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Proof of performance–it’s an issue coaches have grappled with, turning to academic researchers and ROI experts, all in the hopes of proving that yes, coaching delivers.
In that vein, a story that went worldwide last month surely had the makings of a case study for the power of business coaching: a UK shop owner, frustrated at the inability to attract customers to his computer shop, turned to a local coach.
Not long after, the business owner had a story that made headlines, including this key point: a 400-percent increase in his business.
But as you may know, the dramatic leap in customers turning up at his shop with wallets open was only an aside to the bigger story: the advertisement that Mark Slorance put in his shop window in the hopes of grabbing the attention of passersby—a cleavage-heavy photo of a woman in black lingerie.
“Rude Poster Helps Computer Firm Boss Increase Business” went one headline, “Complaints Over Racy Advert” read another.
And yet, in the course of the controversial coverage came the explanation for his bold move: not a decision to hire a provocative advertising agency, but rather, a business coach, who Slorance had hired at the time of his company’s launch.
“We were talking about the progress I had made and I was saying that things had not really taken off, despite all my customers being delighted with the service,” Slorance told his local paper, the Daily Record. “People just didn’t know the business existed, which was a problem. I didn’t have a huge budget for advertising but I had to find some way to get the company noticed.”
And that he did.
The “racy” window ad got Slorance in trouble with his town council—and raised questions among coaches, who wondered whether this kind of coaching “success story” might not add to the confusion some people already have about what coaching really is.
Is it about flash, trash and gimmicks?
The other coaching question raised by the story is the hazy area of giving advice.
Mark Slorance has said it was his idea—not his coach’s—to create the exact image that he put in his shop window, with the intention of grabbing the attention of people in town. “You’d see far worse on the cover of most lads’ mags,” he said.
So what does a coach do when a client’s idea is potentially controversial?
Karen Wright is managing director of Parachute Executive Coaching in Toronto, an MCC, and a former marketing and advertising executive. She says she brings her first career into her coaching, but admits the territory is “a tricky place from which to coach.”
“My view is that coaches should only give advice when asked for it, and then only if they have some expertise in the area,” said Wright. “And then only when clearly positioned as advice which the client must evaluate and upon which they must make their own decision. So, lots of caveats and grey area and need for judgment.”
Slorance has said he’s satisfied with his decision to go forward with the ad—even if complaints mean he has to take it down. His goal, he says, was to get his business noticed, and he’s done it.
Commenters in his local paper even complimented his tactics, crediting the cleavage picture to Slorance’s decision to work with a coach. “You and your business have a great future,” one person said. “You were smart enough to engage a business coach from the beginning and the two of you have found a way to overcome obstacles, like getting noticed.”
Wright says considering the question of advice is essentially before chalking the story up simply as a brash move that paid off. “In this case, if the coach ‘advised’ the business owner to use something racy to get attention, I would hope they gave that advice under the auspice of ‘subject matter expert,’ that is, with some marketing experience and expertise in their background, and based on an understanding of the client’s business and target customer as well as the client’s ability to evaluate the advice and make an independent decision.”
“If the coach had no professional expertise in marketing, I would hope they challenged the business owner to come with ‘out of the box’ ideas to drive traffic to the store, and that they maybe brainstormed with him to come up with several possibilities, but then left the decision and the action up to the client.”
Is that how it went for Mark Slorance? Mr. Slorance agreed to talk to The Coaching Commons about his experience working with a business coach—and the resulting attention he’s gotten—but efforts to set up a time have so far failed. Why?
Slorance says he’s swamped at work.
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There are 2 Responses so far...
People will have their own opinions about what happened based on their knowledge of coaching and the good and bad stories they have heard. I guess every profession has those people who will believe or not believe. Coaching is only as valuable as the player makes it and the coach in coaching it.
Mark’s coach gets an A+ in my opinion for assisting his client to achieve the business growth he wanted and more, by not only thinking, but stepping out of the box.
The key is: “Mark Slorance has said it was his idea—not his coach’s—to create the exact image that he put in his shop window, with the intention of grabbing the attention of people in town. “You’d see far worse on the cover of most lads’ mags,” he said.” Mark is right. So what if he copied from the Madison Avenue “Sex Sells Game” and did it himself.
As long as the actions are not illegal or morally repugnant, a coach is not the judge or jury. What is controversial to one person might be enjoyable and desirable to others. Obviously, Mark was very comfortable with his tactic, and so were countless others who noticed and used his business. I commend Mark’s coach assisting Mark to express himself in a way that was very beneficial to Mark.