Encouraging the unrealistic expectations for coaches entering the business

I must have missed it but this article first appeared in Training and Coaching Today and this came out at the end of last year.

According to coaching firm Shirlaws in 2007 year two of its coaches passed the £1m earnings barrier. This is a little misleading due to the "how" they achieved these levels. Both manages a team of coaches so what commissions or bonuses were involved is not stated.

"A few specialist coaches can command a significant fee for their services and these tend to be people who have held prestigious positions in high level organisations, have a niche specialism and very high credibility with senior executives. This top 1% could command up to £5,000 per 90-minute session.

"But an average coaching rate in the corporate sector is around £300 for a 90 minute session. Some salaried coaches can be on about £110,000 a year which can be increased by performance-related commission."

The International Coaching Federation's 2007 survey said the average annual coaching fees for UK respondents was £32,500 though for full time coaches the average was £55,994. This would seen that UK coaches average $60,000 but it is not really comparing apples. Earnings are obviously different in different countries due to acceptance and standards of living. While not totally accurate, I have found that using the actual numbers (forget currency) seems to work out equivalently these days. What I mean is that if a coach earns $1 CDN in the US he or she could expect to earn = $1 US in Switzerland = 1 CHF in Europe = 1 Euro and if in Britain 1 pound. (In reality 1 pound was until recently $2 US).