Questions To Vet a Potential Client

Question – When meeting a client during my Initial consultation, what questions should I ask in order to make sure they are a good fit for me?

Jennifer –  There are many different ways to run an initial consultation. One way is to have a set of three questions ready to ask the potential client as a guide for the conversation.

The first question you can ask them is, “What area of your life or work would benefit from coaching?”

Followed by: "Where are you now (in that particular area) and where would you like to be?  For example, if they want to get coaching around their career I would ask, "Tell me a little about where you in your career and where would you like to be?"

Then finally you could ask, "How do you envision a coach helping you get there?"

That first question is important because it helps you understand if the topic falls in your coaching wheelhouse and if you feel like you can (or want) to work with them.
The second question gets them talking a bit so you can learn more about the client and his/her needs. And the final question clarifies what they are expecting coaching to do for them.

If you asked that third question and the client replies, "Well I was hoping you could tell me what I need to do" or "I was hoping that you’d give me some best practices?", that's an opportunity for you to explain that that is not what coaching is. That would be the time to explain to the client that coaching entails you asking them powerful questions so that they can find their own best answers and solutions through deep inquiry and listening. If they didn’t already know that, you will want to make sure to inform them from the very onset.

During the above process I always look for an opportunity to ask some sort of deep inquiry question to measure their coachability. For example, maybe they've said, "I want to take my leadership to the next level but I have a long way to get there." In that case I might ask, "Can I ask you a coaching question, Bob?" And then Bob says, "Sure." "What do you think the biggest obstacle is in you reaching that goal?"
In doing this, I am observing how Bob answers that question. I’m taking note if he's even interested in answering it or not. This is one way I can understand how open he is to the coaching process. And at the same time, I am giving him a taste of what coaching is all about. Win-Win!