By:

Lucas Doornhein

They Ask, You Answer Coach

Reading time: +/- 5 min

August 15, 2024

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They Ask, You Answer vs. business coaching

A group of people listen intently to a speaker during a presentation or workshop. The speaker, seen from the back, gestures with his hand as he speaks. The listeners, seated in modern chairs, watch the speaker with focus.

As a business owner, you know how valuable business coaching can be. You already work with a business coach and it has already paid off handsomely for you. However, you're also excited about They Ask, You Answer (TAYA) and curious if this approach could be for you.

At the same time, you also wonder if TAYA and your current business coaching won't get in each other's way. Of course, you don't want to receive conflicting advice or upset your current coach. And does it actually make sense to use two different coaches? Isn't that a waste of time or money?

As the head coach at Buzzlytics, I understand these concerns all too well. I have regularly helped companies that were in the exact same situation as you. Some were already working with a business coach, others were still considering it. In both cases, we were able to help them determine if TAYA could be a valuable addition to their current strategy.

In this article, I elaborate on whether TAYA can be combined with business coaching. I explain how TAYA relates to regular business coaching and in what situations the two approaches can reinforce each other.

By the end of this article, you'll know exactly whether TAYA can be a good complement to your current coaching program and how you can best use both methods for the success of your business.

TAYA is also a form of business coaching

But before we go any further, it's good to know that TAYA is actually also a form of business coaching.

However, the focus within TAYA is specifically on a company's commercial processes. So we focus primarily on sales and marketing, where more mainstream business coaches often take a broader approach.

However, this is not to say that we at Buzzlytics do not (can't) look more broadly when necessary. We adapt to the client's specific situation.

In practice, for example, it is often also about the functioning of the management team. That has an impact on the rest of the organization (and thus on the success you can achieve with TAYA), so that's something we also pay attention to in coaching.

So we keep you accountable to achieve the priorities we set together, we help you break through stagnation and make decisions, we pay attention to communication and feedback in the management team, and you learn how to manage your organization in a data-driven way.

Or consider the situation where a client is in dire straits due to market conditions. Then we think about the broader business strategy and help the client find solutions to its challenges.

When can you combine TAYA with regular business coaching?

You can best combine TAYA with business coaching when the business coach focuses more on overall business strategy.

For example, I have sometimes worked with coaches from the ELT network. They deal with the overall business strategy and then it's much more about things like internal communication and decision-making in the management team.

If a general business coach does it at this level and we do it at the commercial level, then you have a very effective management team and both forms of coaching reinforce each other. So we enjoy working with business coaches.

Also at my last employer, SaaS company Staedean, we worked with both a general business coach and a commercial coach. With the business coach, we discussed topics such as finances, operational issues and HR policies.

And the commercial coach helped us implement TAYA, so with that the focus was more on marketing and sales.

So these two approaches did not get in the way of each other, but rather complemented each other perfectly.

You can best combine TAYA with business coaching when the business coach focuses more on overall business strategy.

When can't you combine TAYA with business coaching?

It becomes difficult to combine TAYA and business coaching if the business coach has a strong focus on marketing and sales. In that case, you may get conflicting advice, and that is naturally confusing.

It is sometimes difficult to determine for yourself whether the combination is working well or not. Would you like to spar about this? Then schedule a consultation with me or one of my colleagues.

TAYA and regular business coaching can go together just fine

To choose the right coaching, it is important to look critically at the specific needs of your business and how different coaching methods can support you in doing so.

Combining TAYA with regular business coaching does not have to be a problem, as long as the focus of both approaches complements and does not overlap. In fact, if you find the right balance, TAYA and business coaching can actually reinforce each other.

TAYA and business coaching do not have to bite each other but can actually reinforce each other.

At Buzzlytics, we help companies implement TAYA in our TAYA Mastery program- whether or not in conjunction with general business coaching.

Our approach focuses specifically on improving your marketing and sales, while also considering the broader business strategy when necessary.

Wondering if TAYA can be a valuable addition to your current business coaching? Then read our article Is a coach necessary to implement They Ask, You Answer or schedule a no-obligation consultation with me or one of my colleagues. We'd love to think with you.