Why coaches should create coaching packages
No matter what type of coach you are, your primary objective is one and the same: Finding and serving coaching clients!
And in order to find coaching clients, you need to have something to offer them. That’s where creating coaching packages comes in.
Creating a compelling coaching package can help you attract clients more quickly and easily than offering single sessions.
But not all packages are created equal. So let’s first talk about some mistakes coaches make when creating coaching packages.
Mistakes coaches make when create coaching packages
Many coach training programs don’t spend much time on the business side of starting a coaching practice. Coaches often come out of coach school doing one of two things:
Mistake #1: Offering single sessions.
Many coaches offer single sessions and let the client decide if they want to return. They often take this approach because they want it to be in the client’s hands whether they move forward or not. (It’s a principled idea, in theory!) But in reality, this isn’t an ideal situation for the coach or the client.
Offering single sessions puts the onus on clients to figure out whether or not they’re “done” with coaching.
This can slow their progress altogether.
Whereas a coaching package, when it’s structured around your ideal clients, can build safety, trust, and confidence with your client, helping them to commit to their own progress over a certain period of time.
Mistake #2: Creating a package because that’s the “industry standard.”
Setting up a a coaching package based on free templates you find online or copying what you think is the industry standard doesn’t do you — or your clients — any favors!
Instead of creating a coaching package based on what you’ve seen other coaches do, your packages should reflect YOUR expertise and the type of results your ideal clients want to see.
When creating a coaching package, the goal is to create a specific, compelling offering based on a specific type of client who wants to achieve a specific type of result.
Also consider what’s more compelling from a client perspective: Signing up for a “3 month package” versus a package called “Rehaul your diet and nutrition in 3 months.” A good package focuses on — and delivers — specific results.
Why neither of those approaches works
Neither of these are great ways to serve your best clients or build your coaching practice.
- Single sessions aren’t sustainable, can’t help you plan for your income or client load, and might not offer the full support your clients need.
- Random packages aren’t successful because they don’t speak to the end result or benefit that your ideal clients can experience.
When it comes to creating coaching packages, remember: Your clients aren’t looking to buy a package or session at all. They are looking to buy the transformation they can achieve through coaching.
So what’s the solution? Creating coaching packages based on the transformation that your ideal clients want to experience.
How creating a coaching package benefits you
Creating coaching packages is a more efficient and effective way for you to run your business. Here’s why:
1. A coaching package helps you package up your expertise.
Creating a coaching package is a great opportunity to hone in on exactly how you want to help your clients, specific to your skills and expertise. This ensures you not only love what you’re coaching on, but that you’re good at it! Offering packages is also a great way to get known as a coach and build your personal brand.
2. A coaching package allows you to build a sustainable business.
The “charge by the hour” mentality kills so many service-providers because it’s not sustainable. When you create coaching packages, you clarify how many clients you can take on at any given time and you can manage your time accordingly. Offering packages also helps you to forecast your revenue, so you can see when you need to focus on attracting new clients vs. focus on serving your existing clients.
3. A coaching package helps you attract clients who aren’t just tire-kickers.
Tire-kickers are attracted to one-off sessions, because they don’t want to (and don’t have to) commit. But you want to attract people who are willing to make a commitment to their growth. When a client commits to working with you for a longer period of time, that’s when the biggest breakthroughs happen. If you want to see your clients experience real, sustainable results, you’ll want to offer packages that help facilitate that transformation.
4. A coaching package is easier to market and sell.
It’s actually easier to market and sell a coaching package that has a specific time frame, investment, and result. Because, as we discussed, you are selling the result or the transformation, not just the session.
But offering coaching packages doesn’t just benefit you, it also benefits your clients. Let’s talk more about that.
How selling coaching packages benefits your clients
1. Coaching packages help clients experience a deeper, lasting transformation.
Creating a longer term container helps you go deeper with a client, which means they experience a deeper transformation and more lasting results. Change doesn’t happen overnight, but you can create a package that supports your client in achieving and sustaining that change with built-in accountability over time.
2. A coaching package offers more value to a coaching client.
A coaching package offers so much more value than single sessions do, because you can add all types of support into your packages. For example, you can include email or Voxer coaching, access to a resource library, access to bonus training, or even check-in emails and calls. This helps your client get the most out of the coaching experience.
3. You eliminate decision fatigue in the mind of your clients.
If you only offer single sessions, after every session your client has to decide: Do I want to do this again? When do I want to do this? This creates decision fatigue and it’s something we all have too much of! By creating a package, your client consents to entering a coaching container with you and don’t have to worry about whether or not they’ll book another coaching session.
4. Coaching packages help your clients get tangible results in a specific timeframe.
Unlike therapy, where it can feel like it goes on forever with no specific ending, a coaching package gives your client a firm start and end date, and offers them the opportunity to get specific results in a specific time frame. And keep in mind, specific results aren’t just things like “losing 10 pounds” or “finding their dream job.” It also include things like greater satisfaction in their relationship, clarity in what they want in their next role, or more confidence. These are all results!
Coaching Package Examples
To illustrate that the best coaching packages are not one-size-fits all, I’m sharing some examples of coaching packages here.
(Disclaimer: These are past clients of mine!)
Even though all of these coaches are life coaches, their packages look totally different. That’s because they have different niches with different needs.
Example Life Coaching Package #1:
Example #1: Emily Cornell, courage and authenticity coach for Millennial and Gen X women.
Example Life Coaching Package #2:
Example #2: Lori Foster, life and relationship coach for women.
Example Life Coaching Package #3:
Example #3: Sabrina Vogler, mindfulness coach for sensitive, badass women.
Example Life Coaching Package #4:
Example #4: Gia Lacqua, coach for highly successful women who are seeking more freedom and fulfillment.
Example Life Coaching Package #5:
Example #5: Carolyn Brouillard, coach and healer for change seekers.
The most common question about coaching packages
One of the main questions I hear from coaches about creating packages is: “What if I don’t know how long it takes?!”
How long someone takes to achieve a specific result is highly dependent on your client’s time, efforts, energy level, willingness and a whole lot of eternal factors (i.e., whatever else happens in their world or the world at large!)
The key when creating your coaching package is to hone in on a very specific type of client with a very specific need (i.e., your niche), and map out a process and general timeframe that would work for the average client.
You can (and should) still rely on your own expertise as a coach to decide what would benefit a client at any given time. However, by creating a coaching package, you are creating a structure that allows you and your client to experience success within that time frame.
5 steps to create your coaching package
So you’re ready to create a coaching package — great! How do you go about it doing it? Follow these 5 steps to create your coaching package.
Step 1: Understand your expertise.
Get clear on your own strengths, expertise, and how you want to serve. There are a lot of things you *can* do, but focus on what you really want to do! This is where brainstorming, mindmapping, and tapping into your intuition can be super powerful!
Step 2: Get to know your ideal clients.
Get to know your ideal clients and what they really want and need. You want to really understand those you want to serve, and listen to how they talk about their challenges and their desires. This is where market research can help you get the information you need to proceed!
Step 3: Outline your offering.
Create an outline of your offering based on what you’ve learned from your market research interviews. You’ll want to consider both how you want to serve & what they need, and develop an offering with that purpose in mind. You’ll want to think through the features and benefits of the package, as well as timing and pricing.
Step 4: Get feedback.
After you’ve developed your outline, you’ll want to get some feedback from your market research interviewees or other ideal clients, either by sharing your outline of the offering or even allowing them to beta test it. Be sure you capture their feedback!
Step 5: Polish and publish your package.
Once you’ve gotten feedback and made adjustments as needed, it’s time to polish your package, get it up on your website with a sales page, and start marketing it. This will entail polishing your messaging and developing a marketing plan to share your new offering.
What to do after you’ve created a coaching package
Creating a compelling coaching package is an art and science in and of itself. You have to do the research to really understand your ideal client. You have to know how to package up your expertise in a way that fits their needs. And you need to know how to price it correctly.
Once that part is complete, you’ll need to focus on marketing and selling your coaching packages. Because if people don’t know you exist, they won’t be able to find you!
But first, you want to make sure your offer is on point because no amount of marketing can make up for a less than stellar offer.
