Selling ideas for coaches, inspired by Matthew Kimberley

He is the former head of the Book Yourself Solid School of Coach Training, creator of The School for Selling, and an expert in sales, persuasion, email marketing and client acquisition.

His philosophy is particularly relevant to coaches because he focuses on making selling a disciplined, repeatable business process rather than relying on charisma, social media popularity or pushy closing techniques.

His key themes include:

• Marketing generates leads; selling converts them.

• Build a consistent prospecting habit.

• Qualify prospects before spending time consulting.

• Use structured sales conversations.

• Treat objections as information, not battles.

• Test and improve your sales process.

• Maintain a database and follow-up system.

• Make selling a professional skill.
  
  

The following are 100 practical ideas inspired by those principles, adapted for professional coaches.

1. Find and attract prospective clients

1. Identify one clearly defined ideal coaching client.

2. Choose a niche where people have an urgent problem they want solved.

3. Build a database of 100 potential clients.

4. Identify 20 organisations that could purchase corporate coaching.

5. Find people who are already investing in personal or professional development.

6. Identify the five biggest problems your target market wants solved.

7. Research the language your prospects use to describe their problems.

8. Identify where your prospective clients congregate online.

9. Create a list of professional associations that serve your target market.

10. Identify five businesses that could become regular referral partners.

2. Build your visibility and credibility

11. Publish an educational LinkedIn article every week.

12. Send a useful email to your contact database every week.

13. Create a free downloadable guide addressing one important client problem.

14. Record a short video explaining a common coaching challenge.

15. Host a monthly educational webinar.

16. Interview successful people in your target industry.

17. Publish anonymised coaching case studies with client permission.

18. Create a resource page on your website.

19. Become a guest on relevant podcasts.

20. Deliver free presentations to professional groups.

3. Generate leads every day

21. Contact five prospective clients every working day.

22. Send five personalised LinkedIn connection requests.

23. Follow up with five previous enquiries.

24. Ask two existing contacts for introductions.

25. Contact one potential referral partner daily.

26. Invite interested prospects to an introductory conversation.

27. Reconnect with former colleagues.

28. Ask former clients whether they know someone who could benefit from coaching.

29. Participate in online discussions where your expertise is relevant.

30. Set a weekly target for qualified new enquiries.

4. Make your coaching offer compelling

31. Sell the outcome rather than the number of coaching hours.

32. Create one flagship coaching programme.

33. Give your programme a memorable name.

34. Explain precisely who the programme is for.

35. Explain who it is not suitable for.

36. Describe the problem your programme solves.

37. Explain the process clients will follow.

38. Develop a clear set of programme deliverables.

39. Offer three levels of service: group, individual and premium.

40. Create a simple one-page coaching proposal.

5. Qualify prospects before consultations

41. Introduce a short pre-consultation questionnaire.

42. Ask prospects what they want to achieve.

43. Ask why they want to achieve it now.

44. Establish whether they have previously invested in coaching.

45. Find out what they have already tried.

46. Establish whether they are prepared to take responsibility for their development.

47. Determine whether they have the authority to purchase.

48. Establish whether your programme fits their budget.

49. Identify whether they are genuinely interested or simply collecting information.

50. Avoid spending hours consulting with people who are unlikely to become clients.

6. Improve your sales conversations

51. Begin consultations by establishing what the prospect wants from the conversation.

52. Ask more questions than you answer.

53. Let the prospect explain their situation without interruption.

54. Ask what is most frustrating about their current situation.

55. Ask what they would like to be different six months from now.

56. Explore the consequences of not making a change.

57. Ask what achieving their goal would mean to them.

58. Summarise their situation before presenting your offer.

59. Explain how your coaching process addresses their specific needs.

60. Ask whether they would like to explore working together.

7. Handle objections professionally

61. Prepare responses to the 10 most common objections.

62. When someone says they need to think, ask what they need to consider.

63. When someone says the price is too high, investigate what they are comparing it with.

64. When someone says they have no time, explore whether the timing is genuinely unsuitable.

65. When someone says they need to speak to their partner, agree on an appropriate next conversation.

66. When someone says they have tried coaching before, explore what did and didn't work.

67. When someone questions your experience, explain your relevant credentials and results.

68. When someone is uncertain about coaching, explain what coaching is and isn't.

69. Distinguish between an objection, a question and a polite refusal.

70. Never argue with a prospect; establish whether there is a genuine fit.

8. Master follow-up and conversion

71. Record every prospect in a CRM.

72. Record the date and content of every sales conversation.

73. Send a personalised follow-up after every consultation.

74. Send a useful resource relevant to the prospect's challenge.

75. Follow up when you promised to follow up.

76. Create an email sequence for prospects who are not ready to buy.

77. Revisit old enquiries every 30–90 days where appropriate.

78. Ask prospects directly whether they wish to proceed.

79. Track the reasons prospects do not purchase.

80. Measure your consultation-to-client conversion rate.

9. Increase sales through existing relationships

81. Ask every satisfied client for a testimonial.

82. Develop a systematic referral process.

83. Offer existing clients an opportunity to continue their development.

84. Create a client alumni network.

85. Develop relationships with complementary professionals.

86. Create a referral partnership with HR consultants.

87. Approach training companies that need associate coaches.

88. Offer coaching demonstrations at corporate events.

89. Build relationships with previous clients rather than abandoning them after their programme ends.

90. Ask clients for introductions to decision-makers in their organisations.

10. Build a predictable coaching sales machine

91. Establish a daily prospecting routine.

92. Allocate dedicated time for marketing and selling.

93. Create a weekly sales performance dashboard.

94. Track leads, appointments, proposals, conversions and revenue.

95. Test different marketing messages to establish which generate enquiries.

96. Test different consultation questions to improve conversion.

97. Review unsuccessful sales conversations and identify improvements.

98. Automate appointment booking and appropriate follow-up emails.

99. Develop a repeatable sales process that can eventually be delegated.

100. Build a business that generates new prospects consistently instead of depending on occasional referrals.

The five Matthew Kimberley concepts I would study first

1. The School for Selling

His structured approach to sales conversations, qualification, objections and closing.

Explore The School for Selling

Book Yourself Solid® | Get More Clients Than You Can Handle

2. Book Yourself Solid for Coaches and Consultants

Building a reliable system for attracting and booking clients.

Book Yourself Solid / Marketing for Coaches

Matthew Kimberley - Sales and Single Malt

3. Delightful Emails

Using email to build relationships, maintain interest and generate sales.

Matthew Kimberley's website

Principles of Persuasion — Public Speaking in Luxembourg

4. Principles of Professional Persuasion

Improving the structure and effectiveness of sales conversations.

The Art of Selling interview

Marketing for Coaches - Podcast - Apple Podcasts

5. Marketing for Coaches podcast

Practical discussions about finding coaching clients, marketing and running a coaching business.

Listen to Marketing for Coaches

My recommendation for Level123 Coaching

I would combine the strongest elements of all three experts we've discussed:

Expert

What to adopt

Stacey Boehman

Sales confidence and making offers

Terri Levine

Lead generation and relationship marketing

Matthew Kimberley

Sales discipline, qualification and conversion

The resulting Level123 sales system:

1. Find 100 potential coaching students.

2. Start five new conversations every day.

3. Generate five qualified enquiries every week.

4. Hold five consultations every week.

5. Make a clear offer in every suitable consultation.

6. Follow up systematically.

7. Measure conversions and revenue weekly.

That gives you a practical sales operating system rather than just 300 marketing ideas.

Hi John

Let's start with a question.

Have you ever had a conversation with someone who was struggling, knew you could help them think differently, but weren't quite sure how to guide the conversation?

Perhaps you've been told you're a good listener. People come to you for advice. You enjoy helping others grow.

And you've wondered whether coaching could become something more.

A profession. A business. A meaningful second career. Or simply a skill that makes you considerably better at what you already do.

Here's the thing.

Being interested in people doesn't automatically make you a coach.

And watching a few videos, collecting a certificate or learning a handful of powerful questions won't necessarily make you one either.

Professional coaching requires a different level of skill.

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You'll develop your coaching capability through structured learning and practical coaching experience, working towards professional coaching standards.

And no, you don't need to have everything figured out before you start.

You don't need a psychology degree.
You don't need to be an extrovert.
You don't need to have a perfect life.
You don't need to have all the answers.

You do need to be willing to learn, practise and develop.

Imagine being able to sit with someone who feels stuck and help them discover their own way forward.

Imagine having a skill that can serve individuals, leaders, teams and organisations.

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That's a rather good reason to explore coaching.

Your next step

Our next Level123 Coaching Academy intake is planned for 25 August 2026.

The programme investment is R19,995, with a limited number of places.

If you're curious, interested or even a little unsure, reply to this email with the word COACH.

We'll have a conversation about what you want to achieve, whether the programme is right for you and what becoming a professional coach could look like.

No pressure. No awkward sales presentation.

Just a useful conversation.

Because the world doesn't need more people giving advice.

It needs more people who know how to help others think, choose and move forward.

Warm regards,

Gavin
Level123 Coaching Academy
www.level123coaching.co.za