If you are considering coaching or mentoring you may wish to have a Discovery Call to help you understand whats involved. Its a conversation where the prospective client and the coach/mentor ask and answer questions to better understand each other and determine if there is an opportunity to work together, or not.

So if you are considering coaching or mentoring, you might have a few questions.  So what questions might you ask?

Questions you might ask a mentor/coach and things you want to check

If you have questions, you will want answers, so lets do our best to answer them.  If you are not sure what questions you should ask, you will find suggestions below. These aim to help you gather information so that you understand the potential mentor / coach’s approach, expertise, and suitability for your needs.  Lets get started…

Things to check/ Questions to ask mentors or coaches	What you get working with me
Can the coach/mentor help you?	Please read my education, background and experience and the areas that I can help you with
Do you work face to face or virtually?	I predominantly work virtually using collaboration tools like Teams and Zoom. I can do face to face which we can discuss if its needed from time to time e.g. workshops, team meetings, brainstorming, facilitation of meetings etc.
Do you get on together?  Is the chemistry right?	I want you to feel at ease and be happy and you need to feel like you can trust me to be fully you. I ask for feedback after each session so you can help shape how we work together to best meet your needs.
Does he/she understand what you want to do, when, how etc?	I am a good listener and have a lot of experience. I look forward to hearing what you want to achieve and your thoughts about how you want to do it. I will share my experience with you if you want it and if appropriate and relevant.
How long have you been coaching/mentoring, and what types of clients have you worked with?	Informally throughout my career, I have had a lot of very positive feedback over the years from people who obtained Director roles as a result of working with me, from staff who worked with me and for me. I am in my second year working as a professional mentor and coach for a variety of businesses, organisations and people in different roles. To find out more and get a better understanding of how I work, please read my verbatim Client Feedback.
What professional bodies are you a member of?	I believe in continuous professional development and learning. I am a Full member of the Association of Business Mentors which is a signatory to the European Mentoring and Coaching Council code of ethics and professional standards, I am also a member of the Federation of Small Businesses, Entrepreneurs Circle and an approved government mentor with the Help to Grow programme and an approved Surrey Hills Enterprises Business Mentor. Please see my Professional Affiliations.
What is your coaching/mentoring approach or methodology?	I predominantly use Whitmores best practice TGROW model along with other tools and techniques, to appropriately support clients to develop and grow themselves and their businesses.
How do you typically work with clients? (e.g., frequency of sessions, methods of communication)	I run virtual sessions using Teams/Zoom/WhatsApp and occasionally face to face. Sessions last around 1.5 – 2 hours as it is long enough to go deep where needed and gets some resolution or complete the thinking required for a particular topic. If a client is really proactive and on it we can do sessions weekly. If they need more time to get things done it can twice a month or monthly. But you cannot progress personally, professionally or with your business, unless you get stuff done.
Can you provide examples of strategies or techniques you use to help clients achieve their goals?	I use active listening, reflective statements, question structures. I help my clients manage themselves, their mind, state, processes and beliefs. I help them learn techniques e.g. how to analyse what they do and the choices they make, to help them be more effective. I help my clients learn to notice things and make better choices. I help them learn processes to get more of the right things done. By being efficient, they get to their goals quicker. I also believe strongly that it should be enjoyable. If you are paid to do what you love doing, it won’t feel like work and you will want to do more of it. Simples.
Do you have any success stories or case studies you can share from working with previous clients?	Read client feedback there are lots of verbatim comments in there.
How do you measure the success of your coaching/ mentoring engagements?	After each session I ask for where it added value to the client and if there is anything we could do that would make it even better. I also email clients to ask for written feedback. I get very positive feedback consistently. I summarise back to the client what they have said, they got out of it and what they have achieved. Clients typically rebook which in its own right says something about them getting value and wanting more of it.
What do you expect from clients in terms of commitment and participation?	My focus is on helping you succeed so it’s all about helping you achieve things. We will cease working together if you don’t put they effort in. I expect you to be on time/early to meetings, get done what you say you are going to do, let me know what you want to discuss in advance along with any documents. Treat our sessions confidentially as I will with you. I expect you to be open, honest, act with integrity and to be kind and respectful to yourself, me, others so you can maximise your influence and achieve what you want to achieve.
How do you typically establish goals and track progress throughout our engagement?	The person doing the doing is you. So we will work together to help you define your goals, understand how to break them up into manageable chunks, how to deal with things that get in the way, how to work effectively with others and resolve issues empathetically. I can provide templates and tools for you to use to define and track what you want to do, but I can’t do the doing, that’s your job.
What are your rates and payment terms?	I used to get charged out at £2.5k/day but that’s not what I will charge you. Firstly we will discuss and agree what you want to achieve, how, by when, what support you want, what time of day you want that support (e.g. evenings and weekends are different to time Monday to Friday, 9-5pm). We will then look at your business situation and size and take a reasonable view. Larger companies should expect to pay my standard rates. I do startup rates for the first 6 months and some pro bono work for certain entities etc., but even I have to pay the bills so it has to work for us both.
What is your availability for sessions?	It varies but I can usually start someone within 2 weeks and continue from there. It depends on my clients aggregate needs.
Do you offer any additional resources or support outside of coaching/ mentoring sessions?	I also do consulting work for clients which we can discuss in more detail. This is where I will work with you collaboratively to do things and this will involve me rolling up my sleeves and helping you complete tasks/projects etc, run workshops, facilitate meetings, do team building or leadership training.
How do you gather feedback from clients to ensure the effectiveness of your coaching/mentoring?	After each session I ask for where it added value to the client and if there is anything we could do that would make it even better. I also email clients to ask for written feedback. I get very positive feedback consistently. I summarise back to the client what they have said, they got out of it and what they have achieved.
Can you describe your process for evaluating our progress and making adjustments if needed?	I read and review the feedback I get from clients either in session, at the end of the session or after the session. I also review the session myself and reflect on it. I also get supervision to support me in continually becoming better at what I do. I undergo continuous professional development in coaching and mentoring. With the inputs from all the above, working with you, we will adjust the style, focus, processes, techniques, method and anything else that might need changing to work towards giving you the best experience possible.
What certifications or credentials do you hold in coaching/ mentoring?	I have being doing coaching and mentoring informally of 37 years. I am trained in NLP, LABPROFILE, and had a lot of people training experience from consulting, British Junior Chamber, as well as man management experience at all sorts of levels during my career working in industry, doing consulting projects, running factories and 2 small businesses. I have had Institute of Learning and Management (ILM) coaching and mentoring training and am doing CPD with my ILM level 7 which is Masters level in coaching and mentoring. I also undergo supervision and am a signatory to the Association of Business Mentors professional standards, which adheres to the European Mentoring and Coaching Council standards and code of ethics.
What are your policies regarding confidentiality and privacy?	It’s simple. What we discuss stays between us. Its to create a safe place for you and me so you can be open, honest, and allow yourself to evaluate areas you feel vulnerable in, safely and carefully, to identify how you can resolve issues and conflicts and move forwards positively.
How do you handle ethical dilemmas or conflicts of interest in your coaching/ mentoring practice?	If you break the law especially if it’s around safeguarding or fraud, or where I have some responsibility to report it, then that is what I will have to do. If they could be a conflict of interest (e.g. Clients working in the same field) or the potential for it to be perceived as such, I will declare it to the parties concerned and agree how to move forwards. However my practice is focussed on you and what you bring to the table to work on. It’s the same for other clients so even if two clients were competing, I would not share what one was doing with the other.

Do you have any additional questions or need further information or documentation, from me before we proceed?

So what are your next steps to getting coaching/mentoring:

1. Book in a Discovery Call
2. Confirm you desire have business Mentoring/Coaching by email
3. Agree a mentoring/coaching contract
4. Select and pay for the mentoring/coaching package you require
5. Start your mentoring/coaching journey
6. Provide feedback and check progress.   Periodically stop and review.
7. Final review and completion and terminate the contract.

Hopefully these questions should give you a comprehensive understanding of what to ask a prospective mentor or coach, to understand their background, approach, and suitability for your needs, helping you make an informed decision about whether to move forward with their services.   In addition the answers I have provide should give you a better understanding of working with me 🙂

Please Contact Me to ask more questions