One thing that is evident about all the coaches we have ever worked with is that they care deeply about their clients. They all got into coaching because they want to help people live up to their full potential. The question is, do your coaching clients know how much you care about them? Can they see your care throughout their customer journey?
When we’re writing copy or creating marketing assets for our clients, it is important to us that the coach’s care shines through. We want to create a consistent experience where prospective coaching clients can see that the coach cares that you achieve the best outcomes and that they endeavour to make the process as simple as possible. Here is a simple blueprint you can use to add more care into your coaching business.
List Every Touchpoint in Your Customer Journey
Start by listing out every interaction you have with coaching clients from first discovery through to after they have finished the coaching program. This includes:
- Social media
- Ads
- Third-party platforms
- Blog posts
- Video content
- Non-fiction books
- Podcasts (yours and guest appearances)
- Website and shop
- Guest posts
- Nurture emails
- Onboarding emails
- Scheduling process
- Discovery calls
- Strategy calls
- Coaching
- Between session emails
- Coaching membership group
- Worksheets/workbooks
- Supplementary content
- Offboarding process
- Feedback process
- Graduation resources or nurture
List every time your client sees your brand or you interact with your client. We want a complete list for the next step.
Examine the Client Experience at Each Touchpoint
Look at each touchpoint individually as if you are a client. It is helpful to consider each touchpoint as if you don’t know much else about your brand except for what is communicated during that touchpoint.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- What is the client’s experience navigating this touchpoint?
- Is it clear who I work with/who this coaching program is for?
- Do you make this touchpoint the best/easiest possible experience for the client?
- Can your coaching clients tell that you care about them achieving the best possible results?
- Does it feel like this touchpoint and your coaching program as a whole was tailor-made for your ideal coaching client?
Even if the answer is yes, consider ways you can show extra care to your ideal coaching clients. Is there a way you can improve the client experience at each individual touchpoint? Is there a way you can improve your coaching clients’ results or make it easier for them to achieve their results? Can you add extra levels of convenience or extras that take care of related unmet needs?
Ways to Show Extra Care
There are so many ways you can show your coaching clients extra care. The only limit is your imagination. Here are some ideas to get you started.
First, look at your coaching program inclusions. Does your coaching program give your coaching client all the tools they need to achieve the best outcome? Is there anything else you can add that would make those best outcomes practically guaranteed?
When it comes to coaching, the client does have to do some work to achieve the results but look for ways you can make their part as easy as possible. Depending on the type of coaching you do, this could mean giving them the scripts they need or a simple checklist that walks them through each step. It could mean partnering with a related service provider to help them to carry out a relevant part of the process.
If you need to raise the prices of your coaching program to account for the extra inclusions, do so. Feel confident about charging accordingly for a program that makes their goals possible. You can always offer payment plan options.
Secondly, look at the way you work. Does the way you work fit your ideal coaching clients’ needs? For example, if you work with parents, you may need to bake a little more flexibility into the process or make it clear that parents can have their kids present in the Zoom call if it is more convenient.
Think about your client’s needs and find ways you can wow them beyond your actual service. That is what will lead to clients who rave about you to all their friends.
Thirdly, consider how you can support prospective coaching clients before they sign up to work with you. Help them to make positive changes to their lives through your free content or low-cost content (like a non-fiction book). A great place to start is by helping them to do the work they need to do to become your ideal coaching client.
For example, if you offer financial coaching, but you need clients who have spare money to invest or save every month, then you could offer free content to help prospective coaching clients free up extra money or earn more money. The free value you offer your coaching clients doesn’t encroach on your coaching program. As a bonus, it allows you to turn followers into your ideal coaching clients who already see the benefit you add to their life.
Collect Feedback from Coaching Clients During Offboarding
Getting feedback from coaching clients at the end of the coaching program is essential. It gives you insight into the ideal coaching clients who are willing to pay you money. (As opposed to on social media where you get responses from people who don’t fit your ideal client profile and people who are your ideal clients but won’t pay to work with a coach.)
You need to be asking all of your coaching clients for feedback during your offboarding process.
We recommend experimenting with different ways to collect feedback to see what works best for your coaching business and your client type. Here are some different ways:
- Email a Google Forms link
- Conduct an offboarding call where you ask for feedback
- Ask a member of your team to conduct a short feedback call (less daunting than clients giving feedback to your face)
- Poll or create a discussion in your client membership group
Ask Your Clients Questions Throughout Coaching
Don’t just leave collecting feedback until the end of the coaching program. You can collect feedback throughout the entirety of your coaching program.
Simply check in with your coaching clients in every session or in between every session to see if they are having difficulty with anything and if there is a way you can better support them. It can be helpful to track this feedback so you can see what is a pattern and what is an individual preference.
Revise Your Customer Care Strategy to Match Feedback
There is no point in collecting feedback if you don’t act upon it. Compile the feedback in a central location and put aside time after your coaching program to revise your coaching program and strategies based on the feedback.
It is worth pointing out that not all feedback will be useful. Some of the information you receive will be personal preference, or they will make suggestions that just aren’t possible for one reason or another. Some feedback will be outright nitpicking. It can be helpful to read between the lines of the feedback to identify if there is an underlying issue that can be addressed.
Your priority when making changes based on feedback should be feedback given by multiple people. This applies to both negative and positive feedback. If you are receiving consistent positive feedback about one aspect of your coaching, consider if you want to lean further into that specific aspect or if you need to be highlighting that selling point in your marketing. If you are receiving consistent negative feedback about a particular aspect of your coaching, that is something that needs to be fixed before your next intake.