“Coaching you to do the things you won’t do on your own...”

5 Mins with Mike Barnes...

Getting to know Mike Barnes Coach...

So, Mike, what do you do?

“I’m a professional development coach’

What does a P.D Coach do?

“I’m like most high level sports coaches; only I’m normally dealing with people who deliver professional services (actually, I do sports psychology for NZ’s top moto-cross riders) but in the end, I coach them to do the things that they probably wouldn’t do on their own. I push them harder, I coach the advanced stuff but then I make them go back and do the basics all over again, I mix it up, just like the all blacks do.”

What do you coach, who do you work with?

“I work with the owners and associates of accounting, legal and financial adviser firms to connect more strategically with their clients”

“Most of them have come up from a technician space, hoping to make partner one day (which they generally have to buy into) only to hear “thanks for the chunk of cash – now get out and grow your fee base”

“They’ve got no idea, they’ve never been formally trained how to interact with clients and secure new fees and for the most part, clients don’t want the same old stuff anyway, so I coach them how to take business development services to clients that want them”.

Getting to know Mike Barnes Coach...

Why would a professional firm need someone like you? “Accountants & Lawyers are under massive pressure to change how they deliver to their clients; software providers, banks and ‘small business gurus’ are ripping into their client base because people are sick of getting their accounts 1 yr. out of date or in the case of lawyers, paying outrageous fees for a form you can download off the internet.” “Most professionals know they need to change, they know clients want more strategic services rather than ‘being punched through the factory line’ but they just don’t know HOW to change (they know they need to) in fact, they’re sick of hearing about it; some are just hiding their head in the sand waiting for the big wave to hit but there’s a few that want to meet the challenge. The future for their industries lies in progressing from Technician to Facilitator to Strategist to Orchestrator, some will make it (and will do great at it) others will be wondering why they struggle to clear $80k in 5 yrs. time.” (The problem is the rate of change, it’s not internal market competition anymore and these industries have never had to face this before, it’s the same effect as heavy machinery on ditch diggers/blue collar workers…) There must be heaps of people doing that… “There are, but what I do that’s different lies in 2 key areas; First, I do personality profiling so I start by defining their key coping mechanisms since this is what holds a lot of people back from dealing with change and second; I literally coach them – I use role play, we rehearse and then I actually go with them on sales calls or to deliver strategic planning sessions etc. I’ve sat in on sessions with all sorts of business owners from Pharmaceutical executives to car wreckers, from a guy with a personal net worth of $120M one minute to 2 guys with a small canvas business the next and everything in between… Most ‘coaches’ don’t do this, which is kind of like coaching a rugby team then never watching them play but expecting next week to tell them how to improve…”

Getting to know Mike Barnes Coach...

Sounds like you enjoy it, must be different..?

“Yeah, the real buzz for me is when I get phoned up by a client to tell me they just secured a big

contract, I had a client last year secure a job worth $125k that we worked on together, or even

better, when they phone up all excited ‘cause their clients have bought them a gift or been really happy with the new service”. “I wait till no one’s looking then I do (fist-pump) to myself, that’s what it’s all about; and the biggest buzz, is when you see your client present something to their clients, that you coached them, only they’ve changed it to make it their own, and they ‘own it’.”

“My old boss always told me, that’s the biggest compliment”

How’d you get into the industry?

“I got head hunted when I was 26 to work as a BDM for Sovereign Assurance, my boss was an actuary with a degree in psychology (makes for an interesting mix) and he’d come out of the UK from a company called Allied Dunbar; they’d spent mega bucks on developing their people to become business coaches and I was just right place at the right time.

It was like having a university professor coach you and rehearse with you, then go into the field to observe, take notes then give you a kick in the pants when you got back to the office. It was an amazing time and it was how I became so interested in the psychology behind coaching and people in general.”

Getting to know Mike Barnes Coach...

So if I asked you to do something for my firm, what would it cost? “I tailor every coaching programme, depending on the client’s needs, my fees range from $3k to do a basic little ‘fun day coaching session’ through to $98k to work with a group of directors who want to make major change. Most of my clients are around the 30-50k mark and I generally have working relationships for 3 yrs. on average. Some longer but 99% of the time, not less than 1 year. I usually only do ‘fun-days’ for new clients, as a favour to someone I already deal with.” “I always start by doing a scope of what’s needed; you never judge a book by its cover so I always take the time to find out what’s actually required before racing in with ideas. I like to take things slowly, make sure I get it right.” Thanks for your time Mike. “You’re welcome!” You can get hold of Mike by visiting www.mikebarnescoach.com or phoning +64 2 7293 4461

Why did you choose to work with accountants and lawyers, they’re so boring! “Not the ones I work with; I only deal with the owners, most have got at least 25-70 staff, I don’t deal with the guys in the engine room crunching numbers etc., The people I work with are generally smart as a tack, great senses of humour and straight up, I never get mucked around on fees and for the most part, you make an appointment, they stick to it. To be fair, when I first moved to Hamilton, aged 19-20, in the group I hung out with, there were 19 people out of 22 that were accountants. I’ve seen them sculling, spewing, sitting on top of roofs naked – and that was just a week night! I tend to have a different opinion of accountants after that; I really enjoy working with them.”