Common to many coaching relationships is the need to lay out specific terms, agreements, or contracts between coach and client. Even though periphery to the real work that gets done in coaching, these agreements are often essential in laying down a foundation of trust, workability, and clear expectations.
Such agreements typically include:
- Payment terms
- Cancellation & refund policies
- Confidentiality agreements
- What is expected of the client
- What can be expected of the coach
- Rules of access and scheduling
- Disclaimers
- Rules for dispute resolution
A clear understanding about all of these up front protects the interests of both parties, and a clear record of what exactly was agreed to (and when!) is handy in the event of a dispute.
Here are the broad strokes of what CoachAccountable Agreements provide:
Signatures, check boxes and more. When a simple “I agree to the above” check box won’t cut it, add various inputs to your agreements for your clients to fill out. Places to type their initials, a place to type their full name, check boxes to explicitly acknowledge agreement to essential terms separately, and signature pads that require clients to physically sign with their mouse, stylus or finger.
Multiple, customizable templates to suit your various client types and engagements. Create one or more agreement templates with dynamic tags like [clientFirstName] and [dateOf], each one tailored to the various types of clients and programs you offer. For instance, your group coaching clients might have different rates and terms than your one-on-one coaching clients, which are different still from your in-person weekend mastermind clients.
Issue with ease. Issue agreements for new or established clients with a few clicks. CoachAccountable handles the rest by presenting the agreement to your client to complete (at registration for new clients, and upon next interaction for those already established).
Clear and readily-accessible records for both parties. Coach and client can both see the clear (and timestamped) record of what was agreed to and when.
Integrity and immutability. The existence of an agreed-to Client Agreement is strong evidence that a client ACTUALLY did agree to it. Coach can’t stuff a client account with Agreements that weren’t agreed to, and coach can’t alter agreements that were agreed to earlier. Only client logged in as himself can agree to a Client Agreement, and the IP address from which they made the agreement is recorded.
Effective replacement for document signing services. With a robust and flexible system for issuing and securing client agreements for your contractual needs with clients, these allow you to retire services like HelloSign or Docusign.
New clients cannot access the system until they've agreed to your terms, and existing clients with new terms cannot continue access until they've agreed to any new terms you've issued.