Coaching Agreement

One of the primary purposes of a coaching or consulting agreement is to set clear expectations and boundaries between you and your client. Having your prospective client sign an agreement before jumping into a coaching relationship will help set the tone. For example, it prevents situations where your clients ghost you without warning, reschedule at the last minute, ask for a refund long after the refund period has expired, or blame you for not getting results.

More importantly, it gives you a strong legal backing in case things go sideways. A coaching contract can prevent awkwardness, headaches, and lawsuits down the road.

As a coach or consultant, you spend years, sometimes decades, honing your craft. However, every time you work with a client, you risk giving up ownership over your hard-earned strategies and materials. You also risk being disparaged, uncompensated, or sometimes even sued. By the time an issue comes up, it’s often too late.

Here are the four ways in which a coaching agreement protects you and your business:

Your coaching agreement should clearly outline the financial aspects of your working relationship with the client. This includes specifying the total coaching fee, payment method, and payment schedule. If you offer a payment plan, be sure to outline the payment schedule, including due dates for the instalments.

You should also have a late payment policy which outlines the specific charges (flat rate or percentage) for missed payments. Finally, if you offer refunds, then clearly explain the terms and conditions. By outlining these financial details in your coaching contract, you ensure a smooth and transparent coaching experience for both you and your client.

Coaching contracts help with chargebacks. You can present your coaching agreement to your financial institution to show them what your terms are and that the client isn’t holding up their end of the bargain. If you have delivered your part of the agreement, then you should get paid for it. A client who has read and agreed to your terms is responsible for acting in accordance with those terms.

This is an important clause to make sure that your time is respected. This typically involves providing a clear cancellation or rescheduling window, such as 24 or 48 hours. This cancellation policy ensures clients understand the implications of providing late notice. If they cancel with less than 24- or 48-hours’ notice, they may incur a fee or may not be refunded if they already prepaid.

How do you terminate the coaching relationship and what happens after? It’s very important to have a section that deals with termination in your coaching contract. There are typically two types of termination: with cause and without cause. How much notice should be required for each of these cases, if any? Finally, what is the effect of terminating the agreement? Will the client still owe you money or will you both have no further commitments to each other? Each of these questions should be addressed in your contract.

You should have a strategy in place for how you intended to enforce your coaching or consulting agreement if things take a turn for the worst. We recommend starting in a non-confrontational manner by sending a friendly reminder email or message. Have a clear call to action and deadline. If your client does not follow through, then you may wish to have a cease and desist letter sent to them. If that still doesn’t work, then you may have to take legal action against them.

These are general recommended steps and the exact steps that you should take may be different. Specifically, the way in which you enforce your own coaching contract will often depend on the terms of the legal agreement and your jurisdiction. For example, the coaching agreement may have an alternative dispute resolution clause which obligates the parties to resolve their issues through arbitration or mediation instead of going to court.

If you’re serious about your coaching or consulting business, then a tailored, precise and lawyer-drafted coaching or consulting agreement can protect against all the risks mentioned above and more. Consult with a coaching agreement lawyer to ensure that your coaching business is legally protected. We can help you review, draft and coaching agreements.