Coaching and consulting are often discussed individually in professional networks. However, despite most business coaches combining the two, there isn’t as much discourse about blending these two methodologies.

If you’ve been toying with the idea of expanding your services in your niche, you’re in the right place. Let’s explore what coaching consultants do and how you can combine these approaches to raise the value of your packages.

What is a Coaching Consultant?

A coaching consultant provides clients a blend of coaching and consulting services within a single engagement. They address personal and professional development and combine coaching methodology with strategic consulting advice to meet clients’ needs.

According to the International Coach Federation, 94% of coaches offer other services. Most frequently, these services are consulting.

[ Read: The Life Coach Encyclopedia: 60 Coaching Terms That Every Coach Should Know ]

Let’s look at what each of these approaches look like individually.

Coaching vs. Consulting

Coaching is a process focused on helping people set goals consciously and achieve them in various areas of their lives. It often involves deep introspection, thought-provoking questions, and structured coaching processes.

Consulting is most similar to business or leadership coaching, which is why the two are often confused. These coaching niches are great for leadership development, improving performance, and learning new business skills.

However, consulting is about providing expert advice and solutions to specific problems. Consultants use specialized knowledge to diagnose issues and develop strategies to solve them. This allows them to help organizations and individuals achieve their desired business outcomes.

Let’s look at the main differences between these two approaches.

Differences Between Coaching and Consulting

Coaching and consulting differ in several aspects, and understanding them is essential if you want to combine them in your services.

• Coaching encourages clients to find their own answers. Consulting provides specific advice and solutions.

• A coach facilitates self-reflection. A consultant acts as an expert and problem-solver.

• Coaches ask questions to help clients gain insights. Consultants offer direct recommendations and strategies.

• Coaching is client-driven, guiding individuals to find their own solutions. Consulting is consultant-driven, providing expertise and actionable plans.

• Coaches support clients in achieving long-term development goals. Consultants help clients achieve immediate, tangible results.

• Coaching sessions are usually ongoing and process-oriented. Consulting engagements are often project-based and result-oriented.

• Coaching is collaborative and non-directive. Consulting is authoritative and directive.

• Coaches help clients to take ownership of their growth. Consultants take responsibility for delivering specific solutions.

[ Read: How to Build Custom Consulting Processes  (4-Steps to Get You Started) ]

Similarities Between Coaching and Consulting

Consulting and, particularly, business coaching have plenty of similarities, too—which is why a combined approach can be effective for specific clients.

• Assessment: Both often start with an initial assessment to understand the client’s needs and situation.

• Goal-oriented nature: Both aim to help clients achieve specific goals.

• Expertise: Both require expertise and knowledge in their respective fields (though not in the client’s problems in the case of coaching).

• Client interaction: Both involve working closely with clients to address their challenges.

• Professional Relationship: Both establish a professional relationship with its necessary communication and boundaries.

• Feedback: Both can provide feedback to clients to help them progress (although in different ways).

• Personalized services: Both tailor their approaches to meet clients’ unique needs.

• Problem-solving: Both engage in problem-solving, albeit in different ways.

• Support: Both provide support to clients, though the nature and extent of the support may differ.

Should You Be a Coach or a Consultant?

Whether you’re more efficient as a coach or a consultant will depend on your strengths, background, and the type of impact you want to have on your clients.

[ Read: How to Write a Consulting Proposal + Free Proposal Template ]

Here are a few things you can consider when choosing between them.

1. Your Approach to Problem-Solving

Coaching may be better if you prefer guiding your clients to discover their own solutions. Ask insightful questions and step back so they can reflect and reach their own conclusions.

On the other hand, if you’re great at giving specific advice and actionable solutions, choose consulting. This allows you to analyze problems, offer expert recommendations, and create detailed plans.

2. Desired Client Interaction

Coaches often build long-term relationships with their clients. They focus on their growth through ongoing sessions over an extended period. Coaching is excellent if you enjoy deep, continuous interaction and watching your clients evolve.

Consultants are more likely to engage with clients on a project-by-project basis. They focus on immediate and tangible results. Consulting could be a better option if you prefer short-term engagements with clear deliverables.

3. Skill Set and Expertise

Coaching requires strong interpersonal skills, empathy, and the ability to facilitate self-discovery. In this case, coaching certification programs or a psychology and personal development background come in handy. You can also find specialized training in fields like executive coaching with methodologies tailored to that audience.

As a consultant, though, specialized knowledge and expertise in your field—be it finance, IT, or management—are necessary. You’ll also need analytical skills and a track record of problem-solving.

4. Professional Goals

It’s also important to ask yourself how you want to spend each day at work. As a coach, you’ll empower clients and help them transform through exercises and coaching questions. You may even incorporate additional tools like NLP or hypnotherapy into your practice.

As a consultant, you’ll work with business frameworks to deliver solutions and present them to your clients. Consulting might be more fulfilling if the sound of solving complex problems and driving results appeals to you.

5. Working Style

Coaching is collaborative and generally non-directive. It empowers clients to take ownership of their growth and is a more supportive and guiding role.

Consulting, on the other hand, is directive. You’ll need to take responsibility for solving your client’s problems. Consulting might fit your style better if you are comfortable taking charge and leading clients through challenges.

6. Flexibility and Adaptability

Lastly, coaching requires adapting to various personal and professional contexts. You need to stay flexible in your approach and methodology.

Consulting is usually a more structured approach with the need to deliver specific outcomes within defined timeframes.

And, as you might have guessed, there’s a way to do both in the same contract. Here’s how a dual approach can benefit your clients.

3 Benefits of a Dual Approach

Working as a coaching consultant can provide your clients with the following:

• Consistency: Integrating coaching and consulting prevents the potential disconnect when a client works with separate coaches and consultants (with potentially differing perspectives and advice).

• Individualized solutions: Using various approaches with the same client lets you craft individualized solutions for their problems. This may allow you to create better results for them and their businesses.

• A flexible approach: Blending different methodologies lets you adjust the pace of the engagement to your client’s needs and, potentially, switch between the two roles at various times during your contract.

However, you need to balance these roles without one approach overshadowing the other. Let’s explore how you can do that to give your clients the best outcomes and experience.

How to Work as a Coaching Consultant

The key to combining coaching and consulting within the same client relationship is constantly being clear on which hat you’re wearing and communicating it to your client. They need to have the right expectations because each approach requires very different participation from them.

One of my first brand coaching clients kept asking me for advice during our sessions. By the end of the process, they were pleasantly surprised that it led them to their own answers about their brand identity.

However, it was a lesson for me to set clearer expectations for clients at the beginning—which may involve explaining the difference between coaching and consulting itself.

Why?

Because if they’re being coached, they need to reflect and develop ideas and conclusions independently. But if they’re being consulted, they need to understand and proactively implement the approach suggested to them.

As a coaching consultant, you are responsible for assessing the client’s situation and determining which approach would best serve them.

Let’s say a client of yours is facing a career transition. They aren’t sure if they are good enough for their new role and feel anxious about the uncertainty of entering a new field.

Through career coaching, you can help them become aware of the emotions they’re struggling with and overcome any limiting beliefs. You can guide them through an exercise to uncover the strengths that will make them succeed in this new field and enlist the people who can support them.

As a consultant, your approach would be more directive. You may offer them practical strategies and tools to help their career transition. Drawing on your expertise, you can tell them how to build their resume, search for the right jobs, and prepare for interviews.

If you have experience in the field they’re entering, you can even give them tangible advice on how to break in and build a career in it.

The point is to explain your suggested approach to your client and what it would entail beforehand.

Scale Your Coaching Consultant Business

Expanding your services can bring in new clients and increase your income. However, you’ll also need a way to efficiently manage them without being swamped with admin tasks.

That’s where Paperbell comes in.

It’s an all-in-one client management tool specifically designed for coaches and consultants. It handles your contracts, schedules, payments, landing pages, and more so you can focus on making a difference in people’s lives.

Try Paperbell for free with your first client.