How to Enroll Life Coaching Clients: 7 Ideas for a Client Enrollment Process that ROCKS!

In this article we explore how to enroll life coaching clients. Life coach client enrollment doesn't need to be hard and can even be fun!

First, some food for thought:

For our clients, working with a coach involves a commitment of time, money and energy—and for some it also takes a great deal of courage. This means a good client enrollment process should leave your client feeling 1) they've made a wise choice hiring a coach, and 2) that YOU were the right choice.

So when your clients sign-up with you:

• How do you make your clients feel good about their decision?
• What do clients get to show for it when they sign up with you?
• What's your client enrolment process?

Well, here's what I do.

7 Ideas for How to Enroll Life Coaching Clients (a Process that Rocks)

1) Make your Client feel Super Welcome!

Specifically tell your client that you're excited to work with them. I will say this to them verbally if I'm wrapping up a consult with a new client.

A welcome email is another great way to do this. Simply create a template that covers all the essentials and then customise it for each client.

AND I would also recommend that you send a physical Coaching Welcome Packet in the 'snail mail'. This makes coaching tangible for your clients. Here are some ideas of what to include:

• A hand-signed welcome letter
• An attractive and/or professional packet (coloured card or plastic).
• I also like to include a small gift to surprise and delight them.
  • Make your gift something relevant to the coaching process or your niche.
  • Examples of physical gifts could be post-its, a pen (I often sent a pack of 10 multi-coloured pens), a book, journal, an inspiring fridge magnet.

2) Get Personal!

Personalize your client enrollment communications. And I don't mean just using their name in any automated emails you send!

For example:

• Share a relevant and inspiring quote.
• What about including tool or exercise that's relevant to their situation?
• Have a blog? Why not include an article from your archives that's relevant to them and their situation?

This shows that you've seen and heard them.

And of course, be warm and friendly.

3) Tell your clients what will happen next

How often have you been nervous because you simply didn't know what to expect? Well, you can help your clients with this!

In your email and mailed welcome letter let them know the next steps like:

• Date/time of their first session with you.
• How to pay (if they haven't already).
• What number to call/Zoom link to use (and any password).
  • If using the phone, confirm who calls who!
• Ask them to complete and return the coaching agreement if you have one.
• Remind them of any actions or homework they may have from a consultation with you.
• Anything else you consider relevant, or that is unique to your coaching process.

You can create a template, and then fill in the blanks for each client. See our sample (Free) Welcome Letter here >>

Spell it out. Make it clear and simple. This will make you look professional—and allay any fears or uncertainty your client may have.

4) Get them started!

Make sure your clients begin the coaching process right away—keeping them in a coaching frame of mind.

One way to do this is to give them some homework (I like to call it homefun!).

So in your Coaching Welcome Packet include at least one coaching exercise. This could be as simple set of Powerful Pondering Questions or you could include a Life Map and/or Wheel of Life Template for them to complete.

You could also include an exercise specific to their situation for that extra personal touch.

5) Standardize your client enrollment as much as possible

Create a checklist for yourself with all the steps you'll follow.

And create templates for your communications around enrollment. For example create templates for your Welcome Email, Welcome Letter and Intake Session.

By creating these templates you appear professional and save yourself tons of time. And it reduces stress too because you won't have to try and remember everything you need to include each time!

Then, just like a cover letter when you apply for a job, simply customize for each client with personal touches here and there.

6) Help clients feel good about their financial investment in coaching!

Hiring a coach is no small investment—so use your life coach enrollment process to help your client feel they've invested wisely.

Everything we've talked about so far will help with this.

And. I also suggest you find some way for your clients to BASELINE how they're doing 'out of 10' before you start coaching. Some ways to do this include:

• Use a Coaching Goals Sheet. Simply ask how close they currently are to achieving each goal out of 10.
• Use a Wheel of Life (scoring system is built into this exercise).

Then when you've been coaching for a little while, review the baseline scores on their Coaching Goals or Wheel of Life to show them how far they've come!

Learn more about how to measure coaching progress here >>

7) Make it easy for your clients to remember—and refer you

Put your branding on all the client-facing materials you use—whether they're electronic or paper-based.

The great thing about a physical welcome packet is that you can include extra business cards for them to hand to friends and even a voucher for a free session for their friends or colleagues.

TIP: You could also include a referral program where your client gets a reward when a new client they refer signs up with you.

BONUS TIP: Make sure you get all your client's contact details AT enrollment! So, here's my cautionary tale: I had been coaching for 8 years, yet it was the first time I hadn't grabbed all my client's contact details (and preferred method/s of contact) at client enrollment. I thought, "Oh well, I'll do it at our first session". Well 2 weeks later, I had an internet and power-cut for 3 days—right before and during our first session. I had no contact details for my client and I couldn't even look her up online because I didn't have her home address. It got worse—because I have an 'internet phone' and if they had called me, they wouldn't have got an answer! Then I remembered I had set the internet phone to forward to my mobile phone in emergencies. Very luckily, this worked. I spoke to her at the appointed time and we rescheduled. But it was nearly disaster—because my phone battery was almost flat too! I felt very unprofessional—and learned my lesson...

Have a life coach client enrollment tip you'd like to share? What's your enrollment process? Simply comment below!