1. Credibility and believability

You want to be assured the prospective mentor has sufficient credibility. This builds believability in the capability of the mentor and gives you the confidence to succeed using the mentors advice, guidance and support. Some considerations would include the mentor’s past achievements and current standing in the marketplace. What tangible evidence of their success exists? The appropriate qualifications, membership of professional bodies and necessary insurances should all be in place.

2. Be ready for mentoring

Before choosing your mentor you want to be sure you are ready. Have you identified specific needs to be addressed during the mentoring process? Are you clear what challenges are going to be resolved? You want to be prepared to back your agreed goals with action. This will take personal accountability, unwavering responsibility and an attitude of open-mindedness.

3. Find your kind of person

The ideal mentor will be your kind of person. You want to relate to each other with understanding and due consideration. You are choosing a person to work with over a period of several months; perhaps years and you want to be sure there is mutual respect. You both want to have an appreciation for each others qualities and capabilities. Mentors aren’t superhuman! They will have personal strengths and development areas just like any other person.

4. Obtain a sample of their work

Obtain a sample of the prospective mentor’s work before making any commitment to be mentored by them. Consider their track record. Have they worked within similar sectors or similar markets and achieved measurable success? Perhaps they can offer you a free or reduced cost sample of how they work and the processes they plan to use to mentor you. You must be comfortable with their methods.

5. Insist on a structured approach

Any advisory process requires a clear structured approach. How is the prospective mentor going to help you establish your goals and aspirations? A robust structure and clear methodology is essential to any mentoring process. You want a definitive scope and expected curriculum to follow.

A variety of mentoring styles and approaches is desirable. Does the mentoring enable various methods to gain the required information and knowledge? Are methods applied according to your learning preferences?

6. Ask for a guarantee

Anything to reduce potential downside risk is helpful. For example, solid guarantees giving you redress in the event of dissatisfaction. In addition, you may be able to obtain performance-based guarantees. These offer redress in the event of certain results not being achieved.

By agreeing to work with a mentor you are taking on a significant commitment of time and money which represents risk to you and your business operation. Guarantees help to reverse this risk so they are an important feature in the overall decision making process.

7. Appropriate skills and capabilities

The skills and expertise levels required of an effective mentor are wide ranging. You want to choose a mentor with the appropriate skills and capabilities and you need to assess how well these skills have been developed. Spend time as part of the selection process to check for evidence of the appropriate skills. Some of the essential skills include listening skills, highly developed communication skills, advisory skills and coaching skills. There is also a requirement for a wealth of specific marketing knowledge and expertise. Make sure you look out for them.

8. Testimonials and endorsements

You can check out evidence of previous success with clients by reading customer testimonials. A good mentor would have several testimonials and endorsements across a range of clients they are currently working with or have worked with in the past. Check for validity with clients name and business name. You can perhaps check their website to validate authenticity. You may also be able to speak to other clients. This provides you with third party endorsement to the mentor’s added value and quality of their work.

9. Relevant experience

What relevant experience does the prospective mentor have in your marketplace? Have they worked with similar businesses and sectors? It is important to assess the level of relevance their experience is to your situation.

They may have experienced success in completely different markets and there is no automatic reason for the same methods succeeding with your business. Many marketing principles are universal although if they have only worked with start-up businesses, for example and your business is very established then they may not work for you.

10. Cost justification

Justify the cost with a reasonable return on investment. Ultimately, you are in business to make money and the prime reason for investing in a mentor is to make more money – more quickly. Establish beforehand what are the total costs in terms of cash and other resources.

Be clear about the timeframe and the results you are expecting to obtain. This gives you a focus point and provides an objective measure of success. You can also track progress along the way. I wish you best success in choosing your mentor.

• Business Mentoring by Rockstar Group in London & Nationwide