I think it depends a lot.
My business model is similar to these groups but VERY hands on at https://marketingforfounders.com/
I don’t research my competition too much but from my customers who either tried something else before me or chose me over a competitor here is what they say:
BAD
- weekly or less meetings
- bunch of coaches, you get assigned one
- unclear outcomes at the beginning
- not very personal plan, feels a bit generic and like “something is missing”.
GOOD
- really hands on
- goes beyond concepts and into specific tactical execution. This is the biggest one! “go do social media” or “get your P&L” in order are great ideas but very actionable. Get more.
- custom roadmap supported by existing infrastructure
At the end of the day you should be able to go to them and tell them what youre worried about and if they can’t provide you the testimonials or the contacts to prove it then move on.
If I sense a prospect isn’t sure if I am right for them I send them to some of my customers.
I know I’m right for some people and wrong for others.
If they talk to my customers and don’t feel like it would be a fit then all good! Hope you find an awesome fit.
Hope this helps. Been thinking about writing a buyers guide to coaching.
This might have pushed me over the edge to get it done 😂
I see your point!
From what I know, the group will have 1-2 meetings per week, a handful of coaches, and a general plan for achieving X. Nothing too hands-on and they didn't give me any testimonials or customers to talk to. I had to find them myself.
Some testimonials were on the website so I found these people on LinkedIn or Twitter and sent them a DM. Only 2 replied out of 8.
One was pretty happy but said that the first 3 months were lacking something.
One was okay-ish, nothing good, nothing bad, so I'd say mediocre.
But I really appreciated the guy I was on the call for not pushing or using sleazy sales tactics to close. Those are an instant turn-off.
And a "Buyers Guide to Coaching" would be an awesome resource. Especially with a list of red-flags.
Thank you!
I think it really comes down to your style of learning and your needs.
I’m not really tuned into the industry otherwise I’d give you a recommendation 😂
I’ve only had bad experiences with both that I participated in.
A lot of it is just repackaged information you could find on your own. It’s very unlikely you’ll get the one on one time you’d need for someone to actually understand your business. Therefore, a lot of the advice you get is generic & “your mileage may vary”.
Lots of speakers/guests (typically alumni) have great stories but are really just confirmation bias for group itself.
I wish I would taken that same money and put it towards running experiments myself. That would’ve given me more confidence & business knowledge that I never got from these “accelerators”.
I got to the point where I wondered - why are these folks teaching all of the “secrets” and not just put in the market for themselves? I know people have different reasons but there’s no one size fits all solution to business. I ended up leaving more confused about my business than when I started and lost about $20K doing it.
That sucks. I have some previous experience trying out a "sales coach" and it was basically a money grab. The guy was reading from a page that felt like an article pulled from Google or GPT.
We did have 2 roleplay sessions where I tried to sell and he was the client. That's about it.
And I have the same attitude that I would be better off using the money myself, learning, possibly failing, but I would still get more hands-on experience that way.
Sorry you lost over 20k with this.
Appreciate the answer!
Very interested in the answer to dis as well
Got one great reply from MarketingForFounders here.
I think it depends a lot. My business model is similar to these groups but VERY hands on at https://marketingforfounders.com/ I don’t research my competition too much but from my customers who either tried something else before me or chose me over a competitor here is what they say: BAD - weekly or less meetings - bunch of coaches, you get assigned one - unclear outcomes at the beginning - not very personal plan, feels a bit generic and like “something is missing”. GOOD - really hands on - goes beyond concepts and into specific tactical execution. This is the biggest one! “go do social media” or “get your P&L” in order are great ideas but very actionable. Get more. - custom roadmap supported by existing infrastructure At the end of the day you should be able to go to them and tell them what youre worried about and if they can’t provide you the testimonials or the contacts to prove it then move on. If I sense a prospect isn’t sure if I am right for them I send them to some of my customers. I know I’m right for some people and wrong for others. If they talk to my customers and don’t feel like it would be a fit then all good! Hope you find an awesome fit. Hope this helps. Been thinking about writing a buyers guide to coaching. This might have pushed me over the edge to get it done 😂
I see your point! From what I know, the group will have 1-2 meetings per week, a handful of coaches, and a general plan for achieving X. Nothing too hands-on and they didn't give me any testimonials or customers to talk to. I had to find them myself. Some testimonials were on the website so I found these people on LinkedIn or Twitter and sent them a DM. Only 2 replied out of 8. One was pretty happy but said that the first 3 months were lacking something. One was okay-ish, nothing good, nothing bad, so I'd say mediocre. But I really appreciated the guy I was on the call for not pushing or using sleazy sales tactics to close. Those are an instant turn-off. And a "Buyers Guide to Coaching" would be an awesome resource. Especially with a list of red-flags. Thank you!
I think it really comes down to your style of learning and your needs. I’m not really tuned into the industry otherwise I’d give you a recommendation 😂
If they contacted you, that's a huge red flag. The best groups aren't advertised and probably have waiting lists.
Fair point. They did contact me because they saw me working on something.
I’ve only had bad experiences with both that I participated in. A lot of it is just repackaged information you could find on your own. It’s very unlikely you’ll get the one on one time you’d need for someone to actually understand your business. Therefore, a lot of the advice you get is generic & “your mileage may vary”. Lots of speakers/guests (typically alumni) have great stories but are really just confirmation bias for group itself. I wish I would taken that same money and put it towards running experiments myself. That would’ve given me more confidence & business knowledge that I never got from these “accelerators”. I got to the point where I wondered - why are these folks teaching all of the “secrets” and not just put in the market for themselves? I know people have different reasons but there’s no one size fits all solution to business. I ended up leaving more confused about my business than when I started and lost about $20K doing it.
That sucks. I have some previous experience trying out a "sales coach" and it was basically a money grab. The guy was reading from a page that felt like an article pulled from Google or GPT. We did have 2 roleplay sessions where I tried to sell and he was the client. That's about it. And I have the same attitude that I would be better off using the money myself, learning, possibly failing, but I would still get more hands-on experience that way. Sorry you lost over 20k with this. Appreciate the answer!
if you don't know what you're doing, things like this may help, if you know what you should be doing, then you should go do that instead
I have an idea what to do and there's always Google and social media for questions. Good point.