If you’re like most hungry self-starters with strong entrepreneurial tendencies, you probably think you don’t need an executive business coach. You probably don’t want much coaching in any aspect of your life or work, aside from the occasional consultation with your accountant or the swing doctor at the clubhouse.

For those of us further along in our careers, most of us have come to terms with the fact that everyone needs some coaching from time to time, someone who knows what you’re up against. Think about it for a moment, Donald Trump, Warren Buffet, and Sir Richard Branson all have entire teams of advisors that they keep around to make sure they’re staying on the right track.

I know what you’re thinking, “Why do they bother? Don’t these guys pretty much have the market cornered on executive know how?”

The Hard Way vs. Wisdom

Sure, it’s easy to build up these ultra-successful entrepreneurs as super human. And it’s probably true that there are few people in the world that know any more than these guys about building a business…

Yet they still bother to keep advisors. Why?

They’ve learned that coaches are a necessary part of staying on top one’s game whether in sports or business. So how did they learn this?

They either had the wisdom to listen to a mentor’s advice from an early age, or they learned their lesson the hard way. Kings, queens, presidents, and CEOs all have coaches, because coaches help to point out things that they don’t see, or gain new perspectives that they wouldn’t otherwise been aware of.

It’s a common misconception to think that a coach must be better than his or her team to be effective. Can Bill Belichick throw the football like Tom Brady? Could Phil Jackson dunk like Kobe Bryant? Can Butch Harmon play golf like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, or Greg Norman — all three champions that he’s coached throughout his career?

Of course, the answer to all of these questions is no. So how can each of these elite coaches have anything useful to offer their exceptional pupils?

The Power of Great Business Coaches

There’s an old saying that goes, those who can, do; those who can’t, teach. While the original author of this cynical quote certainly had a way with words, the truth is that this couldn’t be further from the truth.

It’s far more accurate to say that some people have the abilities, while others have the vision. Almost NEVER does one person possess all desirable leadership qualities in a single package. It just doesn’t happen.

In fact, it’s more accurate to say that, just because some can do, that doesn’t mean they can teach. Often times, genius manifests itself in very narrow spectrums. That’s why coaches can be so incredibly beneficial.

In fact, mountains of anecdotal evidence seem to indicate that the most extraordinarily gifted among us are the ones with the most to gain from coaching. It makes perfect sense when you think about it.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that those of use that fall in the fatter region of the bell curve don’t have plenty to gain from finding the right coach.

Executive Coaching for Results

Too many times, the word coach has a negative connotation. We’re not talking about that stern, crotchety coach that taught your high school biology class — the guy who spent more time criticizing “kids today” than talking about double helixes.

Executive coaches are usually extremely skilled experts in a subject. Perhaps the best way to think of an executive coach is someone who you can consider your strongest advocate.

The vast majority of people seeking business coaching aren’t doing so because they’re struggling to keep their businesses from going under. Usually, it’s the opposite extreme.

More often than not, it’s the already successful who opt for coaching, and not for re-training, but for improvement. These driven business leaders want to see positive changes in the way the handle their duties, manage their employees, and make personnel decisions.

According to a study published in the Journal of Management, 84% of executives who engaged in coaching reported having positive feelings about the experience. Of those, 32% reported experiencing improvement in their executive performance as a result.

What’s perhaps even more surprising, 24% of the participants in this study felt they’d achieved growth in areas of their personal life as well as in their career, maintaining that they’d learned to become more open to change or they’d developed more self-confidence.

Building You Up

It’s hard to overstate the psychological benefits of having a strong relationship with an executive confidant, because, in practice, your executive coach is truly your strongest advocate.

It’s all about having someone in your corner, a mentor who knows about the challenges an executive deals with on a daily basis. A mentor that’s seen it all first-hand and can offer good advice based on their own experiences is a common choice.

Thus, most coaching relationships naturally involve two executives at different levels of their respective careers, but that’s not necessary. While some executives may balk at the idea of having a coach that’s younger than them, or not familiar with their area of expertise, seniority and executive experience are not the primary tools that make up an effective business coach.

All that’s actually necessary is ability to listen and offer different perspectives in a way that builds the coaching relationship. Successful coach depends on the free sharing of relevant information.

Both parties can be on the same executive level, or vastly different levels, that’s not as important as the fact that learning is taking place — or as some psychologists call it, the “Transfer-of-knowledge.” The other most critical element is that the recipient of the coaching must feel that he or she is getting something out of the relationship; that’s where relationship building and personal communications styles come in.

The Phases of Coaching for Business

In many ways, the relationship is one of an advisor to a client, or even a therapist to a patient. Keep in mind, however, that most of the executives who seek out business coaching are already successful. Signing up for business coaching or mentoring isn’t an admission that your skill set is inadequate. Rather, it’s a statement that you want to become even better at your role.

For those who are curious about the process, those who may be wondering what coaching sessions may actually look like; the typical phases are fairly standardized. The first step is the Data-Gathering phase. This is where the foundation of the coaching relationship is formed and the coach works to get to know the executive. More often than not, this involves an interview session.

Phase two of the process is the Feedback portion. This is where the coach will present their findings to the executive and offer suggestions, backed up with data, for how they may change some of their business processes to be more effective.

After phase two, most executive coaching processes move to Periodic Coaching Sessions. These sessions are scheduled at regular intervals and designed to address difficulties the executive may be dealing with as they implement changes to their processes.

The last phase is Evaluation. This is where the accountability portion of the coach’s job comes in. The Evaluation phases is where the coach tries to determine if their coaching recommendations were actually helpful.

In some ways, this process resembles an exit interview, allowing the coach to learn if they were able to truly make an impact on the executive, and if their recommendations were effective.

Building brand loyalty is essential in business. All companies strive to reach the level at which customers are so committed to a product or service that they will not accept a substitute. This article, the fourth in a series on branding, illustrates ways in which you can attain brand insistence from your own clients or customers, just as Apple and Starbucks have done.

Branding a product or service doesn’t happen overnight. The first article of this five-part series broke out the five stages of building a brand and reviewed ground zero, also known as brand absence. In the absence stage, a company’s main objective is to get the word out. The next stage, brand awareness, happens when people learn the name, logo, color scheme or audio signature and can immediately associate one or some of those elements with the specific company or product.

As article three in the series explains, with hard work, a good product or service and a commitment to making the customer’s experience with the brand exceptional, a company reaches brand preference. At this level of branding, a customer will almost always choose the preferred brand if it’s available but, if it’s not, will buy another brand without much thought. This, the fourth article in the series, discusses the fourth stage, brand insistence.

On a scale of one to ten, the insistence stage of branding is a ten. At this level, if a product isn’t readily available, a customer will not buy then and there but will look for the preferred product elsewhere. This is a fabulous place for a company to be. It means that someone’s experience with a product and all its particulars — performance, durability, customer service, etc. — has been sufficiently exceptional to have earned an incredible level of loyalty.

Apple is a perfect example of a company with brand insistent consumers. It is perceived as technologically-advanced, user-friendly and just all-around superior. Committed to everything Apple, Mac users won’t even discuss the positive attributes of a PC and are likely to try all Apple products. They love everything about their Macs, iPads, iPhones, Mac stores and apps. Steve Jobs is one of their idols and, to put it bluntly, Apple customers would probably buy a television or car if the company made them.

Starbucks is another great example of a company whose customers are at this level of loyalty. This is not to say that the coffee-deprived person won’t stop by the corner deli when he or she needs to, but that Starbucks customers think of the brand in a totally different way. Yes, it is about the taste and strength of the coffee, but it is also about the entire customer experience including the atmosphere, the lingo (Tall, Grande and Venti) and the socially-conscious image. In short, Starbucks is an experience while Dunkin’ Donuts is a stop on the way to somewhere else.

It’s important to remember that brand insistence can be lost much more quickly than it is achieved. One bad product experience can undo everything. Without the ongoing reinforcement of positive branding attributes, consumers are often likely to lose or lessen their level of insistence.

The next and final article of this series on branding will focus on the type of loyalty that translates into incredible business success.

If no one knows you or your product, then you are totally out of the running for their business. Building a first class reputation for your product and getting the word out about it are two essential steps to having a successful business. The right branding can motivate customers into becoming your best salespeople. In this first of five articles you’ll begin to learn about navigating through the five stages of branding.

No matter how wonderful your business or product, without strong branding it is just one in a sea of millions. Branding is all about what sets you apart from your competition and gives consumers a reason to choose you. It is what your customers and prospects think and say about you and your company. It may be very different from your selling message and, if it is, you’ll want to consider that very carefully. You might be missing out on the true big idea or need to correct something that your customers don’t think is working.

The objective of branding is to go from an unknown to someone or something with a great reputation and track record. You want your business to be one that customers praise to everyone with whom they come in contact. It’s not always a simple process but can be done by just about anyone. The big problem is that almost all businesses never get out of stage one, Brand Absence.

The five stages of brand awareness are:

1. Brand Absence — About 99% of all businesses live at this level. There may be a dozen reasons why customers should choose to work with or buy from one of those 99% but no one knows what they are. Business people who only use their own name as their company name are usually the most disadvantaged in the regard. You could call them the “a” brands — a plumber, a lawyer, etc. Bill Smith Electrician, for example, has no branding whatsoever and is seen as interchangeable with any other electrician.

2. Brand Awareness — This is a step up from absence and a good thing, but it is not going to make your business a money-making superstar. Just knowing that your business exists is not enough motivation to buy from you. For example, you may have heard of Rolls Royce or Mercedes Benz but not buy either of them simply because you don’t know what makes them special.

3. Brand Preference — On a scale of one to ten, brand awareness is a two and brand preference a three. While the customer knows good things about you, that doesn’t mean you’ll always get his business. Let’s use laundry detergent as an example. If a consumer steps into the grocery aisle and your brand is sitting on the shelf, all is well and good. However, if the store is out of stock, the person is likely to buy another brand. At brand preference, you are still not important enough for someone to get back into his car and drive across town to get your product.

4. Brand Insistence — This is the beginning of a beautiful relationship between you and your potential customer. At this stage, people absolutely love your product. Just imagine an iPad or an Apple computer customer buying a PC; it’s just not going to happen.

5. Brand Advocacy — This stage is your home run. Not only do customers insist on having your product, they rave about it to anyone who will listen. They are your best salespeople, free advertising and a testimonial all rolled up in one.

Almost everyone has a horror story about how they were mistreated in a store, kept on hold for an hour or treated like cattle at the airport. In these days of low grade customer experiences, even the smallest “wow” can make your business grow like gangbusters. When you treat customers properly they go from being aware of your product to preferring you over your competition. This article explains how you can eliminate those un-wow moments that drag a brand down and motivate customers to advocate for your products or services with simple but real gestures of appreciation.

Most people have more than a few horror stories about how they were mistreated by an airline or store, caught in the maze of automated customer service or told “we can’t do that, it’s against company policy.” It seems insane but almost every retailer and company does it: tries to tell the customer why he or she is wrong. The potential buyer has just decided not to give money to a salesperson because that salesperson is not treating them well and, instead of learning from that and changing, the salesperson tells the buyer why things are done the way they are. It’s just like saying “don’t buy our products anymore. “ That’s called an un-wow and every un-wow moves a company further down the ladder of success.

If it happens even just a few times, customers become ex-customers and frequent buyers turn into “only when I absolutely have to” customers. Plus, they tell everyone they know about the horrible experience. If they have a blog, they tell a million people. If they happen to be on television or write an article for a newspaper, they tell ten million people. That’s what happens every time you un-wow somebody.

On the other hand, every time you wow a customer you’re on the way to creating a brand advocate. A lot of the time it takes just some common sense or an “I understand” to wow a customer. Think about the airline passenger trying to change a ticket, boarding at a stop over location with an original ticket or getting re-routed because of a storm. Can you imagine the impression he would get if, just once, an airline employee said “I understand how frustrating this is for you. You’re right.” Instead, passengers just get the run around and bad mouth airlines every chance they get.

Wows can’t be just silly wows. You can’t just do something weird and someone says, “Wow. Why’d you do that?” It has to be a wow that’s related to your business. Free shipping is a wow that many online companies use, especially at holidays. A free month of cable to say we’re sorry there was a problem is certainly a wow. Even just saying “we’re sorry” can be a wow, but only if the problem is fixed easily and immediately.

People tell their friends about wows, bloggers rave about wows and each wow moves a customer up the preference ladder until he or she is advocating for the product or service. The wow factor is so critical to success that companies should hire a director of wow, someone whose job is to be completely committed to great customer service, added value, common sense and even a touch of whimsy if appropriate. Importantly, the director of wow is empowered to eliminate the un-wows. In even the best of companies, a director of wow might immediately identify 50 or more little ways in which customers have been mistreated. Think of it. Fifty times someone didn’t have to ask to talk to a supervisor, fifty almost ex-customers retained and fifty people actively promoting a product everywhere they go.

Although customers aren’t always right, they should be treated as though they are. Customer-friendly businesses make money and build loyalty. Every un-wow brings a brand down and every wow elevates it to superstar status.