Are You Ready For Your Clients?

What do you do to prepare for your coaching or mentoring sessions with your clients? Maybe you diligently prepare for each session or maybe you go from one client meeting to the next with no time in between. What is your state of mind for your coaching or mentoring meetings? Are you calm and relaxed and 100% focused on the client or have you got lots of other things on your mind?

I thought that it would be good to discuss some areas you may want to consider so that you are ready and in the best position to help your clients.

What is your state of mind? Being in the right state of mind to support your clients is critical to the success of the coaching or mentoring. Being stressed and anxious or still thinking about your last meeting will not be helpful. You will need to allow time before the meeting or between sessions to clear your mind, relax and mentally prepare for your next client.

What do you need to do so that you can give your client your full attention? This will vary between different coaches and mentors. How do you ensure that you will be 100% focused on your client and their agenda? You will know from experience what works for you and you need to ensure that you take the appropriate steps before each client meeting.

What do you already know about your client? If you have had a previous meeting with the client you will already know quite a lot about them and they may have decided on some actions at the last meeting. Even if you have just spoken on the telephone to make the arrangements you will know some things about your client. It is important to familiarise yourself with this information before meeting your client.

What is your level of physical and mental well being? Looking after your physical and mental well being is key to being in a good position to support your clients. Developing a well balanced healthy lifestyle, being self aware, dealing with your own issues and looking after yourself will all help you to be ready to coach or mentor your clients.

What issues do you have that you do not want to take into the meeting? You may have your own issues and challenges to deal with but taking these into the meeting will not help your client. You will need to be able to leave these issues outside of the coaching or mentoring to be able to provide the best level of service to your clients.

What is your desired outcome for the meeting? You may have preconceived ideas about what outcomes you would like from the meeting. Some of these may be appropriate for the client but some may not. Also the client may not want to go in the direction you want them to go in. Remember the coaching or mentoring is for the benefit of the client, not for you, and that it is important to go into each meeting with an open mind.

Have you got the right environment for the meeting? You may be having a face to face meeting or may be working over the phone or by Skype. Whichever you are doing you need to check that everything is ready and working, you will both be comfortable and that you will not be interrupted.

It is very easy to focus on the coaching or mentoring itself and reflect afterwards on how this went, but taking the time to ensure you are ready for your clients will put you in a much better position to deliver the best service to your clients.