Is Strategic Coach Worth the Money?

I joined Strategic Coach in April of 2011.  My friend Ed Kelly of Summit Journey Coaching recommended Dan Sullivan’s book, The Advisor Century.  I was fascinated with Dan’s vision and approach, and I immediately began internalizing as many of his ideas as I could.  I emailed him a few months later and he invited me to Chicago to attend a free introduction to the Strategic Coach program.  He talked more about his approach and described a number of “tools” that he had created to help business owners enjoy increased efficiency, spend more time focusing on revenue-generating activities and take more time off.

I was hooked.

Now, two and a half years (10 sessions) into the program, I have nothing but good things to say about it.

Among my benefits:

• Each quarter, I identify 15-20 quarterly results-producing relationships and opportunities – To date I’ve written down 165 of these and accomplished 71.
• Also each quarter, I identify 10-20 longer-term relationships and opportunities – I’ve written 113 and achieved 27 of these.  Looking back today, 9 of those 27 seemed out of reach when I wrote them down.
• I have written and published a book.  The idea, the progress I made toward completion and the publishing process were all directly influenced by the program and people I met through the program.
• Along with the book, I also created a Unique Process that helps individuals and couples painlessly develop goals for their retirement.  Again, I never would have thought of or completed this process without Dan and Strategic Coach.
• I listed 5-10 quarterly strategic projects each quarter, a total of 87.  These were larger-scale projects like developing a hiring process, developing my web presence or systematizing processes within our organization. For each project, I left Chicago with a clear picture of the target result, who is involved and what action steps needed to be taken right away.
• After years of wanting to kick off a speaking career, I have spoken in front of large groups a dozen times.  I’ve developed multiple presentations and packaged them to share with others.
• Though almost all of these projects are in an ongoing state of refinement, I can point to 15 or more right now that are substantially complete and have had a major impact on me and the people in my organization. It’s difficult to quantify the financial and quality of life ramifications of these ongoing projects.

Some readers will view the numbers I’ve just listed as a description of failure, but you have to take the alternative into account:  if you don’t plan and implement projects, you won’t complete any of them.

If you’re looking for comprehensive, detailed business planning, the Strategic Coach program probably isn’t the right fit.  On the other hand, if you’re looking to implement a comprehensive business planning program, and you have been putting it off or don’t know where to start, you should sign up today.

Each quarter, I list my 1 year, 3 year and lifetime goals.  It’s a joy to look them over, celebrate progress and achievement and see how much clarity I’ve gained through ongoing refinement of my mission, message, processes and approach.  My coach, Kim Butler, has provided incredible value in the form of best practices, resources and contacts.

Strategic Coach has allowed me to make plan design and implementation a habit and a way of life.  I’m a lifetime fan of Dan Sullivan and his program.