Elevator pitch examples for coaches
An elevator pitch fails when it describes the business instead of giving the listener a reason to ask a second question. These end somewhere the other person can pick up.
Ten of them follow, written for coaches rather than filled in from a template. Your customer is someone at a decision point who is not sure coaching is even the right help, and what they are weighing up before they get in touch is hiring a coach in a field where anyone can use the title.
The one-liner
I am a coach in [your town] — I work with people on one-to-one coaching and career transitions for someone at a decision point who is not sure coaching is even the right help.
Use this when you have one sentence and no idea who you are talking to.
Problem first
The thing people worry about with coaches is hiring a coach in a field where anyone can use the title. That is the part I deal with. I am a coach, and the first conversation is free and may end with me saying this is not for you.
Use this where the problem is instantly recognisable and the service is not.
Names who it is for
I work for someone at a decision point who is not sure coaching is even the right help. Mostly one-to-one coaching and career transitions. If that is not you, you probably know someone.
Use this at an event where most people are not your customer, to find the ones who are.
Credential first
I am a certified coach. Accredited training, supervision, and a written agreement about confidentiality before the first session. I mostly do one-to-one coaching and career transitions.
Use this in a room where qualification is the thing that buys attention.
The contrast
Most coaches [what the default does]. I am the one that will tell you when coaching is not the right help. That is more or less the whole difference.
Use this when your market has a clear default and you are not it.
With a number in it
I am a coach — [number] years, [number] sessions, and I name my accreditation and who supervises me.
Use this when you have a real number. Do not invent one.
The origin
I started because hiring a coach in a field where anyone can use the title was normal in this trade and it did not need to be. So that is the business: a coach where the first conversation is free and may end with me saying this is not for you.
Use this when the reason you started is short and true.
Ten seconds
Coach. One-to-one coaching, mostly. [your town].
Use this when someone asks what you do and is already half-turned away.
Ends with the ask
I am a coach doing one-to-one coaching and career transitions. If you ever hear someone say [the thing your customers say], that is me.
Use this when the point of the conversation is a referral, not a sale.
The warm version
[their question] — I am a coach. The part people usually ask about is being willing to say that coaching is not what someone needs.
Use this where the pitch would land badly and a conversation would not.
Writing for coaches: what actually matters
What should a coach’s website say that a generic one does not?
Three things, in this order. That you are accredited and supervised. That you understand the thing people are actually worried about, which for coaches is hiring a coach in a field where anyone can use the title. And what happens next: a free thirty-minute conversation to see whether coaching is the right thing at all. Everything else on the page is decoration by comparison.
What does someone at a decision point who is not sure coaching is even the right help check first?
The credential, then the proof. For coaches it sounds like this. I name my accreditation and who supervises me. I explain what coaching is and what it is not. I offer a free first conversation with no obligation. Put at least one of those above the fold rather than on a separate page nobody opens.
What is the most common mistake on a coach’s website?
Writing about the business instead of the customer. "We have been established since 1998" answers a question nobody asked. "I start with a free thirty-minute conversation to see whether coaching is the right thing at all" answers the one they are actually holding. If you only fix one thing, fix that.
How long should the copy be?
Shorter than you think, except where trust is being built. An About page of 120 well-chosen words beats 500 vague ones. The exception is anything explaining hiring a coach in a field where anyone can use the title — there, specifics earn their length.
Everything else for coaches
Elevator pitch for other trades
- Plumber
- Electrician
- HVAC Technician
- Roofer
- Carpenter
- Painter
- Landscaper
- Handyman
- Therapist
- Chiropractor
- Massage Therapist
- Personal Trainer