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Are you a Life Coach?
Are you not sure about your Life Coach Questionnaire?
Do you want more questions to understand your client better?
Yes?
You are in the right place, then.
Life coaching is a wide coaching industry. There are various life coaching niches. Each has its own challenges and purpose.
Your life coaching niche and target audience are indeed important for your coaching business. Along with this, there is something else that matters a lot.
And what is it?
Your Life Coach Questionnaire!
No matter what coaching niche you choose to embark on, your goal remains the same.
And that is:
“To bring a transformation in your client and drive him/her towards success.”
How will you achieve this goal?
Before boarding on the train of transformation, it is important to know your clients well. You must understand your client’s strengths and weaknesses. You should have complete knowledge of the desires and expectations of your client.
You must know your client inside out so that when you guys reach your destination the process appears fruitful.
As they say :
“Well-begun is half done.”
For the above to happen it is important that you have an amazing life coach questionnaire. This will help you to dig out stuff from your clients and understand your client better.
Now the questions arise:
“What all questions must you include in your life coach questionnaire?”
Don’t worry! In this article, I will help you with some insightful questions that you can include.
This will help you to conduct effective coaching sessions and satisfy your clients.
Why delay then?
Let’s start!!
In Brief : Life Coach Questionnaire- Important Points To Consider Before Building It
- Set Goals – Focus on setting clear goals by understanding the client’s purpose and personality; no specific cost mentioned.
- Determine Obstacles – Identify internal and external obstacles, including client’s behavior and external influences, through questions; no specific cost mentioned.
- Follow Up Questions – Enhance understanding by asking follow-up questions to the client’s responses, ensuring a thorough exploration of obstacles and goals; no specific cost mentioned.
- Ending The Session – Conclude the session positively, boosting client confidence and commitment, while seeking informal feedback for continuous improvement; no specific cost mentioned.
Some Tips To Augment The Impact Of Your Life Coach Questionnaire
- Ask Open-Ended Questions – Use open-ended questions to elicit detailed responses, enhancing understanding without specific cost information.
- Ask Hypothetical Questions – Engage clients by posing hypothetical scenarios, encouraging them to visualize success and boost confidence, without specific cost information.
- Encourage The Client To Speak. Listen Patiently – Foster a supportive environment by encouraging clients to express themselves, emphasizing active listening and patience, without specific cost information.
- Take Care To Avoid Conflicts – Use a gentle tone, avoid blame, and promote a positive outlook, steering clear of questions that may induce conflict or hurt; no specific cost mentioned.
Life Coach Questionnaire- Important points to consider before building it
Your life coach questionnaire should have a gradual flow. You must target questions with the following points in mind.
1. Set goals
The initial questions should concentrate on setting goals. In order to set goals, first, it is important to understand- “What is the purpose of the client?” Once that is clear it will become easy for you to understand the situation and clear the path better.
During this phase, your life coach questionnaire should have questions that bring out the personality of your client. Your questions should be oriented to understand the desire and nature of your client.
At the same time make sure that you are able to get a hold on the complete situation. This also implies knowing what role others have to play that can impact the goal. Knowing about different kinds of clients and thinking from a customer’s perspective can help you to understand your client better.
2. Determine obstacles
After you get to know your client and build a realistic action plan, the next step must be determining the obstacles. The questions included in the part of your life coach questions must revolve around the hurdles that the client can face. This must include:
- Internal Factors
- External Factors
Internal factors: This reflects the obstacles which are a result of the client’s own behavior/personality. Your client may be short-tempered or intolerant. The weaknesses of your client can become a hurdle in the completion of goals. There can be positive risks as well. Your client may spoil things due to excitement. The client’s emotions, attitude, views and values all have a role to play.
External factors: Apart from the client there can be other people in the situation. This may consist of family members and friends. If you are an executive life coach, you might be dealing with a client whose managers have a role to play. The environment of the client and situations which are completely not in our hands must be taken care of.
3. Follow up questions
As a life coach, your job is not only to ask questions. At the same time only listening to the clients’ answers is again not a good practice. You must ask follow-up questions. Don’t be ready with your second question when your client answers the first one. Ask follow-up questions to understand your client better.
For instance:
Ques 1: What do you consider the biggest obstacle in your path currently?
Follow Up Question: If this wouldn’t have been there, what else could have stopped you from achieving the goal.
4. Ending the session
The session must end on a good note. As the saying goes- “All well that ends well.” Your questions in this part of your coaching session must build encouragement and confidence in the client. You must set expectations and boost the commitment level of your client through the life coach questionnaire.
At the same time, orient your questions to get informal feedback. This will help you to understand how fruitful was your coaching session to the client.
Life Coaching Questionaire- What must it include?
Now you know where to orient your questions as the session progresses. Let’s come to our main part now.
Let’s have a glance at what all questions you can include in your life coach questionnaire.
I have divided the questions into three sections:
Part 1: Knowing your client
Part 2: Identifying obstacles
Part 3: Ending the session
Let’s start with Part 1!
Knowing your client
What do you expect by the end of the session?
It is important to first understand what the client expects from you. Your entire session should proceed to achieve the same.
For instance: Suppose that you are a health coach. Your client may be wanting to abide by a daily meal plan to lose weight. Now that you are clear with the objective it would become easier for you to build the action plan.
Which inner qualities you want to have more of? What would you want to have less of?
Now the step has come to know your client better. Your client might have an ideal notion of himself/herself. Due to some reasons he/she might not be able to live that. It may also happen that your client is inspired by someone and wants to imbibe certain qualities form that person.
Your client may want to have more control over his/her anger. At the same time, he/she may tell you that he/she wishes to have fewer mood swings.
This would help you to know the strengths and weaknesses of your client.
Follow up questions:
Narrate one incident that makes you answer so?
In what another way you could have reacted to the situation?
If you would want to imagine your life purpose, what would it be like?
It is important to understand how clear your client is. Sometimes people just go with the flow. They aren’t spontaneous while answering about their purpose or goal.
As a life coach, one of your responsibilities is to make your client realize about his/her goal. To make the purpose of his/her existence clearer and meaningful.
Follow up questions:
Why do you have this purpose? What makes you imagine so?
Is this really your life’s purpose? Are you sure? Is there a broader picture?
What is the best way to bring out your best?
Your client may have his own way of dealing with situations. Yours may or may not suit him/her. It is important that first, we understand the client’s comfortability levels. This will help us to build a more tailored action plan.
For instance: Suppose you are a mindset coach. Your client may answer that being around his/her loved ones brings the best. You may, later on, understand that in this way your client has become more dependent. Now your action plan will include practices to make your client more self-dependent. Makes sense, right?
Please finish this sentence- “I would love if my coach can….”
This is another way to understand the expectations of your client. Here we do not want the client to tell the whole story but summarize the same in a word or two. This will make the intentions of the client more clear. Understanding your client’s expectations from you must be a part of your life coach questionnaire.
Do you have supportive friends and family members?
It is important to understand the environment of your client.
Who all consists of the client’s support system? How is the bonding?
If you are an executive coach, how good is the client’s relations with other team members?
All of these are important questions. As a life coach, you must be aware that situations and people in those situations play a key role in impacting the client. This one of the many skills that a life coach must have.
Follow up questions:
With whom do you share most of your stuff?
What one thing would you like to change about your wife/mother/manager etc.?
What is the best thing about your life right now?
You must know the positive factors. This will be important to take your client out of dilemma or sadness. Make him/her reflect on his/her talents, gifts, success, achievements, etc.
Follow up questions:
What is your greatest blessing?
What factors play a role in your past achievements? Will they still work? If not, why? What has changed?
How is your relationship with money?
Situations are very much affected by this one factor- Money. Knowing about your client’s way to deal with money lets you know a lot.
Follow up questions:
Do you think money is a hurdle in your path?
Would money solve the issue?
What is your prayer life like?
This will help you understand what does your client wish for the most. The client may answer that he prays for a healthy relationship or probably for a $1M business revenue. This gives you a closer look at his/her goals.
Follow up question:
If three of your wishes could come true, what would they be?
What did you feel about your life this week? Did you feel lonely or uninvolved?
Understand what are the recent happenings going on in your client’s life. What made him/her take your coaching sessions? Was it planned from before? Was it all of a sudden? If yes, what was the recent event that forced him/her? Your life coach questionnaire must encourage your client to tell you the recent ongoings.
Follow up questions:
How was this week different from others?
Did you experience something unique that made you come here?
At what point did you make your mind to take the help of coaching?
Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line?
Understand what BIG picture that the client has in mind.
Follow up questions:
How easy will it be for you to achieve this?
Do you think you’re giving sufficient efforts to reach there?
What are the 3 biggest changes that you want to make?
Your client may want to undergo some personal changes. He/she might need your help with formulating concrete steps. He/She may need a change in the strategies or approach. Identify the same and see how can you help.
Follow up questions:
What situations made you feel that these changes are required?
Why do you think these changes will help you?
What does success mean for you?
Everyone has his/her own definition of success. Identify what is success for your client?
Does it means to achieve the “best employee of the year award?”
If your client gives a broad answer, make sure to get clearer bits.
For instance: Success for your client may be to “lead a happy life”.
Follow up questions:
What is happiness for you?
When were you the happiest last?
How will you know that the coaching session is valuable?
You should not build your action plan according to what YOU feel is right. Rember it may happen that yours and your client’s definitions of GOAL are different. This question in the starting will help you understand the client’s definition. This way you can make sure that you are on the right track. This is an important question to include in your life coach questionnaire.
What qualities do you matter most in other people?
Knowing your client’s perspective for others is also important. This will help in understanding the client better.
Follow up questions:
What kind of people do you like to hang out with?
Which are the kinds that you hate?
On a scale of 1-10 how motivated you are. On the same scale how stress you are?
Knowing the motivation and stress of your client is important. No matter how brilliant is your action plan, if the mental state of your client is not good, results won’t come.
Follow up questions:
Why so?
How do you feel motivated? Do you think you need a break?
Should we plan a holiday trip? What else can reduce your stress?
Identifying obstacles
Now you know your client much better. Expectations and goals are clear.
The next step is to identify the obstacles in the path. The following questions will help you to understand better. Make sure that you make them a part of your life coach questionnaire.
What is the most challenging thing about your life right now?
What do you worry about while going to bed?
Is your life your choice? If not who is doing it for you?
What did you do to solve the problem? How successful were you?
Given a chance would you like to reattempt? What will you change this time in your approach?
What obstacles do you expect to face? How are you planning to approach them?
What resources do you have access to? What do you wish you could have had more?
What are the factors that you have zero control over?
Imagine a person whom you appreciate. What would have been his/her perspective? How would he/she have handled the situation?
Ending the coaching session
By now, goals would have been set. Obstacles would have been identified and options would have been discovered. The above part of the life coach questionnaire is immensely helpful to build your action plan.
At the end of the session you want three major things:
- You must make sure that the client is satisfied. [ Take informal feedback]
- You must make sure that the client is sticking to the action plan.
- You want to get referrals if possible so that you can get more clients.
Below are certain questions that you must ask as the last part of your life coach questionnaire.
What was the biggest win of today’s session?
Regarding coaching what are you still wondering about?
What would be the first action that you will take now?
How confident you are that you will take these steps?
What questions should I add to this questionnaire?
Would you like to refer my coaching sessions to people with similar needs like you?
Some tips to augment the impact of your life coach questionnaire
1. Ask open-ended questions
Always ask open-ended questions. Avoid asking questions that have YES or NO as the answer. Open-ended questions help your client to describe the situation better. This will, in turn, help you to understand the picture clearly.
Examples:
Can you tell me the value that we have received from the incident?
What opportunities do you see coming?
What are your business priorities?
2. Ask hypothetical questions
Putting your client in a hypothetical situation often takes him/her beyond the boundaries. Certain points residing in the corner of the heart come up this way. Many times visualizing the image of achieving one’s goal or a happy moment also boosts confidence.
Examples:
What if you were financially stable at the moment?
Suppose you have been promoted. What would that day feel like?
3. Encourage the client to speak. Listen patiently.
There are different 5 type of coaching clients. Some may be rude. Others may be hesitating to speak. As the life coach, you should drive your efforts to make your client feel comfortable. Not only asking good questions is important but the art of questioning matters too.
Everything from your choice of words to body language should boost the confidence of your client. Understand that your client was lacking a support system therefore he/she has come to you. Let him/her open the cage. Let the thoughts flow. Listen to the client patiently. Even if you have suggestions, let the client complete first. He/she must not feel that you are cutting lines in between. This is the best way to gain the trust of your client.
4. Take care to avoid conflicts.
Never ask questions that can hurt your client. Your tone and way of asking matters a lot. Always speak in a gentle tone. Don’t blame your client for past actions. Always reiterate that the ray of hope still exists and together you guys can achieve the goals.
Avoid below or similar questions:
Why did you make such a grave mistake?
Even after knowing that it wouldn’t possible why did you go for it?
What made you shout on your wife this way? Don’t you have emotions?
Final Thoughts
Life coach Questionaire is the biggest weapon for any life coach. Depending on your niche you can customize the questions. What is important is that you prepare and plan carefully before asking questions.
Make sure that you are asking questions tailored to the clients. This means that you must know your target audience really well. You must be aware of their pain points. This will help you to frame coaching questions that can satisfy your clients.
Your life coaching questionnaire should cater to the needs of your audience. You must ask questions will three main intentions in your mind:
- Thorough knowledge of the client and the situation he/she is into.
- Building a solid action plan on the basis of the information gathered.
- Motivating the client to stick to the action plan and accelerating his/her path towards success.
This will help you to achieve transformation in the client. This way you will be able to sell high-end coaching packages. This would, in turn, help you to build a solid presence in your niche and skyrocket your growth!
Hope this article was helpful!
Good luck!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Are life coaches a con?
No, there are hundreds of life coaches with a diverse client base and strong testimonials backing up their contribution in the lives of their clients. If you are unsure of how it works, it’s always better to seek out coaches offering demo sessions and evaluating if these sessions are helping you, your business, your relationships and more.
Can I life coach myself?
Yes, you can coach yourself. First, identify your goals and objectives. Next, develop a plan to achieve those goals. Finally, find a support system to help you stay.
Self-coaching can be an incredibly effective way to achieve your goals. Following these simple steps can help you to achieve your goals and reach your full potential.
What are the 7 questions from the coaching habit?
Seven questions from Michael Bungay Stanier’s book, The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever include –
What’s on your mind?
And what else?
What’s the real challenge here for you?
What do you want
How can I help?
If you’re saying yes to this, what are you saying no to?
What was most useful for you?
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