Help your customer to set their expectations

The coach plays a primordial role as an orienting guide towards the client, he can induce in the perspective and vision of the one who demands his services. When we speak of inducing, we do not allude to manipulation, since this in itself responds more to the satisfaction of the needs of the one who practices it and not of the one who suffers it.

To induce the client, in this sense, is to orient him/her towards the realization of actions that go in favor of his/her personal and spiritual development, to help him/her to set concise and coherent goals with his/her aspirations, in such a way that the expectations that he/she has about the work to be done during the following sessions, are sufficiently encouraging so that it is worthwhile to make all the effort to reach the proposed objectives.

During the development of this guide we will be addressing some of the most important elements related to this topic, so that you will find it useful as a resource when directing your client's actions towards the optimization of results for the benefit of their personal interests.

What are expectations and why are they important?

Expectations are nothing more than the vision we create for ourselves about the future results we will obtain once we have taken certain actions. There is debate on the subject of whether we should have high and idealistic expectations or whether it is better to lower them to reality, with a certain degree of negativity in case things do not turn out as we wish. The truth is that it is all about finding the right balance.

While it is not good to have extremely idealistic and unrealistic expectations, neither should we load them with negativity or leave them at such a low point that they do not motivate us to make an effort in our work. Expectations are important because they are the ones that mark our desires and aspirations to achieve once we are on the right path. If we do not have expectations that are worth fighting for, we will not find the reasons for strength, as the promises of reward will not be high enough for the effort we are putting in. Identify a middle ground, allowing you to set expectations that are both achievable and challenging.

Identify your clients' expectations and redirect them to their benefit.

One of your tasks as a coach will be to identify what your clients' expectations are and redirect them to the benefit of their interests. During the discovery sessions, you will be able to identify what are the desires and aspirations of your clients, in this way you will be able to measure if they correspond to the line of personal and spiritual improvement according to the progressive growth of the client.

If you appreciate that your clients have coherent and encouraging expectations, the best thing to do is to respect them as they are, on the other hand, when they lack sense or do not adjust to the real benefit of the client, help them to reorient themselves towards others that are more in line with the satisfaction of their interests. You must keep in mind that your knowledge and the authority figure you play in the relationship you establish with your clients, gives you certain privileges and responsibilities. One of these responsibilities is to look out for the best interests of those who seek your services.

Reframing expectations is not a task you can accomplish without the active involvement of the client, and requires an understanding of the client's need to set goals and objectives that are encouraging enough to keep them on track. Your job as a coach will be to bring this need to the client's attention and guide them through the process.