By Barbara Nuss, CPA
Founder, Profit Soup

Some SBDC advisors are confident supporting clients with operational issues, marketing and brand strategies but struggle with conversations about financial goals and KPIs. Like the clients they support, not all advisors have strong financial backgrounds. But armed with a structured approach and some basic foundational knowledge, all SBDC Advisors can positively influence financial discipline and results.

The best financial coaching leads advisors and clients to collaboratively create insights, goals, and action plans that improve financial performance.

An SBDC advisor who has a solid framework, a curious mind, and collaborative spirit can outperform one who relies on subject matter expertise to solve problems for their clients. When the measure of success is improved financial performance, it’s the process, not the advice, that influences results.

Here is a 5-step coaching framework that works for any problem-solving process, including financial coaching. The key is to have a robust supply of thought-provoking, open-ended questions that guide the client to discover issues and solutions.