by Mac Gambill, co-founder / nudge coach
In this post you’ll learn the different ways businesses are implementing online coaching programs, and how to decide which of these online coaching models is right for your business.
If you’re trying to figure out how to launch the right online coaching model for your business right now, you are not alone.
“Q: Do I introduce online coaching to all of my clients? ”
“Q: Do I charge extra for this additional accountability?”
“Q: Is this only for those who’ve previously completed one of my programs? ”
Most businesses wrestle with these questions, so I want to make sure to share some suggestions based on what we’ve seen that works.
There are several ways to integrate online coaching into your business, and in the sections below I’ll outline the most common and effective online coaching business models in detail.
Let’s see if we can find a model that would fit where you are with your business.
1. A Hybrid Model
What is it?
Hybrid models involve a combination of in-person and remote programming where online coaching interactions and content are added to traditional 1-on-1, or in-person sessions.
Who’s it for?
We typically see hybrid models appear as a necessary evolution for a business that is brick and mortar and traditionally worked with clients locally or in-person.
In these cases online coaching is added as a bolt-on to their standard offering and can be used to either engage individuals or groups of clients.
Considering a hybrid model.
This is the starting point for most professionals and in all likelihood is the main reason you would be looking into remote coaching to begin with.
In this case you already have the foundation together in terms of a basic coaching offering, and as such, you are able to shift attention towards the following:
Improving your effectiveness - how can I ensure my clients are successful?
Improving efficiency - how do I manage clients at scale?
Increasing perceived value of your offering - how can I maximize my revenue potential for my offering and time?
Ultimately incorporating remote components can address all three areas with minor adjustments, such as altering communication frequency with clients in-between sessions.
Examples.
We find that companies using the hybrid approach are typically brick-and-mortar businesses, membership-based organizations, such as fitness studios, medical practices, and weight loss clinics.
As such, they typically weave remote programming into the client experience either (1) as a high-value upsell, or (2) as a client retention tool.
1. As a high-value upsell.
You will always have a percentage of your client population willing to pay for more value and as such we are seeing more and more of these businesses launching high-value coaching programs to accompany traditional services.
These usually take the shape of a 3 or 6 month program during which a client may receive:
additional value at the facility (extra readings, longer sessions, more hands-on attention, etc)
Access to premium content or resources
some level of additional accountability in-between sessions such as weekly communication through a coaching platform, email, or text.
2. As a retention tool.
As you’ve probably seen - people really don’t like losing things. This is actually a well-known concept from behavioral economics, called Prospect Theory, that more and more businesses are leveraging to try and keep clients around.
The idea is simple - provide clients with so much additional value on top of their base membership that the perceived “loss” (through cancellation) becomes that more painful.
While there are common themes between this and the above programming, this type of program is generally evergreen with the primary goal of providing an unparalleled experience to clients for as long as they are willing to engage.
This type of programming is generally found in higher-end or higher-value businesses where the loss of a client has a more significant dollar amount tied to it. Common examples we see include:
Concierge medical practices using mobile health and asynchronous touchpoints to provide consistent value to patients in-between schedules visits.
Fitness studios providing members with access to online, educational content and/or personal coaching to accompany their membership.
Healthcare and population health management programs engaging high risk populations (i.e. chronic care management or diabetes prevention programs) through consistent (weekly or month), asynchronous communication in-between less frequent sessions.
2. A Fully Remote Program
What is it?
An online coaching model in which sessions, programming, and content are all delivered virtually.
Sessions are generally hosted over web conferencing platforms, and content is delivered through coaching platforms, email sequences, or learning management systems (LMS).
Who’s it for?
Solopreneurs or small businesses wanting to launch a virtual offering that can cater to clients regardless of location.
Considering a fully remote model.
While fully remote models are the easiest to scale they can be some of the most difficult to get started unless you already have a significant audience.
There are countless marketing and client acquisition systems being pitched to coaches at this point because on top of being a great coach you also need to execute effective digital marketing to get this model off the ground.
This is why many of the coaches who are really crushing fully remote models are also thought leaders who have been able to market their services to their extensive following.
We get into client acquisition, pricing, technologies, and coaching flows in other posts on this blog, but the main consideration before pursuing an online coaching model like this is whether you’d like to build a low volume, high dollar offering, or a high volume, low dollar offering.
By adjusting the following key levers you can either provide a high-value offering to fewer clients, or deliver a highly-scalable offering to a larger number of clients.
Amount of face-to-face interaction
Amount of asynchronous communication
Amount of documentation and administrative work
Examples.
Remote programming can take a lot of different shapes depending on the target market and what elements are included, but I’ve highlighted a couple of notable businesses below that have clear and concise packages that they’ve refined over the years.
A nutrition coaching company focused on nourishing habits and intuitive eating for the tired, wired, and overwhelmed. They have two distinct offerings that are built around a combination of the following:
60-minute initial consult
Proprietary workbook with nutritional guides and recipes
Daily engagement through app-based coaching platform
4-8 additional 20-minute telephonic or video-based sessions
A performance coaching business with programs geared towards energy drivers that impact the body’s energy, focus and performance. They have multiple offerings built around a combination of the following:
Self-paced online course plus other downloadable resources
Toolkit with recipe guides and planners
Remote engagement through online coaching platform
3. A Maintenance Program
What it is.
A lower-cost, accountability and coaching model built around delivering consistent, scalable value to clients once they’ve completed your traditional program.
Rather than relying on 1-on-1 sessions, these types of models are heavily reliant on automated distribution of digital content either through email sequences or through a learning management system (LMS), as well as scalable human interaction through webinars and asynchronous communication.
Who it’s for.
Almost anyone offering a coaching program.
Considering a maintenance program.
We tend to find light-weight accountability programs work really well when positioned as a “maintenance” plan that a person can be transitioned into after they’ve completed your core program.
The concept is built around several core principles:
It helps ensure clients retain results achieved through your program
It allows you to keep clients as paying customers - i.e. you are providing on-going content and accountability in exchange for a smaller monthly fee.
It allows you to build an audience to which you can sell additional services to in the future (Remember, on average it costs 7x more to sell to a new customer than to an existing one.)
The key to running a maintenance plan is correctly balancing value and scalability - if you don’t, it can be a huge drain on your time for very limited dollars.
Here are a few examples of tradeoffs you need to consider:
Instead of 1-to-1 Sessions → host regular webinars anyone from your maintenance plan can attend.
In order to limit the amount of 1-to-1 messages → try and consolidate as much of your communication as possible into group forums where multiple people can gain value from each of your posts.
Instead of sending content to people individually → treat your maintenance group as you would a separate email list. Create a separate content stream specifically for them through which you can provide valuable content, links to webinars, and the occasional upsell.
Done well and the result is a highly scalable coaching membership unlocking additional revenue for your online coaching business while at the same time keeping clients on a light subscription plan in case they need to cycle back through your program.
Example.
The Parker Practice, a London-based nutrition and weight loss company founded by Louise Parker in 2007, leverages a multi-program approach that maps out a customer journey upwards of over a year through their BALANCE and LIFESTYLE programs.
Once a client completes their initial programming they are able to navigate through one of these subsequent plans tapering the needed accountability and support over time.
By formalizing the idea of “maintenance” into distinct, sequential packages it makes it easier for their team to continue working with clients and keep them as paying customers.
4. A Marketing & Prospecting Model
What it is.
A lower cost accountability program built around delivering consistent, scalable value to prospects as a stepping stone to your other products and services.
This is model is designed to engage prospects who are still earlier in their customer journey or near the top of your marketing funnel.
Using a low-cost or free tier, the aim is to entice more of your potential best fit clients to self-select by signing up. Once they see the value they are receiving and that it is a fit for them, you can then convert them into your higher-priced coaching programs.
The idea is to remove the initial friction of a high price-point and get more quality leads in your funnel by lowering the barrier to entry, which could be structured as a free tier of membership (a “Freemium Model”), a short term challenge or trial program (a “Free Trial”), or a low-cost paid version of either.
Like maintenance plans, they are heavily reliant on automated distribution of digital content either through email sequences or through a learning management system (LMS), as well as scalable human interaction through webinars and asynchronous communication.
Who it’s for.
Businesses with an established audience wanting to introduce a low-cost product as a stepping stone to one of their primary coaching offerings.
Considering a marketing and prospecting model.
If you aren’t familiar with the term, a “tripwire” is generally a stepping stone offering marketers use to build trust with prospects before upselling them their core product of offering.
Matt Ackerson from Autogrow.co, a conversion-focused web design agency, describes a “tripwire” in detail in a post from their blog.
“A “tripwire” is a small offer (usually between $5-$50) sold to new email subscribers after opt-in. It’s meant to accelerate the buyer/seller relationship. People might sometimes join your email list but might not want your core offer. Yes, even after you nurture the relationship. Your first step should be to make a simple and affordable offer. Doing so will help those potential customers overcome fear of buying from you and gain trust. If you think about a relationship with a customer as a slope, the value ladder is a straight line. The customer will visit the website, subscribe to a newsletter, and then boom! That ladder goes way up at an almost 90-degree incline.”
Where this sometimes appears within an online coaching business is as an introductory offering a prospect can subscribe to in order to get a taste of your primary services.
While we’ve seen some businesses attempt to use lightweight coaching as tripwire we tend to find that content-based offerings, such as a course, are better options as it can be risky trying to offer a teaser version of your primary coaching service that would be effective and give a client that “ah ha” moment.
Examples.
We are fortunate enough to have partners who’ve found incredibly creative ways to use health tracking and online coaching as a key aspect of their marketing strategy.
I regularly mention our friends at Strength Matters, who started using challenges (steps, water consumption, etc) as a way to attract leads into their funnel, then using a low-cost accountability coaching offering to kickoff the “coaching relationship.”
The idea here is to create a replicable funnel in which you can attract leads who are both interested in engaging with technology AND wanting to focus on lifestyle improvement.
Both are important traits for identifying ideal clients, so this will help ensure that you are introducing the idea of remote coaching and engagement to those that are willing participants and real prospects.
You can learn more about their online coaching model through a case study we jointly published on using online coaching to attract new clients.
Which Online Coaching Model Is Right For You?
Every business is different so you should base this decision on your unique situation.
With that said, I can provide guidance to get you started based on our experiences with the many businesses we’ve helped launch these models.
If you have a brick-and-mortar business and have primarily worked face-to-face with clients up to now, a Hybrid Model is typically where you’ll want to start.
Remember, focus first on how you can enhance the value you already provide with complementary online services.
Take the clients you already serve and find out how you can add value to their experience so that it just becomes “too good to give up.”
If you have any kind of existing program with paying clients, and you don’t already have a Maintenance Program, I’d recommend you explore it immediately.
The beauty of the Maintenance Program is that it doesn’t have to take much to launch and it’s a simple way to keep paying clients on for longer, thus increasing lifetime value (LTV) without increasing your customer acquisition cost (CAC).
LTV is a critical metric for any recurring revenue business, and the LTV:CAC ratio we’ll go into detail more in one of our next posts.
If you’re launching a new, fully remote or marketing and prospecting model, it will be incredibly beneficial to understand key subscription business metrics like lifetime value and customer acquisition costs, and the levers you can pull in order to improve them.
In these online coaching models especially, understanding your business metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) is not just helpful in assessing your business, it will define for you a system that will drive you to profitability.
If this is you, here’s what you should read next. We have a new post on the most important subscription business metrics to help you run a successful online coaching program.
Until then, if you have any questions or comments, let us know below!
