Why I switched from start-and-finish coaching containers to a month-to-month no-obligation coaching subscription model

NOTE #1: My coaching style often incorporates a hybrid of mentorship, consulting, and teaching.

I have a background as an anti-hustle Productivity Strategist, so some of my business coaching clients are looking for a lot more of the strategy/mentorship/consulting side of things rather than coaching. 

In other instances — for example, with personal fulfillment coaching — we do a lot more of true coaching (minimal mentorship/consulting) with a focus on mindset. It completely depends on the client, our relationship, their wants/needs (overall and from one session to the next), etc, and we co-create our experience together so they get what they need.

Anyway, just wanted to mention that! Even though my coaching sessions may include consulting, mentoring, and teaching, I’m going to use the catchall word “coaching” for our purposes in this blog post.

Note #2: Currently I specifically offer 1:1 coaching services.

I LOVE working with clients in a 1:1 capacity (just me and you), rather than in a group setting. When I'm talking about a coaching subscription model, I'm NOT talking about it in terms of a coaching membership program.

Here's the difference: 

• Coaching subscription (what I DO offer): 1:1 coaching sessions where you get my full attention for the entire session — no one else sees what's happening on our calls, and you don't see any of my other clients getting coached, either.
• Coaching membership (what I DON'T offer): group program where you get coached in a group setting — other members see you getting coached and you see other people getting coached.

(Of course, this could change in the future! But as of right now, I offer 1:1 coaching services using a subscription model)

For our purposes in this blog post, I'm talking about all coaching services (past and present) in the capacity of 1:1 settings.

Why I used to do start-and-finish coaching containers

The short answer for “Why did you used to offer start-and-finish coaching containers?” is that it provided a very specific timeframe for us to work together in the coach/client relationship. 

It gave me and my clients concrete parameters to work within: If we knew what goals we had set together, then we also had a timeframe with which we could work within. My clients didn’t need to wonder, “How long will this go on for?” or “Is my coach just going to draw out these sessions for as long as possible?”, etc. 

Start-and-finish coaching packages seemed like an elegant solution to ensure that both my clients and I knew what to expect from the experience. 

Types of coaching packages I’ve offered over the years

I’ve offered a WIDE range of different coaching packages, including but not limited to…

• 6 - 12 weeks of unlimited email-based coaching (with option of occasional video calls).
  • This works well for clients who want support and accountability and have lots of questions from a strategy perspective, BUT it can be really challenging for clients who need a lot of help with their mindset or who are motivated by hard deadlines (e.g. those people who would write their essay the evening before it’s due in university).
  • It takes a lot more time for me, as the coach, to respond to all emails (rather than an hour-long coaching session, for example). It also doesn’t give me a lot of flexibility in my day, because I never know how much a client might reach out and what they might need from me, one day to the next — which makes it trickier to plan other tasks and activities.
• Single coaching sessions.
  • This works well for clients who have one specific issue they’re trying to work through or who need help from a strategy perspective, BUT it typically also reveals that there’s much more we can get into beyond a single session.
  • One of my absolute favourite things is to build relationships with my clients and truly get to know them at a deep level — and unfortunately, this is difficult to do with just one session. We don’t yet have the established relationship and rapport that can elevate the coaching experience.
• 1 call/month OR 2 calls/month, for 3 months or 6 months.
  • Most of the time, 2 calls/month is best for new clients so we can make more progress, faster, and escalate our relationship. Doing 1 call/month can be challenging when we’re just getting to know each other because a month is a long time! Lots can happen in there. Doing 2 calls/month helps us to identify any obstacles that might get in the way of your success and work through those before they get too big.
  • 6 months goes by pretty quick — 3 months goes by VERY fast! The shorter 3-month option is nice for clients who are apprehensive about committing to 6 months, but unless the client has a short-term or very specific thing they want to work on, it’s typically not quite long enough (in my opinion) to ensure new habits will stick or that we’ve uncovered all the barriers they’re experiencing.
• 2 calls/month for 6 months with unlimited access to me in between sessions for additional pep talks and email coaching.
  • This works best in my Solopreneur CEO program, because it’s a very specific program for solopreneurs with a dedicated curriculum. This also works well for clients who are having a lot of mindset stuff coming up and need extra support.
• “Day of Voxer” (24 hours of email and/or voice/text messaging coaching).
  • This works best when clients are working on a specific (often “intensive”) project and want support and accountability in their corner, and/or clients who are going through a big life change and need someone to ground them (e.g. first day of being full-time in their new business or having uncomfortable conversations with people in their personal life, etc).
  • This is more challenging to do with clients who I do NOT have an established relationship with — it’s much better if I already know them and their personality and how their brain works, because then I can give them very personalized support.
• 12 months of coaching.
  • This has been a renewal option that clients who had already booked with me for 6 months at a time previously really love. We’d keep on scheduling for another 6 months at a time (and the time FLIES by!), so it made sense to extend it to a full year.

What does all of that have in common? They are start-and-finish coaching packages! 

In most of these instances, my clients have had the option to renew for longer periods of time. 

The problem with start-and-finish coaching packages

Here are some of the problems I’ve noticed with start-and-finish coaching packages: 

1. Many potential clients feel uncomfortable with the idea of committing to a coaching package (“What if it doesn’t work?”). As such, start-and-finish coaching packages can actually end up being a BARRIER for them to get the coaching they want and need! 
2. Single sessions or short-term coaching packages could theoretically deal with the above issue, but I never want to feel as though I’m “performing” for a client so that they’ll want to book more sessions. I don’t really like the idea of a “test-drive” because I want our coaching sessions to be about the COACHING experience — not about trying to make a sale into longer-term coaching packages. I have no interest in trying to convince someone to keep working with me, and if someone signs up for short-term coaching so as to “test the waters,” it feels like there’s a sort of underlying pressure that I need to “prove” my coaching abilities to that client. In my experience, this completely takes away from the coaching itself.
3. We need to have a “Do you want to renew?” conversation toward the end of each package. To me, this feels as though it disrupts the experience because we’re constantly trying to figure out, “If we do renew, then what we should work on right now is XYZ; if we don’t renew, then what we should work on is ABC.” I always want my clients to walk away from our coaching experience feeling in a really good place, so I wouldn’t want to dive into something brand-new in the last 15 minutes of our final session together, for example, and then leave them hanging to deal with it on their own. I’d rather take the time in our final session to make a plan of action for them moving forward on their own.

A few observations about coaching from over the years…

My clients get incredible results when we work together! Here are a few observations I’ve made over the years…

• Although my clients report deep satisfaction after just one coaching session (and they are consistently delighted with each individual session’s experience), the vast majority of clients get the BEST results (especially in terms of their breakthroughs and long-lasting, sustainable changes) with a minimum of 6 - 12 coaching sessions. 
• I really enjoy being able to be along for the long-term journey with my clients. To me, three months is far too short of a time: Even though my clients and I are delighted with their progress, I can see so much more that we can accomplish together! In many ways, it feels as though we’ve barely scratched the surface — in other words, I don’t feel as satisfied and fulfilled with us only working together for a limited time (because I know there’s so much more we can do together). Six months gives us a better opportunity to really connect and get to know one another. 
• When I’ve been working with the same client for a year or more, it’s absolutely incredible to see the SPEED at which they experience breakthroughs and we get results. Why? Because I KNOW them at a much deeper level, and we’ve built a strong relationship based on trust. When my client comes to me with an issue, I can connect the dots between where they are *now* and where they’ve been in the past; there’s a lot more nuance and depth to our relationship and the coaching we are able to do because we have such a strong foundation.
• Coaching uncovers many layers of other things going on beneath the surface — and for the vast majority of clients, patterns crop up again in various ways. Something a client thought they’d dealt with might reappear months later in a new aspect of their life. When we work together for a longer period of time, we can identify immediately when that happens and work through it together, BEFORE it becomes a larger issue.

An important aspect of what I do with my clients is to teach them intrapersonal skills and how to do self coaching practices. This way, they can feel very supported in between our sessions and they can begin to work through things independently. 

I don’t want my clients to feel as though they *need* me: I want my clients to continue working with me because they *want* to do so, and because — even though they CAN work through things on their own, and even though they DO work through some things on their own — they know that we can work through things even faster, TOGETHER. 

My clients renew their sessions with me not because they are terrified of doing the work on their own, but because they love the experience they get with me, they feel fully supported and encouraged by having me in their corner, and they know that I can always guide them in new ways through their journey of personal fulfillment, growth and development, self improvement, and a better relationship with themselves.