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Consulting vs Coaching
The Good, Bad & Ugly
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997 Words | 4 Min 15 Sec Read
Today we’ll be discussing why - despite many people using the names interchangeably, consulting and coaching are two very different careers.
In particular, we'll also explain why even though consultants don't have to deal with the maddening mindset issues coaches do (explained in our last issue), they still face their fair share of challenges.
Let’s dive in.
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Since first being exposed to high ticket coaching / consulting back in 2015, I've seen the industry evolve multiple times.
From the marketing channels they use to their offer stack, very few tactics or strategies work "forever."
To that end, one of the biggest transformations I've noticed over the past five years is people shifting away from "high ticket coaching" and into consulting.
Why?
A couple reasons.
First, as mentioned in last week's issue, coaching is an incredibly easy business to start and an incredibly difficult one to succeed with.
And because of that, most people who went down this path failed.
Second, because high ticket coaching was turned into a get rich quick business opportunity, it attracted the type of people who chase get rich quick schemes. Which as you can imagine, are not the skill, talented, or high integrity "entrepreneurs.
Then the gurus running these programs armed their beginner students with cutting edge marketing tactics and high pressure sales scripts.
The result?
Yes, many newly minted "coaches" enrolled clients. But because most of them were unqualified, their students got few if any results.
As you can imagine, things turn ugly when you have thousands of people paying thousands of dollars for BS coaching programs that don't live up to their promises.
The crescendo of which involved multiple high ticket gurus facing class action lawsuits, FTC investigations and worse.
Which is why relative to the peak coaching days of 2014 to 2016, the industry today is a shell of its former self.
So what did everyone do?
They pivoted from coaching to consulting! LOL
So what's the difference between the two?
Without being snarky, consulting encapsulates the good parts of coaching without the bad parts.
First, both coaches and consultants:
Help people (and businesses) achieve their goals
Rely on a system / methodhology to produce results
Have a step-by-step roadmaps system for their clients to follow
Are available on a pre-agreed upon basis for ongoing calls
Are not responsible for implementing their system/methodology directly
Except for one huge difference. Because unlike coaches, consultants are not responsible for:
Dealing with their client's mindset issues
Providing motivational support
Acting like the client's therapist / Providing a shoulder to cry on
Coddling clients who have excuses for not getting the work done
Providing fully dedicated mindset coaches to help the clent make consistent progress
Even better, because most consultants work with companies instead of consumers, they're typically hired by a decision maker to help their executives (or some specific department) complete an initiative.
Meaning, with a rare handful of exceptions, consultants are not working directly with the person who writes the check.
The implications of these points are massive.
First, by not having to coddle and provide mindset coaching, you eliminate what is by far the #1 friction point (and the #1 hardest thing to fulfill on) in the business of coaching.
This alone makes consulting superior for 99% of people.
Second, because you're working with corporations and not consumers, issues of affordability are an exponentially smaller challenge during the sales process (most companies can write $25K checks without blinking while most consumers struggle to cough up $3K).
And because of that, if you persist and succeed, there is serious money to be made as a consultant.
Third, when the Boss tells their underlings to do what you say, you will likely get a high degree of "buy in" (given their job security may rest on the success or failure of the project).
In short, unless you're a natural empath who genuinely enjoys the motivational side of coaching, consulting is a much better choice for most people.
But it's not perfect.
In fact, consulting has plenty of downsides, including:
It can be much harder to land corporate clients relative to B2C coaching clients
Prospecting involves cold email + cold calling and getting through gatekeepers
Decision Makers are skeptical of beginners with no previous industry experience
You could be going up against veterans with heaps of credibility and massive networks
Content marketing and cold outreach on LinkedIn are notoriously mind-numbing
Face-to-face is a near must with consulting, which means you'll have to leave your house
Going to industry conferences are a critical opportunity for building relationships and getting face time with prospects
Getting paid can take months given large companies have Net Payments terms anywhere fro 45-90 days
Unlike coaching, where deals can close in deals, consulting deals can take weeks/months to close
In conclusion, we at Passionate Income will never recommend a cookie cutter approach as being perfect for everyone.
While coaching has its fair share of challenges, the good news is that relative to the late 2010s, the industry today is much less competitive. But you'll still have to deal with your clients mindset issues, which can be maddening if you're not above average in compassion.
On the flip side, while consultants get to avoid all that sappy mindset drama, they deal with plenty of their own issues (from dickhead CEOs to project teams made of low IQ idiots).
So, as is the case with any business model we discuss, you should weigh the Pros and Cons before deciding to move forward.
💡 Takeaway: With how difficult coaching has become, a lot of self-proclaimed "experts" have shifted to consulting. And while consulting offers a variety of powerful upsides, it also comes with its fair share of negative.
🎁 Resources:
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