The coaching business is going digital

Bernhard Kuntz is the owner of the marketing agency Die PRofilBerater in Darmstadt (www.die-profilberater.de). He is the author of the two marketing classics "Die Katze im Sack verkaufen" and "Fette Beute für Trainer und Berater".

Mr. Kuntz, you claim that the coaching business has changed fundamentally since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Bernhard Kuntz: Yes, the increased acceptance of digital coaching has internationalized the coaching business, which was previously primarily a local or regional one.

In what way?

Since online and telephone coaching eliminates the travel time required for face-to-face coaching, it doesn't really matter where the coach lives. Coachees can also be coached by coaches who live in the USA or elsewhere without any increase in costs. Digital technology also makes coaching sessions possible today that were previously not feasible for business or organizational reasons.

Digital technology makes many coaching sessions possible

Can you give an example of this?

For example, coaching teams whose members work at different locations or even in different countries.

In other words, coaching for so-called virtual or hybrid teams, which have become increasingly important due to the rise in working from home and in cross-divisional, cross-location or even cross-company teams.

Yes, but that is not the only reason why I am convinced that the percentage share of digital coaching in the coaching market, which is currently around 40 percent, will continue to rise sharply.

Why still?

Because coaches are currently facing very powerful competition in the form of coaching apps - especially coaches and life coaches working in the B2C sector.

Coaching apps are competing with coaches

Why the life coaches?

Because most self-pay patients find it very expensive to pay 100, 150 or even more euros out of their own pocket for a coaching session. Many people rarely want or can afford this luxury - at least when there are coaching apps that promise them: "We can help you solve your problem for 20 or 30 euros a month." Younger potential customers in particular then try their luck there first, as they are already used to being coached by an app when exercising, losing weight or meditating, for example. The health and wellness sector is showing where the journey is heading. Today, many health insurance companies (in Germany, editor's note) already cover the costs of using apps for topics such as stress and health management, which saves many a call to a coach.

So you don't see much of a future for coaches whose clients are primarily self-payers?

Yes, as long as they do not partially reposition themselves in the market and redefine their business area.

And what about the business or B2B sector, i.e. coaches whose clients are primarily companies and entrepreneurs?

The situation is different for all coaches whose clients can book the coaching sessions as operating costs - which is why I often recommend coaches working in the B2C sector: Focus your marketing on entrepreneurs and freelancers, who have a high daily rate themselves, which is why they are less price-sensitive.

Coaching apps are also used in the B2B sector

And in the classic business sector?

I also expect that clients, i.e. companies, will increasingly rely on coaching apps in the future - if only for cost reasons - and not only for such soft topics as stress management, but also when it comes to teaching the necessary basic attitudes and skills in the areas of leadership and project management, for example. Here, however, coaching apps will primarily be a tool to make personnel development measures more effective and more appropriate to the needs of future employees.

How is the latter the case?

Well, the members of Generation Y and Z, who are often already among the top performers in companies today, are used to working, communicating and learning online. They therefore expect digital technology to be used in personnel development - if only because it allows them to learn at any time and from any place. However, this use of apps will always be integrated into more comprehensive coaching and personnel development concepts, at least when it comes to the development of top performers in the core areas of companies.

Hybrid coaching concepts are in demand

What does that mean?

Coaching measures will increasingly have a hybrid character.

What does that mean again?

Well, at the beginning of a coaching or development program, for example, the coach first meets with the participants in person to build a relationship with them and agree on development goals. This is followed by online coaching and training sessions, between which the participants practise and consolidate what they have learned using coaching or self-learning apps, among other things. Then there is another face-to-face meeting before ...

What does this mean for business coaches?

A high level of digital competence is becoming increasingly indispensable for them, as well as for HR departments, so that they can forge and implement such complex coaching and blended learning concepts in the first place, as these have many advantages for companies.

Which?

Among other things, if the coachees have an acute problem, they can discuss it directly with the coach instead of waiting weeks or even months for the next face-to-face coaching session.

Business coaches need to become more role-flexible

That sounds as if business coaches will also have to increasingly act as consultants and trainers in future?

Good coaches have also done this in the past because business coaching is actually always about the coachee doing their job better afterwards. That is why good coaches have always slipped into the role of trainer or consultant depending on the situation and needs. Companies also expect this from a business coach if it helps them to achieve their goals. This is why they also pay close attention to the professional expertise and field experience of business coaches when selecting them.

This means that consulting and coaching are merging, at least in day-to-day operations.

From my point of view, this separation has always been an artificial one. My thesis: Pure coaches will have an increasingly difficult time in the business sector in future - also because coaching topics such as self-management, where the roots of the problem lie primarily in the personality of the coachee, are increasingly being covered by AI-supported coaching apps.

Business coaches will continue to be in demand in the future

That shouldn't please most coaches...

At least not the life coaches. The situation is different when it comes to increasing the effectiveness of a person or group of people in the organization, which is usually the case with business coaching. In some cases, coaches need to rethink their self-image so that they can use digital technology to develop and implement attractive personnel development and coaching designs for companies and their employees. If they succeed in doing this, they will continue to be successful in the future - regardless of whether their business card says coach, consultant, trainer or something else.