For those of you with Beachbody coaches
jpkrueger
Posts: 280 Member
I'm a relatively new coach and just have a few clients at this point. I want to do a great job and am learning so much every day.
I'm wondering, what have you enjoyed about your relationship with your coach? What works well and what would you like to have more of/less of? Thanks in advance for your feedback!
I'm wondering, what have you enjoyed about your relationship with your coach? What works well and what would you like to have more of/less of? Thanks in advance for your feedback!
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Replies
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I don't really have a coach. Well - I know a girl from my childhood that is a coach so she is listed as my coach, but she doesn't do anything for me. I think because I didn't buy my program directly from BB.com? And because I don't like shakeology? Who knows why.0
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I have a coach. Let me think about this a bit, okay? I am sure I have some answers but I want to make sure I don't miss anything obvious.0
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No offense to you at all, but I'm not into the whole coach thing. If I have questions I want to ask the people who made the program. I know there's coaches out there that have been where we are and really want to help but the majority of what I see just signed up to get the discounts. You can't go onto a forum or message board supported by Beach Body without getting bombarded. And this might sound mean but my cousin is quite overweight so how can she consider herself a "fitness coach" and be taken seriously? I guess after working as a massage therapist working on body builders I saw people who really know their stuff. Id rather get advice from them. Just my opinion so please don't take offense to it.
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@dkwi04 sounds like your coach is just selling (or sold) to you and considers that the extent of the relationship. Maybe that's all you need or want - but in my opinion she should be doing or at least offering you a lot more than that.
@cupcake570 I'm not offended at all, I appreciate your candid reply. I agree that there are a lot of people calling themselves "coaches" but they are really just salespeople. That's exactly the type of coach I do not want to be, which is why I asked the question above. I mean obviously I'll step back and just sell if that's what someone wants, but as a coach I have access to SO much information on nutrition, meal plans, etc. that I would love to share, both from Beachbody and my coaching team . And when people have problems or questions on their food or exercise, I can get them answers. I signed on with my team specifically because of my two upline coaches: one is a licensed personal trainer and has a Master's degree in nutrition, and the other is a Physician's Assistant and is pursing her Master's in nutrition. I am neither of those things so I felt it would be irresponsible for me to give nutrition and exercise advice without consulting experts, when I get those types of questions.
@cupcake570 the only part of your post I take a bit of issue with is that your cousin is overweight so how can you take her advice seriously? Obviously I don't know her lifestyle or situation but I will share mine to give you another perspective. I am overweight myself but I am working on it through the 21 Day Fix so in a way I feel I am well positioned to understand the struggles that people go through as they try to lose weight and/or get fit. To be honest that was my biggest dilemma when deciding whether or not to become a coach - will people take me seriously since I am far from perfect? Should I wait until I am "done" with the program? I was told I am "relatable" as I am, haha. But as I said, I am working on it, and I know all the right things to do - I just don't always do them!!! Though 21 Day Fix has finally set me on the right path, hopefully.
@SatiaRenee I look forward to your reply as your posts are always thought-provoking
Thanks to you all!0 -
I agree - So maybe I need to get a new coach. This girl promised me part of a FB group for motivation but never added me - I guess I had to buy from her to be part of the support. I would love someone to help with the motivation and everything else.0
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@dkwi04 I promise I am not trying to push you or sell you a thing but I'd be more than happy to be your coach if you'd like to switch. My team runs free challenge groups on facebook every month. We're in the middle of one right now and there are over 100 people participating (10 teams of 10 "competing" for points but it's all fun...I'm the captain of one of the teams)- posting pics of healthy meals, workouts, questions, etc. I find it so inspiring and motivating - gets me going when I don't feel like it.
If you'd like to sample the challenge group and just "lurk" on the one that has one more week to it, and see what it's all about, all you'd have to do is friend me on facebook and I can add you to the challenge. If you're interested in that just message me and I'll give you my fb info.0 -
I signed up as a coach under my coach, but I'm not sure she's a good fit for me. Nor the group in general on FB. She's very preachy, and likes to demonize food, but she doesn't have any qualifications, educational professional or otherwise, like your up line coaches do. Yours sound like people I could respect and listen to. It's unfortunate I'm getting this vibe from my coach and her team in general, because I like the products. It also feels very very cliquey. Maybe this is just how it works? I don't know. And it bothers me how they're all about boosting your business being non negotiable. That's just not reality nor how life really works. It is simply irresponsible to throw everything else aside, and put all money you have and don't have into the business. It's ok if it doesn't happen super quick you know? I like to take my time and not kill my finances, credit, relationships with people. Build slowly but solidly you know?
Sorry I sort of commandeered this and went on a tangent, but these thoughts have been building in me and it was nice to actually get them out I'm also jealous at how qualified your coaches sound in contrast to mine lol 0 -
@michellemybelll wow that sounds like the complete opposite of my experience with my coaches and honestly sounds kind of stressful! My coaches keep telling me study, learn, and my business will build slowly. I flat-out told my coach I'm not planning on building an empire, I just want to help some people learn about nutrition and fitness and yeah, of course, sell a bit. But I have a full-time job, this is a hobby for me so is not going to get 100% of my time. And I got no resistance whatsoever. They have weekly calls just to share ideas and information, and have started running a month-long "Rock the Basics" course for new coaches. OK I'm gushing now but I've been so impressed with the support I'm getting, I had no idea that would be part of this.
I'm not sure if you can switch upline coaches/teams but I would think you can - do you want me to ask if you could move over to our team?0 -
@jpkrueger I DO know my cousin's situation which is why it aggravates me. She keeps pushing the beach body products...especially shakeology...but I'm around her alot and her diet is terrible. She drinks most of her calories in craft beers. How can you coach people on being healthy when you don't follow your own advice? I don't expect coaches to look like Autumn Calabrese. And I don't have issues with coaches or anyone being overweight because the struggle is real. Ive been struggling with my weight for 23 years. I can only tell people what has worked for me but I'd never claim to be an expert. What works for me may not work for the next person. If you are a coach and post your progress along with everyone that's awesome. I'm just leery of people who "claim" to have all of the answers but don't work on themselves at the same time. I hope that makes more sense.0
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@cupcake570 that makes perfect sense, that is a totally different situation!! I completely agree with you - my philosophy to be a coach is like you said, you don't have to look like Autumn but you DO have to be "practicing what you preach" and using the products and focusing on health in fitness in your own life!! Well I guess not everyone feels that way but I would feel like a complete hypocrite if I were living my life like your cousin is. Thanks for sharing that, it is yet another reminder that I can't give up and I need to keep working hard.0
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@michellemybelll wow that sounds like the complete opposite of my experience with my coaches and honestly sounds kind of stressful! My coaches keep telling me study, learn, and my business will build slowly. I flat-out told my coach I'm not planning on building an empire, I just want to help some people learn about nutrition and fitness and yeah, of course, sell a bit. But I have a full-time job, this is a hobby for me so is not going to get 100% of my time. And I got no resistance whatsoever. They have weekly calls just to share ideas and information, and have started running a month-long "Rock the Basics" course for new coaches. OK I'm gushing now but I've been so impressed with the support I'm getting, I had no idea that would be part of this.
I'm not sure if you can switch upline coaches/teams but I would think you can - do you want me to ask if you could move over to our team?
@jpkrueger yes please!! that would be wonderful. my coach is all about immediately making the BB thing your full time job. When i told her i want to learn the products and create a relationship with the company/products myself, and then slowly over time grow my business - she was so resistant. it was so distasteful to me. i didn't want to argue with, but her and her team's way is just not my style. She does weekly calls too with the team, but i've never made it through an entire one because she just pushes so much about dropping everything in your life and making this the number one priority - no excuses. to me, this is ridiculous.
My boyfriend is sort of doing the same as me - he's the only person i've signed up, but he's technically a part of the same team as me, so would he be able to switch with me, if he wants to as well?0 -
@jpkrueger glad that made sense. I also have a friend that is a coach and came here for a wedding cake tasting (I'm a cake decorator), wolfed down about 4 full servings of cake then claimed because my cake is made from scratch it's still considered "clean eating". Really? I'd hate to take nutrition advice from her lololol0
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@cupcake570 LOL that sounds like something I would try to justify to myself (but secretly know was total BS). Now I'm craving cake...
@michellemybelll I will ask and get back to you as soon as I hear!!0 -
@jpkrueger Well, now you have one tip: don't limit your potential clients to people who have already ordered BB products through you. (going off what @dkwi04 said above) If you create a FB or any other type of group, let everyone be welcome. Thus far, my husband has bought all of our beachbody products so my coach has earned no commission from me. Nor has she pushed me to order product. But she's been super supportive. And you know what? I am thinking that I might try the 3 Day Refresh sometime in late June. Guess who I'll order it through? My coach, of course, specifically because she's been encouraging without pushing the products on me.
Limited G+ Presence
When I go on most social networking sites, I can easily find a beachbody coach. They seem to be everywhere. And the minute I #21dayfix or #piyo or #p90, guess what happens? New people follow/friend/add me. But not on g+ where I posted about my first round of 21 Day Fix and nobody new circled me.
Now what I do see there are people promoting their challenges and such for facebbook. Why are there no challenges on g+? It's very easy to create a circle, make posts so that they cannot be shared outside of a circle, etc. I would think it would be even easier than it is to set up a group. You could use google docs to share files--tracking sheets, recipe collections, etc.
However, getting people to engage with you on g+ can be more challenging. Unlike facebook, where connections are made from the past (former schoolmates, coworkers, etc.), g+ is driven by interests and preferences (hobbies, beliefs, etc.). Building an audience will take more time but I have yet to see anyone do it consistently. More challenging and the connections may be harder to find there than on IG, FB, et al; however, where there is less competition, there's the promise for more success.
Focus on the Questions You Find Here
What questions/issues have come up here on our MFP group? Write posts directed to these. For instance, we were recently talking about almond milk and we now have the answer to that from Autumn's own mouth. Read the advice Autumn herself offers in the blogs and in the Food Guide, etc. and share it through your own experience. For instance, in the Food Guide, we're told that if we're still hungry at the end of the day, we can have another green container. It's a simple thing to overlook and forget. So a reminder is always good. And recipes! Share recipes! Goodness knows, many people struggle with how to use the containers. Also, share your own experiences with the daily workouts. Where were you before? How have you improved? Where do you hope to be later? Make your experience personal. After all, the whole premise of the coaches is that they are people "just like you" but if I don't know you then how can I know how much like you I am? (Seriously, my coach is young and adorable and I don't think we have much in common at all. Fortunately, I am a loyal type so I am thankful for her encouragement or I might seek out someone with whom I feel more of an affinity.)
Host Challenges
Think of it like this, you invite people to participate in one of your challenges. They follow your suggestions, eat the meal plan you share only with them, etc. Guess what? They lose weight and what do they do? They share pictures of their success on FB, IG, everywhere! That's free advertising! They promote YOU by showing off their success. Not sure where to begin or how? Well, I think I can say for myself that I'd be willing to do a challenge with you. Perhaps other members of this group would be interested in doing it too. As we do the challenge, we could give you our honest take on what works, what doesn't work, and you'd have a clearer vision for how to run your challenge before you introduce it to your clients and potential clients.
That's Off the Top of My Head
I may think of more things as I go along. Maybe. I don't know. Now that I'm mulling it over, you never know where my thoughts will carry me.
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SatiaRenee wrote: »@jpkrueger Well, now you have one tip: don't limit your potential clients to people who have already ordered BB products through you. (going off what @dkwi04 said above) If you create a FB or any other type of group, let everyone be welcome. Thus far, my husband has bought all of our beachbody products so my coach has earned no commission from me. Nor has she pushed me to order product. But she's been super supportive. And you know what? I am thinking that I might try the 3 Day Refresh sometime in late June. Guess who I'll order it through? My coach, of course, specifically because she's been encouraging without pushing the products on me.
Limited G+ Presence
When I go on most social networking sites, I can easily find a beachbody coach. They seem to be everywhere. And the minute I #21dayfix or #piyo or #p90, guess what happens? New people follow/friend/add me. But not on g+ where I posted about my first round of 21 Day Fix and nobody new circled me.
Now what I do see there are people promoting their challenges and such for facebbook. Why are there no challenges on g+? It's very easy to create a circle, make posts so that they cannot be shared outside of a circle, etc. I would think it would be even easier than it is to set up a group. You could use google docs to share files--tracking sheets, recipe collections, etc.
However, getting people to engage with you on g+ can be more challenging. Unlike facebook, where connections are made from the past (former schoolmates, coworkers, etc.), g+ is driven by interests and preferences (hobbies, beliefs, etc.). Building an audience will take more time but I have yet to see anyone do it consistently. More challenging and the connections may be harder to find there than on IG, FB, et al; however, where there is less competition, there's the promise for more success.
Focus on the Questions You Find Here
What questions/issues have come up here on our MFP group? Write posts directed to these. For instance, we were recently talking about almond milk and we now have the answer to that from Autumn's own mouth. Read the advice Autumn herself offers in the blogs and in the Food Guide, etc. and share it through your own experience. For instance, in the Food Guide, we're told that if we're still hungry at the end of the day, we can have another green container. It's a simple thing to overlook and forget. So a reminder is always good. And recipes! Share recipes! Goodness knows, many people struggle with how to use the containers. Also, share your own experiences with the daily workouts. Where were you before? How have you improved? Where do you hope to be later? Make your experience personal. After all, the whole premise of the coaches is that they are people "just like you" but if I don't know you then how can I know how much like you I am? (Seriously, my coach is young and adorable and I don't think we have much in common at all. Fortunately, I am a loyal type so I am thankful for her encouragement or I might seek out someone with whom I feel more of an affinity.)
Host Challenges
Think of it like this, you invite people to participate in one of your challenges. They follow your suggestions, eat the meal plan you share only with them, etc. Guess what? They lose weight and what do they do? They share pictures of their success on FB, IG, everywhere! That's free advertising! They promote YOU by showing off their success. Not sure where to begin or how? Well, I think I can say for myself that I'd be willing to do a challenge with you. Perhaps other members of this group would be interested in doing it too. As we do the challenge, we could give you our honest take on what works, what doesn't work, and you'd have a clearer vision for how to run your challenge before you introduce it to your clients and potential clients.
That's Off the Top of My Head
I may think of more things as I go along. Maybe. I don't know. Now that I'm mulling it over, you never know where my thoughts will carry me.
@SatiaRenee really great feedback/info!! 0 -
@cupcake570 LOL that sounds like something I would try to justify to myself (but secretly know was total BS). Now I'm craving cake...
@michellemybelll I will ask and get back to you as soon as I hear!!
@jpkrueger thank you so much 0 -
@SatiaRenee this is really helpful, thank you! I haven't used Google+ at all but I'm going to look into it now - maybe that is a less-saturated way to meet people.
I'm also thinking about facebook, I think I should set up a coaching page rather than doing what I do know, which is every now and then posting something about coaching on my personal page. It's a tough one - I obviously have more friends on my personal page than I'd have on my fb, but most of them probably don't want to see posts about recipes, etc. Hmmm will have to think of the best way to balance.
I'm definitely going to run some of my own challenge groups in June (May is too busy with travel). I'm co-captaining a team right now but it's part of a huge group and I think a smaller one might work better. Thinking....
Thanks so much for your very thoughtful response!!!
-Jill0 -
I have found more help and motivation from right here than from my coach. I kept getting hammered with the shakeology to the point I gave up on the group that I was in and went searching and praise be I found y'all!0
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Don't try to pressure clients into buying Items!
That will turn people away! Offer samples!0 -
Jill, Yesterday I noticed that my coach is doing an abs challenge in May. It is not a 21 Day Fix abs challenge or even a beachbody-product-abs-challenge. It's simply an ab challenge. You might also consider that. If you only do beachbody focused challenges, you'll only get clients who either have the program or were already interested in the program. But if you have challenges that don't require participants have a specific product, you can grow your audience and you may get clients that way.
Think of it like this. Let's suppose I'm participating in your non-BB challenge and you share your results but you do the challenge along with 21DF or T25 or whatever. Now, I see your great results and maybe my results are not that great. Not as good as your results anyway. Guess what I start thinking? I start thinking, "Hmmmm . . . I did the challenge and I see some difference but wow! Look at her results. I want those. I guess maybe I need to do 21DF too . . .? I'll ask her about that now."
Bad Outside Coach Experience
Here's a word of warning. When I started PiYo and 21DF nearly 3 weeks ago, I saw 2 coaches on team beachbody who were starting an accountability group. I was curious, I guess. A week after the official start date, both coaches changed the start date to a week later. Huh? I was confused. Now, to be honest, with 21DF it doesn't really matter from one week to the next. So long as we all start on Monday, we're all doing the same workouts, right? But with PiYo that start date makes a big difference because each week is a little different. So I emailed the coach of the one and found out two things. One, I found out that the other coach is his wife. Two, I found out that they change the date to get more people to participate.
Now, to me that feels disingenuous. That didn't sound like "support" to me. I stopped posting to both of their challenges immediately. A week later, the start date in the subject was changed once again. And again. It doesn't affect me. Frankly, I feel they lost out on having me participate because, as you already know, I don't really need accountability and am an enthusiastic participant so it's more their loss than mine!
It's Not All About You
Another bad experience with a group. I explained that I had exacerbated my knee somewhat trying to do Surrenders. (I mentioned that here too on the Daily Check-In thread.) The person hosting that group said something about my taking it easy and being careful. Sounds like a reasonable response, right? Only, she said it two days later and I had already posted TWICE more about how I was still exercising, my knee was fine, etc. Unintentionally, her response made me feel discouraged. Telling me to take it easy sounded like encouragement in her head but in mine it sounded like a lack of faith in me, in my ability to modify the exercises so as not to hurt myself, etc.
And this will happen with you when you host challenges. You'll say the right things but how the other person hears them may not be the encouragement you intend for it to be. And that's okay. You'll lose people along the way. You'll gain/keep others.
Acknowledge Everything/Everyone All of the Time
If you're leading a group, you'll have to like/plus/whatever everything people share. Every picture, every question, etc. Unless someone shares something that is outside of the focus of the group or contradicts conventional wisdom, just keep being supportive to everyone. Not sure how you would handle someone's saying, "You can have a cheat meal every day and still lose weight because I cheated every day and still lost" but you can cross that bridge when/if you come to it. Just know that when the time is right--in June or July or whenever--you want to be supportive of everyone because if one person shares something and you incidentally overlook it, they will feel ignored. They won't know that you meant to say something but got distracted or were about to leave a comment when your internet went down. They won't know why you are ignoring them but they will see you aren't ignoring others and that will fester and become hurtful. Celebrate all of the victories with everyone, even the teeny tiny ones, and be the consoling shoulder for those who are struggling.
See? I told you that my mind would keep mulling. I'll try to stop thinking about this now. I do believe my husband and I have some gardening to do now anyway. That should help.0 -
@dkwi04 I promise I am not trying to push you or sell you a thing but I'd be more than happy to be your coach if you'd like to switch. My team runs free challenge groups on facebook every month. We're in the middle of one right now and there are over 100 people participating (10 teams of 10 "competing" for points but it's all fun...I'm the captain of one of the teams)- posting pics of healthy meals, workouts, questions, etc. I find it so inspiring and motivating - gets me going when I don't feel like it.
If you'd like to sample the challenge group and just "lurk" on the one that has one more week to it, and see what it's all about, all you'd have to do is friend me on facebook and I can add you to the challenge. If you're interested in that just message me and I'll give you my fb info.
I'd love this!0 -
@SatiaRenee seriously really great thoughts and feedback!0
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@dkwi04 I'm very sorry but I have since found they have closed the group since there's only one week left and I can't add anyone. But, we will do another one in early May and you are welcome to join and see what it's all about. It's free and if you don't like it, you can leave the group. Based on what you said, I think you'll really like it, though. I'll make a note to message you once I know when the next one is!
@SatiaRenee , thank you so much for all the great feedback. I want to respond to a few of your points but I'm running around like a nut today getting ready for a trip. But I'll get back to you in a day or so. Really appreciate your thoughts, you've given me a lot to go with!
Have a great day everyone!0 -
Sounds great!0
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