Book SummaryThe Prosperous Coach, by Steve Chandler and Rich Litvin

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of The Prosperous Coach

Many coaches spend time honing their coaching skills through hard work and training—but find this isn’t enough to bring in clients. In The Prosperous Coach, coaching experts Steve Chandler and Rich Litvin argue that coaches struggle because they overlook building a necessary skill: acquiring clients. The authors challenge conventional means of acquiring clients such as using manipulative sales tactics or waiting for clients to come to you. Instead, they say that a thriving coaching business comes from making genuine connections through deep, meaningful coaching conversations with potential clients. The approach aligns financial success with authentic, impactful coaching.

Chandler and Litvin bring decades of combined experience to this work, having coached numerous successful individuals and trained countless coaches themselves. Chandler is the creator of the Coaching Prosperity School, which teaches coaches how to build a thriving practice. He’s also the author of best-selling books such as *[Time...

The Prosperous Coach Summary Part 1: Cultivate a Coaching Mindset

In order to attract clients and build your coaching business, you must adopt the mindset of a successful coach, explain Chandler and Litvin. This mindset comprises numerous traits, including self-assuredness, authenticity, focus, courage, and authority. Let’s explore what each looks like in the coaching context.

Trait #1: Self-Assuredness

The authors explain that good coaches are self-assured and have high regard for themselves. The service you’re providing to your clients is the experience of interacting with you, so you have to show them that this experience is unique, life-changing, and worth their time and money. No one’s going to pay a high price to be coached by someone who doesn’t believe in themself.

To cultivate self-assuredness, keep track of all the professional compliments you receive. Save them in a specific place, such as a folder on your computer desktop, and whenever you’re feeling down on yourself, read through those compliments to boost your confidence.

(Shortform note: While self-assuredness can help convey that your coaching services are valuable, it may have some drawbacks if it becomes excessive: An overemphasis on self-assuredness might...

The Prosperous Coach Summary Part 2: Market Your Services

Armed with the mindset of a successful coach, you’re now ready to market your services to potential clients. Chandler and Litvin’s advice includes three main marketing tips: 1) Look to your existing network to find clients, 2) research your potential clients, and 3) get started right away.

Tip #1: Look to Your Existing Network

The first step in building a client base is to brainstorm who could be your potential clients. Think of people you know or people others have referred to you. This will prevent you from seeking clients by cold calling, which the authors advise against. Calling someone out of the blue and trying to sell your services without knowing anything about them fails to convey what you can do for them—it’s essentially telemarketing.

(Shortform note: Research supports the authors’ advice to look to your existing networks to find clients. Studies on referral marketing in service industries have shown that referred customers tend to be more loyal and have higher lifetime value compared to those acquired through cold outreach. This may be because [referred customers are more likely to trust someone who’s...

The Prosperous Coach Summary Part 3: Hold a “Showcase” Meeting

Once you’ve established a relationship with a potential client and confirmed that they’d like assistance, schedule a time to have a “showcase” meeting with them. According to Chandler and Litvin, this meeting should be like a mini-coaching session. This initial encounter should be long—no less than two hours, according to the authors—and you should spend this time showcasing all the traits of a successful coach. You’re essentially letting them sample what it would be like to work with you so they can decide if they want more.

(Shortform note: The authors’ recommendation for a lengthy “showcase” meeting with potential clients finds strong support in research on experiential marketing and product sampling. Studies in these fields have consistently shown that allowing consumers to directly experience a product or service can significantly influence their decision-making process and increase conversion rates. This approach leverages the psychological principle of the “mere exposure effect,” which suggests that [familiarity tends to increase...

The Prosperous Coach Summary Part 4: Offer the Opportunity to Commit

After you’ve engaged in this initial conversation, the next step is to gauge the potential client’s interest in your services. To do this, once your conversation reveals what your client’s true goal is and what they need to achieve it, ask them if they need help.

Chandler and Litvin emphasize the importance of pausing here to let them think. This might be uncomfortable, but it’s important to let them process so they can make the right decision. You also don’t want to seem needy by immediately pressing them for an answer.

(Shortform note: The authors’ advice to allow potential clients a pause for reflection after presenting your services is well-supported by established psychological principles. The elaboration likelihood model in persuasion psychology emphasizes that for significant attitude changes, such as committing to a coaching relationship, individuals need time for cognitive processing. By allowing this pause, you enable potential clients to engage in deeper consideration of the proposition, potentially leading to more committed decisions.)

If They Say No

Even if you have a great...

The Prosperous Coach Summary Part 5: Close the Deal

The final step in transforming your “potential client” into your “client,” is making a firm offer for your services, explain Chandler and Litvin.

This is where you’ll give them a roadmap for what your relationship would look like. Based on the needs they’ve expressed to you, you’ll explain how often you’ll meet and for how long, what the cost will be, and what exactly they can expect from you. And importantly, tell them what you’ll need from them: namely, that...

The Prosperous Coach Summary Practical Tips to Maximize Your Coaching Abilities

Chandler and Litvin also offer some more actionable tips to improve and maximize your skills and what you offer to your clients. Here, we’ll explore six tips: taking joy in the process, devoting yourself to one client at a time, taking a client-centered approach to your work, getting your own coach, constantly building your client base, and reframing rejections positively.

Tip #1: Take Joy in the Whole Process

The authors explain that many coaches adore the coaching aspect of their job, but they dread the client-building aspect. A good coach takes equal joy in both of these activities because they’re both essential to their job. After all, you can’t coach if you don’t have clients, and there’s no reason someone would want to be your client if you’re not an effective coach.

(Shortform note: The idea of taking joy in the entire coaching process, including client acquisition, relates to the concept of intrinsic motivation. In Drive, Daniel Pink argues that true motivation comes from autonomy, mastery, and purpose. He suggests that when people are intrinsically...

Shortform Exercise: Refine Your Coaching Technique

Chandler and Litvin argue that adopting the right mindset and conducting effective showcase meetings are crucial for building a successful coaching practice. Let’s explore how you might implement these strategies.

Consider the five traits of a successful coach’s mindset (self-assuredness, authenticity, focus, courage, and authority). Which one of these traits do you feel you need to develop the most? Why?