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Why These Questions Matter
Selecting the right coach for a client is a critical step in creating a meaningful and effective coaching engagement. To facilitate successful matches, Optify provides a structured set of profile questions that coaching providers can use to gather key information about their coaches. These questions help identify a coach’s availability, experience, coaching philosophy, expertise, and personal preferences. By standardizing this information, coaching providers can ensure that clients are paired with a coach who best aligns with their needs, goals, and expectations.
Some of these questions can be visible to clients, offering them insight into a coach’s background, philosophy, and credentials. Other questions can be kept internal to help administrators and the AI coach matcher make informed decisions when matching clients with the most suitable coaches. This approach enhances the coaching experience by fostering trust, engagement, and compatibility from the outset.
Below is a sample list of questions that coaching providers can use:
Coach Profile Questions
Availability
Please describe your current availability and how many clients you’d be interested in.
What is your desired number of coaching clients at one time?
What is the maximum number of coaching clients you’d be willing to have at one time?
What is the number of new coaching clients you'd be open to in the upcoming months (include dates)?
Any additional information regarding your capacity for coaching clients?
Visible to Clients? No
Professional Background
What professional experiences do you have that you believe would be relevant for clients to know?
Visible to Clients? Yes
Coaching Philosophy
Describe your philosophy for coaching that would be important for clients to know.
Visible to Clients? Yes
Credentials
List each credential on a new line that you think would be beneficial for a client to know.
Visible to Clients? Yes
Coaching Methodologies/Approaches
Which coaching methodologies or approaches do you primarily use in your practice? (Examples: Strengths-based Coaching, Cognitive Behavioral Coaching, Solution-Focused Coaching, Positive Psychology Coaching, Narrative Coaching.)
Visible to Clients? No
Education and Certifications
Provide information about your educational background, including degrees, certificates, and institutions, if not already listed in the Credentials section.
Visible to Clients? No
Leadership Development Experience
Describe any relevant leadership development or consulting work you do outside of coaching (e.g., facilitation, training, organizational development, needs analysis).
Visible to Clients? No
Expertise
Share any special expertise you bring to your coaching practice, including certifications, assessments, tools, and coaching models (e.g., GROW model, Hogan Assessment, Leadership Presence).
Visible to Clients? No
Industry Work Experience
List industries where you have worked and describe your depth of experience and proficiency in each (e.g., non-profits, finance, higher education, manufacturing).
Visible to Clients? No
Functional Work Experience
List the functional areas you have worked in and describe your level of expertise (e.g., sales, IT, engineering, finance).
Visible to Clients? No
Industry Coaching Experience
List industries where you have coached and describe your proficiency in each.
Visible to Clients? No
Functional Coaching Experience
List functional areas where you have coached and describe your proficiency in each.
Visible to Clients? No
Global Background
Describe your experience working or coaching in international/global settings, including language skills and cross-cultural experiences.
Visible to Clients? No
Personal Background
Share any personal background, hobbies, interests, or experiences that you feel are relevant for coaching and can help create stronger client matches.
Visible to Clients? No
Working Hours
Provide your geographical location, time zone, and working hours.
Visible to Clients? No
Coaching Rates
Provide a detailed description of your coaching rates, fee structures, and any variations based on engagement length or client organization.
Visible to Clients? No
Ideal Client
Describe the types of clients you find most effective to work with, including coaching goals, challenges, and engagement style preferences.
Visible to Clients? No
Ideal Coaching Engagement
Describe your preferred coaching engagement structure, including session length, frequency, format (e.g., video, phone, in-person), and use of assessments.
Visible to Clients? No
Non-Ideal Clients
Describe any types of clients or coaching engagements you prefer not to take on, including characteristics or situations that may hinder effectiveness.
Visible to Clients? No
Testimonials
Share client testimonials or references (with permission) to provide insight into your coaching style and impact.
Visible to Clients? No
Final Thoughts
This structured set of questions ensures that coaching providers gather comprehensive and relevant information to enhance the coach-client matching process. By considering a coach’s expertise, preferences, and methodologies, Optify enables more precise matches, leading to more effective coaching engagements.
For additional assistance or customization of these questions, please reach out to Optify Support.