When I first began coaching, I had concerns about what was better, in person or telephonic coaching.  As a new entrepreneur I was considering the costs of opening up an office space to meet with people face to face relative to the costs of meeting over the telephone (about as inexpensive of a startup as you can imagine).  I was also concerned about the lack of a physical presence at which I could meet with a client should they so desire.  Was it possible that one media was more effective than the other in doing ground breaking coaching work?  Would my business be taken seriously if I did not have a physical mailing address outside my home.  Could I court businesses or just individuals without an office?  How much would an office really cost?  Could I write off a home office?  In short, a lot questions and a lot of monkey mind conversation.  In retrospect, my mind was going faster than my business as my first question should have been ‘how do I get to the point where this is a real dilemma’.  

If you are a life coach, business coach, relationship coach, wellness coach or a coach in any industry wondering about this question, I will lay out the pro’s and con’s of each in this article for you.  If you are a client considering in person or telephonic coaching and are a bit skeptical about one or the other, this article may help you make a decision by understanding what to consider when contemplating coaching via different media.  It should help you learn which might be the most effective environment for you to prosper in as well.

Before you get started…

I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of in person coaching, and a lot of telephonic coaching - the truth of the matter is that both work and both are appropriate.  Its purely a matter of preference, fit with the clients expectations, and what you can sell.  Your challenge as a business owner is to find a media in which you are 100% confident in.  I struggled with this confidence myself when I first began.  As I was marketing a telephonic based coaching model to prospective clients, I was personally uncomfortable that I could not give them an office location should they ask to meet.  It would be very interesting to be able to quantify the number of clients lost because I was personally uncomfortable with my offering - perhaps the people I spoke with would have been perfectly content with a telephonic arrangement but I was ’self sabotaging’. 

Now, this may or may not be your experience.  In writing this preamble, I just want you to be clear that there are enough challenges to starting up a new business (particularly in a new and developing industry), so if you have a considerable amount of uncertainty in your offering, then you are already giving yourself one strike (and its an ugly swing) in the game of building a business.  Choose what works for you and be 100% confident in whatever offering you decide upon.  This is every bit as important as the mechanism by which you offer your service. 

The Pro’s of Phone Based Coaching

There are a number of benefits for both the client and the coach when it comes to phone based coaching.  Clearly, convenience and cost are huge considerations.  The coach works from their home office, the client can engage in the call from home, work, basically anywhere they have a quiet environment and can get on the phone (virtually anywhere with cell phones - I’ve even worked with some people that did our calls from their car!).  With this comes less fuel used, less time commitment out of the day, not worrying about traffic etc.  It also opens up your range in working with clients.  In this model you are not limited to people within driving distance.  For a client this can be a huge benefit particularly when they are searching for a coach of a particular expertise when there may not be one in their community. 

Technology is making phone based coaching better and better.  Email, websites, and now even video camera’s can all be tools coaches use in interacting with clients. 

On a more personal level, at times phone based coaching can actually open up the space of communication as well.  Contrary to what one might think, the anonymity of a phone can at times allow a client to express themselves more deeply because there is not the pressure of another person watching their reactions, their expressions and deep emotions.  Similarly, assuming that there are no distractions in the environment the client has placed themselves in, it becomes easy to focus and concentrate because they can be assured a comfortable environment to do their best work.

The Con’s of Phone Based Coaching

With all of the good aspects of phone based coaching listed above, I do admit that there are some cons as well.  I’ll speak of these cons from personal experience.  My personal preference is to shake hands with someone, to put a face on the voice, to be able to look someone in the eye and show compassion, caring, excitement, and joy.  While a well trained coach can hear a lot in the tone of someone’s voice, there’s still no comparison to seeing them in person.  I had an experience of working with someone that had a surgery on her vocal cords and while the coaching went well, it was extremely difficult for me as a coach to gauge interest, excitement and her overall state of being when we spoke.  That’s an extreme case but it demonstrates the point.

With phone based coaching, the client is in complete control of the environment they place themselves in.  I’ve coached people that couldn’t get day care for their infants and attempted to multi task.  I’ve coached people driving.  I’ve coached people in and out of meetings.  I’ve coached people sitting in their back yard enjoying the day.  While clients still express the value and appreciation of the meetings, I can tell you that the experience is not always providing the coaching moment we strive for as professionals.  Ask yourself if the client is getting the best value if there is a tendency to be in such an environment. 

Finally, its been my experience that phone based coaching clients are much more likely to cancel (or not show up).  This may not always be the case, but if you are expecting to use this media, make sure that payments are collected up front and that you’ve got a strong cancellation policy if you do not want to get into the game of missed appointments/reschedules.  Of course, this is highly dependent on the client.  If you are a client considering phone based coaching, ask yourself if you can truly commit to being on time and present for each call such that you get the best support out of the arrangement.

The Pro’s of In Person Coaching

There’s nothing like a hand shake, a hug, a smile or a pat on the back to add a human element to a coaching meeting.  This of course can not be done via the phone.  In person coaching allows for a unique connection in which all the senses can actively perceive a client’s response to the questions you ask and will give you a better understanding of what their experience is during the coaching process. 

An in person coaching meeting allows you to control the variables.  You create the office environment that they will come to.  You control noise, distractions and there is little risk of interference with the meeting.  This consistency can enhance the experience. 

When someone meets with you in person, my experience has been that the likelihood of cancellation is much lower.  Their sense of accountability is increased, its a piece of their schedule they are committed to since there is more involved in making it happen.  Its harder to show up to the next appointment face to face when you’ve just canceled the prior meeting, so they make their best efforts to show up.  This in turn increases the clients experience with coaching if they may otherwise be prone to cancellation. 

One logistical benefit is that an in person coaching meeting allow you to exchange and go through any materials that either of you may have together.  I met with an artist for a while and she brought in her hand crafted artwork - there would have been no way for me to share in this joy without meeting face to face.  Exchanging and going through handouts together becomes easy as well when you can look at these materials together. 

Clearly there are benefits to having a physical office and mailing address if you’d like to court larger clients (ie: businesses), working from home can work with many businesses particularly if your model is to come on site and offer presentations etc., but if you’d like to meet with an organization there may be an expectation of the size and stature of the business you run that may warrant holding an office space. 

The Cons of In Person Coaching

Clearly the cost of an office space is a big consideration.  Dependent on your arrangement this can be hugely variable.  If you’ve only got a few clients, its hard to imagine that the revenue’s would justify the office space.  However, if you see a large potential, and your preference is ‘in person’ coaching for reasons listed above, then you’d have to do a budget analysis.  Consider also, if you only offer coaching in person, you may be limiting your potential market geographically. 

When you meet in person, you will need to leave the comforts of your home office, you’ll need to get out of your pajamas and all those good things that come with being in front of a client, face to face.  This, of course, is the same for any work from home job.  With this comes challenges of traffic, tight schedules, more inconvenience for clients and a greater possibility for the unexpected happening simply in terms of ‘getting there’.  You need to ask if this inconvenience outweighs the benefits.

As I mentioned in the benefits of phone coaching, at times a person will not open up as much when they leave the comforts of their own environment.  Being face to face may a times keep someone from ‘digging’ as deep as they would if they only needed to participate by phone.  This is highly client dependent as many are perfectly comfortable opening up and going for their dreams while you meet. 

What did I do?

If you are interested, when I began I offered phone coaching and I did rent a virtual office.  One which essentially charged a monthly fee and a per hour fee.  This worked out well.  I found that approximately 85% of my clients opted for meeting by phone and I definitely spent more money on the office space than I earned as a result of it. It did however provide me the comfort of being able to say I could accommodate either. 

Personally, I’ve had great results with clients in both media.  My personal preference is to meet in person, and I enjoy the human interaction and I believe that the pro’s outweigh the cons for this offering.  Of course my perspective has change today as I coach in a corporate environment that offers me a room to work out of and my costs have dropped to zero.  In my mind, offering both is the best of both worlds.

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Written by Doug Nau, The Wellness Coach, i-grow.net