You’re not a salesperson; you’re a coach, right?
Maybe.
But if you can’t sell, you can’t coach because you will have no clients.
And a coach without any clients is somebody with a hobby not a coaching practice.
The good news is that the three skills you need to be a great coach are the same as those you need to be a great salesperson:
- Build rapport
- Ask great questions
- STFU and listen
Even better?
Many of the questions that make you look like a coaching genius are the same ones that turn you into a sales wizard.
These powerful questions will allow you to:
- Challenge bullshit without breaking rapport
- Shift people out of indecision
- Build trust fast
So, I’ve done the heavy lifting for you.
Here’s a handmade list of powerful questions I’ve personally developed over my 40 years in coaching and sales.
These aren’t AI-generated or pulled from some coaching manual – they’re battle-tested questions from my own experience that work both in coaching sessions and in getting coaching clients.
Use them well, grasshopper.
1. If that wasn’t an issue, would you want to move forward?
Although these questions aren’t in any specific order, if I had to order them, this might be the. head honcho.
It’s possibly the most important question in sales and rarely gets mentioned never mind used.
Even by salespeople.
It deftly allows you to isolate the real objection both to a sale and, in coaching, to an action.
If someone tells me my coaching is too expensive, it genuinely could be because it is too expensive for them.
But equally, it may be because they’ve decided they don’t like my silly northern English accent.
If a client says they cannot do something because they don’t have enough time, it may be because they don’t have enough time.
Or it may be because the action scares them shitless.
Bringing the objection to the surface doesn’t make it go away, but it does allow you to address it without wasting time.
If you say, ‘Would you do it if you did have enough time?’ means you find out if it’s a real objection (they will say Yes), or fake (they will say No, or hesitate)
Sales & Marketing: If money wasn’t an issue, would you want to hire me?
Coaching: If you could free up another hour per week, would you commit to getting this done?
Out of curiosity…
There’s a reason this phrase is used by every coach worth their salt.
It works.
It’s soft and disarming, like a cute lion cub.
But it allows you to get to the heart of the matter faster than a very hungry, fully grown lion can get to the heart of a dead zebra….probably.
It’s not challenging or even probing.
It’s just being curious.
And that makes people feel safe enough to give you the honest answer instead of the polished one they think they’re meant to say.
This is also one of those fabulous phrases that works everywhere.
Sales. Coaching. Marketing. DMs. Emails. Consult calls. Dinner parties with the Pope. You name it.
Sales & Marketing:
Out of curiosity, what’s stopping you from putting this into action?
Coaching:
Out of curiosity, what would happen if you decided to take full responsibility for everything that happens to you for just one week?
I’m not sure if this is for you, but…
This one delivers two benefits immediately by piquing curiosity and removing any pressure.
Your immediate and involuntary response to somebody saying this to you is to wonder what it could be and if, in fact, it fucking well absolutely is for you!
It allows you to tell people about you or your offer but, at the same time, remove any sense of being sold to.
And, of course, when use but in a sentence, we are usually negating what we just said.
So I’m not sure if this is for you but, means we think it absolutely is for you but we are saying so in a much more gentle way.
Sales & Marketing
I’m not sure if this is for you, but I’ve helped quite a few coaches go from zero clients to a full practice without using paid ads or pretending to be someone they’re not.
Coaching
I’m not sure if this is relevant, but other clients in your situation found it helpful to stop solving problems that didn’t belong to them.
Just imagine…
This phrase is what I used to call a permission to dream question and it can be powerful in any number of situations.
It gives someone space to step outside their current story and into something that hasn’t happened yet—but could.
In NLP parlance, we are future-pacing a client/prospect by painting a future picture that is more appealing to them.
It’s the verbal equivalent of handing somebody a cute puppy at the pet store and saying, “Imagine owning this lovely bundle of fun.”
From that moment on, you and all your socks are utterly fucked.
Most people don’t change because they can’t.
Rather, they don’t change because they can’t picture anything else.
Once they see an alternative, it makes it all the more real and thus, achievable.
Is it a coincidence that great achievers across all fields of human achievement are almost always great visualisers?
Er no. It’s not.
Visualisation has been scientifically proven to improve the likelihood of success.
Sales & Marketing
Just imagine having a steady stream of clients who already trust you before you even get on a call.
Coaching
Just imagine yourself in a year’s time when you have followed through with all of these things.
Copywriting
This is also a very powerful use of language in copywriting because it allows you to future-pace a client in the future.
Imagine what your life will be like after you hire me and start to see clients come in.
How important is that to you?
There’s a moment in almost every coaching session (and a fair few sales ones) when the client says they want something—clarity, confidence, a new career, whatever.
And the next logical question is… how important is that, really?
Not in a smug, “go on then, prove it” kind of way.
But in a grounded, let’s-actually-check kind of way.
Because people say a lot of things they don’t mean, often because they think they should say it
In sales, this is called testing intention.
It allows you to tell if a client or prospect is really serious about whatever it is.
I will often closely follow up with..
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being nothing will stop you. How important is it?
Anything less than an 8 means you are probably wasting your time.
Sales & Marketing
You say you want to grow your practice. How important is that?
Coaching
You say you want to improve your family relationships. How important is that?
What else could that mean?
People cling to their stories about themselves more desperately than Donald Trump clings to his hair.
Even when those stories are more preposterous than Trump’s combover.
“I’m lazy.”
“Nobody likes me”
“I never succeed”
When we ask our clients or prospects, ‘What else could that mean?’ It allows us to help them find an alternate point of view to the one not serving them.
This is classic reframing.
This is more of a coaching question, but it can be incredible in copywriting and objection handling when we get to say what else it could mean.
Are you really lazy, or could it be you haven’t found something you’re passionate about yet?
Is it true that nobody likes you, or could it be that nobody has got to see the side of your personality that I and your family see?
Is it true that you never succeed., or are you forgetting about your successes? Or could it be that you just haven’t had the right help and support yet?
Sales & Marketing
You say you never succeed, but could that just be you haven’t had the right support yet?
Coaching
Is losing your job the fantastic opportunity to start that business you have always wanted to do?
If I could show you ‘X’ would you want to do ‘Y’
In sales, this is a test close.
You’re not pushing or cornering, but asking for permission to help with whatever it is
It combines clarity with control.
You’re being crystal clear about the benefit (X).
And giving them full agency to say yes or no (Y).
It avoids the clunky “Are you ready to buy?” nonsense and replaces it with something collaborative, low-pressure, and actionable.
Sales & Marketing
If I can show you how to attract clients without social media burnout, would you be open to trying a different approach?
Coaching
If I can show you how to manage your energy better, would you be open to testing that this week?
The Bottom Line
These questions aren’t just clever tricks to make you sound smart or close more sales.
They’re powerful tools that cut through the bullshit and get to what actually matters.
Because here’s the thing: great coaching and effective selling are fundamentally about the same thing – understanding what people really want and helping them get it.
So start using these questions tomorrow. Not next week. Not when you feel “ready.”
Tomorrow.
Pick one question and deliberately use it in your next client conversation or sales call.
Then watch what happens.
These questions have helped me build two successful coaching practices over 20 years. They’ve helped hundreds of coaches I’ve worked with do the same.
