I recently shared 5 mistakes coaches make with their clients as an Instagram post. I thought it was important enough that it deserved full blog coverage.
Coaches are passionate about what they do. So they’re anxious to dive in, book clients, and start working their magic. All of that is great. But many of them invest too much time and money in marketing courses, and not enough in protecting these wonderful businesses (and relationships!) they’ve built.
Coaching is unique. You could argue that, just like any other business, they have a product that they sell to a targeted audience to amass social proof and reach more clients. The difference is in the product, and in the delivery of that product.
This is where we get into the 5 biggest mistakes coaches make.
Let’s say on one hand you’ve got a relationship coach who sells a course in self-love. On the other, a small business owner who sells candles.
The candle shop owner has quality and assurance standards that ensure each client is receiving the same product. It is reasonable for her clients to expect that they’re getting the same candle as the person in the checkout line in front of them.
The same is not true for the relationship coach.
She certainly has a standardized course offering and is coaching her clients through the same subject matter. But unlike the candle shop owner, her newest client absolutely cannot expect to get the same results as the client who posted a testimonial on the coach’s website.
And if the relationship coach doesn’t address this clearly at the outset, and get the client’s written agreement that they understand this, she could be opening her business to significant and costly risk.
New coaches are building a reputation. Many are relying on word-of-mouth to get their names out there.
The the last thing they want to do is upset a client.
So when clients need to cancel, the coach bends over backward to be supportive and accommodating.
The problem is, this impacts the coach’s revenue stream. It becomes unreliable, and worse than that, they’ve created the expectation for their clients that anything goes.
I’m not saying that it’s never okay to accommodate a client’s needs this way. But it should be the exception, not the rule.
Establish clear cancellation policies that cover, at a minimum:
This will avoid confusion and keep your clients happy (and your bank account full).
We all know that there are certain products you can’t return.
Bathing suits. Shoes you’ve worn. Digital downloads.
Coaching services fall under that category, but for some reason a lot of people think these services come with a money back guarantee.
Good coaches know that a client’s results are dependent on the client. How seriously they take their own self-improvement, how much they’re willing to act on what they learn, and how committed they are to keeping pace in the program.
Coaches might even mention this during an introductory session.
But if it’s not part of a written agreement with the client, they might as well be shouting it from a mountaintop.
One of the biggest gripes about coaches is that they hold themselves out as something they are not.
Some examples:
But you’d be surprised how easy it is for clients to get confused here. The subject matter a coach covers often bumps up against areas specifically reserved for those with particular licenses and qualifications. For better or worse, that is for the protection of the client.
Smart coaches protect themselves and their clients by being clear not only about what they do, but also about what they do not do.
Make sure your clients have it in writing and that they agree to it so they know exactly what they’re getting at the outset.
That multi-week course that you wrote? That’s your intellectual property, babe.
The most basic definition of IP is that it’s something intangible that you own. Since it’s intangible (i.e. an idea, or something else you can’t readily see or touch), you have to do a little extra work to stake your claim.
Course content (this might include your worksheets, slide decks, webinars, etc.) has to be protected. Your clients need to understand that they can’t take it and use it themselves to start a competitive business (yes, this happens all the time). They also cannot take the content and post it publicly. That devalues your course because people don’t have to pay to access it.
The easy fix for this is to put it in writing in your client agreement. That way you have legal recourse against them if they do something like this intentionally. Or, if they share something they shouldn’t have because they just forgot, a gentle reminder of what they signed in their contract is usually enough to get them to take it down.
But without that, you’re relying on their good will.
If you haven’t guess already, the easy solution to avoid these 5 mistakes is to have a rock-solid Coaching Program Agreement.
Having a written agreement with your clients at the outset ensures both parties have a full understanding of what to expect from the coaching relationship. It helps to set your client’s expectations, protect your revenue stream, and avoid confusion down the line that could lead to stressful, costly disputes.
I’ve designed a package of legal protections specifically for coaches that you can check out here. It includes the Coaching Program Agreement that helps you avoid all of these mistakes, as well as other must-have protections for any small business.
For more information on ways to legally protect your business, give this a read.
