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Today's episode is going to be really juicy, because we're talking about what's actually going on in your group coaching calls. 

So you have your group coaching program, and you've got maybe a curriculum or a set of modules, or even a course. And you're going to supplement with group calls, so that you can get in front of your clients that are buying this course that are wanting this information. They need a little more accountability. I mean, the live portion of a program is so valuable for so many people. 

But what I find is that there's actually an art to group coaching. And a lot of people don't know it. And that's because we are not taught how to facilitate a group of adults to their own individual goals. You may have a coaching certification in the particular thing that you coach in, like health or fitness or parenting. And you might just have experience as a teacher, or you might just have experienced being a business owner. So now you're turning around and teaching other people how. And so all of those things do not come on to the online business world, you're like I have an expertise, I want to make money online, you're taught marketing, you're hit with like a bunch of marketing. 

And hi, I'm raising my hand here. I've been there. Not only was marketing the first thing I learned, but it's also what I taught for a really long time. And so marketing seems to be like the number one thing that we learned and then also like a little bit of how to run a business in the background. But we are never really taught how to facilitate a group of people. 

So today's episode is all about why people aren't coming to your group coaching calls.

A lot of people reach out to me and say, “My group program started a few weeks ago. And, you know, all was well and good. They all came to the first couple of calls, and then they started to drop off. What's that about?”

So that can feel really tough, because you might think it’s you, something you did, or it’s the wrong kind of client. You sort of get into what they call a feedback loop - someone doesn't come to the call or a couple of people, you start to notice there's a pattern, the attendance starts to drop off towards the middle of the program, maybe around the halfway point. You can't get in touch with them, or they say they're too busy, or they always have some kind of reason for not showing up. You think to yourself, “Well, are they not the right client? Were they not ideal? Did I do something wrong? Is it something I taught? Is it? Is it me? Is it them? Or are they just not ready? Shouldn't I have known that?” 

Whew. A lot of times we end up blaming ourselves with all of these thoughts running through our mind. We blame ourselves for thinking that maybe we should have seen it coming, maybe there was a red flag that we missed. We blame ourselves for maybe not making the calls exciting enough. We blame ourselves for not spending enough time and then we blame ourselves for not doing enough. So I know a lot of times my clients will throw in bonus training or do some kind of FOMO activity that makes it so that the clients have to come to the call in order to participate in whatever that exciting thing is. And I've definitely been there with throwing in some bonus training in my group program so that I can get more people to participate. 

And the thing is: that only hurts you. It hurts the client too, because now they have more things they have to do. But it also hurts you because now you have to come up with a whole bonus training. And you have to set aside another hour to deliver it. You aren’t working smarter, you’re working harder. In short, it’s not why you started a group program. 

Your group coaching program struggle is common. 

If this is happening to you, I don't want you to think that it's you. And I don't want you to think things like group coaching is just not for me, or I just my business doesn't work for group coaching, or I can't attract the right people. I don't want you to think that like I want you to just understand that we are not taught facilitation, we are not taught how to run group coaching calls. I can't tell you how many people I've talked to that are burnt out from group programs. They also just don't want to join them anymore. They are becoming saturated, they're becoming just like watered down. And we just don't need that in our online space. 

We're here to make the online coaching space a better space, so we're not here to blame. 

Who’s wrong - the group coach or the group client?

So you may see that your attendance is dropping, and either a coach of yours or a friend in the space might have said things to you like, “Well, that's their responsibility, right? You created the container, they are the ones that have to come. You can't go to your house and force them to sit in front of their computer on Zoom, and then rush back to your house and get on Zoom.” You might have been told that, you might have even thought that they must not care enough. The high achievers, the people who actually get the results, they're the ones that show up. 

I'm not saying that maybe there is some kind of ideal client situation that needs tweaking. But more often than not, it's actually just because of a few key things that we can shift. 

The value of the group coaching call

One of the things that people stopped coming to calls because they just don't value the call. Okay. I know, that's a hard thing to hear. Because what I'm not saying is that they don't value you, that is not what I'm saying. I believe that they do value you and you probably have gotten that feedback. You've probably gotten feedback that this is an amazing program. And I'm sure it's incredible. And I'm sure that clients are saying things like: “if I had more time or more energy or more this, or more that, I would do it better.” 

But that's not really the truth. They value you , and your business, and the things that you provide. They might realize and recognize how valuable it is, but they just don't see it for themselves. They just don't value the call for themselves, and we need to change that. The good news? We CAN change that! 

Get your group coaching clients to value your calls more

One of the things that they feel is that they aren’t seen, and they don't feel heard. A lot of times this points to facilitation. A lot of times the reason for this is because as coaches, we love one-on-one coaching, and we love the relationship between coach and client. So because of that, we are trying to have a one-on-one coaching session in a group. That's basically what we're doing. We're one to one coaching with an audience. And then we're moving on to one-on-one coaching with another person, with an audience.So if you can reflect back on the last few group calls you've had as the coach, have you been doing that? Have you been one to one coaching people? If you have, it's quite possible that some of your clients don't feel seen and don't feel heard. Now, I'm not saying they raised their hand and you've ignored them, they probably haven't raised their hand. 

How to stop group coaching clients from being wallflowers for good

Another reason why your clients might not feel that the group call is effective and valuable is that they might not be getting the coaching they need. One of the biggest and one of the most popular methods in online group coaching is what's called the scale model. So the scale model is a set of modules, a course, or some educational materials that the client gets access to immediately. The group calls are Q&A based. The idea being: client watches modules, client comes to call with questions/asking for support, rinse and repeat. In short, this is a very, very ineffective group coaching model. P.S. I am going to be the first one to stand in line and say, This is what I used to do in my program.

The problem is: we're ignoring that adults don't learn that way. Most adults come to a group call, and they're not necessarily sure what to ask. So what they'll do, is they'll kind of be wallflowers. They’ll say to themselves, “okay, I’ll go to the call but I don't have any questions, I don't really know what to ask, I don't really know what to do in this call, but other people probably know what to do. So I'm going to be the innocent bystander, and I'm going to be a wallflower. Hopefully, I'll learn something and at least look like I showed up.” That's not effective, and that's not going to get your clients the results that they need.They're not participating in the group. When they do that, they are literally coming to the call to not participate in the group. And that's exactly the opposite of what you want in a group coaching call.

Group coaching points to the very thing we are wired to do as humans

Humans are literally wired for connection. And they're wired for community. So why wouldn't most humans actually thrive in a group setting instead of what normally happens, which is that coaches will do a program and 10-20%, or one or two out of 10, will get the results and the rest won't? Humans are wired for community and humans are wired for connection, so they should be able to thrive in a group program, period. 

Solution: make your clients feel like a face, not a number. If they feel like a number, not a face, then they will also feel like they probably won't be missed on your call. Then they're not getting the coaching that they need. When they don't get the coaching that they need, they're only going to be that much further away from the result, that much further away from you finding out about whatever it is you help them with their problem. 

We want our clients to feel like if they don't come to the call, the group is not complete without them. If they don't show face, the group is actually not complete. 

Expectations for group coaching is missing in most programs

I feel like I could do five podcast episodes, probably an entire separate podcast actually, about expectations, This is something that gets missed in the online business space so often, and it's so unfortunate because it does affect client results. This happens in one to one coaching, this happens in group coaching. No matter what the expectation that you have for your clients in a group setting, it needs to be crystal clear. It needs to be crystal clear during on-boarding, it needs to be repeated before the first call, and then it needs to be solidified on the first call. 

Now we can do this in a lot of different ways. One of the best ways to do this is to include your client's insight into the expectations. As the coach, you have expectations for them: you have benchmarks you want them to reach, you have ways you want them to contact you, and so on. Since they are in a group setting, they have to have expectations for themselves, and then for each other. The way that we foster that is through creating some norms (a group coaching buzz word which means “guidelines for the environment”). That's what we want to foster. You will get the buy-in of the expectations when you allow your group clients to help write them. Your clients will have buy in because your group clients helped create it. 

Now, your clients want to come to the group calls because they know the expectation of self, expectation of each other, they know the expectation of the coach.

Group coaching is not 1:1 coaching

I really want you to think about how you can move out of one to one coaching when you're in a group setting. What does it look like to have a group of individuals and not one to one coach everybody one at a time?

The answer is all about taking that role of facilitator. There is an art to facilitation. Tools to coach an entire group (and help the group coach each other with your eyes and ears right there) is what facilitation is all about. You can leverage the other group members in order to do this. Everyone benefits from this way of coaching, and this is actually a lot less effort. When you learn the tools of better group coaching, this is a lot less effort on you. And that's what it's supposed to be. You're supposed to be the facilitator, you're not supposed to be talking a lot, you're supposed to shut up most of the time. You're supposed to be facilitating and gently guiding the conversation. But the magic of a group coaching call is in the clients itself. It's not you, no offense. This is about you creating an environment and a set of conditions that allow for growth, and that allow for the individuals to all receive growth and all receive support and guidance, and even some advice along the way.

This is one of the biggest things that we have to learn as coaches, because we will cap out at one to one. We cannot just do one to one coaching for the rest of our lives. And group coaching actually has so many other benefits that we're not using, because we just haven't been taught facilitation. 

Teaching you better tools to use in your group coaching programs is a huge part of The Inside Out Method, so that you can help grow your program from the inside out. This is going to make sure that your clients actually get results. They're going to talk about your offer and your program and how amazing it was, you're going to get resigns because people are going to want those results over and over again, word of mouth is going to help grow your lead generation so that you're actually marketing less, and you're making more money. 

>> I want a results-driven group program that increases my profits by getting better results for my clients and doesn’t burn me out as the coach!

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