The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual. 

Coaching is essentially a conversation between a coach and his or her client, starting with the aim of helping the client to live a fulfilling life.  This is most often achieved by helping the client:

(a)   Set goals that will add significantly to your client’s life (or as I like to say, and ‘put a BIG smile on your face’).

(b)   To achieve those goals.

In this way, coaching can be broken down into two halves and this is a great way to communicate coaching to prospective clients.

You may also help the client live a more fulfilling life by helping them to increase their level of self-awareness. This alone can help someone move forward in any area.

Of course, sometimes the client may want to achieve a specific goal that the coach may not agree with (that achieving that goal will not add significantly to that person’s life).  In such a situation, the coach may point this out — either immediately, or over time — and will still be willing to work on achieving the goal.