How to Measure the ROI of Business Coaching in New Zealand

by Sean Foster | July 21, 2025 | Business Coaching

Committing to business coaching isn’t a decision that should be entered into casually. Equally, beware that anyone selling you a business coaching package should in no way be pressing you to commit due to some (created) time pressure, or, ‘there is just one more spot available’ jargon. These are all cheap sales tactics. Especially when every dollar in your business needs to earn its keep, you need peace of mind that business coaching will have a positive ROI (return on investment).

For many New Zealand business owners, the real question isn’t whether coaching costs money, it’s whether continuing without it is costing more. When decisions pile up, staff feel stretched, or progress stalls, the idea of working with a business coach can seem appealing, but only if it’s clear what value they bring. That’s why understanding the ROI matters. In this article, we explore practical ways to assess the impact of business coaching, not just in dollars, but in the way it shapes your thinking, your leadership, and the direction of your business.

Why Measuring ROI Matters

Business coaching NZ is an investment of both your time and money. To ensure that you are receiving tangible value, it’s essential to measure the impact of coaching on your business outcomes. In fact, for coaches, it is fairly common to run a ‘Time-Spent’ exercise when a coach engages with a new business owner. This simple exercise merely understands where the business owner spends their time throughout the day, so as to determine if this is their best use of that time. Estimating and tracking the ROI in relation to your coaching investment will help you:

• To justify your financial commitment
• To identify areas for improvement
• To stay focused on clear, measurable goals
• To demonstrate the coaching value to other stakeholders
• To help your coach in keeping focused and on track as well

Related Article: Is Business Coaching Worth It? What NZ Business Owners Need to Know

Tangible Metrics to Measure Business Coaching ROI

1. Revenue and Profit Growth

One of the most direct indicators is financial improvement. This does not necessarily mean increases in sales, or higher profit margins, or even cash flow, although these are common objectives. What is critical for a business coach to insist on, is a financial budget that is tied to an overall business strategy. Only from that can you really identify the importance and priority of what financial improvements should be targeted, by how much and by when.

Business coaching must lead to clearer strategies that tie in with what you and the business really need.

2. Operational Efficiency

A good coach helps business owners streamline operations, improve productivity, and enhance time management. Measurable outcomes could include faster turnaround times, reduced overheads, optimised workflows, and maybe most importantly, less rework of any kind.

3. Customer Retention and Satisfaction

Happy customers are loyal customers. If your coaching leads to better service delivery, improved customer satisfaction scores, or higher retention rates, these are clear indicators of ROI.

4. Employee Engagement and Retention

Coaching frequently addresses leadership skills and team dynamics. Higher employee engagement, lower turnover, and positive staff feedback are all signs that your investment is delivering value beyond financial returns.

5. Market Expansion or Product Development

Business coaches often help entrepreneurs explore new markets or lead to more innovative products and services. Launching a new product successfully or expanding into new markets are tangible milestones you can track, but only if these tie in with the overall business strategy.

Intangible Benefits of Business Coaching

While financial metrics are vital, coaching also brings intangible benefits that contribute to long-term success:

1. Improved Leadership Confidence 

Can you measure this? Confidence is not something that you can measure non subjectively, but neither do you need to. An effective coach may ask you a simple question periodically, such as “On a scale of 0 to 10, how would you rate your leadership confidence?” It’s simple, but effective. Another effective measure is to run 360 reviews throughout the business, thus obtaining multiple perspectives on your leadership effectiveness.

2. Clearer Strategic Direction

Aka: both you and the team overall has a clearer idea of exactly what needs to be done within the business and why.

3. Work-Life Balance and Personal Wellbeing

This subject may be a little contentious, so make sure your coach is not forcing you to commit to their own work-life balance. What counts is your own ‘happy place’ here. By understanding not only the sacrifices you need to make but also the consequences both good and bad of such actions should be fleshed out.

4. Resilience and Adaptability

Everyone in a business faces stress, it’s just that some need to cope with more than others, and developing skills around this is crucial for success. Measuring resilience is largely a subjective assessment, but an effective coaching will be continually mindful of building your resilience. In turn they will help you in developing your mindfulness around this.

Although harder to quantify, these intangible benefits often underpin sustained business growth. Stress is a mental event, after all, robots, which lack emotion, don’t get stressed. So part of the coach's job is to assist you in reducing stress triggers, but more importantly in helping you manage stress in a more productive manner.

Tools and Methods for Measuring ROI

To effectively measure coaching ROI, consider the following tools:

• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Define specific KPIs related to your coaching goals (e.g., revenue growth, team retention).
• Customer and Employee Surveys: Collect feedback pre- and post-coaching to measure satisfaction and engagement levels.
• Internal Reviews: Such as 360’s to measure culture and your leadership improvement.
• Financial Reports: Track profit, revenue, and cost changes over time.
• Coaching Reviews: Regularly review progress with your coach to adjust strategies and set new targets.

Related Article: The Three Measures that are Guaranteed to Drive Company Performance

Real-World Example

The Institute of Coaching, affiliated with Harvard Medical School’s McLean Hospital, highlights coaching’s evidence-based impact, including:

• Coaching clients report improved resilience, work engagement, and goal attainment.
• The institute cites a study showing that business leaders who received coaching improved their goal achievement by 70%, and experienced stronger interpersonal relationships and job satisfaction.
• Organizations benefit from improved strategic clarity and decision-making at the leadership level. Read more about it here.

Conclusion: Is Business Coaching Worth It?

Measuring ROI from business coaching NZ is about more than just profit margins. It's about the holistic improvement of your business; from leadership capability and operational efficiency to financial health and employee satisfaction.

By setting clear goals, tracking outcomes, and staying engaged in the coaching process, you can ensure that your investment delivers measurable and lasting value.

Ready to discover how business coaching could transform your business? Contact us today for a free consultation.