Sharing success stories about how you’ve helped coaching clients can demonstrate your coaching expertise and illustrate how your support can benefit future clients. One powerful way to share these stories is through case studies.
A coaching case study uses the journey of a client to demonstrate how your coaching can impact others. By offering a real example and being specific about the coaching journey and results, you help potential clients understand the value of coaching, how you work, and what to expect from their engagement. Ultimately, case studies help the right clients find you.
In the case study, share the client’s journey, detailing the goals or challenges that prompted them to seek a coach, what the coaching process looked like as you worked toward those goals together, and how the client emerged victorious — with your help.
A case study is like a story arc: it starts with the background or context of the situation, highlights a hurdle or challenge the client sought to address, explains how your coaching services helped solve the problem, and concludes with the outcome, benefits, and takeaways your client took with them.
For examples, take a look at this ICF article about Prism Award winner Intel and this #ExperienceCoaching story.
What Makes a Great Case Study?
Not all coaching engagements will make equally compelling stories. The best client stories align to your specialization and target client base, have well- defined goals, clear ways in which your coaching led to “aha moments” or break throughs, and measurable results to show for what you accomplished with the client. For example, perhaps they sought a better work-/life balance and found time to coach their daughter’s soccer team, or they sought to advance at work and earn a promotion in their next review.
Before reaching out to your client, consider: the key takeaways of the engagement and what the story tells your target audience about how you work.
Once you have identified and developed a client case study — or even a few — it’s time to share it with your audience to highlight your expertise and the tangible benefits of your coaching services.
Ways to Share Your Case Studies:
- Feature Case Studies on Your Website
Publish case studies on your website’s home page is a fantastic way for prospective clients to access them easily. If you have several, organizing them by topic or type or create a “Case Studies” tab on your website to house your previous work, highlighting how you have benefitted and impacted your clients.
- Reach Out to a Reporter
Getting a case study featured in a media outlet spreads awareness of coaching and positions you as a thought leader. However, you must be strategic when reaching out to a reporter. First, do your research to ensure they cover the area of expertise you specialize in, and that the outlet has a history of covering case studies. For example, if you coach corporate leaders, you should email a reporter who writes for a leadership publication or column.
Some reporters may request to speak with the client mentioned in the case study. Before sharing a case study with a reporter, ensure the client is comfortable discussing their experience.
- Share on Social Media
Social media is an easy way to highlight your case studies because you can control the message. Get creative! There are several different types of posts you can use to leverage your case studies.
- LinkedIn articles: Publish case studies as articles on LinkedIn to reach a professional audience. For additional reach, consider a paid boost on the post, targeting the audience you serve through your coaching practice.
- Live streams: Host live sessions or webinars on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram to discuss your case studies and share how your coaching services contributed to the successful outcome. You can also respond to comments and answer questions in real time.
- Visuals: Share infographics or leverage LinkedIn slides or Instagram carousels to capture your coaching story, highlighting the problem, process, solution, and outcome.
- Short videos: Create short video clips with snippets of information that highlight the real-life impact you’ve had on your clients. Share why your audience would benefit from your coaching services.
Protecting Client Privacy
Client confidentiality is a cornerstone of coaching ethics. Before developing case studies, it is crucial that you ask for your client’s permission to share their coaching story. Much more than a simple yes or no, allow your client to express not only whether they are comfortable sharing, but exactly how much personal detail and in what ways they are comfortable with you sharing their case study.
Ask your client about:
- Personal details: What personal details are they comfortable with you sharing?
Are they comfortable with you sharing their name? With you mentioning the name of the company they work for? The position they held? Offer to change their name or use a pseudonym. It is important to ensure the client feels comfortable with you, sharing the details of the challenges they faced.
- Online sharing:
Are they okay with their story being on your website, social media, or with the media?
- Media contact:
Would they speaking to a reporter if an opportunity arose?
While a phone call may be an appropriate way to introduce the idea, confirm any agreements in writing so that you both have clarity and confidence on how you may share their story.
Case Studies Let Your Coaching Impact Shine
Case studies add credibility to your practice by highlighting the positive impact you’ve made on people’s lives through the power of coaching. Share these stories on your website, social media, or other channels to show, potential clients how coaching makes a difference, and how you work. Leveraging these strategies will help amplify your coaching business, broaden your reach, and establish you as a trusted authority in your field.
