You know the old saw about the jack of all trades who is the master of none.

This is the problem with many business coaches who go into organizations with the promise that theyre going to be able to fix everything from finance to sales.

I, for one, just dont buy it.

In business, most of us develop, if were focused at all, some very specific skill sets.

I know I have a few that are very deep.

One of them is in telemarketing, specifically cold calling for business and generating something out of nothing. I do it well, and Im first-rate at training others to do it.

Also, Im very sharp at improving customer service in measurable ways, reducing costs in the process. Moreover, Im FAST.

That, by the way, is the signature of a true expert in nearly any walk of life.

A barber or hair stylist that labors over every snip is either putting on a show for your benefit, or hes inept. The worst cut I ever got was by someone who took the longest time, and at the end of it all, she admitted she wasnt licensed!

One particularly terrible heating and air conditioning guy looked at an old furnace of mine for about an hour and said hes replace it, and he sent me a bill for his advice. Needless to say, he didnt get the ultimate removal and replacement work order.

Just as I wasnt having him out for an opinion, but instead a repair, most small businesses cant afford the luxury of paying someone to say something is wrong. They expect someone they retain to roll up his sleeves and fix it, and fast.

One of the reasons a reported 90% of all consulting is done within the Fortune 1000 is that these firms know how to hire people with specific skills. They demand and often get exactly what theyre seeking. And in my experience, they tend to avoid coaches, preferring consultants with credentials.

If, for instance, they want to train their sales force to open and close business by phone, they dont settle for an advisor or trainer who knows only how to qualify prospects or set appointments.

Operations managers who want their customer service reps to start paying their freight by selling find consultants who know exactly how to get this done, with a minimum of fuss and employee turnover. (See my best-selling book: Selling Skills For The Non-Salesperson.)

A mere coach, who doesnt know how to help people to transform themselves from being clerks to being sellers, will rely on useless motivational ploys and even less successful standard sales texts.

To be fair, all coaches are not inept.

But one symptom of quackery is when they say theyre competent at everything.