5 Best Ways to Save Time as You Manage Your Online Coaching Business

Most of us don’t become coaches for the fun of doing administrative and client management tasks, we become coaches to help others with our knowledge, intuition, and experience. We’re coaches because we love the look on our clients’ faces when they experience ‘aha’ moments or make breakthroughs because of the time and expertise we’ve shared with them. This is what coaching is supposed to be about — maximizing our impact.  

Yet, in a recent benchmarking survey of 40 top business coaches, we found that more than 85% of business coaches spent less than half of their time doing paid coaching. What’s up with that?

Listen, the client management and admin tasks are an important part of operating and growing a coaching business, no one is denying that. But these jobs shouldn’t be eating up all your team’s time — time that could be used for doing what they love to do and what they get paid to do — coaching.

So, what are the best ways to save time on management tasks so you and your team can focus on the priorities that matter like coaching and growing your coaching business? Free up your time and your team’s time for coaching and growth activities by:

1. Using software for coaches designed to automate functions such as scheduling group or one-on-one sessions, billing, and gathering feedback.
2. Minimizing the number of online coaching software tools you use — ideally, you’d only need one, right? 

The second point above is important. Automation has been all the rage for most online businesses for quite some time. Automation is an important time management strategy. The trouble is there are so many software automation tools out there to choose from that it’s overwhelming. We end up selecting a dozen or more software solutions — some that aren’t designed well for coaches — to solve each of the problems we face as online service providers. But the added bandwidth it takes to juggle these disparate tech solutions eats away at the time savings promised by automation — especially for large teams of consultants and coaches trying to collaborate.

Luckily, software solutions for coaches are advancing into the future. If you and your team spend most of your day juggling tools to help people, there’s a big chance we can help you. But first, let’s take a look at the top five online coaching software tools that are necessary for coaching businesses as well as the functions that can be automated with different online coaching software. While we discuss each coaching business function and the potential software solutions, we’ll give you some examples of how Profi.io gives you and your team everything you need — all in one place — to save you time as you manage your online coaching business.

1. Secure Video Conferencing & Messaging Software for Coaches

We all know coaching online requires a way to meet with clients virtually and communicate with them online, but there are special considerations for coaches, therapists, and consultants who often discuss private and legally protected information with their clients. The security of video conferencing software for coaches must be top-notch and, most importantly, it needs to be HIPPA-compliant. 

Luckily, Zoom, one of the most widely used video conferencing platforms thanks, in part, to the COVID-19 pandemic, is offered in a HIPPA-compliant version called Zoom for Healthcare. Many of your coaching clients will be familiar with using Zoom, as they’ve likely used it a few times to chat with family and friends over the past few years.

The Profi.io platform gives you the option of using Zoom as your video conferencing platform. But, we also offer built-in HIPAA-compliant video conferencing and messaging. Profi gives you a secure portal where you can privately message clients, write and share private client notes, enjoy high-definition video and audio, capture and automate client e-signatures, personalize waiting rooms and links, record and transcribe sessions, and more. Your client’s personal information is protected by secure login to the Profi portal.

2. Scheduling & Booking Software for Coaches

Scheduling sessions and appointments with your coaching clients is an obvious necessity. Scheduling software, in general, is one of several technological advancements that have made online coaching and consulting possible. Scheduling and booking software helps clients schedule appointments with just a click instead of a cumbersome phone call, or worse: phone tag. It helps teams of coaches, in particular, avoid calendar conflicts and the need to juggle cancellations and changes. 

There are hundreds of calendar and scheduling apps and software available to choose from. Two of the most well-known are Calendly and Acuity. These scheduling-specific apps are popular for their ease of use. 

Alternatively, when you choose a coaching platform designed for teams, such as Profi.io, easy-to-use scheduling and booking features are a part of the full suite of integrated tools you can use to save time managing your coaching business. Pssst. We were recognized as a scheduling software leader and high performer by G2 Analysts 2022. Profi.io simplifies client bookings by synching with other calendars, including Google and Outlook, letting you set working hours, and allowing you to easily create one-on-one and group sessions. With the Team, Corporate and Network plan levels, you can operate from a single, cross-teammate service catalog and booking calendar.

3. Online Billing & Payment Software for Coaches

Getting paid for coaching sessions with your clients, of course, is what makes you and your team a business, not hobbyists. You’re in this to help others, but you won’t be in it very long if you can’t keep your online doors open. Payment processing software, like PayPal and Stripe allow coaches to easily accept credit and debit card payments from coaching clients. 

Payment processing software is a powerful tool on its own, but imagine having all of your client information and notes, a history of the services you’ve delivered, and access to every bill and payment made all in a single online coaching management software system. That’s what you get with every Profi plan . Your Profi Wallet integrates with Stripe so you can set up billing on auto and get paid prior to service delivery.

4. Client Relationship Management (CRM) Software for Coaches

As a coach, you help a lot of people. And, if you’re collaborating with other coaches, you’re helping thousands, maybe, tens of thousands of clients. With that much information to store and access to ensure smooth interactions and positive client relationships, you need client relationship management (CRM) software. The first CRM software was developed with lead management in mind. The best-known CRMs, like HubSpot and Salesforce, aren’t designed for coaches.

We’re proud to say that Profi.io is at the top of this Evercoach list of best coaching CRMs. Profi is an online coaching management software system that’s always improving. Aside from being able to see all of your clients and their profile information at a glance, you can now track their stage in the client journey, share private client-related notes with your team members so they can get additional info or context when engaging with a client, pin notes to keep them top-of-mind while you’re in session with them, and schedule a service with them directly from your Client list.

5. Online Program & Course Building Software for Coaches

Online courses or programs are a great way to promote, diversify, and scale a coaching business. From offering free mini-courses that attract paying clients to providing full-length programs as part of your paid services, these tools help coaches teach more people in less time. There are many e-learning platforms that will let you create courses for your clients or prospects. You may have heard of some of the big ones, like Teachable or Thinkific. These are good options if your focus is on creating and monetizing courses.

Now, think of the possibilities that would open up if you were able to collaboratively create, sell, and deliver signature programs and courses through a branded client portal within a centralized coaching software platform. To get a better look at what Profi can do for businesses specializing in coaching and consulting, take a look at what we were able to do for our customer Brilliantio.  

“I'm happy to firmly endorse Profi. If you're in the business of providing coaching or synchronous education training materials, or if you are offering any kind of hybrid between those two services, then this is a platform you'll want to take a serious look at. It might just be the perfect solution for your business. The process of using the platform as both the creator and coach or instructor is super intuitive, pulling everything together in a clear fashion on a single page. The platform is reliable and a pleasure to use, for everyone involved.” — Paul Jenkins, Founder of Brilliantio

What is the Best Software for My Coaching Business?

Simply stated, the best online coaching software is the one that offers you the tools you need to take your coaching business where you want it to go in the future — integrated into a single, service-delivery designed software. Ideally, look for a single coaching platform that lets you automate as many tasks as possible so you can save valuable time. Find an online software for coaches that brings together your various coaching tasks, like client relationship management, creating e-learning courses, scheduling, billing, journaling, and secure messaging and video conferencing.
Profi has you and your team covered with all of the online coaching software you need to help others wrapped into a streamlined platform that lets you maximize your impact.

“I love that it's really designed for the needs of coaches and coaching organizations. From billing to scheduling to journals to e-courses (and so many more features) it has everything I need, and even a few things I didn't know I needed until I use them!” — David Shechtman, Performance and Achievement Coach at Evolution

‍Book a Demo with one of our Product Coaches today to see for yourself how Profi can help you help others from a single source of truth.