How Much Will It Cost To Hire a Business Development Coach in 2024?
Written By Danielle Fauteaux
As you are looked to as the fearless leader of your firm, it’s natural to go through challenging phases or to encounter hurdles as you work to improve your profit margin, increase qualified leads, and grow your brand with feelings of isolation and uncertainty.
The good news is that you don’t have to go it alone.
One option is to hire a business development coach—someone to guide and encourage you as you identify the obstacles facing your marketing agency and devise a plan for moving past them to reach your goals.
Investing in a business development coach not only provides professional and personal support for you as a company leader and entire person, but will lead to tangible financial gains for your firm if you select the right coach and are willing to commit to the process.
What is the Purpose of a Business Coach?
In every area of life, we can experience hardship, conflict or even just general malaise that stands in the way of achieving our goals. Sometimes, it’s simply a matter of not quite knowing how to get where you want to go or needing accountability to start moving in that direction.
That’s why there are professionals like fitness coaches, financial advisors, and counselors.
A business development coach is a similar type of professional but with expertise that lends itself to helping you tackle common challenges related to your industry, your job, your company, and your entire self. They are skilled at strategically guiding you in practical ways to optimize, grow or refine yourself, your team, and your mindsets so that you can reach your goals in terms of client relationships, upcoming projects, long-term growth, and sustainable revenue.
Based on their knowledge and experience, they can collaborate with you on a plan for moving your marketing agency forward. Then, they walk alongside you as you implement each step, measure results and make necessary adjustments.
Coaches act as a trusted advisor and confidante, and it’s common for a coach to put you in an uncomfortable position for a season in order to aid your achievements.
How Much Does It Cost for a Business Coach?
Business coach pricing will vary based on a variety of factors, including their area of expertise, the professional services they provide, and the typical outcomes that their clients are able to achieve. Every business development coach has their own unique pricing model based on their offerings.
In general, business coaches should identify the level or results that their clients seek to achieve and ensure that a professional services firm or digital marketing agency who hires them as a coach could expect to achieve 7 to 10 times more value into their business than they are paying out as coaching fees, assuming the client puts in the effort to make the recommended changes.
For example, if your firm is seeking to grow by 15% from $1M in annual revenues to $1.15M in annual revenues in the next 12 months, then it is very practical to invest between $15k and $25k in business coaching to attain your goals of increasing revenue by $150,000.
In general, you should expect to set aside a little as several thousand dollars, and even up to the equivalent of an employee’s salary, to engage with a business coach. With this kind of investment, you should be able to increase your agency metrics by a factor of 7x to 10x.
Among coaches that service marketing agencies specifically, a one-off coaching session will cost between $500 and $2,000+ depending on which coach you choose to engage with.
To keep an industry specific coach, like a digital marketing agency coach on retainer, coaching fees generally range from $1,000 to $4,000+ per month.
Many agencies find it more valuable in the long run to have a business development coach on retainer. This provides the opportunity for you to build a relationship and receive guidance on your tough challenges. You can implement the changes your coach suggests and then evaluate the outcomes to move toward sustainable, long-term progress.
Sometimes business coaches will offer other fundamental services—such as business development strategy for your company—which are an additional cost but also yield additional value and an array of other benefits that you’d want to invest in, one way or another.
Is it Worth it to Hire a Business Coach?
Hiring a business coach or keeping one on retainer is an investment for a marketing agency. But what you get out of this investment will depend on you as much as the professional that you work with.
To maximize your return on investment requires commitment. Compare the engagement of a business coach or leadership coach to that of a fitness or financial coach. They can provide valuable insights, accountability, and encouragement, but you’re the one who has to do the workout or implement changes to your spending or saving habits.
The same can be said for a marketing business development coach. You must put in the time—about 5 to 10 hours per week generally—and commit to making changes if you want to see a worthwhile ROI. Otherwise, you won’t receive the full value that a coach has to offer.
For those who are willing to dedicate time and effort to coaching, and then putting ideas into practice, the benefits will be reaped. With a good business coach, you will be able to reframe your perspective and get back on the right path to where you’re aiming to go.
A business coach can help you solve internal issues that are preventing growth, identify blind spots, help you position your agency effectively, and evaluate options that will best increase your revenues so that you can get out of feast or famine mode.
A business coach can help you analyze where there are opportunities in your sales and operations to improve your profit margin, delight clients and increase retention all while building leaders within your organization so that you can finally own a blessing, not a burden.
It’s also important to note that returns from coaching have a long-tail outcome. It will take a few months time to witness measurable outcomes—especially long-term, sustainable ones related to your top and bottom line goals. That’s why your commitment to the process is key to your success.
How Do I Choose a Business Coach?
Another key for maximizing your ROI when it comes to business coaching is to select the right coach for your agency. Ask questions.
It’s essential to find someone with expertise in your emphasis and experience dealing with the challenges often faced in your field and position—not a generic business coach with a breadth of knowledge but no real wisdom in the marketing agency world.
Make sure they’ve gained wisdom from working in and with other firms and digital marketing agencies at the stage of maturity or growth you’re currently in.
Additionally, you want to find a business growth coach that you click with, especially if you intend for it to be a long-term partnership. You will be leaning on this professional for feedback, guidance and direction. And they will put you in the hot seat and require change from you. The core values of your coach should resonate with your own core values.
Methodologically speaking, ensure you understand a coach’s framework, otherwise it will be difficult to establish a meaningful relationship that leads to valuable benefits for your agency.
Finding Momentum for Your Marketing Agency
If you’re feeling stuck or and like you need an outside perspective of your situation, engaging a business coach may be your best next step. Get a professional to problem solve with you, motivate you, offer constructive advice, and mentor you to become the kind of leader you desire to be.
One option is an engagement with a business development coach like me, 👋 Danielle Fauteaux, which is ideal for teams like yours who are interested in making intentional progress towards solving the infamous “cobbler whose kids have no shoes” riddle. How? By building a repeatable lead generation system for your own agency.
I offer marketing systems consulting and growth coaching for marketing agencies, including inbound marketing agencies, website and app development shops, social media marketing companies, market research firms, graphic design firms, PR and advertising firms, and basically any other agency that offers services to clients that fall under the “marketing” bucket.
(And, if we meet and discover my approach is not best for your needs, I will refer you to another advisor or coach in my network who may be a better fit.)
Whether through monthly problem-solving and strategic guidance, sprint based coaching sessions, or more involved, fractional marketing direction, you will have support in your corner to build a business development program that will make your agency more resilient and profitable.
Building a successful marketing agency takes grit, a focus on your value, and sometimes a *loving* kick in the pants.
Needing an ally as you achieve your long-term goals?
I’d be happy to help.
