How to Structure Your Private Coaching

>> In this lecture, we'll talk about how to structure your private coaching programs. Let's start with the basics, things that are helpful to do before working with clients. One, create your program packages. Decide on the private coaching packages you want to offer. Some questions to take into consideration when creating these packages are, how long is your program? In the Health Coach Training Program, we recommended that you meet with clients for at least six months. Some Integrative Nutrition Health Coaches have found that shorter three-month programs work better for themselves and their clients, while others have discovered that yearlong coaching programs are ideal for their businesses. How often do you want to meet? Some health coaches meet their clients weekly, while others meet their clients every other week. How long will your calls be? In the Health Coach Training Program, we recommended that you keep calls to 50 minutes per session. Some health coaches find that the shorter calls are more beneficial for their clients, while others have found that the longer, more in-depth calls create greater breakthroughs for their clients. Experiment with each and choose what works best for you and your clients. Where will you meet? Health coaches usually meet their clients in person, by phone, or by Skype. You might choose one of these options or you might choose a combination of the three. How much will you charge? Will you offer a discount for clients who pay in full or will you simply charge one monthly rate? Include these details in your program packages. We've included, in this module, a Program Package Template to help get you started in creating your own private coaching packages. Two, create your agreements. We've talked before about the importance of creating agreements for your private coaching practice. Some examples of agreements are, what is your rescheduling or cancellation policy? Will you reschedule if a client gives you 24 to 48 hours notice? If they cancel without giving you notice, do they forfeit that session? What are your boundaries with clients? Can your clients text or email you between sessions? If so, how often can they do so and what kind of response time should they expect? Make sure that these agreements are clearly outlined in your program agreement and that your new coaching clients understand them. If you're already working with clients, don't worry. If you don't already have packages and agreements in place, you can always set them up now before signing on your next client. Now that we've talked about some measures to lay the foundation for private coaching, let's talk about actually working with clients. One, conduct the Health History. Before signing on a new client, you'll want to do a Health History with them. This ensures that the new client will be a good fit for your coaching and your coaching will be a good fit for the client. There are two ways you can do the Health History. One, send them the Health History in advance. This helps both of you to prepare for the Health History. You can have them fill out the Health History online or email it to you. This allows you to review their Health History ahead of time and make note of any questions you want to ask them during the Health History. This is a great option if you want to conduct shorter Health Histories and if you like to have some time to prepare in advance. Some coaches opt to fill out the Health History form during the Health History. This is also a perfectly acceptable option. If you choose to do this, print out the Health History form and bring it with you to the Health History. Let your prospect know that you'll be asking them some questions about the history of their health during your time together. This is a great option for coaches who don't want to go through the whole Health History with their clients but would rather focus on a piece of specific information that will be valuable in the health coaching process. Two, give them a welcome packet. When a new client first signs up to work with you, give them a welcome packet. If you're working with them virtually, send this packet by e-mail. If you're meeting with clients in person, you can opt to print out this packet in advance and hand it to your client at the end of their Health History after they've signed up to work with you. The welcome packet should include the following. A program agreement, which you both sign and date before the first coaching session. This is super important for legal purposes. Information on sessions. This would include the day and time of sessions as well as where you will meet for sessions if coaching in person. Or if you're coaching virtually, the call in number or your Skype handle for sessions. A questionnaire. This questionnaire should ask clients where their health and wellness is currently and what their goals are for coaching. You will use this at the end of their program to measure their progress and results. Bonuses. Perhaps, you have an audio, ebook, or a workbook that relates to your target market that you could offer as a sign-on bonus for new clients. This helps clients to feel more confident about their decision to work with you as their Health Coach. Three, don't sweat the structure. During the Health Coach Training Program, you were taught how to conduct health coaching sessions. As part of your 6-Month Program Resources, you were given a session outline and session tips. Some of our students use these religiously to structure their sessions. However, if you're meeting with your clients weekly or in a three-month program instead of the traditional 6-Month Program, don't worry. As you are coaching clients, you'll find that the sessions don't always have to follow the exact format you learned in school. The most important thing you can do as a Health Coach is to support your clients and listen. Some clients might take longer with certain sessions than others. Simply remain flexible and let your client lead the sessions. The same goes for handouts. Some health coaches give their clients every handout, others find it more useful just to give their clients handouts that apply to the changes that they're making. Again, just go with the flow. Not every client is the same and not every session will be the same. Listen to what your client is saying, then based on what happens in the session, offer them handouts accordingly. You don't have to use them all or use them in a certain order. Just listen to your client and offer them the handouts that make sense for where they are at on their health journey. Trust that you have all the information you need to lead a client successfully through a 6-Month Program with ease, because you do. Four, what should you talk about in sessions? What you talk about in sessions with your client will vary depending on the Health Coach and the client. You might stick to the 6-Month Program structure from the Health Coach Training Program, or you may simply find that when you start off a session with what's new and good, followed by a high-mileage coaching question, your session takes on a life of its own while your client explores what's going on in their life and how it relates to the current state of their well being. I want to assure you that this is totally okay. There is no right way to lead coaching sessions as long as you're staying within the bounds of your health coaching scope of practice. Lastly, let's talk about what to do after your private coaching program ends. This is a crucial time for your client and yourself. This is also an opportunity to continue working with your client if it would benefit them to continue working with you. One, track their progress. Once your client's program is over, you'll want to send them a questionnaire that asks them about the changes they made and the results they got from working with you. Once they fill this out, you can compare it to the questionnaire they filled out when you first started working together. This way, you can track their progress and measure the improvements they've made during your time together. Two, talk to your client about signing up for another health coaching program. Would your client benefit from further health coaching? If so, you might suggest to your client that they extend their health coaching program with you. This could be as simple as saying, "I really enjoyed working with you and I'd love to keep working with you on your health and wellness goals. Would you be interested in continuing our work together?" Some incentives you might offer your client for continuing to work with you are... a month-to-month contract, rather than asking them to sign on for another three to six months of coaching, a discount on your monthly rate, or if you've raised your rate since you started working together, continuing with them at the same rate they initially signed up at. Three, ask for feedback. A great time to ask for feedback is at the end of their private coaching program. Consider asking some of the questions we've talked about for soliciting feedback such as, what did you enjoy about working together? How could I have supported you better during our time together? This feedback will help you to continue growing and improving as a Health Coach. Four, ask for a testimonial. Testimonials are a great marketing tool and there's no better time to get a testimonial from a client than when they're reviewing their results that they've achieved while working with you. The best way to get testimonials is by providing your client with a template that guides them through writing a good testimonial. This ensures that you're getting the information you're looking for instead of a testimonial that's vague and doesn't talk about their results. Another option is to use your client's progress tracker to write a testimonial for them, then send it to them for approval before using. This is a great option if your clients are getting great results but forget to send you a testimonial. This takes the pressure off them to get something to you while also giving you the kind of testimonial you want. Five, ask for referrals. Asking for referrals from clients who have experienced the value and results of your health coaching is a great way to sign on new clients. To ask for referrals, you can simply say to your client, "I've really enjoyed working with you and I'd love to work with more clients like you. Can you think of anyone who might benefit from health coaching?" If they say yes, ask if they would be willing to make a connection between you and the referral for a Health History. To recap, we've talked about two steps to take before working with clients. Then, we talked about how to best work with private coaching clients. Finally, we covered ways you can continue building your business even as the coaching relationship with your client ends. Have more questions about private coaching? Post them in the Facebook group so we can help you navigate working with clients one on one.