As Health Coaches, the relationships we develop with our clients rely heavily on accurate and timely communication.

If we struggle to communicate effectively, then we will never get the most out of our efforts and expertise.

Health Coaches have all experienced circumstances of “hitting a wall” with clients after they leave the friendly confines of the office. Unfortunately, when they're out in the real world we can’t always be the angel on their shoulder advising them through tough choices of everyday life.

We work hand-in-hand with our clients to assist them in maximizing health and quality of life. As Health Coaches we are entrusted to discover and provide the correct roadmap for each individual person we assist.

However, providing a roadmap does not guarantee that the advice will be followed. It is at this point that Health Professionals must realize that we must supplement our roadmap with consistent and timely support and advice to help navigate potential pitfalls.

Our ability to educate and problem solve can be irrelevant if we do not maintain effective and efficient communication during those gaps of time between meetings. It is at these critical periods that client success can waver and result in a loss of the positive momentum generated up to that point.

It is here that our clients must know they have a connection, a lifeline, a solid and caring supporter to rely on. They must have the confidence that even in our absence, our influence remains.

Our clients must experience consistent communication and exchange of information that will help them pause to analyze, effectively challenge themselves on choices, and with certainty come to a decision that will result in a consequence that they comprehend and will accept.

Research (and common sense) tells us that when clients rely on their own memory (recall) to keep track of health related behaviors the accuracy deteriorates rapidly over time.

This obvious difficulty further increases the need for a better way to communicate behavioral data from clients to coaches over time.

With the daunting task of managing long lists of clients, our job as Health Coaches can be complex and frustrating. Moreover, the massive influx of technology in the health arena can add further stress and confusion to the process.

Web and mobile platforms can help, but existing tools often require lengthy time commitments that are unrealistic, not enjoyable, and certainly do not encourage long-term adherence.

Specifically, these software tools can be too complex for efficient data entry, can lack actionable feedback, and often aren’t broad enough to be used to improve overall lifestyle health. These are the challenges that need to be addressed when you develop your own system.

As a Health Coach, implementing the right tools and processes in your business will help you drastically improve the efficiency at which you guide clients along the journey that matters most, the journey of living an optimally healthy life that is filled with many, many quality years.

Here is a list of 12 questions to ask yourself when deciding which tools can help you enhance client adherence in your Health Coaching business:

Is my patient/client’s data safe in this tool?
Will my patients/clients realistically comply with the data input on the app (is it too complicated or time-consuming)?
Will my patients/clients be able to use the popular wearables or apps that make health and fitness tracking more passive and easy?
Will my patients/clients be able to modify this tool to meet their personal needs?
Will my patients/clients be able to input the data I need quickly and easily?
Will my patients/clients receive feedback that encourages healthy behaviors?
Will my patients/clients be able to easily communicate with me without having to add a separate communication tool?
Is the tool simple enough for patients/clients to use?
Can I get data on lots of patients/clients into one Coaching Tool simply in a way that saves me time?
Does the Coaching Tool offer quick review of information?
Does the Coaching Tool offer deeper looks into specific patient/client behaviors that are quick, intuitive, smooth and effective?
Does the Coaching Tool offer a simple and efficient way to communicate with your patients/clients?