One of the best scenes in Dirty Dancing is when Baby gets an invite to the staff party at Kellermans and manages to introduce herself to Johnny by muttering the immortal line ‘I carried a watermelon’!  Baby is totally mortified about messing up her intro in such a cringeworthy way because she knows that first impressions count, and she is kicking herself that she fluffed her opportunity to wow Johnny.  

Client onboarding is the equivalent moment in your life coaching business!  It’s an often overlooked or undervalued part of the client journey, and not usually given a lot of thought – often coaches will jump straight from a client sign up right into the first one to one without any preamble.  Paying attention to your client onboarding so you make clients feel welcomed, valued and prepared can make a big difference to how your client feels about your coaching package, and the success of the coaching relationship itself.

The onboarding process helps your coaching clients set up for success right from the very start. From the initial contact to the first session, you can create a clear and effective process that sets the tone for the rest of your work together. A well-structured onboarding pack will help you establish trust, clarify expectations, and create a strong foundation for your coaching.  Here are 5 ways that a great onboarding experience can supercharge your Coaching offer:

Build Rapport quickly

A successful coaching outcome is built on the foundations of a strong coaching relationship.  The onboarding process is a critical opportunity to establish rapport with your clients and start building trust.  Including information in your onboarding pack about who you are as a person, your values and your mission can really help clients connect with you, even before your first 1:1 coaching session

Present a professional and credible image

Having an onboarding process that is professional, organized and efficient demonstrates to your clients that you know your stuff, and that you mean business!  It also helps show that you are invested in and serious about their success, that you have spent time thinking about their wants, needs, questions and concerns.  You can also include information about your qualifications and credentials in your onboarding pack which gives your client peace of mind about your capabilities, without it being an ‘in your face’ message.

Set clear expectations

You have the opportunity to understand your clients expectations – and set your own – during the onboarding process.  Using the time between client sign up and your first session to do this can help avoid misunderstandings later and is a great way for both coach and client to start the coaching relationship with clarity.  Being clear about things like likely response time, what happens when a client needs to cancel and frequency of sessions are great things to set out right up front so any awkwardness can be avoided further down the track.

Prepare and personalize Coaching sessions

Every client is unique, and your onboarding process can help you tweak and tailor your coaching service accordingly. By gathering information about your clients’ goals, challenges, and preferences, you can customize your coaching approach to meet their specific needs. This personalization can help to maximize the impact of your coaching and improve your clients’ outcomes.  

One example from my own coaching & hypnotherapy practice is with a client who had aphantasia – which is an inability to visualize mental images.  I would often use a guided visualization exercise in my first session with clients, but because I had picked that up through my intake form I was able to revise my session plan and include different relaxation and goal  setting techniques instead.

Get a baseline

Before you start a new fitness plan, you want to know where you’re starting from – you take measurements, weigh yourself, and maybe even take some photos. Then as you progress, you can track how far you’ve come. It’s the same with coaching. By gathering important information at the start of the coaching journey, you can track your client’s growth and success over time. It’s a powerful way to show your client how much they’ve accomplished and how much progress they’ve made. It’s like looking back at those before and after photos and seeing how much weight you’ve lost or how much muscle you’ve gained.  For your client, seeing the progress they have made can build confidence and boost their motivation to tackle the next challenge.

Start your client’s transformation before the first session

Your onboarding process can be a powerful coaching tool in and of itself. By using tools like assessments, questionnaires, and goal-setting exercises, you can gain valuable insights into your clients’ needs and preferences.  Asking great questions in your intake form which make your clients think differently is a brilliant way of beginning the mindset changes that you will work on together in your sessions.

Maximise ‘quality’ time in the session for your client

A great onboarding process can help you manage your time more effectively, and shows your client that you are being careful to maximize the return on their investment in coaching.  Providing an intake form and giving the client information in advance of the session about all of the logistics and admin means that you don’t need to spend lots of time in the first session covering this information – you can just ask if there are any questions they have or things they want to clarify from the onboarding pack.  Always make sure that you read the Client intake form before your session and ask questions for further clarification, or get your client to tell you more about specific answers they have given on the form.  Taking this approach makes your client feel valued, and ensures that you are getting the most out of every minute of your coaching session.   

If you’re looking for ways to maximize your coaching client’s success, a great onboarding process can really set you apart from the competition. You can revamp or upcycle your onboarding process easily with our Life Coach Client Onboarding Template bundle – a done-for-you product that will save you hours, without breaking the bank.

By setting the tone for a successful coaching relationship, customizing your approach, ensuring clear communication, and using onboarding as a powerful coaching tool, you can help your clients achieve their full potential and take your coaching business to new heights.