses in the 5%/95% range is plus or minus 5.5 percentage points; with responses around 50%, the margin of error is plus or minus 12.5 percentage points, at the 90% confidence level.