As an Online Coach, When Should Your Client Sign Your Coaching Contract?

This is an interesting question, especially in coaching, when a lot of selling/purchasing of 1:1 packages happens over the phone. Often 💵 is sent to the coach before the contract is signed 😬 

I’m not gonna sugarcoat it - this isn’t the best or safest way to do it. In an ideal world this is how it goes:  

1. You’re on the discovery call and she says YES to your 90-day package (awesome!) 
2. You say great, I’m going to send over your contract and invoice - please review and sign the contract and then pay the invoice. 
3. You head over to HelloSign, Dubsado (or whatever client management software) and get the contract out. She reviews and signs ✍🏻
4. You send the invoice and she pays ✔️

All is right in the world! 

I know in reality what often happens is the coach takes payment over the phone or a client signs up online and then the contract is sent and signed.  The problem here is that the client is paying before agreeing to your refund or other policies and is entering the relationship without all the knowledge. This could come back to bite you.  If she demands a refund 4 days later, you would have a hard time enforcing your contract because she paid before she signed it.  Goodbye sale. 

Some programs like the Satori App and Dubsado do payment and contract all at once which is great. But if you aren’t using a system like this - do yourself a favor and follow steps 1-4 above!