ROI, measurable benefits & stats

If you’re wondering what the ROI of coaching is, you’re not alone.

You see, my students often ask me how they can explain their value to their clients.

After all, “coaching” is not tangible. Sure, maybe you’re in an industry like health coaching where your clients get tangible results. But for most coaches, the results aren’t that concrete.

Fortunately, studies and research show just how powerful coaching can be.

And popular. According to iPEC, 1.5 million searches are made every month by people and companies looking for life coaches, business coaches, and executive coaches.

In 2019, the estimated global revenue from coaching was 2.849 billion USD. (2020 ICF Global Coaching Study)

And while face-to-face coaching decreased sharply after COVID-19 (by 74%), online coaching has become wildly more popular, as it’s increased by 57%. (COVID-19 and the Coaching Industry)

Coaching clients are happy with their results:

• 99% of individuals and companies who hire a coach are “satisfied or very satisfied” and 96% say they would repeat the process. (ICF Global Coaching Client Study)

• 95% of clients rate their coaches as “good” or “excellent.” (2009 ICF Global Coaching Study)

• 68% of individuals who hired coaches were able to make back their investment. Those who make a financial gain on their coaching can on average expect 3.44 times the amount spent. (2009 ICF Global Coaching Study)

• 86% of companies that could calculate their return on investment said that they at least made back their initial investment. 19% indicated an ROI of 50x the investment. 28% saw an ROI of 10-49x the investment. The median ROI is 7x the investment. (2009 ICF Global Coaching Study)

• According to a study, coaching has a 221% ROI. (International Society for Performance Improvement)

• 51% of companies with a strong coaching culture report higher revenue than their industry peer group. (Human Capital Institute)

Most clients find their coaches through referrals and word of mouth (46%). The majority (73%) of coaching programs last one year or less. (2009 ICF Global Coaching Study)

In the US, the average annual income from coaching is $62,500. (2020 ICF Global Coaching Study) However, that is dependent on the coach and running 6- and multiple 6-figure coaching businesses (or even 7-figure businesses) is something a lot of coaches do (including many of my students).

Executive and management coaches help managers and executives improve their leadership skills. But do they come with a return on investment? Here are the benefits of executive coaching.

• 14% of coaching clients say that they hire coaches to improve their business management skills. (2009 ICF Global Coaching Study)

• 61% of coaching clients say they improved their business management skills thanks to coaching. (2009 ICF Global Coaching Study)

• In one study, executive coaching had a 788% ROI thanks to increases in areas like productivity and employee satisfaction. 77% of respondents said that coaching had a significant impact on at least one of nine business measurements. (MetrixGlobal)

• A survey of 100 executives showed that the average ROI of executive coaching was almost 6x the cost of coaching. (International Coach Federation)

• A reliable ROI for executive coaching has been reported as 500%-700%. (iPEC)

• Executive coaching helps women improve their performance, satisfaction, and well-being. (International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring)

• A case study on women leaders who participated in coaching shows that leadership coaching can improve: self-awareness, self-confidence, self-leadership, leadership style, as well as their relationship to power, conflict, and personal life. (International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring)

• 75% say that the value of executive and leadership coaching is “considerably greater” or “far greater” than the money and time invested. (International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring)

A business coach helps entrepreneurs build and grow their businesses. How effective is business coaching? Let’s find out.

• According to Eric Schmidt, Google and Apple owe much of their trillion-dollar valuations to their business coach, Bill Campbell. (CNBC)

• 80% of coachees report increased self-confidence. (Institute of Coaching)

• 70% of coachees improve work performance, relationships, and communication. (Institute of Coaching)

• One in six entrepreneurs turns to coaching to improve their performance. (Forbes)

• One-third of successful entrepreneurs have turned to a mentor or support group (only 14% of entrepreneurs with failed businesses have done the same). (Xero)

• 33% of founders who are mentored by successful entrepreneurs go on to become top performers. (Endeavor/TechCrunch)

• Only 22% of entrepreneurs have mentors when they start their businesses. (Kabbage)

• 92% of small business owners agree mentors have a direct impact on their growth and the chances for their businesses to survive. (Kabbage)

• 89% of business owners who don’t have a mentor wish they did. (Kabbage)

• 30% of business owners who had just one interaction with a mentor reported growth. (SCORE)

• The top three things business owners ask their mentors for help with are human resource issues (61%), growth/business expansion (59%), and start-up assistance (53%). (SCORE)

• 88% of business owners with a mentor say that having one is invaluable. (UPS)

• 70% of entrepreneurs who receive mentoring survive 5 years or longer. (UPS)

An increasing number of organizations want to offer coaching to their employees. At the same time, employees choose to hire career coaches to advance in their careers. And the results can be significant, as these statistics show.

• 15% of coaching clients see career opportunities as the most important reason to hire a coach. (2009 ICF Global Coaching Study)

• 62% of coaching clients say they improved their career opportunities thanks to coaching. (2009 ICF Global Coaching Study)

• The three top obstacles to building a strong coaching culture inside an organization are: Limited support from senior leaders (50%), inability to measure the impact of coaching (42%), and a lack of budget for coaching activities (38%). (2020 ICF Global Coaching Study)

• In-person and other formats of coaching are equally effective. (Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology)

• A meta-analysis of 18 studies of coaching in organizational settings showed that coaching has a relatively large effect on clients’ coping capacities and resilience, subjective well-being, attitudes, performance, and goal-attainment. (The Journal of Positive Psychology)

• 51% of organizations with strong coaching cultures report a higher revenue than similar companies. 62% of employees in those organizations rate themselves as highly engaged. (Human Capital Institute)

• A study showed that individual coaching and group coaching helped to reduce procrastination and facilitate goal attainment. (Frontiers in Psychology)

• Research shows that coaching has positive effects on performance and skills, well-being, coping, work attitudes, and goal-directed self-regulation. (The Journal of Positive Psychology)

• Coaching clients report that they improve relationships (73%), communication skills (72%), interpersonal skills (71%), work performance (70%), work/life balance (67%), and wellness (63%) thanks to coaching. (2009 ICF Global Coaching Study)

• 62% of employees at companies with strong coaching cultures rate as highly engaged. (Human Capital Institute)

• Compared to non-mentored employees, employees who receive mentoring receive higher compensation, a greater number of promotions, feel more satisfied with their career, feel more committed to their career, and are more likely to believe that they will advance in their career. (The Journal of Applied Psychology)

Does health coaching work? You bet. Here are the health coaching stats that show just how effective health coaching can be.

• 3x more people lose weight when they work with a coach compared to other methods. (Obesity (Silver Spring))

• 80% of clinical trials for nutrition and weight management coaching found improvement. (American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine)

• Coaching can help older adults increase their physical activity. (British Journal of Sports Medicine)

• Health coaching was associated with significant weight loss in overweight and obese adults. Study participants lost 7.24% of their initial weight after 12 months and 6.77% after 24 months. (American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine)

• Personal health coaching can impact diabetes patients favorably. (American Journal of Health Promotion)

• Health coaching can improve quality of life and reduce hospital admissions among people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. (British Journal of Health Psychology)

• A focus group with 23 women showed that all of the women who were enrolled in a health coaching program were able to lose weight, but those who were accountable were able to keep it off. (University of Illinois)

• Coaching results in clinically relevant improvements in: systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose, body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, and cardiorespiratory fitness. (American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine)

• Health coaching can significantly lower healthcare costs. (Medical Care)

• Online health coaching has been shown to be as effective as face-to-face coaching. (American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine)

• A 12-week study showed that wellness coaching can improve quality of life, depressive symptoms, and perceived stress levels, as well as physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual functioning. (Mayo Clinic)

• A review of 13 studies shows that health coaching improves the management of chronic diseases and it produces positive effects on people’s social life and their behavioral, physiological, and psychological conditions. Their weight management improves, they increase their physical activity, and improve their physical and mental health status. (Patient Education and Counseling)

• A Citigroup project showed that 54% of clients with no savings at the start had some savings after participating in a financial coaching program. (Citigroup)

• 48% of clients with savings at the beginning of the project had increased that amount after getting coached. (Citigroup)

• 55% of people with unsecured debt at the start of the program had decreased their amount of debt (the median decrease was $3,005). (Citigroup)

• 47% of clients raised their credit scores during the program (the mean increase was 59 points). (Citigroup)

• Financial coaching reduces financial stress. (Urban Institute)

• A study treatment group accumulated $1,200 in savings and ended up with average debt in collections about two-thirds lower than that of the control group. The total debt among the treatment group declined by $10,650. (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

• Data shows that there are several positive associations between coaching and client outcomes, such as confidence, budgeting, saving, and goal formation. (Journal of Financial Theory)